I recently bought an older but solid 2 horse straight load bumper pull trailer just for running around. I hauled with it yesterday and had about 4 miles of dirt / gravel road at the end of the route. My poor horse was head-to-toe covered in road dust when I unloaded him, way way worse than I have ever seen with my stock trailer. I drove slow on the way home but the little bumper pull seems to ‘suck’ in the dust at the rear of the trailer and not let it go. I had the top doors off the back, side windows open, but there’s just one roof vent in the front of the trailer above the mangers, no other venting near the head. I did add two small fans in the front because I worried about the lack of airflow up there. Has anyone had this issue and did you fix it? Should I add vents to the ceiling or the sides in front? Put the top doors on the back (I worry about how hot it will get with the top doors on though)? Change the airflow from the truck somehow?
that is why the trailer filled with dust
Others may disagree, but I never haul with the back doors open. I saw video (probably here) of a horse trailer that had caught fire after a passing motorist flicked a cigarette out the window has he/she passed the trailer. The wind (votex?) of the two passing vehicles pulled the cigarette into the horse trailer where the bedding caught fire and . . .recently it seems I saw something (again probably here) of someone’s hay net catching fire in a slant load --again, the suspicion was a cigarette from a passing car came in through an unscreened window --just bars, no screen.
Because of the risk, I always haul with all windows in place, all with screens. I just finished repairing three screens (separation from the spline), but not a horrible job on a hot day with the trailer parked in the shade. I will tell you it is easier and has a better result if one takes the guard bars off --yes, 30 screws but much easier to put the new screen on than trying to push the spline under the bars. FYI windows on my Merhow (and I assume other horse trailers) are sealed from the outside, so removing the screws will not cause your window to fall out. I called and asked before I tackled the job. If the weather is good, I may have my stable minions (neighbor’s kids) wash and put on a coat of wax --I try to wax it once a year --but my old shoulders don’t hold up to “wax on, wax off.”
Shoot, I was hoping leaving the doors on wouldn’t be the answer, as the trailer gets unbearably hot with them on. I’ve never seen anyone around me haul with the top doors unless it’s the dead of winter, and even then usually they are lost or just too much work to put on lol. I suppose I could just pop them on for the dustiest part of the trip, it would be a pain to do so though, as they don’t latch back and have to be lifted on and of their hinge pins.
I don’t currently have a straight load trailer, but this is a hard and fast rule for me.
With the top doors off, if the horse were to panic and sit back, they could flip themselves out the back of the trailer - you only need to see that happen once to have it burned into your memory (wasn’t even a particularly tall horse). I also once saw a trailer pull up to a show with the horse’s head hanging out over the back door. The mare had somehow broken her trailer tie and turned around in the (old style, not extra tall/wide) straight load stall without the driver ever realizing what had happened. Never underestimate the creative ways horses can find to give you heart failure!
I think that the design of non stock type trailers just holds the dirt in.
Like UPS delivery drivers. My packages are covered in a thick layer of rock dust and so is the driver!
Gravel roads are just dusty this time of year if it is dry. I rarely hauled with the upper rear doors when I had a 2 horse BP straight load.
