I am trailer shopping and want the best value for my money. Looking at BP with side ramp, may or may not go for the full 2+1 size. I want safety above all, comfort, good materials and workmanship, no frills. I am not in brand names, so am willing to consider each product on it’s own merits.
Who has the best warranty?
Let me know your thoughts on these brands - the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Thanks!
I own a 2004 TrailersUSA MinuteMan Sport 2h BP. I’m the second owner and it’s in excellent condition. It’s essentially a copy of the Kingston 2h. The quality is very good, IMHO. My one interaction with the manufacturer was good, although they are a very small, family run business and their initial response to my question took a few days. They are based in Ocala. Here in the NE, Cotner is likely a similar manufacturer…they had nothing used available to suit my needs when I was shopping and the TrailersUSA unit came up on Craig’s List at just the right time.
The dealer who sold me my Brenderup was selling Eclipse for a while. She has stopped and posted on Facebook that Eclipse does NOT stand behind their product at all. There are a number of threads on here about Eclipse, at least 75% unfavorable.
I’d like to hear from someone who knows for sure: are Eclipse and Twi-lite made the same, by the same manufacturer? Certainly appears so, but dealers of one don’t seem to sell the other.
I have an Eclipse - it’s not top of the line quality, but I usually haul less than 60 miles at a time so it’s not in heavy use. And I love it!
Twi-Lite is not made by the same manufacturer as eclipse.
I did see a Twi-Lite that had been involved in a pretty serious accident when I was shopping, and I was impressed at how it held up. I was not impressed with the welds I saw on the Eclipse models. I do think the twi-lite is a better trailer of that make type and also has some nice upgrades like the rumber floor.
If you’re getting a side ramp, unless you have them angle the tack room (as in the Hawk side unload bumper pull model) I would be a bit concerned about the length and weight positioning in a bumper pull with a front ramp. That’s a pretty long trailer with a lot of weight in the rear, making it more likely to be squirrely. If you have the capability for a gooseneck, the twi-lite (blue ribbon) 2+1 is a nice trailer.
I know this isnt exactly what you asked but you did want to know who had the best warranty so here it is.
Shetron Custom Trailers offers a 10 year structural warranty :http://www.shetroncustomtrailers.com/pdf/TrailerWarrantynotice.pdf
No other trailer company i know of does this. The trailers are built to last and use very good quality materials. The current owner is from Australia and he designs and builds the trailers to suit the rough roads of Australia (which are much worse than the worst roads in America in places)
[QUOTE=soloudinhere;8267276]
Twi-Lite is not made by the same manufacturer as eclipse.
I did see a Twi-Lite that had been involved in a pretty serious accident when I was shopping, and I was impressed at how it held up. I was not impressed with the welds I saw on the Eclipse models. I do think the twi-lite is a better trailer of that make type and also has some nice upgrades like the rumber floor.
If you’re getting a side ramp, unless you have them angle the tack room (as in the Hawk side unload bumper pull model) I would be a bit concerned about the length and weight positioning in a bumper pull with a front ramp. That’s a pretty long trailer with a lot of weight in the rear, making it more likely to be squirrely. If you have the capability for a gooseneck, the twi-lite (blue ribbon) 2+1 is a nice trailer.[/QUOTE]
Anyone can make a weld look pretty, which is not always an indication of the quality of the weld. But I agree that the Eclipse is more of an entry level trailer. I was on a limited budget when I got mine, but I really love it. I have the 2H BP with a side ramp and absolutely love the configuration. It hauls great, the horses ship great and there is a huge amount of room inside it. I have 2 saddle racks and a trunk on the floor under them, plus hooks on the walls for chairs, bridles, etc.
[QUOTE=Flash44;8267825]
Anyone can make a weld look pretty, which is not always an indication of the quality of the weld. But I agree that the Eclipse is more of an entry level trailer. I was on a limited budget when I got mine, but I really love it. I have the 2H BP with a side ramp and absolutely love the configuration. It hauls great, the horses ship great and there is a huge amount of room inside it. I have 2 saddle racks and a trunk on the floor under them, plus hooks on the walls for chairs, bridles, etc.[/QUOTE]
If it’s that easy to make welds look pretty, and it is no indication of structural quality, then why wouldn’t eclipse at least bother to make their bad welds look pretty?
Reading the Shetron guarantee made me curious - why would a new custom built trailer not be guaranteed to be leakproof. Does not seem right.
Eclipse has a 2 yr. bumper to bumper vs. only 1 for Shetron. They do have a 5 yr frame vs. shetron’s 10 yr frame warranty.
Still looking for more experiences. If you had dealings with customer service, how did it go?
Anyone try the Trailers USA or Twi-lite?
I noted in post 2 that I own a TrailersUSA trailer…
You would be much better off buying a higher end used anything over buying a new Eclipse. Bottom of the line everything, they tow like a sack of bricks and quickly start to fall apart. I’ve known two people who bought them and both have since moved on to used Hawks with much better results.
I guess anything other than Eclipse would be a good choice. I don’t think Eclipse would be worth the money spend. The first time I bought a trailer was by taking heavy equipment financing help from Truck Loan Center at Toronto. I had bought a Twi-Lite then and now I have another one now which I bought earlier this year. I am really satisfied with the performance of Twi-Lite.
I have a Trailers USA trailer and I absolutely love it. Tay is the owner and is wonderful to work with. They are made with excellent care and quality materials. I call it my Knock-off Hawk as I couldnt afford $17000+ for my 2H straight load WB gooseneck through Hawk. I would highly recommend Trailers USA.
Heres the album to my trailer
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3419178245418.2152706.1449009522&type=1&l=1851a44c46
I love my 2014 Sundowner. My previous Sundowner was 12 years old and in good shape, but from the years that had a corrosion problem. My new one has drop down windows, which are wonderful in the summer heat.
Quality trailer
For what it’s worth, my wife and I just beat this to death for months. We put a deposit on a trailers use trailer and drove from Maryland to Florida to pick it up and it left a lot to be desired. They have made great strides but just are not there yet. They are very sound but attention to detail is non existent. After buying a used Eclipse we used it once and tried it in on an Adams. Adams will speak for itself in both quality and appearance. They use larger cross members than most but not overbuilt like an Eclipse or Hart. They also don’t carry the monster price tag either. We have owned Elite and Featherlite and currently have a Collins Arndt two horse which is being replaced with the Adams. I would rank the Adams just a touch under the Elite, Hart or Four Star but only by a smidge. Our Collins Arndt has been a great two horse walk up and the only reason we moved up is our horses are on the larger side so we figured we would get a little larger walk up for the now frequent Florida runs. Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions
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