Trucks, trailers, etc

[FitToBeTied]

There are a lot of threads here about different tow vehicles. A lot of the time IMHO they are about getting by with the minimum truck for trailering. There is usually the comment that “I’m only trailering short distances” etc.

I haul with an F-250 extended cab long bed and pull a Hawk 2 horse BP with a dressing room. I also use a weight distributing hitch with anti-sway bars. That’s about as safe as you can be.

I was coming home from a week long hunt trip and it was really windy. I was about 30 minutes from my departure point on a flat section of highway when we really got rocked by a side gust of wind. We could really feel it try to move that rig. I was thinking thank god I was not pulling with one of those minimalist trucks or it would have been a wreck.

During the week it was very windy as well. At one point I was trailering to a meet and behind a minimalist rig that was getting pushed around the road from the wind. They had to creep along along to stay secure. Again, flat road but a narrow road and it would have been easy to put a wheel off the side into the soft shoulder.

All of the discussions here have made me aware of what people use to tow and when I see these rigs out on the road it really makes me cringe.

[Foxglove]

@FitToBeTied --based on my understanding of trailer hitches, there are TWO different kinds for stabilizing a trailer --1) weight distribution hitch 2) Sway bar. Most weight distribution hitches include some sway control, but are mostly for up/down stabilization – ie keep all four of your truck tires on the road regardless of weight distribution in trailer; the second a Sway Bar is specific for lateral movement like the wind you encountered. I have both on my bumper pull as I spend about 20 miles every Sunday on a stretch of road that has no protection and strong wind. You might consider.

Weight distribution hitch:

Sway Bar:

[enjoytheride]

Excellent point from Foxglove that there’s a difference between a WDH and a Sway bar and you can get everything in between. There’s also a difference between a properly matched 1/2 ton truck and trailer and someone using a v6 four foot bed truck to tow a 4 horse bumper pull with 4 horses… Seen it. got out of the way.

Also, disagree that only a minimalist truck would flip in that situation. Just had a FB friend flip her BP towing it loaded with hay by her 3/4 truck. A sudden gust of wind catches people off guard and many people will break instead of speed up.

The few times I have had to tow in high winds I ALWAYS towed under speed, anticipating the need for a sudden need to gun it to tow my trailer straight. Thinking you don’t need to do that because you have a big truck is an accident waiting to happen. Any properly matched vehicle and trailer is going to experience issues in the wind, especially a bumper pull.

[Bonnie2]

Glad you got home safe! I’m with you. 35 years ago I towed an old heavy steel 2H BP with a Jeep Grand Wagoneer. It was what I could afford. There were some scary moments that taught me alot about trailering horses in general. Today I tow a 4Star 2H BP with a Ford F350 diesel. Overkill, but the truck is from our GN days and I love it. You can get away with minimums but it is really nice to have a solid, stable, capable rig!

[walkinthewalk]

Amenamenamen​:+1:

[house]

Just going to throw in here that loading your trailer properly is probably more important that what size truck you have. Trailer weight distribution has less impact the bigger/heavier your truck is, but it can make the difference between staying in control and disaster lf you get into a bad spot

[DMK]

Or an Equal-I-zer, which has both features!

I’m not going to worry about someone towing a typical 2h BP with a tundra or an F-150, that’s plenty of truck for that job provided they are safe, effective drivers. There’s an element of risk transporting animals that no truck can eliminate, and it most especially won’t make up for driver error.

Over the decades I’ve driven up and down the eastern seaboard in an F150 and an expedition towing a trail et and then an f250 short bed crew cab towing a sundowner 2h bp and now I pull a custom bp that’s 23’ long and 8’0 wide (which means it is heavier than a similar length trailer not just because of the added width but it also has more cross suspension beams on the floor). It’s only recently that I added the equalizer and that was because between the carriage in the bed of the truck and in the front of the trailer I wanted to make absolutely sure the front wheels of the truck where where they needed to be. Sway control was just a perk. Honestly, I leave the hitch on the truck but only use the bars when we are fully loaded and heading to a competition.

[SLW]

A state park with lake for boating & fishing is 2 miles from me. I cringe seeing what constitutes a safe tow vehicle with many of those boaters. They are overboated for the tow vehicle.

[LCDR]

I was one of those boaters.

Many many years ago I towed my Hobie catamaran around Florida with a MG. It was a struggle for the car to pull it back up the boat ramp. Otherwise I had no problems, since I lived the charmed life of a young person.

[kaya842]

Don’t judge others too harshly - there is a WIDE range within models for tow capacity. Any given year of F150s can tow between 6,000 to 12,000 depending on the engine and axel ratio (while the F250 ranges from 12,900 to 15,000 with a max capacity at 18,000 for the 2WD long bed diesel with a very specific GCWR). All to say, you can’t possibly know the tow capacity of any given vehicle on the road by looking at it, and the owner may be very well within their tow capacity (and may even have the same tow capacity as those F250s that are deemed “better” at towing). Looks are deceiving!

[Spudsmyguy]

Get a gooseneck. More stable and tow more easily than a bumper pull.

[FromTheGalaxy]

This thread was just making me think how glad I am to have a gooseneck! I’ve driven in some crazy winds with mine and while I can feel the wind pushing my rig a bit, I have never worried that I was going to go off the road or tip over! I have only occasionally hauled a friend’s bumper pull and I MUCH prefer my gooseneck for stability!

[NaturallyHappy]

@FromTheGalaxy, me, too! When I was downsizing, I borrowed a friend’s bumper pull. I have a F250 diesel. I felt that small, 2 horse bumper pull. I never feel my gooseneck. I was shocked.

[eponacelt]

@LCDR

Many many years ago I towed my Hobie catamaran around Florida with a MG.

As the owner of many MGs, I think I need to see a picture of this! I’m dying!

[tabula_rashah]

100% agree OP- I don’t understand the what can I get away with mentality. It should be what can I do to make my horse the safest. And yes, I understand that it’s expensive. But I would rather not haul at all and wait until I could afford it than drive a risky set up.

But also as wonky as some of the horse trailer set ups are, the RV and camper people are crazy scary. We have a 32’ bumper pull that’s pretty heavy- I just put this hitch on my truck (3500 RAM dually flatbed) and the first trip we took it was with 60mph wind gusts and we cross a lot of very high bridges over open water. It never moved an inch.