I’m new here so I hope I’m in the right forum location!! I have 2 (bred) mini’s and an 11 hand Chincoteague. We are moving from SC to AR and we do NOT own a big truck… So we bought a lovely old Rice Beaufort double to carry them behind our Tacoma. The frame is totally solid, the brakes work, the wood looks ok, and it weighs next to nothing. Can’t even feel it back there. Yay! Now here’s the problem - every time we begin moving from a dead stop, it goes BONK and yanks back hard. Its just for a moment, honestly it feels like a very loose trailer ball catching (but that’s not what it is). What in tarnation?? The hitch is so unusual, and reading some old posts in these trailers it seems that messing with it is also messing with the brakes. Someone please help me out w this!
Rice has inertia brakes like a Brenderup, correct? Does it also “bonk” when you come to a stop?
When my b-up does this, it means the brakes need adjusting and the trailer is actually continuing forward until it stops by bumping itself on the ball (meaning my truck is stopping the trailer, not the trailer’s brakes). But yes, I ease forward very slowly from a stop to allow the coupler enough time to release the brakes and move forward without jerking.
Thanks - I was riding with Mr Lead Foot so I will drive it myself and try a slower start - although I thought he was not flooring it on takeoff. Yes, inertia brakes. No, it does not do this on stop, only on takeoff. Is there anywhere with a good sort of “users manual” on this thing? Could any mechanic adjust the brakes - they are so unusual I am thinking its a specialty skill?
My regular local trailer shop has no problem servicing the brakes - just remind them that the bearings are permanently sealed and therefore do not need to be packed annually! (also note that permanently sealed does not mean “lasts forever”. They can still try to wiggle the wheel to tell if the bearing has gone bad.)
But they can adjust and replace the brakes as needed. If the Rice is set up like the B-up, I just tell my trailer shop that the brakes are like an old Model A Ford (has a tiny viewing window to check for brake wear), and then they geek out at getting to work on the retro brakes 
That’s just the information I needed. Thanks so much.
I found a local shop that can check it out for me - thank you so much for the help.
