WTD with junked old horse trailer?

[Heinz_57]

Several years ago, we bought an old steel 2H trailer as an around town/trips to the vet. It had some rust, nothing surprising given it’s age and the climate we live in, and I knew it wasn’t going to last forever. Well, that time has arrived: pretty severe rust on the frame and the floor supports are compromised as well (nevermind that it needs new boards and mats, too). It could certainly be made whole again by someone with the time and skill - my DH has the skills and equipment, but not the time, and I see no point in spending nearly what the trailer is worth to get it back on the road.

What does one do with a not-safe-for-horses horse trailer? Scrap? Try to sell it on the cheap as a fixer-upper? I don’t want to be responsible for selling it to someone who might be dumb enough to try to put a horse in it without making repairs, but it would smooth things over with DH if we at least got a few bucks for it. He seems a little miffed about why we won’t be able to get our money back out of it.

[walkinthewalk]

If the frame is as bad as you say, don’t sell it to an individual. Call the nearest horse trailer sales and see if they would be interested in taking it for parts. You probably won’t get much more than salvage price for it but it will be off your property.

or if you do have a salvage yard in your area, call them and see it they would take it.

[ladyj79]

This. All of this.

http://www.horsenation.com/2014/11/29/10-horse-trailers-gone-food-trucktacular/

[Sandysmom]

Haul it in for scrap.

[SonnysMom]

I gave one to somebody that cut it down for a landscape trailer.
I know of somebody that used an old pony trailer as a house for his two feeder pigs. They could go up the ramp into the trailer for shelter. He just fenced around the trailer so the back half stuck in the pen.

Another one I had I told my horse trailer inspection place I wanted $500 in my pocket. If they wanted to make repairs and sell it for lots of money then more power to them, or just sell it or cut it down as a landscape trailer fine. At least I was not representing it as safe for horses. I eventually saw it a few years later at a horse show with ponies in it. Mine was not as bad as it sounds like yours was. Mine really only needed new leaf springs and maybe some suspension shackles. The leaf springs were bottoming out on the frame. That may not have been a problem with the smaller ponies. The trailer was 27 years old.

You could advertise it on Craigslist but be clear it is a major restoration project and is currently not safe for horses. There are people that may be interested in rehabbing it for livestock or other type of trailer.

Scrap.

[Jim_in_PA]

Sell it to a scrap metal buyer…

[Guilherme]

@Jim_in_PA

Sell it to a scrap metal buyer…

This.

G.

[2DogsFarm]

@ladyj79 If I could, I’d have Liked this more than once! :encouragement:

OP: if you have the acreage, turn it into shaded retreat in your garden?
You know how judges get setup temporarily for shows - like that, but permanent.
Remove wheels, put in a base, repaint, install comfy chairs & cooler…
With doors left open s/b cool enough in Summer.
(this from the lady who re-purposed an old, rusted wheelbarrow into a strawberry planter so the $%!@ chickens couldn’t get to the berries:mad:)

[Mango20]

I sold my old rusted metal trailer (frame was still good but sides had rust) to a woodworker who wanted a covered trailer to haul furniture-grade lumber in. In my ad, I stated that it was NOT SUITABLE FOR HORSES anymore.

[StormyDay]

The steel can be sold for scrap. However I sold the one I had to a guy who was a welder and he fixed it up for his horses. However, it was a highly desirable trailer (two horse straight load with oversized tack room)
I could see it being used for other things too if you advertise it that way. Food truck, landscape truck, etc.

[TheJenners]

Cost of scrap is not that awesome anymore… Here, if you hand over the title, a junk yard will take stuff off your hands and not charge the tow fee :rolleyes:

[Heinz_57]

@TheJenners

Cost of scrap is not that awesome anymore… Here, if you hand over the title, a junk yard will take stuff off your hands and not charge the tow fee :rolleyes:

Yeah, that’s what DH said about scrapping it. We’d be lucky to get $100 out of it and most of the local scrap places I’ve come across don’t want big, labor-intensive items. The frame and floor supports are actually so rusted they are delaminating now, so it’s at the end of it’s lifespan.

@ladyj79 if I was feeling entrepreneurial that would be a great idea. :lol: Unfortunately, starting a new business is not in my current life plan and busted down old trailers are a dime a dozen here in the rainy, rust-laden PNW.

[Jim_in_PA]

At least with scrapping it, it will likely be recycled and not inadvertently used for someone’s horses by someone who doesn’t know any better…$100 will buy a very lovely dinner out for the two of you.

[TheJenners]

^ Agree

[Milobloom]

A friend of mine turned hers into a covered round bale feeder out in her field

[Mukluk]

Perhaps it could be turned into a guest room?

[SharonA]

Well, if there are lots of them around, start an art fad. Turn the trailer into an “American Gothic” tableau along the side of the road – you know, paint it or pull off one of the sides and then put two mannequins in there dressed as 1930s farmer and spouse with pitchfork, a couple bales of straw, etc. Then your neighbors can do the same, and soon there will be lots of these around, and your town will become famous for them, and then the horse trailers re-fitted at BBQ places and pubs will come, and, well, I can’t imagine anything better than that.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q="american+gothic"&FORM=IARRTH&ufn=american+gothic+grant+wood&stid=cf816e39-8a3a-760a-8ffb-48e2fdc8de22&cbn=EntityAnswer&cbi=0&FORM=IARRTH

Otherwise, I vote for chicken coop. Sorry.

[JanM]

Give or sell it to the junkyard, and get it in writing they will destroy and never resell. It’s either break even or $100, but it’s the only way you guarantee that no one will ever try to put horses in it.