Equi Trek Trailers

[Clare-22]

I am fast accepting the fact I am not going to be able to afford a horse box in the next few years, I finally have a horse I can take out but no transport :( I am having to consider a trailer. I have always been a bit wary of how safe trailers are. I know most people swear by Ifor Willams trailers but I have read that rear facing is now thought to be the best way to travel and that brought me to the Equi Trek trailers, which I have no experience of. Does anyone have any experience of them, are they as solid as Ifor Willams. Any feedback would be great :)

[MeMe]

I've seen lots in use, but not with people I know so that I can question them.

But I like them, looked around them plenty of times and if I could I would have one :D

[charlotte+jill!]

I know someone that has one its great, she loves it. It has a little living at the front with a toilet and stove just like having a lorry :D I think they look really smart too.

From looking at my friends i would def recommend looking into purchase one :D

[Kanuma]

did you know that for the price of an equitrek you can buy a nice second hand horse lorry? they are very wide and you need something very big to pull them with. we tried one, its not a balanced as the ifor williams and was very very heavy to pull even for our big merc 4x4

[Willingbe]

Unladen weight of an equitrek trailer is 1595Kg Minimum, add say a 500 Kg horse, tack etc and you're looking at towing 2100 Kg. To stay within what is considered the safe trailer to tow vehicle ratio (Trailer = 85% Tow Vehicle Kerb weight) you need either a Toyota Landcruiser or a Ranger Rover. Last time (several years ago) I looked at the What Car figures the landcruiser costs £1.11/mile to run. Max laden weight of the equitrek is 3500 so if you really load the thing up you're going to have to find something that weighs four tons to pull it :eek:

Plus if you only have a class B driving licence (post-1997), you are going to be over weight limits almost immediately.

In my view a lorry + basic car are cheaper to run then having a 4x4 sufficiently big enough to tow a trailer which also has to be used as a daily vehicle. :)

[Clare-22]

Oooh mixed reviews :) I would love a horsebox but having looked around I believe I would need to spend 10-12k on a decent one that isn't too small or going to break down or fall apart in 6 months. My friend has just spent 7k on one of those horrible (sorry no offence to anyone who may have one, just personal opinion :o ) transit van boxes which I wouldn't want to put my horse in.

The Equi Trek would be cheaper to buy and not as much running costs. The towing is interesting, from what Equi Trek said it wasn't much different from towing a normal trailer, we currently have a Toyota Forerunner (pretty much the same as the Surf) so I will look into what it can tow. I am worried about it being stable and balenced to tow, I need to have a look at one first hand really, finding them hard to track down in my area, I am also off to call Ifor Willams as I am sure I read somewhere they do a rear facing trailer :confused:

[MeMe]

There are good and bad points for both, its down to personal preference and circumstances though.

Lorries need not cost a fortune to buy, my friends one that we use currently is a 30yr old TK, 44,000 miles genuine, years plate, 3 horse with small living, very tidy, excellent runner etc etc 3.5k.

We have now cut it down to a 2horse with a bigger living.

Its a lovely lorry, but we bought it from my YO.

Everyone I've seen with the Equitreks does indeed tow them with Land Rovers or Range Rovers.

[Clare-22]

That's the thing, it's great if you know the person selling it, but otherwise it can be a bit tricky getting a box of that age. Ifor Williams definately don't do a rear facing trailer, so my dilmema now is go for a Ifor Willams trailer..... well that probably my only option :rolleyes: If my partner would sell his 4x4 the box would be more of an option but he loves that car and I know does not want to sell it, so can't really go down that road :( Bally goes in a trailer and travels ok ish in it, I just worry too much. My licence is ok to tow, but I would want some proper lessons before I did it :eek:

[MeMe]

If you like the Equitreks and have a suitable towing car then go for it :D

[**Krista**]

Rice and richardson do a rear-facing trailer so that may be worth investigating. I've been looking at buying one in the next 12-18 months and i like the idea of rear facing, especially as Dev seems to jump off the front ramp when unloading :eek:

At the moment rear facing boxes are so much more expensive, the cheapest equi trek comes in at just over £5k. The Richardson Excel is £4.4k and the Rice equipoise is £5.5k. Out of those i much prefer the equi-trek but they are VERY heavy. My oh has a 4x4 pickup with a towing capacity of 3 tonnes so we could do it.. but I must admit i think i'm heading towards an ifor 510 which is £1k cheaper than the equitrek and even though they retain their value i just cant justify 5k on a equi trek until i get richer :D

[Willingbe]

Don't get mixed up with the maximum towing weight of the car versus what's considered to be the safe towing weight. Safe towing weight is considered to be 85% of the cars kerb weight. Just because a car can pull a load doesn't mean it's safe to do so. When the trailer is heavier than the car it can control the car, "tail wagging the dog" is an expression often used.

If you've ever seen a car and caravan overturned, or a car with its back wheels in the air, held up on the tow bar of a caravan you'll know what I mean.

I've known one person who's horse trailer overtook his car, the suction of a passing lorry was enough to pull it round and car wasn't heavy enough to stop it. Fortunately in that case the horses didn't have any major injuries.

Looking on the net the 4runner is approx 1785kg Kerb weight, 2475KG max tow weight, I'd limit myself to an Ifor Williams 401 single horse trailer under those circumstances.

[eventerbabe]

equi treks are gorgeous, we had a dealer bring a demo model to the yard for us all to look at BUT you would be looking at about £7500 for the day trekka, more for the fancy models.

i HATE ifor williams. fine for ponies but i will not be putting my cob in one again.

tbh, you may be cheaper buying a lorry. i've seen loads advertised round my way, one i'm particularly interested in which is an A plate, but 1 years tax and MOT/plate for £2k, WAY cheaper than investing in a trailer and tow car.

[DITZ]

nice looking trailers but very expensive.

[helenc]

There are plenty of cheaper lorries that are in good condition. Don't let it put you off that they have done lots of miles, they are built to do lots of miles.

Personally I would have a lorry over a trailer any day especially if I was going to be spending 5k+ on a trailer. I'm actually trying to find a p ex for my 4x4 & trailer against a small lorry.

I have a LWB shogun that I think would pull an equitrek but I wouldn't want to pull one with that, it's not just about the pulling itself but about braking - that is the most important thing - if your car can't stop the trailer then that is a very scary situation & the trailer could easily end up going quicker than the car & jacknifing, I wouldn't dream about letting that happen to my horses.

[DavidH]

if your car can't stop the trailer then that is a very scary situation & the trailer could easily end up going quicker than the car & jacknifing, I wouldn't dream about letting that happen to my horses.

I think it needs to be remembered that the car does not have to stop the trailer. All horse trailers have braked axels thus all the car has to do is be able to resist the trailer sufficietly for the trailer brakes to be applied.
The accidents seem to happen when either the trailer brakes aren't maintained and the car has to then brake the whole combination or a sideways force is applied to the trailer (lorry going past etc). This is where the weight of the car comes in to play but it is not the only element in the equation. Wheel base, tyre quality, suspension and number of axles the trailer has all have an impact. One of the reasons the equi has 3 axles.
Just looking at kerb weights and towing capacities is too simplistic. Driving ability also has a MAJOR impact.

[Willingbe]

Driving ability also has a MAJOR impact.

How true, but do you really want to find out that you haven't got the skill at the point that your horse and trailer are overtaking you?

[Clare-22]

Thanks guys, I am finding this really useful :) I have copied this to my partner in hope he will take pity and help me buy a box :D yeah right :rolleyes:

[Angel2]

Have you looked at the Bateson range the Ascot is huge (2x 17hh and integral tack locker) is relatively lightweight, and can be ordered with american doors and a short pull out ramp. I can pull 1 large horse safely with a short wheel base shogun but if we have 2 horses then I use the oh mercerdes 4x4 which can pull 3.5 tons. my youngsters (4 and 5) travel in it extremely well. Ssang Yong have a new 4x4 out called the rexton, its slightly bigger than a shortwheel base, can pull 3.5ton (braked) and you can pick them up as an ex demo for about 16grand and they are not too expensive to run. Lorries are great but it always seems you have to pay out a grand every time you plate them unless you buy something new and expensive.

[nicolaj]

We've got a Wessex Clubman which can take two horses up to 16.2. A dream to tow and unladen weight is low.

Personally I don't like the Ifor, for a start the front unload ramp is on the righthand side. What if you need to unload on the road in an emergency, you would do so straight into traffic. (Yes I know that is very unlikely, but you need to think of these things!).

Equi-trek are very nice, but heavy, as others have said for the price you can get a nice small lorry.

Think about what you need it for, are you just going to go to day events or plan to go places and camp overnight such as Milton Keynes?

There are good and bad points for both, lorries tend to be older in the lower price range, so need to think about availability of parts, still need to consider the laden weight as 7.5 tons includes the load, not the weight of lorry then the load.

I found it useful to go to a trailer dealer that had a number of the different makes on one site, which really helped to make up my mind. However, finding somebody that does is like a needle in a haystack! Had to travel down to Ross on Wye to a dealer who had all the main makes!

Good luck!

[Clare-22]

It is a real dilema thats for sure :rolleyes: If I were going to go for a trailer it would need to be a rear facing one as she did not travel too well in the normal 505 Ifor, so I would be looking at the more expensive models, and still no guarentee she will travel better in it, but from the research I have read there does seem to be good evidence that they find it less stressful. I could buy a older second hand lorry (not front facing though), my boyfriend has offered to sell the 4x4 so that is an option now, but we would only have around 6k to spend, so would be looking at quite an old model and I am worried about buying a duff one :eek: (although we would get a pre purchase check, but that is no real guarentee)

I do have a bit of a hang up about the safety of trailers and I am worried about towing a trailer myself.

Short term I need transport to take her out to XC / show jumping schooling, off road hacking, shows, all local stuff really but long term she has the potential to do something like Milton Keynes and I would like to compete her a bit more seriously in a year or so.

:confused:

[Kanuma]

Personally I don't like the Ifor, for a start the front unload ramp is on the righthand side. What if you need to unload on the road in an emergency, you would do so straight into traffic. (Yes I know that is very unlikely, but you need to think of these things!).

if you have to unload onto a road then you should have the police there and the traffic stopped anyway. if you dont then it becomes very dangerouse. ive had to unload onto the road before when we had a horse flip out and go down in the trailer. the problem with a left hand unload is that you unload onto the pavement, which is generaly not wide enough for a horse to turn on so you endup stuck on the ramp or comeing off it at a funny angle and that invites injuries from the ramp, or sw3inging wide away from the curb to be able to get the ramp down which invites some idiot to try and undertake you because it blocks the road. also on country roads you useualy have a hedge or a fence or a wall on your left hand side! a front ramp is no good if you cant get it down

[nicolaj]

The point I was trying to make Kanuma, is there are a lot of things you have to think about when making such a large and expensive purchase.

If you were involved in such a serious incident, which I hope nobody is, then I wouldn't doubt that the police WOULD be involved.

From my own observations, with regard to standard trailers, Ifor are generally the only ones that open on the right hand side. I'm sure some of the new continental makes also unload on that side as well.

I'm sorry that you did have a bad incident, and I hope that your horse and everybody involved are okay, but being over critical of other's observations doesn't really help Clare-22 make a decision.

[Kanuma]

we had 2 large ponies in at the time, one freaked out and started scrabbleing then went down in the trailer ended up with her legs under the legs of the other pony. thankfully other pony didnt freak out to much, we pulled up on a quiet sideroad, got other pony off trialer and put him in someones garden for a while, whilst we calmed the one on the floor down (jumpers make wonderful blindfolds), took out the middle partition (removeable middle partition is essential in my book) and got her back on her feet, she was then walked home (only 3 miles), whilst the other pony was put back in the trailer and went on the original desination. thankfully the pony who remained upright came out shaken but otherwise unharmed (as you can imagine he didnt like trailers for a while after that) the pony that went down went shocky and lame and had gashes in her legs but nothing more serious thank god.

i wasnt being overcritical, you made some valid points, im just countering them with my experiance and my oppinon.

ifor williams now do a herringbone trailer as well, my ponies seem to like that one (and you can put 4 ponies in it)

[nicolaj]

That must have been a very upsetting and very scary experience for you. I'm not surprised your pony is not happy in a trailer!

I'm lucky my boy will quite happily travel in both, usually in the lorry he has his nose sticking out of the window! Must be quite funny for other road users to see his nose protruding!

[Kanuma]

when we put him back on the trailer afterwards i think he was in shock as he walked up the ramp no problem, but the next time we loaded him it took us 3 hours, since then we have loaded him alot and he is now happy in the normal trailer and he likes to travel with the top door of the ifor williams open if he has company but closed if he doesnt, took us 6 months of regular practice and gentle, slow, short journeys to get him happy again though.

ive got to get this pony to go in a lorry now, he likes the herringbone trailer (a friends trailer not mine, mine is a standard one) so that shouldnt be the problem, but the ramp is steeper then the traliers.

[Clare-22]

Kanuma, do you know if the herringbone Ifor trailer needs a seriously big 4x4 to tow it like the Equi Trek?

[Kanuma]

yes a very very big 4x4!! i think it weighs aroung 1.6 tonnes unladen then youve got to add your horses as well

[Clare-22]

yes a very very big 4x4!! i think it weighs aroung 1.6 tonnes unladen then youve got to add your horses as well

:eek:

[Kanuma]

the smaller one weighs 1.4 tonnes unladen this is it
http://www.iwt.co.uk/products/horse/hb510xl.htm
the larger one you can get 5 ponies in and is 1.6tonnes unladen
http://www.iwt.co.uk/products/horse/hb610.htm

[Clare-22]

Thanks for the links, they are bigger than the Equi Trek :eek:

Today I went to a really nice dealer who had both horseboxes and trailers. She gave me loads of advice and showed me some used lorries she had for 5-8k, to be honest they were really ropey :( She had an Ifor Williams body on a newish transit chasis for the same price which she thought would be our best option, but I didn't really like it, it was front facing and the ramp was very steep. I was a bit disapointed as she said she had an Equi Trek, not for sale, but that I could look over, but it had gone out. We now know our 4x4 has the capacity to row an Equi Trek, so tomorrow I am going to look at one first hand and see if that is an option, it's a bit of a trek ( :D ) away but it is the only place that actually has one on show. I am a bit nervous though as the dealer was very hard sell on the phone :eek: .

[Kanuma]

watch your weights carefuly, its not just the ability to tow it that matters, it is illegal (and unsafe) to tow a trailer that weighs more then your car even if the car is able to.

[show ponies]

Hi,

We have a equi trek -sports treka http://www.phht.co.uk/pdf/Sports-Treka.pdf . We love it to bits, it is so easy to do, we used to have a rice trailer and it was so much more work. The equi-trek is so welll desained, it takes us two minutes to hitch up, the ramp on them its just safe to laod on because they are so wide and low.http://www.phht.co.uk/equitrek.htm
They little bit of living in them is sooooooooooo good as well, we have a hobb,sink,sofa,table, cuborads in ours and its nice to get ready in there.

Theres also lots of extras that you can get on, equi-trek, we have two lockers,headborad,spare wheel,etc.

We never have no prob pulling it.

they are very good trailers.any question ask!

I say go for it!!!!!!!

http://www.equitrek.co.uk/range.html

[Clare-22]

Can I ask what 4x4 you tow it with show ponies? We looked at a Sports Treka today and loved it, but was slightly taken back by how big it was :eek:

[show ponies]

Can I ask what 4x4 you tow it with show ponies? We looked at a Sports Treka today and loved it, but was slightly taken back by how big it was :eek:

A shogan

just got this picture off the internet.


we have no probs pulling it they are very easy

[Clare-22]

Thanks show ponies :D

[Angel2]

i got my trailer from Appleyard trailers, The Kennels, Strelley Village, Notts Tel: 01159 293901. They are agents for Equitrek, ivor williams, bates and the herringbone Vans Fautras. They had one of everything in stock when I went up and were very helpfull with no hard sell. They are just off junction 27 of the M1.

[Clare-22]

Thanks Angel2, a little too far north for me, but I would have probably still gone if I didn't find a dealer nearish :)

Hopefully tomorrow I will be putting an order in for a Show Trek, just need to work out the finances, probably won't be ready to pick it up until early next year, but I am still a bit excited :D

[Clare-22]

I have had a good think about this and now my plan is to save up more and get a lorry in about 12 - 18 months. In the mean time I am going to look out for a second hand trailer and try and get her used to travelling in that until we get the box. So if anyones hears of a nice trailer for sale, can they let me know.

many thanks :)

[Bozzy]

Roughly whereabouts are you in Berks?

[Clare-22]

I am in Warfield, between Bracknell and Windsor :)

[**Krista**]

Can i ask why you dont want an ifor?

[Bozzy]

I've pm'd you Clare :)

[Clare-22]

Thanks Becs :)

Krista, nothing against Ifors but I travelled my mare in a 505 and she didn’t like it too much, she may just not travel well in trailers, but after speaking to people I was suprised that many people didn't like Ifors and I have also heard that some horses just don’t like the ride the Ifors give, something to do with their suspention and being more bouncy. So I wanted to steer away from them, the 505 was also quite small, she may be happier in a 510 but I don’t think my budget will run to that. :)

[**Krista**]

OKey dokey!! Was just curious thats all :D Good luck in your search :D

[Clare-22]

Thanks :D

[PortaHorse]

Have one - DayTrekka - In fact, I had the same dilemma - I didn't want a traditional trailer (narrow loading, front facing) and couldn't justify keeping a lorry and separate vehicle, and have not regretted buying it one bit.

I travel two large-ish (16.3 and 16.1) horses in it, they load brilliantly (ramp low and wide - more like a lorry ramp than a trailer) and travel really well in it - backwards facing seems to really help with their balance.

I pull mine with a Landrover Discovery - diesel TDI and it is the same width as the trailer - so I know if I can get through a gap with my Landrover, the trailer will just follow. I had never pulled a trailer before, so was extremely nervous, but after a few drives, am very confident. My old horse would never travel in a traditional trailer - pops up the ramp like a pussy cat.

As for swinging trailers ... never experienced it, but suspect if you travel too fast for the weight, then it could happen whatever vehicle/trailer combo you have.