|
|
east of indianapolis | Been looking at trailers and have friends that believe featherlite is great. What do you feel is best trailer for money and please don't say Wilson my inlaws have one and I dislike it. Would you buy a 8x24 or a 7x24 hauling cows to and from pasture and show cattle to shows thanks |
|
| |
|
Northwest Iowa | Had a Diamond D steel 20ft trailer for 15 years, went out looking for new the past summer, bought a 24ft Featherlite with heavy rear gate and 2 divider gates. LOVE IT! The new led lights are bright and wireing all fully enclosed. I did go with the optional rubber flooring, which is very nice footing for milk cows(holstien). Big enough for 10 mature cows and found I can get 12, 1200# springers on at once. Pulls half as hard as my old 20ft steel did. Just good solid trailer form ground up! IMO well worth the $. Priced within $100 of a wilson, and all welded construction, not pop rivits to wear and rattle. Pull down a gravel road 2-4 times a week and can hear no rattle I hear when the neighbor comes by with his wilson. Out built the others I looked at by a long ways. Buy a cheap trailer it will always be a 'cheap' trailer. Mine is 7x24 and a mature cow has plenty of room to move, would be a great show trailer. |
|
| |
|
central kansas | I`ve got a 8 - 26 Eby . Like it for hauling cows because they can stand side by side . Nice for show cattle as they have room and don`t get as dirty . Lots of options on trailers today. Study and talk to others and then make decision for yourself. |
|
| |
|
| We currently pull an Eby 24'x7' and if i was doing it all over again i would definately get one 8' wide, it would still be an Eby this is has durable as you can make one and we are not easy on it. We use it like you intend to, haulin cows back and forth to pasture, hauling feeders, and going to cattle shows. The main reason we wish we had an 8' is it always seems like all the tack would fit a little better when were packing and yearling heifers and bulls would be able to ride more comfortable. Also, if your going to be doing the showing for very many years get the extras like tie rails in and out as well as the ramp on the side door and get the rolling cut gate, i think the rolling gate is one of the best things about it when goin to shows.
Edited by Wright-Way 2/2/2012 19:42
|
|
| |
|
north west arkansas | I have 06 7x30 featherlite and I have been really pleased with it so far. I have sliders on all gates and it is 3 axle. I dont want anything any wider because to me you it gets hard to see to back up to the chute. I dont know how many miles are on mine but its on its 3rd set of tires. One complaint I do have is it needs a safety latch on the interier gates. A cow or calf can accidentally unlatch it.
Edited by wayneNWAR 2/2/2012 19:47
|
|
| |
|
| Hauling show cattle get a 8x what ever. that extra foot make s a huge differnce
|
|
| |
|
Embarrass WI | I have a '03 Featherlite 7x20. When I got it, the first trip to the livestock market, the guy there acted like he was disappointed that I had such a poor trailer. In his opinion, Featherlite was cheap but not very good.
I thought it was high enough priced, I have not had any trouble but it only gets used to haul cull cows to market. I don't move anywhere near the amount of cattle some folks do BUT the lights and brakes have never given any trouble. I can't say that for every trailer I have owned. |
|
| |
|
| Have a buddy that pulls gooseneck trailers 5 days a week hauling hogs...just the other day he said the 8ft wide featherlites are pure junk compared to the others they run...I think he said12-13 differant ones....the 7 ft are fine but the 8ft are not heavy enough... |
|
| |
|
| I've got two Featherlite trailers a 1992 7'x18'and a 2007 7'x24'. The 92' has been pulled over some pretty bad two track roads, lava rocks, buried in mud, you name it. Lot of highway miles too, has held up good. But I won't like lie, I've had to weld on it over the years, about every two years. I've replaced the door hinges on the back at least 3-4 times. But the closes as good as day one, I've rattled and broke the rear slider gate off several times( just the top and bottom sliders). Finally had to weld one of the torsion axles on the left side, it was starting to crack. This trailer has an easy 300,000 miles on it, still has a lot of life left in it.
I've tried to keep the 24' off the two track roads, but it still sees a little time on them. I had them put the western package on it, plus I had them put a cam lever lock on the right side to do away with hinges. Hinges are the down fall of any trailer. Plus with the cam lever on both sides, I can load/unload any place. Instead of all the weight on the hinges, it kinds of lets the door float in frame. It will wear on cam locks over time, but you can just weld them up in the wear areas. I personally don't like the roll up doors, they wear out too in the rollers, and they have the door track that hangs down. If you load tall saddle horses, you have to watch you don't hit your saddle.
The only reason I went with Featherlite was a close dealer and he took care of us, but he exited the business a year ago. I also liked the running board step on the featherlite, sure is nice to use it to get on and off saddle horse. I tell everybody my horses are worth more, because they are Featherlite broke.
All the punch side trailers you can't run a rope thru side and pull cow into trailer, easy to do with Featherlite. The problem with all of them are they just keep making them all thinner and thinner. My 92' has more metal in it than my 07'.
Edited by Russ In Idaho 2/2/2012 22:55
 (025 (600 x 450).jpg)
 (026 (600 x 450).jpg)
Attachments
----------------
 025 (600 x 450).jpg (56KB - 223 downloads)
026 (600 x 450).jpg (46KB - 202 downloads)
|
|
| |
|
north west arkansas | I have never seen a back door setup like that, but if looks like a pretty good idea to me. |
|
| |
|
Midwest | http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2012-CHEROKEE-24-STOCK-TRAILER-HORSE...
Nice trailer |
|
| |
|
Mound Texas | I think if you want the best money can buy it would be a Bloomer, hands down. They are a touch pricey
but like always you get what you pay for. Second choice for me is Elite. They are built to last and will stay
together over the long haul. I now have one 8X32 Bloomer and two 7X24 Elites. Other well built trailers
in the order I place them for quality would be, 4 Star, C&C and Platinum. After that I would just stay
with an old steel Gooseneck. |
|
| |
|
| Wayne, the only down fall of this setup is the right handle is angled out a little too much. You really need to watch that you don't bend handle backing into 8' loading chutes. I need to either cut a little off handle or lower it down so it doesn't hit. I don't like to loan it out for that reason. But I've seen guys bend any handle on any door. I've sure liked it up to date, especially if loading saddle horses and the wind is blowing, I can open the side so the wind doesn't blow it shut.
If I could make this trailer better, I would change the first divider gate to a floating one so I could move it forward to 4'. That way I could load a 4-wheeler or horse in front after loading back of trailer. I would put a fold down door in front, that is a ramp. The three 8' compartments are nice, but you would utilize the space more, especially if you are cowboying alone and only have one saddle horse. Same with bike, if you load bike on back you are wasting some space as you don't want to load a cow with bike. |
|
| |
|
N. E. Indiana | Eby is the best we have found Have a 1990 8x24 and a 2003 8x26. I would go with hyd. brakes. When is come to size of the trailer, it is kind of like a shed, go as big as you can afford and still get around. Remember you don't have to have completly full if you don'tt have the truck to pull it but you can't make it bigger either. Have seen many people through out my years of showing cattle buy a 7x20 thinking it was big enough and the first time they load it they run out of room. End up trading for a bigger one and cost themselves more money. Burnips in MI had a 8x26 Eby with the black nose panels and stainless nose front, 2 cut gates (front on rollers), curb side ramp, drivers side escape door, led lights, hyd brakes, 9.5x17.5 14 ply tires, aluminum wheels. A really loaded up trailer and they wanted 26500 I do believe. Seemed like a good deal to me. Said we could get with in 2000 of what we paid for our 2003. Ebys hold value really well. |
|
| |
|
Central Ky. | They've been trying to sell this trailer for awhile, might be able to get them to come to your price.
http://lexington.craigslist.org/grd/2811275073.html |
|
| |
|
N.C. Oregon | Look at Charmac. Built near Russ.
I have an 8x20. Had to replace the center gate latch.
If at all possible do not run any of them empty on dirt or gravel.
Yup, that is not always possible. |
|
| |
|
West central IL | Eby or a Barrett. we've got a 20 plus yr old Barrett, and the only welding we have done is from a blown tire on the fenders. I think the older featherlites were just as good, not really sure about the newer ones. |
|
| |
|
Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot | I like that as well. You've got some good ideas. Might have to come take a look before we buy a new one! |
|
| |
|
Central East River South Dakota | I just got me a new Featherlite this December, I went with the a 7.5' by 26', with a few show options. Black gooseneck, black along the roof, tinted plexiglass and a right-hand loading ramp. It is outfitted with 8,000lb axles and 14ply tires, and I Love It. Got around 1500 miles on it so far and it pulls way easier than the 7 by 20 Titan steel my dad has (which I used up until). I really like it for hauling my Holsteins around, the 7.5' width gives them plenty of room to stand side-ways, I also have the three compartments, 6', 10', 10'. I put my 2 not so sure footed animals in the 6' front section and they have plenty of room to get up if they chose to lie down on the trip. I am glad to hear there is other people who don't like Wilsons, when I brought up buying a trailer a couple months ago, it sounded like the movie "Cast Away"...."WILSON, WILSON, WILSON"
Edited by LazyJDairy 2/3/2012 19:26
|
|
| |
Please tell me about featherlite trailers or what to buy
