Lily is $17 away from earning a new trailer. She found a $20 in a drawer and tried to give it to Paul, but he said she had to earn it. She'll have the opportunity to do so this weekend and it won't be too soon for me. (She doesn't have to earn the total price, just a portion. It's been a hard, slow slog of menial construction work, drudgery and splinters. Good for the soul and an eye-opener that physical work is hard so keep studying.)
She sure better work it out before we start going to Pony Club rallies. The old trailer is sound but needs a lot of work. It's steel and is rusting so badly that the horse can almost see sky. The new one will have a small tack/dressing room which will mean we don't have to haul stuff in Paul's Yukon. Once you put hay in a car, it's there forever. Even if you wrap it in a drop cloth. Diamonds aren't forever. Hay is.
The almost sad part is that for all of Lily's work, she's not getting the trailer she wants. She wanted an aluminum Gore, Trail-et or Sundowner. There's a huge difference in price between a steel trailer and an aluminum one. In fact, I don't understand how they can ask that kind of money for an aluminum trailer that doesn't even have an engine in it. I can get a new Toyota (motorized, air conditioned, music system, etc.) for less than I can get an aluminum trailer. Something is wrong with this picture.
We've looked at used aluminums and it's impressive how they hold their value. But not quite impressive enough to spring for one.
Right now the front-runner is a semi-custom K&K steel trailer (made by Bee) that is made of galvanized steel. They swear it won't rust if the paint is knocked off, but it will rust if gouged. We're considering the stock-type trailer with some of the options on the enclosed trailer, pictured below. It won't be soon enough for me -- or the next Pony Club meeting.
Happy New Year to you and your family and animals - all the best in 2009!
Posted by: Victoria Cummings | January 01, 2009 at 04:28 PM
$17 more, good for her!
I can't get over the price of aluminum trailers either. My husband (who worked in the aluminum industry) tells me it is because the price of aluminum is higher in the market than the price of steel. It still sucks!
Wishing you All a Happy New Year!
I hope you new trailer gets there in time for the start of your pony club.
Posted by: risingrainbow | January 02, 2009 at 12:45 AM
I have both a steel gooseneck & steel 2 horse trailer. My 2 horse is a 1994 Sundowner. Yeah, I couldn't afford aluminum either. However, this past week, I was pulling 2 horses when my hitch came off the ball of my truck when I hit a rough rr corssing at 60 mph. I quickly realized I was dragging the trailer only by its chains and it was whipping around behind me. The only way to slow it was to tap the brakes of the truck & then take the impact from the trailer. After 3 or 4 times, we finally came to a stop. I am not sure an aluminum trailer could have taken the impact to the truck as unscathed as my steel trailer did. And it protected my mares from any injury, although they were probably thinking "what the heck wa that ride all about?" Good luck!
Posted by: tammy | January 03, 2009 at 11:25 PM