Horizon Trailer COPYCAT

[sundaypunch]

This situation reminds me of someone building a gas station across the street from an established station in a small town. They have the advantage of being familiar with the existing station's business model and services. They can copy the good points and change things they think they can improve on.

In addition to the owner not being thrilled about the new station many of the loyal customers are pissed off at the newcomer. In the end each business will usually fail or succeed based on it's own merits.

 

[Gregny]

I'm glad to see this tread turn around.

Welcome Bob.

DITTO!!!!!!!!!!

 

[elcoyote]

Bob, welcome aboard!:beer: Good to have another trailer manufacturer with many years of experience on this site. As you can see this site is fiercely protective of AT due to all that the company does for the overlanding community. AT has been the only NA expedition trailer company that I know of to successfully manufacturer a large amount of trailers on a monthly basis and has set the bar very high for others to follow. You will not find a finer group of guys than Mario, Martyn and Scotty.

In so saying that, you could not have picked a better set-up, IMHO, than the Horizon to begin your trailer build. AT knows that competition is a fact in a free market and is what defines free enterprise and entrepreneurship. I think that Mario said it best in this post…

...We will preface this by saying that we believe that honest competition is good and that a rising tide raises all ships. We know that trailers are becoming more popular and sought after in the overland expedition community, in part due to our efforts our the past seven years. It is only natural that others will start to serve the market...

Thank you for restating what we had said in our first post.

I'm glad to see this tread turn around.

Welcome Bob.

Agreed!

 

[bob]

I am back!

Having built 29 of my trailers, I have moved on to a different type. I post this here as so many had very dark views of me and my abilities. I would like for those to see what I am building now, still on the hobby side, but soon to change.

You can see my latest trailer build in the skersfan shuttle thread.

I guess I will be indirect competition with AT and Socal Tear drops. Which I more than welcome. In honesty I did not enjoy buildig the box trailers. These challenge me to do things, to improve on old ideas and make a trailer that is useful and strong, that can be off roaded to the limit of the tow vehicle.

I welcome your comments and ideas. I have not copied, looked at or thought about another tear drop. The design is mine and mine alone. Although it to is based from Ouray, Colorado. I saw a cab over camper that I liked the lines of.

I am building these to accomdate the fairer side. No more ladders, no more tent mattresses, enclosed potty and shower, hot water heater, locks on the door, a real stove, micro wave, solar power, 110 power, AC and heat strip. All the things the wife demanded in a trailer. And yet be aggressive enough to satisfy our manly needs.

I have towed the trailer approximately 1000 miles so far with no structural problems, just a water leak from the breather tube on the water tank. Its maiden voyage was this weekend to Julian and did the 250 miles flawlessly. Even got better mileage than the box trailers due to the aero dynamics I am sure. It does weigh more though.

This is a steel framed trailer up and lower. If production becomes a reality I will be using alluminum and foam walls on the production units. I am working with a large RV manufacturing company.

 

[Hannibal USA]

Having built 29 of my trailers, I have moved on to a different type. I post this here as so many had very dark views of me and my abilities. I would like for those to see what I am building now, still on the hobby side, but soon to change.

You can see my latest trailer build in the skersfan shuttle thread.

I guess I will be indirect competition with AT and Socal Tear drops. Which I more than welcome. In honesty I did not enjoy buildig the box trailers. These challenge me to do things, to improve on old ideas and make a trailer that is useful and strong, that can be off roaded to the limit of the tow vehicle.

I welcome your comments and ideas. I have not copied, looked at or thought about another tear drop. The design is mine and mine alone. Although it to is based from Ouray, Colorado. I saw a cab over camper that I liked the lines of.

I am building these to accomdate the fairer side. No more ladders, no more tent mattresses, enclosed potty and shower, hot water heater, locks on the door, a real stove, micro wave, solar power, 110 power, AC and heat strip. All the things the wife demanded in a trailer. And yet be aggressive enough to satisfy our manly needs.

I have towed the trailer approximately 1000 miles so far with no structural problems, just a water leak from the breather tube on the water tank. Its maiden voyage was this weekend to Julian and did the 250 miles flawlessly. Even got better mileage than the box trailers due to the aero dynamics I am sure. It does weigh more though.

This is a steel framed trailer up and lower. If production becomes a reality I will be using alluminum and foam walls on the production units. I am working with a large RV manufacturing company.

Old thread ,but nice to see others in the market! and in the lions den....:sombrero:

 

[Box Rocket]

Nothing against Adventure Trailers (they make a great product and set the standard in many ways), but I'm pretty sure they weren't the first ones to build a trailer using the "Chaser" style. Just sayin....... So IMO the people freaking out about their stuff being copied need to chill.

there will always be different products with strong similarities that aren't straight up copies. Imitation is the best form of flattery right?

 

[New Horizons Overland]

Welcome back Bob. Hope this thread continues to improve. Hope to see ya on the trail.

 

[MadChad]

You go Bob!
He has what this country has lost(passion, drive and ingenuity).
In a day where global economy is shoved down our throat every time we look for something made in USA, I applaud his PDI.:clapsmile

 

[haven]

The thread talking about Bob's "teardrop" trailer is here.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/66932-Skersfan-s-New-Shuttle-Pod-Trailer-Build
Skersfan is Bob's name on several other off-road forums.

 

[SWITAWI]

I love the fact that a month ago Bob had just 3 posts on ExPo dating from '08, and now this thing is taking off...

:victory:
Go, Bob, Go... Indeed.

 

[TRegasaurus]

A trailer is a trailer, there's only so much you can do before some start looking alike. There's no foul in that.
I like the looks of Bobs trailer and teardrop, so keep up the work.

 

[bob]

Thanks to all for the kind words. I appreciate the comments about my new tear drop type.
Headed to Anza Borrego this weekend, and then up to Surf and Turf to show it off.

Just a couple of things to do to it to finish it off, I would really like to get the awning on it before Surf and Turf.

 

[Ozrockrat]

Better check your facts.

I also find it interesting how many Toyota drivers suddenly have such disdain for reverse engineering, the company got its start in the 1930's reverse engineering Ford and GM products.

Toyota actually bought the old tooling from GM for the original land cruiser. I call that a commercial transfer of both IP and goods, not reverse engineering.

 

[Arctic Cat]

My dear friends; There is no doubt that AT offers a great trailer. There is no doubt that other individuals have built their own trailers. I myself am a disabled veteran living on disabled veteran pay (I can assure you it's not a whole lot). As much as I would love to have an AT Chaser or AT Horizon, While a lot of you are able to afford an AT trailer (Kudos to you) and as much as I would like the AT trailer or a lot of other trailers that are for sale, my reality is that I would never be able to afford it. So with that said I purchased a military M101A2 trailer to modify into an EXPO trailer. Now I do come to this forum and look at other people trailers, including the AT and copy ideas in order to build my trailer. I even exchange email with Paul May from Equipt Expedition Outfitters about the RTT and he was kind enough to answer my questions and provide me some hints on building the lid for my trailer. But being disabled, I also have to think about ideas to make my trailer meet my needs. If the case here is about copying ideas, I believe that we are all guilty of that. We all come here to share new ideas with each other. Sometime we share new ideas and we copy the ideas from other individuals. I believe that is the purpose of this forum. Let's be civil about it, just my two cents.

 

[ANDYROO]

Can't believe that Bob used those "2 round things" either side to put the trailer frame/box on....I've seen them before somewhere....blatant rip off ....LOL