Horse trailer as a shell

[ThomD]

I've been thinking about the ways to build a custom shell. Since I don't have any interest in welding, I've been looking for odd ideas that might work. I discovered that a 2 horse bumper pull trailer is just about the right size for us.

Pros: Available with AL frame and skin, fiberglass roof, insulated, should be plenty strong. Might be able to use the sub frame as the basis for a 3 point mount. Windows have bars. Size is right.

Cons: Weight - empty around 3,000 lbs. Any "conversion" would involved pulling the axle and wheels, so there is some weight savings there. Price- $15k-$18k looks about average for a new one.

My wife gave me a funny look when I suggested this.

 

[Nuclear Redneck]

There are high end horse trailer that have quarters built into the front end of the trailer for riders. I believe that they are used on the rodeo circuit; perhaps showing them toyour wife will show her that the idea is not that unusual.

 

[whatcharterboat]

Horse play

Hi Thom,

I can tell you my wife would give me a lot more than a funny look if I suggested this.

If you don't want to fabricate a shell, what about taking the wheels of a caravan and fitting that? We have helped a couple of guys to do this. Also have seen a few on the road and the end result wasn't to bad. Although most of the caravans built in Oz don't last to well over serious corrugated roads.

We did one conversion were we built a standard work tray and made the customers old pop top caravan (with the wheels removed) so that it could be jacked up to remove the truck from underneath.

Alternatively why not get a local fabrication shop to weld a basic frame up and you skin it and finish it all yourself. When I think of the shape of a horse float, I can't imagine the round front working to well. Sorry just can't picture it.

I know most of the trucks we build at work come out of a mould but we did do this basic one about 2 years ago. It was a steel frame with aluminum panels glued on. Only one we have done that way. Easy if you have access to the right gear or maybe someone else could do the cutting and folding. Just to give you an idea. I thought this would be a good size for an ExPo rig with a fixed roof.

Regards John

 

[kerry]

There's a guy in upstate NY selling a Fuso FG with a standard truck box on the back that he converted to a basic camper. If I can upload, I'll upload a picture of it.--Nope, still can't upload.
For me, putting a trailer or truck slide in camper on the back of the truck avoids a lot of unnecessary custom work.

 

[paulj]

When camping in Idaho in June I saw a camping trailer that looked,from the outside, like a horse trailer. The couple had several dogs, but no horses in sight. I didn't approach the camp site, so can't say whether the whole thing was living quarters, or just the front part. Also I have no idea whether it was a home made conversion, or outfited by the trailer manufacturer.

 

[ntsqd]

Acquaintance of mine used a large gooseneck horse trailer with a living suite in it to follow the MTB racing circuit as a vendor one season. From previous experience he knew that a 'normal' motorhome or travel trailer wouldn't last the season. They used the horse stalls for their own bikes and for product.

 

[haven]

A very successful combination of trailer and Fuso was built by Carl Hunter of Vancouver BC. Carl bought a 17 foot Bigfoot trailer like this:

And mounted it on this Fuso FG chassis (note the custom second fuel tank)

to create this overland vehicle:

That's Carl and his wife, Mary, in the photo.

It took only 90 days for Carl to plan and build this vehicle. He then drove the combination 25,000 miles around the world. He had only one problem during the journey. A custom bracket holding a rear fender had to be re-welded in China. Otherwise, the camper and truck worked very well.

Chip Haven

 

[ThomD]

I've thought a lot about stock campers and I have 2 very hard to match requirements.

40+ weekends per year, we load the bikes and drive 30-120 minutes to a ride. It might be a quick trip up the local mountain, or one of my wife's crazy 200k rides or a triathalon.

So what I ever I do/get has to store 4 bicycles (to support longe trips), and be small enough to drive into a supermarket parking lot without too much hassle. I've decided that means 7 ft wide and not an inch longer than 20.5 feet. Oh, and it must have a head and shower.

I've thought about getting a frame done up and skinning it myself. That remains a serious choice. My wife is supportive of the idea, but she has a hard time thinking about any plan that would 3 years to complete. If I had a shell ready to go and just added systems over time, that might not look like as big of a hurdle.

We may end up with a Sportsmobile, but for some reason I can't get excited about them.

 

[ntsqd]

I don't see moving around inside with 4 bikes in an SMB. Is inside bike storage a requirement? Reading that Tri's are in the mix I can see the bikes being a rather large investment so security of them is easily a large consideration.

The used trailer as a shell option offers up gutting/partially gutting/progressively gutting the inside and remodeling it to your needs, while also supplying the larger hard parts that would be a significant purchase if done totally custom.

 

[ThomD]

I don't see moving around inside with 4 bikes in an SMB. Is inside bike storage a requirement? Reading that Tri's are in the mix I can see the bikes being a rather large investment so security of them is easily a large consideration.

The used trailer as a shell option offers up gutting/partially gutting/progressively gutting the inside and remodeling it to your needs, while also supplying the larger hard parts that would be a significant purchase if done totally custom.

Yeah, the down side to an SMB is lack of interior space. Inside bike storage is highly desirable. I am willing to accept a hitch based mount if I absolutely must, but I won't be a happy about it.

I have wondered what the cost would be to have a custom frame done and skin it myself. I keep thinking that if all the high end horse trailers are around the same price, a one-off could not possibly be cheaper since I wouldn't do that much of the work myself.

I'm perfectly comfortable putting in all the systems myself, so that saves lots of money over having that part done. I figure that if I buy the bits for each system as I install them, then it becomes a pay-as-you go project. If it takes 12-24 months to fully kit out the interior, who cares as long it is functional as a basic box in the interim?

 

[Guinness44]

Horsetrailer got my attention. The price you quote is fancy for a twohorse BP.
A horsetrailer is stout, as they must withstand kicking, panicking equines, and shifting loads. Lots of different sizes. If you just need the box to put on a truck, call the makers, and see if theyd help you out? Why butcher a nice trailer? The big livingquartertrailers, are not too offhighwayworthy. Horsetrailers are rather low to the ground (springovers have been done). And LQ prices can go thrugh the roof and the newslideout options are adding more weight than ever. (BTW my steelskin 2H slant BP was 4800 bucks made by Logan in 2002) but is a basic stocktype, no frills but safe trailer).

 

[ThomD]

Guinness44,

Yup, the normal conversions to LQ are not at all what we'd be looking for. I did notice that a couple of trailer makers do offer significant options for customizing; it would be great to be able to work with them directly to leave out what I don't want and such. This would definitely not be used as a trailer, just a box. As near as a I can tell in my limited web searching, this price range does seem to be about the top of the heap for this size. Cimarron, Hart and Equispirit I think were the ones I looked at.

 

[Guinness44]

When we were looking, Logan, CM, and Fourstar were THE ones. (Granted our Logan is the "cheapo" one, but still made the same quality as the others. I needed the "cheapo" one, because it was only one of the few left with slipperspring axles (for "offhighway" the only way to go). The others (rubbertorsion) run on one axle at the tiniest dip in the road.

 

[haven]

The Bigfoot travel trailer that Carl Hunter used is 8 ft wide. The Fuso FG with trailer loaded on the bed is 19 feet long. (The trailer is 17.5 feet long in stock form, including the hitch and propane tanks. The hitch was removed, and the propane tanks re-located under the Fuso.)

If you want a narrower vehicle, the Casita and Scamp travel trailers are slightly narrower than 7 feet. I mention these because they share the same durable fiberglass construction as the Bigfoot.

If you're looking for a more conventional solution, how about the Sprinter van that Sportsmobile built for Brian Lopes?
http://www.sportsmobile.com/3_bikes.html

 

[kerry]

I'm working on mounting a camper on a Fuso FG with a 13" Stahl service body on it. Camper will have a bath and rig will not be over 20" long. There will be space under the forward portion of the camper in the service body into which a bike garage could be built, not unlike Hackney's version. The camper portion will not be as stoutly built as a horse trailer because no camper is built that stout as far as I know.
I've been driving the truck and service body around time and it's definitely manageable in the mall parking lot.