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Member
Posts: 7
Location: TN | Just found this site and looks like a lot of experienced people so before I go and talk with a dealer about designing my new trailer, I thought I'd ask some real users their likes and dislikes, things they'd buy or do again, as well as those they wouldn't. Here is where I'm starting I've had Elite Stock Combo trailers and will go that route again. I don't want to go over 30 ft total floor length so 10 ft horse compartment, 8 ft mid tack and 12 ft or less for Living Quarters. I do plan to go from 7" wide to 8" wide. I've got a an F350 DRW Flatbed 6spd 4X4 for a tow vehicle. This won't be a slant load trailer so the 10 or 12 ft LQ will be straight wall. Give me your thoughts on how best to set this trailer up for typically 1 person but no more than 2. I do want a door between LQ and Mid tack. Thanks in advance for everyones advice. Don't need any arguments over trailer mfg or conversion company....I need to know things like...couch yes/no...dinette yes/no...frig size...stove recommendations....bathroom/shower recommendations. Best floor types...windows-how many and where....slideout? Thanks Vetontheway |
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Expert
Posts: 3802
   
Location: Rocky Mount N.C. | By looking at your name makes me wonder if this will be a "mobil clinic"? Do you show? Do any/much trail riding? How many horse do/will you be hauling? Some ideas... http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/home/trailerdetail.asp?ID=223831 http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/home/trailerdetail.asp?ID=188455 http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/home/trailerdetail.asp?ID=224125 http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/home/trailerdetail.asp?ID=192160 |
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Member
Posts: 7
Location: TN | Won't be used for vet related activities. Excursions are typically 3 days, occasionally a week, and once a year for a 1-2 months. Hauling 2-4 horses for canine field trial addiction |
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Regular
Posts: 78
| I suffer from the same affliction What you put in there totally depends on what you want. I keep mine really simple because I don't want all the home-type responsibilities (cooking, cleaning) and am willing to sacrifice comfort to avoid them. I have friends that have more deluxe type accomodations, and it seems like the dinette, a comfy bed, a shower, and a furnace are what they all enjoy. I've never seen one of them cook anything, and they all stow their beer in a cooler rather than a fridge. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 736
Location: Western WA | Couch or dinette comes down to personal preference and how you will be using your LQ. If you will hanging out watching TV you may want the couch. If you like a place to sit and eat, or will need to be working via a laptop while travelling and need work space, you may prefer the dinette.
I prefer a plain vinyl floor to wood, laminate, or anything fancy. Vinyl cleans up easily and is durable.
I would get as big a fridge as you can, especially for that once a year 1-2 month trip.
Slideouts add about 1000 lbs to the weight of your trailer but make a huge difference in movability inside the LQ. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 447
Location: cedar rapids iowa | I have had a 7' and 8' wide and I like the 7' much better, especially if you are doing a slide out you will have plenty of room. I thought I wasnted a dinette until I realized that my dog would not have a place to jump to get down so glad I have a sofa. Mine was a slant so it had side compartments. Could never get anything out of them. Seemed like you always wanted what was on the bottom or couldn't find anything with out removing everything. The 7' was much nicer to see around and seemed alot lighter. A larger fridge and seperate freezer is a must have. My current trailer also has a built in generator that I am so greatfull to have.
Edited by laurie 2009-10-16 7:19 PM
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Veteran
Posts: 233
Location: Pataskala, Ohio | We have a 10 foot SW with a couch; we find it useful but would also like a dinette. We have medium colored wood cabinets and have been looking at the trailers at Congress with light colored wood and like it much better. We looked at our trailer during the day but spend much of our time in it during the night, our lighting is sufficient but not bright except up in the bed area where there is plenty of light. A black out curtain or wall between the bed and the rest of the trailer is a must along with black out curtains on the windows if you like to sleep past sunrise. I recommend checking, not taking the salesman’s word for it but check the black and gray water holding tanks size. We were told we had 33 gallon tanks when in reality we only had 15 gallon tanks, installed in error. Get the largest holding tank available, water adds up fast. We also were to have a 43 gallon freshwater tank but lucked out and got a 96 gallon tank. We only have a single sink and would like a double sink for doing dishes. Get the biggest refrigerator you can, we never have enough room especially for leftovers or food that came back with us in a people bag from a restaurant. Our trailer does not have a generator but we have a loud portable one we take with us to charge the batteries when needed for our week long dry camping trip to the mountains of Colorado. Toward the end of our week our batteries started to show the charge was running down but it was night so I did not start the generator thinking we had power to get through the night. Mind you this is in the mountains of Colorado so it was cold at night; we had snow, so the heat was on. The batteries ran down in the middle of the night and the blower to the furnace was not moving air fast enough to keep the box under the seat cool. As it heated up the paint started to smoke, it smoked enough to set the smoke alarm off in the middle of a very dark night. I sat up in bed trying to find a light switch or flashlight all the while the smoke alarm is screaming and the trailer smells of smoke, I was unsuccessful at finding either in the bed area but was able to get up and turn on the switch at the door and figure out what was going on. The point of this story is replace the smoke detector that comes with the trailer with one that has an escape light. Because of that experience I now run my generator midway through our vacation for about 2 hours to get the batteries up to full charge once again. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 383
Location: Texas | That's the size of my LQ, straight wall also, 12'. Biggest fridge I could afford in there, 3 burner cooktop with a countertop that folds over it when not in use, couch, deep sink, furnace...... wish I had got a bigger freshwater tank, probably will in the future, 40 gallon black and grey tanks, microwave, fantastic fan over the bed. Bathroom has a small sink, toilet, and fairly large shower. Also a powered vent in bathroom to get all the steam out after a hot shower. Since it's a custom I would also have them increase the height of the trailer, makes a lot of difference when you want to sit up in bed.
Word of warning, that's going to be really heavy for a 1 ton. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 447
Location: cedar rapids iowa | Originally written by Vetontheway on 2009-10-16 2:44 PM
Won't be used for vet related activities. Excursions are typically 3 days, occasionally a week, and once a year for a 1-2 months. Hauling 2-4 horses for canine field trial addiction
How do you get 2-4 horses in a 10' area???? Also make sure you have glass shower door and not a curtain. Some one else suggested black out curtains and I am adding those. Even at night sometimes security lights are annoying. |
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Member
Posts: 7
Location: TN | How do you get 2-4 horses in a 10' area???? No dividers, 8 wide, horses aren't overweight and they get along. |
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Veteran
Posts: 236
Location: Little town in Pa | My husband field trials with his bird dog and our new 3 horse LQ trailer and I use the same trailer for dressage shows. So the first thing I would say is make sure you get a seperate toilet and shower. The space saved is just not work the inconvenience. Make sure you get mangers so you have lots of space to put your stake out chains and dog equipment and buckets. My husband keeps his dog crates in the first horse stall so a door going between the LQ and the horse trailer part is very convenient. We also put in a side ramp on the first stall so getting to the dogs doesn't involve climbing up and down a big step. And make sure you get a furnace, I know your field trial season is probably is some pretty cold weather so you will need to stay warm and most field trial grounds don't have RV hooks ups. You may want to save the money and not buy an air conditioner. And a couch that converts to a bed can save you money in the long run by having a place for a buddy to sleep when you split the expeneses when you haul to field trials with a friend. We ended up buying a Lakota with a 6ft LQ which does not have a couch, just a little love seat. But you can get a couch when you get an 8ft LQ. Good luck shopping ! |
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Veteran
Posts: 184
Location: Indiana | Big fridge -- closet for hanging clothes- I have a 3 burner stove w/oven -- also double sink in kitchen. Seperate toilet and shower I prefer couch over dinette---- Our short wall is 12-- mid tack about 3 ft -- we also have a closet/shelves in the mid tack also. One thing I really don't like is the kitchen sink next to the bed as I see in so many trailers-- just a personal thing-- |
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Member
Posts: 11
| we have an elite 3horse with 12 1/2 ft living quarters with all options available for sale if you're still looking .. this is one of 2 we have .only has 100 hrs on generator and pulled less that 3000 miles..
if interested contact me ralln 737 at aol dot com
can send pics.. etc
is a great setup and good quality
r
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 824
Location: Kansas | I'm curious-why an 8-12 foot mid-tack? And I would think you'd want a door from mid-tack to horse section as well as from LQ to mid-tack, given that setup. |
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Expert
Posts: 2614
| I can tell you one really important fact that you might not have thought of,but,be SURE the thing is tall enough (7'6") so you won't have to be a contortionist to get in and out of the upper bunk.If you have a 7'tall ceiling,and the ductwork is installed for your A/C,it will drop the ceiling considerably.It will wind up right in your face if you are in the bunk. Our first trailer was a nice platinum,but,this was how it was ordered,apparently.It was a nightmare to get in and out of the bunk.Also,the tack wall was not collapsible,and,there was no escape door on the first stall.I can't do without either of those items.Plus,drop down windows with bars that drop down separately.It's kind of like building a house,you have to live with some mistakes the first time or two,and,they can be expensive if you decide you can't live with them later on. |
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Member
Posts: 7
Location: TN | The large midtack is where all the stuff field trialers take along must go...dogs, atvs, tack, water barrels for horses that get staked out. As mentioned earlier, I'll put a large ramp/door on one side and smaller normal door on the opposite to open and get air flow throught the midsection for dogs in boxes. |
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Veteran
Posts: 229
| Vetontheway, If you are ordering new, I'll second what a few others have had to say and add a few: 8 foot wide, 7.6 foot tall, big fridge with seperate freezer, biggest fresh and waste water tanks that you can get, double sink, stove/oven, propane furnace, day/nite shades, built in generator (not manger or rear tack), decent sized clothes closet in the bathroom, drawers in both kitchen and bathroom, double steps up to the bunk, and for the exterior, a hay rack. Hay racks, even if you don't use them for hay are great storage places for lots of things. I carry an additional 48 gallons of water in a hay rack mounted tank. This way a person can carry extra water weight without increasing pin weight. |
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Veteran
Posts: 214
Location: lyle,mn | Big fresh water tank, furance, hot water heater, 2 hole sink. microwave, big refrig. lots of storage, shower and sinker seperate, black out shades, AC, stove with fold over counter top, swing out saddle rack, oops you said midtack, and door inbetween LQ and midtack |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 406
Location: Minneapolis, MN | Mine is a smaller version of what you are looking for.
7'-6" tall, 8' wide. 10'-6" in the horse area, with a stud gate...straight wall. I can get 1 (16h) in the stud area and one 16h + 2 15h horses behind the gate.
My mid tack (dog room) is 66" and the LQ is 92" or so. No toilet or cooktop...cowboy shower in the stud area. Just spent a week at the Gordon Setter NFT...no problem.
If you plan on, as others have stated, the biggest fresh, black and gray water tanks...with the dogs, ATV and 4 head. Look at upgrading to 17.5's for the tires. You will have no tire issues.
I'd pass on the walk through from the mid-tack to the horse area....nice wall for dog boxes seeing you will have a ramp and a camper door.....use your mid-tack as a mud room, walk through door to the LQ. |
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Regular
Posts: 78
| A friend of mine just installed a door from mid-tack to rear...says it makes life a lot easier to have the option to take dogs from the mid-tack to the chaingang outside the rear, rather than going out the mid and around to the rear. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 402
Location: Lockport, Illinois | The horse area is only 10' long, there is already part of the mid-tack wall lost to the door from the LQ to the MT, if you put another door from the MT to the horse area, more area would be lost where you could put cages. You already have a large ramp and a small door in the MT, and it would only be 10' to the back of the trailer. Do a little walking and save the valuable wall space in the MT. Make sure that door/ramp for the atv is made to your specs when the door is open. A friend of mine had a $125,000 trailer made for fiel trialing, when he received it, his atv would not fit, he had to sell the atv and buy one that would fit. |
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Member
Posts: 7
Location: TN | One neat feature available from Elite is a cut gate that slides throughout the stock compartment so that if you are hauling 2 horses you can slide it back and create an even larger mid-tack area. They also make a full swing panel inside the cut gate so that when you get to your final destination, you can swing it open and use the entire stock section of the trailer. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 720
| Put the walk thru door in. If you don't want to use it, leave it shut & stack boxes in front of it. Or maybe offset it hard to one side. But its so much easier to put it in now. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 824
Location: Kansas | My thought about the doors all the way through between compartments was staying out of the rain/mud if the weather got bad. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 406
Location: Minneapolis, MN | Originally written by terri s on 2009-10-24 8:57 AM
My thought about the doors all the way through between compartments was staying out of the rain/mud if the weather got bad.
He field trials dogs...mud and bad weather come hand in hand.
He needs space to hang stuff, rain gear, roading harness', tack, collars leashes, bark collars, e-collars. Shelves for vet gear, some farrier tools.
Some have opinion about the trailer structure, for off road use, when a slide is installed....field trialers aren't parking lot queens.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 824
Location: Kansas | Obviously you do not clean your own trailer or you like to clean more than I do! I avoid dragging in any more mud/dirt than I have to although I never thought of myself as a parking lot queen. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 406
Location: Minneapolis, MN | Originally written by terri s on 2009-10-24 9:08 PM
Obviously you do not clean your own trailer or you like to clean more than I do! I avoid dragging in any more mud/dirt than I have to although I never thought of myself as a parking lot queen.
The reference to parking lot queen pertains to those trailers, that the only time they ever leave the pavement is when they pull into a fair ground parking lot.
Here's they deal. I just attended the Gordon Setter National Field Trial in Nebraska. I was there for a week. It had rained/snowed prior to arriving. It wasn't dry, in fact it was mud. So much so, that we had 20 oat straw bales delivered, and then scattered them out so that we could give 35 dogs a place to lay down on, other than mud, when they were staked out.
It nearly got dry 4 days in, then it started raining again. The night before we left 2" of rain fell, and continued while we were packing.
Between two rigs, we had 35 dogs and 8 horses. All those animals need to be fed and watered...and dog cr*p needs to be picked up. Doesn't matter if there's mud, or snow or rain...it gets done. |
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Member
Posts: 7
Location: TN | Wyndancer...Sorry to hear about the mudfest but yes, that is most field trials.... but I love the Nebraska Sand Hills....I go every chance I get. Most horse folks have never been to a field trial but when you are hauling performance animals (horses and dogs) the trailer has to be designed efficiently. As you mention...try getting 35 dogs in and out of a trailer 2-3 times a day from a trailer designed improperly. You can't walk around the trailer for weeks at a time to attend to animals on both sides...the mid-tack is the most important section of the trailer for the field trialer..that is where all work begins and ends. |
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LQ Design Considerations - Newbie!
