My 16.3 TB horse has decided to start kicking the ramp when hauling down the road with another horse. I noticed a depression in two places on the ramp. So, I am going to take it to Gator Trailer and get a quote for replacing the wood (3/4 in plywood) to fix it, and another quote to replace the ramp with an aluminium ramp. Is one material better than another? Which one (wood or aluminum) will last longer? I love my trailer and am pretty mad that my horse decided to start this bad habit. I might quit hauling others and see if it's just him being territorial.
Posted 2016-07-06 6:31 AM (#167494 - in reply to #167480) Subject: RE: Replacing Ramp on Hawk Trailer
Expert
Posts: 1989 Location: South Central OK
Having experience with kickers and ramps I'd say steel is your best friend as it can be bent back to shape and dealt with by more shops than Aluminum. Replacing the plywood and putting on a coco type mat might be enough to absorb the kicking impact. If horse kicks with others in the trailer it night be because they were stepped on or got into a fight. I had two mares try to kill my ramp in a kicking contest once coming back from the vet, it bucked and jerked my F250 so bad I thought I'd been rear-ended and it bowed my ramp. The ramp held and thankfully it was repaired easily, that's when I started to learn the true value of steel and a good welder! Finding an Aluminum welder can be very difficult and once you do...get in line, they are always busy! Fix your trailer and try to figure out why your horse started kicking then work toward curing the problem. If they stepped on each other maybe adding a partition that goes down to the floor (sometimes called a stud divider) can fix the problem or wrapping legs can also add some protection (wrapping can cause major problems if not done correctly, so get training in a hunter barn or from your vet.) Good luck with fixing the trailer and your horse!
Posted 2016-07-09 9:41 AM (#167538 - in reply to #167480) Subject: RE: Replacing Ramp on Hawk Trailer
Member
Posts: 17
Hi, Replacing the ramp deck is straight forward, if you are having someone handy do it and paying it is probably worth $200 or less, remove the ramp rubber, remove the ramp deck, replace with 3/4 decking making sure to screw into the aluminum ramp supports, caulk the edge, reinstall the ramp rubber..... you can use treated - figuring out the why is the thing to doRisaHappyTrailsTrailers
Replacing Ramp on Hawk Trailer
