I am looking into buying a 2 horse bumper pull and like the Eclipse (River Valley) 2 horse straight load w/o dressing room. Has anybody experience with this brand/trailer ? Quality of material and workmanship? Features?
Posted 2017-01-08 1:40 PM (#169086 - in reply to #169085) Subject: RE: Eclipse Aluminum Trailer
Regular
Posts: 76 Location: Michigan
A friend had one and they were involved in an accident after the driver suffered a heartattack. The truck and trailer basically drove into the ditch and both came to rest on their sides. They were traveling about 50mph and the passenger was able to grab the wheel and hit the brakes before it went completely off the road so they are unsure of the actual crash speed. The trailer did not hold up well. The frame buckled and welds holding internal pieces in place broke and and the pony was impaled by frame parts and broken parts of the divider and front wall parts on the inside as she ultimately came to rest in the dressing room. She luckily survived without any major injuries but if there had been a second horse in the trailer it might not have ended so well. As a comparison the truck only suffered some minor body damage. They took the insurance money and replaced the trailer with a Merhow.
Posted 2017-01-10 1:02 PM (#169094 - in reply to #169085) Subject: RE: Eclipse Aluminum Trailer
Regular
Posts: 76 Location: Michigan
It was a late 2000's regular cab chevy work truck with a bench seat no center console. They were in route to a 4-h meeting being followed by another parent on their way to the same meeting. The driver suffered an instantly fatal heartattack. The truck crossed into the oncoming lane and then proceeded onto the shoulder. At that point the passenger was able to hit the brakes and tried to straighten the wheel. The truck and trailer drove down into the a swallow ditch coming to rest on the drivers side. The parent following them saw the brake lights come on just as truck let the roadway. It never rolled. I worked for a vet, I saw an old steel framed Keifer that had rolled twice with four horses in it. Three walked away with scratches, the fourth wasn't so lucky but that trailer was in much better shape in the end than the Eclipse was. Every internal structure had failed. It was a 2 horse slant and the pony was in the first stall. The bulk head wall gave way and she ended up in the dressing room and the floor buckled underneath her. The fire department took the roof off in order to pull her out. The trailer was a mangled mess and to tell you the truth no one could believe what we were seeing. It seriously looked like it had rolled multiple times but there were witnesses other than the parent following them and they all said the trailer never rolled and the rig simply just drove into the ditch. This was a year and a half ago and the trailer was two years old at that point. Maybe they have made improvements, I can't say but I know I would never put my horse in one after seeing the aftermath of that.
Posted 2017-01-14 2:54 PM (#169121 - in reply to #169085) Subject: RE: Eclipse Aluminum Trailer
Veteran
Posts: 122 Location: Monroe, WA
I have a 2011 2 horse slant load Eclipse. I had to have a failed weld repaired, it was holding the spare tire so he checked all welds and he redid a couple others. It is fine for what I use it for, just hauling locally to lessons. Maybe because my other trailer is a 3H GN w/LQ, but the tires look pretty small and whole trailer isn't as robust looking as my Sundowner. But it hauls well and the horses are good in it. Wanted to ad that mine is from the old owner. I don't know if the current trailer manufacturing is better or worse.
Posted 2017-01-22 6:37 PM (#169159 - in reply to #169085) Subject: RE: Eclipse Aluminum Trailer
Member
Posts: 5
I have no personal experience with Eclipse trailers but I recall there was a horrific accident last year on the way to the Congress, and I was told the trailer involved was a 2-horse Eclipse. Neither horse survived. I would be concerned about the quality.
Eclipse Aluminum Trailer
