I have a walk-thru door to the 1st stall on my trailer. This stall is used for storage of misc items and tack. I also like to use it as a mud room so that I don't track stuff into the living area. I use a padlock on the latch to keep it locked, but that presents a problem when I'm in for the night.
Rather than locking it from the outside and then using the camper door into the living area, I would like suggestions on how I can secure that door from the inside in such a way that there wouldn't be any dangerous protrusions that a horse could get hurt on if one was hauled in that stall again. I've tried tying it with rope, but I can't ever get it tight enough. Someone could slip a hand in and cut the rope. I've also used a bungee, but that wasn't the best either.
Posted 2006-01-28 11:12 AM (#36122 - in reply to #36114) Subject: RE: 1st Stall Escape Door/Mud Room
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 565 Location: Michigan
Can you contact your trailer's manufacturer and see if they have a lock for the walk-thru door? Mine has a lock and you have to use a key to get into the LQ area.
Funny story here when I first bought my trailer and please don't try this at home. The horse area was closed up and I walked into it from the LQ area and shut the door. Well not even thinking about it, I tried to open it and it was locked. Even though I have an escape door in the first stall it can only be opened from the outside. So here I was home alone and locked in the horse area of my trailer. Smart huh? I had to slide the windows open(on the drop-down window), thank goodness the screens slide and reached out to open the drop-down window in the second stall. And then here I am climbing out of my trailer through the drop-down window. Can you imagine someone's surprise if they saw that while driving down the road.
Well live and learn. Believe me, I know my trailer inside and out now.
Posted 2006-01-28 1:54 PM (#36124 - in reply to #36114) Subject: RE: 1st Stall Escape Door/Mud Room
Veteran
Posts: 121 Location: MO
Funny you should mention that story. The same thing happened to a friend and I a couple of years ago. We were at a trailer place out in the middle of nowhere late on a Sunday afternoon. Of course, the place was closed and no one was around, but they had several trailers unlocked. We went into the dressing area of one and through the walk-thru door into the horse area. I shut the door just to check it out and then went to open it -- no go! Thank God the drop down windows weren't locked. I was able to get my hand out of the slider and open the window. Then I climbed out and had to jump to the ground on rocks the size of baseballs in my flip flops. Ouch! But at least we got out of there. Our husbands weren't expecting us home for hours, and our cell phones were in the car, so we could have been trapped in there all night long.In answer to your question: Yes, my walk-thru does lock. And as a result of the above experience, I keep an extra key hidden in that 1st stall. I would still like a way to secure the escape door from the inside as I have some equipment/tack in there that I would like to keep locked up.
1st Stall Escape Door/Mud Room
