Posted 2012-09-24 3:06 PM (#147184 - in reply to #147071) Subject: RE: Merhow Trailer
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 399 Location: Ottawa, Illinois 61350
Not at all..............
Merhow's quality has actually improved over the past several years, as compared to many companies that have taken quality the other way. They offer 3 lines of trailers, beginning with the EquiStar, which is a steel framed aluminum skinned trailer, with a wood floor. They than move up to the aluminum framed AlumaStar, which has many of same features as the top of the line Verylite trailer. It differs from the AlumaStar, due to having Merhow built drop down feed doors, and the very strong aluminum extrusion on the entire bottom half of the trailer; which makes the box very strong. Dividers in a Merhow are heavily built with stong slam latches, and are of the air-flow construction. The companies staff is very "hands on", and customer satisfaction on their products have been very high.
Posted 2012-09-26 5:51 PM (#147258 - in reply to #147071) Subject: RE: Merhow Trailer
Regular
Posts: 82 Location: Massachusetts
I have a verylite 2012 2 horse Merhow GN w 6 ft short wall LQ and I was just thrilled with the how good they are built.they make one tuff trailer.they haul like a dream too.I had a forgotted cup of coffee on the counter, drove 2 hours on back roads up and down some steep hills, when I got to my stop I noticed that not one dropped spilled the cup never moved.that says something about the Merhows.
Posted 2012-09-26 6:35 PM (#147261 - in reply to #147071) Subject: RE: Merhow Trailer
Member
Posts: 25 Location: Canada
We had a Merhow custom built this spring. It's based on the 2+1 model. We added a few extra feet and had dividers put in to make it a 2+2 model, with the horses standing head to head. A ramp was added to the tack room and we put our golf cart in there, as well as load the front horses through the tack room. It's a little complicated but it suits our needs perfectly! The Merhow people were awesome to deal with, and came back with some great advice in with the design we requested! The quality seems to be very good. It tows very nicely behind my F250 and looks awesome as well. We also have a Sundowner 4 Horse LQ with a 12' short wall, and I would say the quality is comparable as far as latches, fasteners, doors, matts, windows etc. go. I really like the Merhow because they lined the interior walls, giving it a nice tidy look, and making it easy to keep clean on the inside!
Posted 2012-10-07 9:37 AM (#147485 - in reply to #147071) Subject: RE: Merhow Trailer
Veteran
Posts: 112 Location: Bow, NH
The Merhow is nice trailer for light/medium use. I had an '09 Equistar that I really liked when I first bought it but a few things started to annoy me the more I used it. The dividers are amongst the best out there. However, the face shields that are standard on the Equistar don't hold up well at all. Another annoyance is the rear tack compartment on slant loads. Although they appear to be big, the way the saddle rack is set up they are not very condusive to handling western saddles/pads and makes using the back part very difficult. Also, I was very concerned about anyone (including kids and light adults) standing on the fenders when loading and unloading. The fenders just seemed very weak.
Although I overall liked the trailer there were enough annoyances that made me not even consider buying an LQ Merhow. I was also dissapointed in the resale value of my Merhow. I was finally able to sell it but at much more of a loss than I anticipated. It was not due to the condition or maintenance of my Merhow. It was serviced regularly and even smelled new when I sold it.
In a nutshell, I liked my Merhow but will never buy another one. Just my two cents.
Posted 2012-10-08 6:16 PM (#147524 - in reply to #147071) Subject: RE: Merhow Trailer
New User
Posts: 1
Location: Washburn Wisconsin
We recently purchased a used Equistar, 2003 model and "LOVE IT". The 10' short wall interior gives ample room for 2 or more adults IMO. The steel frame is well undercoated and still looks like new under the trailer. The wood floor also has a coating of some type on it and it too looks like new! The interior conversion was done by Windsor back when Windsor was done with quality control. I spoke at length with Dave Oberly who owned the Windsor Conversion Company back in 2003 and he had nothing bad to say about the Equistar trailers built by Merhow. The horse area seems to be very well done and safe for my horses. The swing gaits are padded as is the manger wall. All in all I am very satisfied with the quality I see in welds and finish on this Merhow trailer.
Merhow Trailer
