Hello,

First time trailer owner here!  I wanted to get some advice/tips on what you do to keep the inside of the trailer clean.  I have been putting shavings in while transporting then sweeping them out after the ride.  Is it enough to just sweep out with a stiff broom after, or do you have to spray out the mats and all of that.  How often would you do that?  Thanks for any advice.

I think most of us clean them after each use. I will let mine go a couple of times if the shavings are good and dry and the horse hasn't messed so much I can't pick it out. Wood or aluminum floor? How heavy are your mats? Before I got my lightweight mats I would generally pull them memorial Day and Labor Day to do a thorough soap & water cleaning. With the equifoam mats I have now I pull them more frequently just because it's not such an ordeal.

Here is some food for thought- we have a older bp stock trailer which we haul cattle with. Now cows are really, really messy,nothing like horses at all. The floor is wood and we rarely clean it out. It can goes months and months yet the floor is solid. We generally bed it down deep with straw if we are hauling home new cows/heifers ( dairy) since its usually a long haul. But if we are just taking them down the road to the sale, we don't. The old bedding usually gets cleaned out when we cannot shut the middle divider anymore. So we can honestly say its horribly neglected. So when people tell you to clean it out, wash the mats,and do this 3-4-5- times a year.....probably not. I do like to sweep out the old straw/shavings in my horse trailer fairly regular for nothng else but its nice to have it cleaned.

This is not to say you shouldn't clean it out. Do what you want if it makes you feel good. But wood and alumiun floors have been put to the test by cattle for many years and they hold up quite well.

Sorry, forgot to tell you.  Its aluminum floor.  I got a 2h bumper pull - Sundowner.  Its brand new and I am just trying to stretch the "brand-newness"  of it!!  I have really thick heavy mats so I've been trying to scrub them up without taking them out and getting everything soaked.  Not easy.  Thanks for all of this advice!

Libby

We remove manure from our trailers as soon as possible.Sometimes I will clean it out with water hosing,but usually I only do this if the horses have urinated in the trailer.Then I take trailer/barn soap and put it in a hose-end sprayer like the one E Z All makes,or a plain lawn sprayer will work,and hose it with this,and lift the mats,spray under them and then rinse with clear water.I remove the mats if the floor is wood to allow for drying.Once a year,I will clean a wood floor with Murphy's Oil Soap,let it dry 24 hrs or so,then apply Thompson's or Olympic Deck Seal with a hand held sprayer.But I'm a fanatic about my trailers,so,that's probably overkill for most folks.

How long do you haul when you trailer your horses.

I put a bale of shavings in and pick the manure out each trip.  I pick the trailer and throw the manure off after a ride.  Most of my trailer rides are 30-60 minutes. A couple of times a week.  So not too much build up. A bale will last me a month. When it's soiled, I'll sweep all the shavings out. And usually hose down the floor before puttin new shavings back in.

When I was competiting and hauling 6-10 hours each way, I had to pretty much sweep out after each trip.

If you use your trailer weekly, I would pull your mats about once a month and flush the floor with water to eliminate the urine. Wash the bottom of the mats as well, reinstall only when everything is dry. If the flooring is coated, you will only have to flush it at the end of each season.

If you store your trailer over the winter, it's a good idea to pull the mats and leave them out. The alternative is to place some two bys under the mats to allow air to circulate between the mats and flooring when the trailer is stored.

After a year or so, pay particular attention to the flooring to see if any corrosion has started. A good maintenance schedule will eliminate most of it from happening.

Gard

Sundowner has a schedule in their owners manual. If it comes to any warranty issues later down the road you need to be able to tell them that you followed their recommendations.

That being said...I don't pull mine like I should. I rake it out after every trip. I rinse it out every few trips, and if I have hauled cattle in it, I rinse it out immediately before it all sets up like concrete.

We wash out our trailers every time a horse is hauled. It keeps the trailer looking new and it keeps the smell out of the trailer. Even when we camp the trailer is washed out before we set up camp. We use the back of our trailer when camping for our dog and just to put stuff while camping. So it is nice to have it clean. After cleaning we run a fan to dry it and then put down rugs in the back. It extends the LQ a bit. We usually use something along the lines of Mr. Clean and a RV brush. It is a little extra work but by cleaning it every time it is used it always looks and smells new. All our friends think we are crazy for all that cleaning... Our Elite is an 04 and you can't tell there has ever been a horse in it. I think it's because we keep it clean. We do not use shavings because the dust and shavings get in all the cracks and crevices and makes it harder to keep clean.

Good Luck

One of the most important areas of your horse trailer is the floor.  Floors generally come in 3 types, aluminum, wood and rumber.  Each of these floor types needed to be cared for in different manners.  Each flooring type should be inspected monthly to ensure integrity.  If you floor system fails, your trailer is rendered useless, so this is an important trailer maintenance procedure. 

Aluminum floors are generally covered with rubber floor mats.  These mats need to be removed every 3 months and the floor should be thoroughly washed.  Horse urine is acidic and will erode aluminum floors if they are not washed.   A easy way to remove heavy, bulky mats is to use a welding type or duck bill locking plier.  This allows easy movement and handling of floor mats.  Inspect the floor for pitting or bowing.  Pits are an early sign of wear and something that should be inspected frequently.  Bowing can occur on many floors and create floor problems due to pooling of urine.  

Wood floors should be treat the same way as an aluminum floor as it relates to removing the rubber mats and cleaning them.  You should consider replacing the wood floor every 5-7 years for stability.  Inspect the wood blanks for cracking and dry rot. 

Rumber is a rubber composite wood plank floor system.  These should be washed and inspected every 3 months as well.

A small amount of horse trailer floor maintenance can save thousands in costly trailer repairs and ensure the safety of your animals. 

From: Trailer Tips / Millennium Trailers