Hi guys, long time lurker, first time posting.

The short version of the story is this. I have had 2 horse trailers in my life. Both bought brand new. (Back in the days of having Mom and Dad..)

So now well into adulthood and getting one on my own... So used trailers are what I can afford considering my credit and unstable income.

I found this trailer on Ebay and my boyfriend and I went to see it yesterday.

It's a 1985 Trail Et Seville. Yes 22 years young. It has some rust and boyfriend who is a mr. Fix it type believes he can repair many of the rust that exist on this trailer.

We took pics and the album is here:

http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m147/Xctrygirl/Trailer/

I am an experienced horsewoman and I defer to trailer experts that I have already spoken to and forwarded on the pics. And since the trailer would need a Maryland inspection I know that this hurdle will help to clear up anymore issues we can't see with our eyes.

Just wanted to get your opinions.

Thanks very much,

~Emily

A friend of our bought a Trail-et new a few years ago. Her issues were the frame quickly rusting, the skin is aluminum and looks nice, the drop down window hinges were very weak and have been replaced, the window latch hardware broke, the axles were of a light load factor which prevented her from installing a LQ, the trailer wiring had to be redone from the bulkhead to the plug, the original tires dry rotted in three years, the dealer didn't honor the warranty or their own  installation on the AC.

There are many good brands available through this web site in every price range that are reliable and don't have to be continously rebuilt. Many of these brands have avid fans that would quickly recommend their favorites.

 We own an Exiss and Sidekick, and are very pleased with both. I personally would own many more brands depending on the type of construction, condition and pricing. Recently we sold our last steel trailer and I will never own another one, whether it is all steel or steel framed.

Talk with a lot of trailer owners, look at as many trailer as possible before you buy one. Go past pretty a check how its built and maintained. There are many people who have instilled their valuable info into buying a trailer in this forum. Read their experiences and you will come away with a good perspective on how to buy a trailer.

Best of luck

Boy, I hope that thing is cheap!

Personally, I wouldn't even look at it. The first appearance is good, but with the rust going through in some places, and the pitting on the undercarriage...looks like a LOT of work and money.

Ditto the others, the main structure and floor has too much rust for my taste! It would take a serious amount of refurbishing to make that trailer structurally sound.

There are lots of good buys in used trailers, keep on looking!

Hello, We also looked at this trailer on ebay since my waife wants us to trade our bigger trailer for a 2 horse straight load with mangers and tack storage under them. (the perfect setup in our opinion).

Funny how the photos of the rotten metal never gets in the for sale ad photos. This was a nice looking trailer on eBay but in person it looks like a lot of work.

This should be a good lesson to everyone, buy in person, not by photos and descriptions.

It's a shame, because from the outside its a really sharp looking trailer!

The pics of the rear corner by the ramp hinges show severe structural cancer. Yes, you can cut out the bad structural members and replace all the steel - BUT in doing so you will generate enough welding heat to totally ruin the aluminum skin that looks so nice. I see a lot of rusted OUT areas in your pics - ie, the steel is GONE. Total replacement of the frames in the doors, the ramp hinge area, there's just a huge amount of work to be done to make it safe for the horses. The asking price is way out of line with the trailer's condition - for that money you should be able to get one a little less fancy but a lot more sound.

Hubby and I did a complete frame-out restoration on an all-steel 2 horse years ago - but we took the entire skin off the frame, replaced a LOT of the tubular frame members with new steel, them reattached (spot welding) the outer skin and had all new sheet metal skin on the inside - with new marine plywood core. Ended up with a couple of thousand buck in material and a LOT of hours,, and an essentially brand new trailer that served us very well for many years. With the Trail-et aluminum skin, this type of rebuild would be very difficult, if not impossible. Getting the skin off would require drilling out EVERY rivet and then hoping you didn't crease the skin panels - lotsa work, and possible a big cosmetic mess.

To be real fair, I LOVE Trail-et trailers - our big five-horse GN is a 1989 model, and it's simply one of the best made trailers I've seen, but then it's been immaculately maintained all of it's life, too. This one though.... walk away.

Edited by halfpint23 2007-08-28 9:22 AM

Ok so we passed on the red Trail Et. But just so you all know, I had sent those pictures to both Trail Et's main office, and a friendly Trail Et dealer who is a friend of a friend.

Both of these people would qualify easily as experts in this case in my mind. Their experience and familiarity with the product cannot be disputed. They both said it looked good for its age, and that the work we'd have to put in was about average for the time its been on the road. The dealer said in its current condition and in comparison to the market that it was in fact close to its asking price. (He stated about $400 below would be fair in its condition)

Now... that being said I walked because I didn't think my first experiences with a new trailer should be spent sandblasting and cutting away rust! Silly me, I'd actually like to go to competitions and wash and clean it afterwards as a form of bonding!!!

So the hunt continues. I am off to see a trailer this afternoon that a very close model to my first trailer ever. The pics look good and its nice to see the familiarity of the interior and looks that I was used to for 4 years.

I'll show you pics later!!

Thanks for all the advice.

~Emily