Just curious, but has anyone heard of Bison trailers? I live in Canada and several dealerships are now advertising brand-new Bison Aluminum living Quarters trailers for $27,000. This is a whole lot more expensive than other aluminum trailers in this area, not even close in price,probably $10,000 cheaper. I haven't seen them in person, just read the ads, but it sounds like for that money you get a 3 horse, 6' shortwall with a bathroom, furnace, fridge, microwave, hot water, etc.

I'm not actually in the market for one, last winter we took my used Featherlite and did a simple weekend package in the dressing room. And you know, the total costs were $20,000 or so for what I got, and that was with us putting a month worth of work into it. No bathroom, simple Wal-Mart appliances that need power to run, no running water or hook-ups. Part of me wonders how anyone could do a new aluminum trailer for that cost. Is there some real catches? What is the difference between a more expensive aluminum trailer, such as Sundowner or Featherlite, compared to these cheaper ones like Bison?

Woops - I just read my first comment and I said the Bison is a whole lot more expensive than other trailers in my area - what I meant to say is "a whole lot LESS expensive" than others in my area.

Sorry, that one word makes things a bit confusing.

One thing you probably should consider is where you are buying the trailer from.  If your buying new, does the dealer have a good parts department?  How many service bays and service techs?  When buying new, you buy the dealership as well.  If you are in an area that has an excellent dealer, that may be the tipping point for you on what you should buy.

For me, if I had a good dealer to deal with, I'd buy the new one over the better brand used.

One of the dealers who has just started selling the Bison trailers is the same dealer that I bought my used Featherlite from, so I can votch that they are good at servicing trailers. They mainly carry Featherlite and Logan trailers, I think they only have a few Bison in stock. And I haven't looked at them in real life, just seen their ads, which doesn't state the model number or size. Just states one or two lines and shows a photo "New Bison Aluminum Living Quarters", starting at $27,000" I think they're only aluminum skin, but without asking questions I don't know. But it just seems like a very low price for what appears to be a typical trailer on the outside. How do they charge that much less? Cheaper parts? Or what.

While shopping for a new LQ recently I noticed several of the big name companies offering entry level LQ trailers at low prices like this. Exiss is one of them. I found most of these were 7ft wide with a 6ft short wall. The basics were there but it didn't have the luxury look to them.  Once I got to the 8ft wide, 10ft short wall I wanted the prices were much higher. It seems to me that alot of the trailer companies are just trying to market to that entry level customer now.

We have friends that own a Bison and love it.

I would be hesitant to buy such a trailer for a couple reasons. You can find top-of-the-line, bigger trailers used for about the same price. You can also find leftover new trailers from the manufacturers of high quality trailers at very reasonable prices. I would question the quality of the construction at that price. Another question I would have at that price is it an all aluminum trailer or is it aluminum skin over a steel frame? What is the quality of the LQ conversion?

I purchased a 4 horse 2008 Hart Medallion leftover new this year for under $33k. It has a 6ft LQ package and is only 6'8" wide, but it has a 3.0 cu ft refrigerator, a/c, heat strip, stove, microwave, shower, toilet, kitchen sink,  loads of cabinet space, awning, aand radio/ cd player. It is not huge, but comfortable enough for two of us and our 2 dogs for short camping trips. I love the Hart quality and little touches they put on the trailer. For an entry level trailer, I feel that it is safe, well made and strongly constructed. I also knew Hart's reputation and quality. This may sound stupid, but this was my 5th trailer purchase and Hart was the 1st company to ever send me a thank you note. 

I would love to go bigger, but that means a bigger truck and more money. We took a regular vehicle loan on this one through a local bank and it will be paid off in 60 months.    

i know someone w/ a Merhow 5years old LQ and 3 horse.............she drove it from Florida to new england w/ 2 horses on and when she arived her frame was cracked in the rear horse compartment. She's an experienced hauler and didn't have any issues on the road or her leveling etc.

I've noticed some companies that have made real good trailers.....have in last 5 years come out with lines or entry level rigs that are really crap. Prowling used trailers I noticed a lot of the newer weekend warrior aluminums are beat to hell fairly quick. Not only the frame but the int/ext sheeting doors and what not just did not handle a horse beating them up

I personally prefer a steel frame, it's also easier to repair weld if there is a problem or you back into a ditch and bust something!

I think w/ aluminum I'd stick to the well proven companies/product

http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/forum/thread-view.asp?threadid=14665&posts=1

Bartley Heath
Bartley@DoubleDTrailers.com
Buy Factory Direct and $ave at DoubleDTrailers.com

As for the wood floor mentioned in an above post, any LQ, whether it has a wood or aluminum floor, will have a plywood or OSB floor base to which vinyl flooring is then applied. Either way, a major water leak, when not caught in time, could be a rebuilding issue in any LQ.

Sorry my misunderstanding.  I didn't look at the trailer.  I got the assumption that the OSB floor was installed right over the metal framing, and was the only flooring/subflooring in the living quarter portion other than the vinyl.  That OSB being the bottom outside of the trailer also.  Where an aluminum trailer would have the aluminum floor, and then the OSB on top of the aluminum, illiminating the worry of rotting from the inside or bottom outside and falling right through the floor.