Posted 2012-05-29 10:40 PM (#144316) Subject: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Member
Posts: 49 Location: Central Florida
Before you suggest I look for a sticker, tag or vin number ... it doesnt have any of those things. We looked everywhere. Even had a friend that knows all the spots for vins help and there's nothing. This trailer was apprently around at a time when you didn't need them. It originally also did not come with safety chains!!?? :o
The trailer came from the south tip of Florida but prior to that it came from Georgia. I know this because there was a sticker on the side of it that said Circle Oak Farm, Bainbridge, GA
Trailer was purchased from a friend who's husband bought it. He passed away unexpectedly. He never registered the trailer in their name because he had planned several months of work on it. It has totally new electrical, new light fixtures, new tires, new floor etc etc etc. It's still in the name of the previous owner ... who she has only an address for. She cannot find the title and is mailing him for a copy of the bill of sale so she can get me the title.
Anyway with that said ... I do not know the brand. I have to wait. I'm anxious and impatient. LOL
Note: what isn't pictured is a full shot of the back end. The left door (which once was a rear tack room - the door and saddle rack are gone I hope to find replacements once I know the brand name) is in one piece. The right door (entry for the horses) is actually a dutch style door and opens in two pieces. So essentially the rear door has three parts to it. Does this make sense?
The entry to the LQ is on the right side of the trailer (not pictured). The door you see there on the left is the front of the horse area. This is a 4 horse slant load trailer. All steel.
If anyone has one one of these, or knows what it is, I'd sure love to hear your thoughts.
Posted 2012-05-29 11:47 PM (#144323 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Veteran
Posts: 134
This almost looks like a older Turnbow. I think that is how you spell it. Just from the shape of the nose and how the trailer looks in general. Is it a steel trailer? Hope this helps. Good Luck.
Posted 2012-05-30 6:34 AM (#144325 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Location: Central Arkansas
I think it looks like an old Sundowner or Zepher from the late 80's. Both those lines were made in the same shop but the striping & decals were different. I had a 86 sundowner that had the same drop down doors and same windows but my striping was a little different.
Posted 2012-05-30 4:04 PM (#144338 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Member
Posts: 49 Location: Central Florida
Well hmmm ... Zephyr is pretty dang close. What caught my eye is the 3 piece back door assembly. I am going out to work on the trailer in a bit. I will get a picture of the back door becasue it looks REAL similar to this one.
The only bugger about the Zephyr is that when I google image them, they all have an oversized window on the door. I do not have that. It's the same window as the access windows for the horses ... So ...
But the door ... that's not common. I've seen Bee trailers have that but I'm 95% sure this trailer isn't a Bee.
The trailer is steel. As far as I knew - Featherlite was all aluminum trailers, no?
Posted 2012-05-30 6:02 PM (#144340 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Location: Central Arkansas
Sundowner & Featherlite also made steel trailers. The Zephyer trailer in the listing pic looked to be a newer model with bigger windows and the newer style of camper door that came with a screen on it. If you didn't want a camper/screen door, than you usually got a metal door. Zephyer was a line that Van Saint John had made then custom decaled and striped. It was basically a generic Sundowner. Van died in the Sundowner corporate plane crash in NC back in the 90's. I had a deal going with him on some team penning horses at the time. He was a sundowner excecutive at the time of his death. I think this trailer looks like one of his late 80's model.
Posted 2012-05-30 8:50 PM (#144345 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Member
Posts: 49 Location: Central Florida
I had mentioned Zephyr to my husband and he'd found all of that information out. Very tragic. :(
I took a picture of the rear - so you can see what I mean about the similarity in the rear door configuration. The handle on the left side is what is going to set it apart from anything else, really.
Also you can see the front dressing room window. Makes sense that they'd do something smaller and more plain if it wasn't an LQ trailer. This one was not set up for camping. We are already wiring it for conversion.
Posted 2012-05-30 9:36 PM (#144349 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Elite Veteran
Posts: 736 Location: Western WA
The drop down windows, blanket bars on the tack door, and the striping all look very Sundowner-ish.I did find a Circle Oak Farm listing in Bainbridge GA if you care to contact them and see if they remember the trailer:http://www.manta.com/c/mr0m5tg/circle-oak-farm
Posted 2012-05-31 7:08 AM (#144357 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Location: Central Arkansas
That back door setup looks the same as what I had on my 88 Sundowner and my friends had on their Zephyrs. The top" curtain" of the horse load door comes off for the summer. Some of these doors had little round closable air vents in them like what you would see in the front of a 2H steel trailer. Some were totally solid.
I would think that sundowner would have records that reflect that.
Posted 2012-05-31 7:25 AM (#144358 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Location: Central Arkansas
I forgot to mention.....the piano hinges on the back doors will probably be the easiest thing to date the trailer with. They only did those for a couple of years. Different DR doors and windows were options. Also, some trailers came with windows up in the very front of the gooseneck but some were made without.
Posted 2012-06-01 10:11 AM (#144414 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Member
Posts: 49 Location: Central Florida
Well I have some possibly exciting news!
I talked on the phone to the lady at Circle Oak! She was really nice. I told her about the trailer and she's pretty sure that it was either a 2007 or 2008 Bee
I got her email address since the one on the directories online are the wrong email address and have sent her some photos to confirm that is her trailer. Can't imagine many farms in her area with that same name.
Hopefully she might have info on who she sold it to. She said she'd sold it a little over a year ago. Matches with the timeline of what I was told ...
Posted 2012-06-02 11:49 PM (#144461 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Member
Posts: 49 Location: Central Florida
well honestly I would have thought it was older too.
HOWEVER .... after sending the link to the album that I've shared here with all of you ... she now says that while the logo on the side is for her farm, she's never seen that trailer in her life.
Ok so ... how strange is that. :|
I've emailed both Bee and Sundowner with the link asking them to confirm if this is their brand or not and why I can't tell. Neither have responded yet but I'll let you know when they do.
Posted 2012-06-03 9:49 AM (#144468 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 402 Location: Lockport, Illinois
Trailer manufactures want their striping to be unique to them, so their trailers stand out and be recognized, with that being said, here is a picture of a Bee trailer...........http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/home/trailerdetail.asp?ID=389656
Posted 2012-06-03 10:16 AM (#144471 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 430 Location: TN
My guess would be a Bee, but it's got to be older than 2007/2008. If that is a 5 year old steel trailer, it has made me glad to have aluminum. BUT, I seriously doubt that is the correct age of the trailer.
Posted 2012-06-03 10:30 AM (#144472 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 385 Location: high desert, CA.
It looks like someone is trying to disavow the ownership of that unit. It also looks like it has been stored under water, or at the beach from all the rust and over paint. Wow! Our trailer in Hawaii did not rust that way. It has got to be an older trailer than represented.
Posted 2012-06-03 7:38 PM (#144486 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Member
Posts: 49 Location: Central Florida
I do know that the trailer came from Monroe County (which is basically the southern most tip of the Keys in Florida). So yeah ... lots of saltwater air. I am pretty sure that it's older than 2008. Though a friend of mine owns a 2006 3 horse bee and she was looking at my trailer today and betted money it's a Bee for sure. Not sure why that ladys farm logo would go on the side of a trailer and she knew nothing about it. o.O I've sent the info request to the DMV based on the license plate I have that was on the trailer. Through that, I can find the last owner. If they are still at that address, I'll be able to get the paperwork. If not, I will go to court and still get the paperwork. ;) For $500 ... how can you be picky eh? ;)
Posted 2012-06-04 8:31 AM (#144501 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 316 Location: Illinois
Maybe there was an insurance claim on the trailer?
Being where it is from, it is possible for a not so old trailer to get old fast. Florida weather is not kind to things left out in the weather. Especially as it seems this trailer had/has issues with leaking. Pretty evident from the spray rubber coating the roof to side seams, or is that just Rustoleum? Perhaps storm damage?
You could always send the pictures to Bee and see what they think?
Love a good mystery, will be interested in hearing what the DMV says about the plates on the trailer.
Posted 2012-06-05 7:45 PM (#144572 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Member
Posts: 49 Location: Central Florida
It's black rustoleum used as primer ... o.O
There are some leak issues in the front tack area, but not terrible. It looks like there are more leaks than there are. I was out in it just now in the rain and was standing in it. No leaks in the horse area. Just the three small ones I know of up front.
I sent photos to Bee early last week ... nothing back yet. I re-emailed.
Posted 2012-06-08 7:15 AM (#144663 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Veteran
Posts: 112 Location: Bow, NH
Not sure if the mystery has been solved but I think whoever said Bee is probably right on!! I've had an older steel Sundowner and an older steel Bee. It looks a lot more like the Bee to me. Plus, Bee trailers are made in Climax GA which is just down the road from Bainbridge GA.
Posted 2012-06-15 9:16 PM (#144863 - in reply to #144316) Subject: RE: Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
Member
Posts: 49 Location: Central Florida
Howdy everyone! I promised to keep you up on things as I found stuff out!
Ok so it's mostly been solved. After five or six emails and God only knows why I didn't get answers, and then re-emailing on their website ... I got an answer.
The trailer is, in fact, a Bee trailer from the mid 90's. That's all the information I got. The person I talked to answered me all in caps with a very short very curt sentence. In my world that's a way of saying "Piss off and stop emailing me"
It sucks cuz that's the person I'd have to talk to in order to order another rear tackroom wall and saddle rack. ... so ... :|
When I originally emailed, he emailed back and said send photos. So I sent a couple photos. No answer. So then I sent the email again with the link to the rest of the photos you all have seen linked previously. Still no reply. I thought maybe my attachments were being sent to spam so I sent him a direct no attachment or link email. No response. So I emailed customer service on the website again telling them what I did. I forwarded the email to the girl that responded. She forwarded it to the same guy I'd been trying to reach. Crabby impolite response happened. When you work customer service, an email should be replied to with a thank you and some type of politeness or apology for not seeing the previous emails.
I emailed the girl back after I got mister cranky pants response. She assured me it was not meant to be cranky but I'm not convinced. Heres the reply copied and pasted. This is ALL the email contained ....
"THIS IS A BEE TRAILERS AND WAS BUILT IN THE MID 90'S."
That's all I got in reply. No Hi, no 'sorry I'm not sure why I didn't see it' no 'Thanks and have a great day' no signature.
Geez sorry I was bugging him being a customer. Holy cripes. :(
And I'd always heard such good things about Bee trailers AND their customer service .. o.O
Guess they are too busy to bother with me or something. I dunno.
On the even more upside of things ... my friend I got the trailer from realized that her GPS was last used to pick up the trailer. Using that address from the GPS and my search skillz, I was able to determine that the person they bought the trailer from still lives at that address. I couldn't get a phone number though. Sucks.
I printed out the proper forms, sent a letter asking a few questions about the trailer - including the possible whereabouts of the saddle rack and rear tackroom wall and who he bought it from. I also sent an explaination of why I'm contacting him and what has transpired. Additionally, I sent the letter so he'd have to sign for it and with a stamped return envelope inside to make it just as easy as I possibly could make it.
Hopefully I hear back from him. If not, my next step is a court date.
Wish me luck
PS: if you happen to know of anyone with a rear tackroom wall and rear saddle rack for a Bee trailer for sale .. please let me know?
Would anyone care to venture a guess what brand this trailer is?
