Saturday, July 3, 2010

Horse trailer major ouch

I have a couple blog posts to catch up on. The first is how I put my horse trailer in the hospital, and on life support. Still not sure if it will make it or not.

Getting ready for our big trip out to CA, it was time for a couple new tires. I had cleaned it out in the horse compartment, complete with a good blast from the garden hose.  I was happy at how much easier it was to clean the corners since I had replaced the rubber mat on the wall behind the horses. Headed to the tire shop, and got the two tires I needed, and then headed home.  When we moved here, our road was gravel almost the whole way to town. Slowly they have paved sections, but it is still a country road.  At one spot, there is a large tin horn drain that goes under the road. The road narrows at that point, and the edges go from a nice shoulder, to a straight down drop off, or "hole" around 4' deep.






 Chugging along, just 2 miles from the house, and I realize I am too close to the edge, I try to get the rig moved over to the left, but too late. My trailer drops into this hole on the right side. A big jolt, I glance in the rearview to see tires flying, and for a moment I think I have actually flipped the trailer. I come to a stop, and am pretty shook up, and scared to go look at the damage. I am thinking "Well, there went my two new tires".  I go back, and could not see the condition of my tires, as they are gone.



 Including the wheels, and axle arms. I have managed to snap the axles at the arms clean off the trailer, which is now sitting on its frame on its right side.


 Called hubby, called US Rider to come tow it, and talk to a neighbor awhile who stopped to see if I needed help. He found my tires and wheels. One went in the brush to the right side of the road, the other went all the way over to the other side of the road. We retrieve them, and would you believe the tires are still in perfect condition?





  I unhook from the truck, run it home, and bring back my 1/2 ton, to follow the tow truck to the trailer place, so I can unload my "stuff" out of the tackroom.  My goodness I have a lot of stuff in there.

I carry insurance on the trailer and camper, actually listing them, with values. Somewhere I gave a value, which I found out was not enough to cover replacement of a trailer like this one. So first, be sure to talk to your insurance company, and make sure you are covered well. Many just depend on their trucks insurance, and hope that will cover what ever trailer is being towed behind it. Glad I actually had the trailer listed, as the insurance has been such a smooth process so far.  Next, because of the value listed, my trailer has been listed as totaled. (sigh) As unattractive as it is, I LOVE my trailer. I have spent a lot of time doing little things to make it work best for me. Adding hooks, rings etc. where I wanted them to secure and hang stuff, special plates added to attach Hi-Ties, bucket holders. It just works. But, I decide to start looking for another, while waiting for insurance to finish up.



 Boy howdy! Bumper pull trailers for 3 or 4 horses, that I'd actually put my horses in are expensive! Amazed at some of the prices on used trailers.  So, we are considering doing a buy back from insurance if the trailer shop thinks the trailer is structurally sound enough to put the money in to it. I'd still have some out of pocket expenses, but in the long run, might be the best way to go. Meanwhile, a friend has loaned us their bumper pull they do not use, to be able to keep conditioning for Tevis, haul to the vet if needed, and our farrier appointment. We will go to Tevis in my friends rig.



This is a tough trailer, and I keep thinking how bad it could have been had it not been as well built, or what could have been had I had a horse on board, or if the trucks tires slipped off in to the hole. I'm pretty sure the truck would have flipped on its side due to the depth and extream drop off of the hole.

3 comments:

Mel said...

Wow! That's incredible, I've never heard of anyone ripping the tires off their trailer! I don't have insurance for my trailer, mainly becuas it's solid steel and I figured that before it was severely damaged, I would be selling it as a 20 year rust bucket on wheels. (right now it's a 10 year old non-rust bucket with no lights. Just randomly stopped working one day. *sigh*)

I think if I did get a trailer I loved, especially if I wouldn't be able to replace it out of pocket if it was totalled I would carry insurance. Thanks for introducing the concept....

cheyenne jones said...

I am impressed! Thats some wreck! Pleased there were no injuries though, so good luck with the trailer decisions!

heather said...

Wow, that's an impressive amount of damage. Good thing it was empty!