Aluminum stock trailers

[Hilltop]

We are at the point of either spending a bunch of money on our 22 yr old trailer or purchasing a new one. We have been checking out aluminum and are leaning toward a Featherlite. Wilson are possibly better but not sure if they are worth the extra 3 or 4K more. Just would like to hear everyones opinions on what they think of their's and what they would or would not purchase and why! Thanks

 

[Shady Lane]

Hilltop,

This is a topic that you will likely get a dozen different oppinions on, ATLEAST! Hard to say which is the right answer but I'll toss in my $0.02

  About a year ago I was in the same boat as you I had a steel trailer that was about 18 years old, though it was in good shape and I had just repainted it the year before I knew that sooner rather than later it was going to start to rust through. I advertised my old steel trailer on Kijiji and had numerous calls and e-mails on it right away. I was lucky enough to sell it for about double what I had paid for it a few years prior and was out very little expense for it's use. I had repainted it and replaced the axle tubes on it to get rid of the old drop axles that were under it when I bought it.

So I suddenly needed a trailer!

I had been looking and "admiring" for a few years so I more or less knew what I wanted.

I wanted something that was high enough for my horses and large enough for a decent size show string plus all the tack.


I ended up buying a 24' Sooner from Moose Jaw Toyota, they had the trailer on the lot and gave me the best deal I could find in Western Canada. In fact with the exchange at the time there is no way I could have imported one from the states for even close to the cost.

I chose the Sooner over models like the Wilson, Merrit etc because I found it was more suited to show cattle and bette suited for my horse, flat floor versusthe ribbed cattle floor and 7' 3" tall versus 6'6" in the Wilson. Mine is 7' wide, I would love to have a 8' wide trailer but it is substantially more money and not worth it in my mind. I preffer the flat sides and the airgaps up high like the Sooner, Featherlite etc much easier to close in  for cold Canadian winters. I got the removable plexiglass insersts and rubber mats in mine as well

I also found that the spread from used trailers to brand new ones was relatively small, so I chose to go new. Made more sense in my mind.

The other model that I asmired as well was the Sundowner, a VERY well built trailer in my mind.

I would call the guys in Moosejaw for a quote first, they were very easy to deal with.

 

[coachmac]

We are looking at a Sundowner right now.  Hopefully closing today as a matter of fact.  Ended up finding a used one (07) with living quarters midtack and stock box in the back.  We have lots of friends that show, work, haul horses and they had nothing but good things to say about sundowner.  I know one of the things that I look at on Alum trailers is how the rear door is hung, rivets or welded.  I would rather have a welded door.  There are some really good used trailers out there, but finding them can be a problem.  We have been looking off and on for the last year.  

 

[steel]

Eby hands down!   Mine got flipped in a storm and landed against a block building with a propane tank threw the roof.    Trashed the roof and killed the bows in it but only cracked 2 welds.   Flipped up and cut the roof off and moved cows yesterday with it.   Trailer does pull alittle heavy but who cares if mine can take moving dairy cattle all day and take hit like that then Eby has a costumer for life.

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

I have pulled several different brands of trailers over the last 30+ years. When it came time to buy the last time I bit the bullet and went with a Wilson. I'm just getting ready to put the 4th set of tires on it now and that is pretty much all I have ever had to do to it, aside from normal maintainence such as checking wheel bearing and brakes. I have no idea how many miles I have pulled it but is now worth probably about the same amount as I paid for it a few years ago. I have never had to have a rivet replaced or had any welding done to it. You get what you pay for.RW

 

[cdncowboy]

Have to agree with RW.  Featherlite's tend not to like gravel roads, one neighbor had two of them and the gravel just seemed to pound out and crack the welds quite regularly.  He went to a Wilson and hasn't had to visit the welding shop yet.  Look how many Wilson liners are on the road, they are more of them for a reason.

 

[Blake]

we love our keifer built..we found the wilsons and featherlites to be "tinny"

 

[shortyjock89]

We LOVE our Eby!

 

[zapper]

Eby gets my vote hands down!

 

[George]

I'd go # 1 Wilson or # 2 EBY.  Looked into both when I was looking a few years ago those seem to be the best built in my mind. Did not think I could afford a Wilson, but I found a used Wilson on a local auction, luckily it fell into my price range....20 years old now still original floor pulls like a dream...Was about to do a deal on a used EBY but saved about $ 3000 going with the one on the auction.  The folks I have talked to at EBY both in Ohio and Iowa have been very good to work with.  IF you don't think you can swing the extra $ for Wilson, go EBY.  Both have some great features for show cattle.

 

[onthegofarmer]

I just got a BLue Ribbon 24' lo pro and love it. 

 

[cowman 52]

Had a barrett totaled last summer replaced it with another Barret  trailer plenty strong,  price way less than eby,  or any other holds up on country roads would recommend it to anyone

 

[jbh]

we love our keifer built..we found the wilsons and featherlites to be "tinny"

Keifer's (son of founder) are my neighbor.......his son helps my Dad and I chore......

 

[jbh]

I'm EBY all the way.....

 

[simtal]

I love our eby but the real rule of thumb is never buy a trailer from a company that doesnt make a pot

 

[BAILEYFARMS]

Don't forget about Elite

 

[Feed Guy]

IMO Eby is the best with Wilson 2nd, Featherlite, Sooner, Elite, etc are not even in the same league.  Welds are not something you want on aluminum.  If you have gravel roads and some pasture work I would not even consider a Featherlite.

 

[j3cattleco]

We use our Elite very hard and it looks like the day it came off the lot.  Except for the missing light on the driver side rear fender, when I got too close to the gate!

Joshua

 

[Hilltop]

Thanks for all the input from all so far.The more the better. Hope we make the right decision in the end. I should of mentioned we will make quite a few gravel miles, and our highways are sooooo good her in SK. LOL. We will be calling tomorrow to check out a EBY.

 

[Cattledog]

We have two trailers.  One is a barret and the other is a Hillsboro Endura.  The Barret is about 20 years old and has my vote for the toughest trailer ever.  The second is a HillsboroEndura.  We bought it because the dealers were local(like to help out a neighbor if we can) and we thought it was a good trailer.  I like it because we don't look like everyone else pulling into a show.  It pulls better than our previous trailer which was an Eby.