Traveling in Style next season!

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Karen
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Traveling in Style next season!

Post by Karen » Sun Dec 11, 2011 5:17 am

Our truck was getting a bit long in the tooth (2004 Dodge Ram 2500) so we finally bit the bullet and replaced it with a 2012 Chevy 2500HD crew cab long bed right after Thanksgiving.

Now that we had a tow vehicle that was rated to handle nearly 14,000 lbs....well, we HAD to upgrade our trailer :D

We brought this home yesterday:

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It's not new by any stretch...it's a 2004 Bison Alumasport 3horse trailer with an 8' short wall, 8' wide with a slide. It needs some surface rust treated and painted, but other than that, it's in excellent shape inside, and decent shape outside (the prior owner had a horse that rubbed, as do I). The dealer checked and repacked bearings, checked the tires, adjusted the brakes, replaced both deep cycle batteries, and replaced all the locks on all the compartments, so general maintenance was done and it's ready to go. It made the 500 mile trip home last night without any issues....making it into the driveway was a big dicey, but it's done (narrow street & narrow driveway)...now for building dog boxes in the stud stall :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

The truck handled the trailer flawlessly...we're just hoping for less bouncing once there are horses in the back. THAT was a little nerve racking initially.
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GUNDOGS
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Re: Traveling in Style next season!

Post by GUNDOGS » Sun Dec 11, 2011 5:37 am

NICE karen, we are looking into trading our RV for a truck and trailer so when we get to locations we can take the trailer off and drive the truck around, the RV costs a ton in gas :( and like you we thought about putting dog boxes into the trailer as well..looks like you will be traveling in comfort AND style, have fun and congrats!!....ruth
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Karen
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Re: Traveling in Style next season!

Post by Karen » Sun Dec 11, 2011 5:54 am

Thanks Ruth! The inside of the trailer is absoltely stellar! Queen bed in the gooseneck, a dinette that folds down into a bed, the slide gives you TONS more room, a toilet with separate shower, 3 burner stove, fridge, sink & microwave, radio/CD player with inside & outside speakers, and lots of storage space inside & out...all very well cared for.

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As you can see from this picture, there's a pass-thru door from the living quarters to the stud stall, so we figured we'd extend the wall to the ceiling, build or buy some dog boxes and in extreme weather, we can open the pass thru door and heat/cool the dogs from the LQ.

My only complaint is no hay rack, but with the longbed in the truck, we can fit hay that will last 2 horses the better part of a week in the bed and it won't interfere with the gooseneck.
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Ryman Gun Dog
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Re: Traveling in Style next season!

Post by Ryman Gun Dog » Sun Dec 11, 2011 9:03 am

Karen,
Congrats on your new travel unit, looks fantastic, enjoy!
RGD/Dave

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ultracarry
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Re: Traveling in Style next season!

Post by ultracarry » Sun Dec 11, 2011 10:00 am

It's more expensive but get something that's easy to clean for the dog boxes. The dogs get dirty at trial grounds and transport all of the grime to the dog boxes.

If you have a few dogs they can heat that area by themselves and you would be surprised at how warm it gets in the morning when you open those doors. The only thing I would recommend is putting an A/c unit in for when you have to drive through the desert in the summer.

Good looking set up and good luck.

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Re: Traveling in Style next season!

Post by Neil » Sun Dec 11, 2011 2:32 pm

Nice, very nice.

I think you are better off without the hay rack; they are a pain to load, increase fuel consumption, and if not very careful are too high for low overpasses. I found it was just as cheap to buy hay locally if I were going to be somewhere longer than a couple of days. I also carried some of the alfalfa cubes sometimes.

Oh, you will find that most field trial folks take the dividers out, it will allow you to add one more horse if need be. And yes, I am sure it will shake and jerk less fully loaded.

I am happy for you, a very nice rig.

Neil

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Re: Traveling in Style next season!

Post by RayGubernat » Sun Dec 11, 2011 2:34 pm

Karen -

Looks very nice. Good luck with it.

You will probably be best served to get a sheet metal fabricator to build the boxes for your setup. A custom box can help you use every inch of available space. You can probably go two across and four high on a short wall of the stallion stall.


RayG

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Re: Traveling in Style next season!

Post by bossman » Sun Dec 11, 2011 3:31 pm

Really doesn't matter what you have inside. You'll meet one of my most important prerequisite's for trialing/hunting...Your going to be lookin' good going down the highway :) Good luck.

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Karen
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Re: Traveling in Style next season!

Post by Karen » Sun Dec 11, 2011 5:50 pm

Thanks everyone! Neil, I'm relieved to hear the ride should smooth out when the horses are loaded!

Ray, ideally yes, we'd like to have dog boxes built in exactly the configuration you suggest, but I'm not sure it's in the budget before the spring season starts (we still need to pick up a quiet generator before spring). I was able to find plastic crates that I think are big enough so the dogs are comfortable traveling, and should be easy to clean. I'm going to order 2 of them to make sure they fit and are sturdy before I order more.

Ultracarry, no deserts around here....we go as far south as maybe Virginia and as far west at Michigan. I will pick up a box fan to blow on the dogs in the warm weather though.
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Re: Traveling in Style next season!

Post by birddog1968 » Sun Dec 11, 2011 6:12 pm

Nice Karen, Get some airbags put on that truck and you'll almost feel like you got a dually.
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