# Trailer that's "too big"



## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Better to big than to small.
Only thing I could see being possibly a easy fixed is if stalls width is so wide your small guys try to change direction....you tie their head and no more issue.
Yes, to big is better than trying to fit in to small...
Do recognize that having a larger trailer may force a larger truck if you were going with a lighter 150/1500 you might be pushing those numbers a bit to much...

:runninghorse2:...


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

horselovinguy said:


> Better to big than to small.
> Only thing I could see being possibly a easy fixed is if stalls width is so wide your small guys try to change direction....you tie their head and no more issue.
> Yes, to big is better than trying to fit in to small...
> Do recognize that having a larger trailer may force a larger truck if you were going with a lighter 150/1500 you might be pushing those numbers a bit to much...
> ...


Thanks. I am already in the mindset that I am looking for a truck in the 250 / 2500 level. Better too much truck than too little, right?


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

_*Yes..*.better more than you need than not having enough._
If you are searching look for one with a towing package cause that will give you the pigtail for lights, trailer brake controller, transmission cooler and oversized radiator..
All things to help your truck run most efficiently and problem free..
Trucks without those items may just mean you need to install them yourself..

Enjoy your search. 
:runninghorse2:...


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

As long as you can drive the beast, back it up, and park the beast.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

tinyliny said:


> As long as you can drive the beast, back it up, and park the beast.



Tiny... that is called practice. 

Most drivers that have any confidence in their driving abilities are capable of driving a trailer.
No baby just stood up and ran fast as can be...
All babies started by rolling over, then crawling long before they stood to run...
Same is true in driving truck and loaded horse trailer.

Small things, easy trips and places to go to...as your confidence in yourself and your abilities increase so does what you choose to do with that truck & trailer.
:runninghorse2:...


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

^Bigger - as in longer trailers are actually easier to maneuver & back than small ones - Fine with my float, stock crate or other big thing, but I'm not so good at backing with a 6x4' trailer!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

horselovinguy said:


> Tiny... that is called practice.
> 
> Most drivers that have any confidence in their driving abilities are capable of driving a trailer.
> *No baby just stood up and ran fast as can be...
> ...





well duh. of course.


But, a warmblood trailer is both taller and wider, I do believe, and will make parking it, driving on narrow curvy mountain roads, manuevering it in parking lots, etc. more difficult. It's akin to the challenges faced by owning a Dually truck and having to park it , drive it, work it around corners in any kind of urban environment, and compare that to just a nice F150, or a Tundra, or even a V6 Tacoma. You have more truck, but you also have , forever, more limits in where/how you can move the beast.
If space is never an issue, then that's cool. And, we are not talking a 4 horse trailer here, but it IS a factor to be aware of.


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## Joel Reiter (Feb 9, 2015)

horselovinguy said:


> look for [a truck] with a towing package cause that will give you the pigtail for lights, trailer brake controller, transmission cooler and oversized radiator..
> :runninghorse2:...



One of the nice things about moving up to the 3/4 ton class of pickups is, for the last decade or so, heavy duty towing features are almost universal. It's easy to tell at a glance whether the truck is equipped with a 7-pin trailer connector with the right terminals for the trailer brakes. And more and more trucks are coming with the brake controllers as standard equipment. The most difficult trailer towing feature to identify is the axle ratio -- you'll probably need to consult the owner's manual or the original window sticker. But here again, almost all 2500 class pickups will come standard with lower gears than their half-ton counterparts.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

AC, I compiled you some facts about roads, bridge clearances, vehicle dimensions cause I think you could benefit from knowing those facts when you make decisions of to big, not big enough...
I hope seeing some of this in print helps you to make a educated decision with knowing your abilities behind the wheel, your confidence level or not and yes, some tweaking for where you live needs taken into consideration too...
I also recognize you will be moving and buying this or any trailer is part of that dream of moving to that new home and farm you already bought and taking your animals with you..
I think you can do it, in fact I would bet you can do a lot more than you think you can...and it all comes down to practicing and going slow as you learn and building on what you've learned...
Sounds like riding a horse and learning to care for them yourself...horseownership 101 expanded.

So some details about our road system from the federal level of road and vehicle laws..
That is where my facts came from, federal standards and guidelines and the fact I hold a commercial drivers license, aka CDL and used it for many years as part of my job requirements hauling those horses to shows across the east coast of this nation.
So...let me put facts to this message so you have some better sense of accuracy about what you are considering...

loosie is correct...the longer the trailer the easier it is to tow, to back, to turn, actually to park...
You can better see it. I find that also
Joel Reiter is also correct once you step up in class of vehicle from 150/1500 to 250/2500 or heavier many things now are standardized as "included" in the packaging...

There are federal laws about certain things.
Widths of vehicles at maximum 
Heights of vehicles at maximum..
Length of vehicles at maximum...
Road width per lane, single lane or 2-way traffic, then there are interstate widths which are enormous..

_Trailer by federal law may not exceed 102" = 8.5" in width._
On a non-commercial horse trailer, the box widest I've ever encountered is 8' with the wheels to the outside of the box. More common to see 7' - 7 1/2' wide trailers.

_Heights by federal law can not exceed 13'6" unless a car carrier who can max at 14'. All bridges must display a clearance height either over the bridge center or to the right of the bridge on a sign._
A horse trailer even if it is 8' height is no where near critical numbers.

_Length of vehicle can not exceed 65' bumper to bumper connected, shorter if a straight load truck_
AC you were referring to a 3 - 4 horse trailer so 25' - 30' long _at most plus your truck...so overall length 45 -50' long._
_My truck is a 6 man cab, 8' bed and I tow a 4 horse BP trailer no dressing or LQ... 47' long with one hitch, the other hitch add a extra 4" in length.
_
_Roads must be minimum widths if they were built with any federal monies. All roads are built with some federal monies no matter where it is in this nation.._
Most towns, county and state roads fall well above the minimum sizes..
Most older roads are 9 - 10' wide _each lane_, if 2-way traffic, some a bit narrower but with repaving/renovations being made are meeting federal mandates of wider..
14' wide is a very common number for county and state roads and interstates newly built or renovated each lane. Older busier secondary roads are often seen between 11' -12' wide each lane of traffic travel. Neighborhood streets are a bit narrower but not much...

Those are some facts of road construction and vehicle laws I had to learn to be licensed to drive rigs of near any size.
I'm still not seeing a problem fitting a pickup truck and a horse trailer on a road, in a parking lot or a open field where you might find a trailhead to go riding.
Most parking lots today are constructed for the behemoth sized vehicles moms drive to the sports activities and cart the kids around in...
First off you bend in the middle so you can wiggle and move around a bit if needed to "fit"...
I also find most people also do extend road courtesy to truck & a towed trailer...they hug their outside line and so do you on a bit of a narrower roadway as you pass each other. Most people do not want to hit another so err on the side of get out of the way they are bigger than me...road courtesy from both parties works, period.
You also have eyes and the ability to see what is in front of you, then decide where is the best location to park, to exit or whatever...
You might need to walk a bit so parking is a bit easier if that truck becomes your main source of traveling around town...but in my own case...I walk a bit cause I choose to for the exercise and because if I park further away from others there is less chance of being hit or keyed by some idiot thinking it funny... That's _*not*_ funny on any vehicle but especially on ones that are well in excess of $50,000....
I also don't intentionally drag my horse trailer around town with me if I can avoid it...
If I'm out and need to stop, if loaded first off we never leave the trailer alone loaded...second you bet we are not close to anyone so the horses are not poked, no one tries climbing to see horsey inside up my wheel covers and less fumes the horses breathe further away from everyone...again, not a issue.


So...
If you can judge your distance _you got this._
If you drive with confidence _you got this._
If you don't have the confidence in yourself behind the wheel of a car...then don't, just don't go any further.
I have a feeling confidence is _*not*_ a problem here...

Go enjoy trailer shopping and looking for the right size truck to accompany that trailer on your many trips down the road exploring...
:runninghorse2:...


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

horselovinguy said:


> Most parking lots today are constructed for the behemoth sized vehicles moms drive to the sports activities and cart the kids around in...


HUH! Where you livin' at? Here we're lucky to fit the hubby's Hyundai Ioniq into some of the teensy parking places, and that's the head in ones, not parallel. I end up parking waaaaay out in the boonies and taking up 2 or 3 spaces with my Dodge 2500. I have the crew cab (4 full sized doors) and the long bed and I hang out, hang over and if there's already like a Tahoe and a 1500 parked on either side of a space, haven't got a prayer of fitting in between them without swapping paint. If I have the trailer on the back, I end up at the far end of parking spaces and pull across them and take up about 6 spaces. As far out as I park, nobody cares but there's no way I could just take up a couple of spaces and pull through. You'd think I was living in downtown OKC or something.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Dreamcatcher Arabians said:


> HUH! Where you livin' at? Here we're lucky to fit the hubby's Hyundai Ioniq into some of the teensy parking places, and that's the head in ones, not parallel. I end up parking waaaaay out in the boonies and taking up 2 or 3 spaces with my Dodge 2500. I have the crew cab (4 full sized doors) and the long bed and I hang out, hang over and if there's already like a Tahoe and a 1500 parked on either side of a space, haven't got a prayer of fitting in between them without swapping paint. If I have the trailer on the back, I end up at the far end of parking spaces and pull across them and take up about 6 spaces. As far out as I park, nobody cares but there's no way I could just take up a couple of spaces and pull through. You'd think I was living in downtown OKC or something.


Yeah, this is the same that I've heard from big truck owners I know -- they park at the end of the parking lot and take up two spaces.

The truck wouldn't be for general driving around, just hauling horses, hay, wood (husband is a woodturner), etc.


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

Dreamcatcher Arabians said:


> HUH! Where you livin' at? Here we're lucky to fit the hubby's Hyundai Ioniq into some of the teensy parking places, and that's the head in ones, not parallel. I end up parking waaaaay out in the boonies and taking up 2 or 3 spaces with my Dodge 2500. I have the crew cab (4 full sized doors) and the long bed and I hang out, hang over and if there's already like a Tahoe and a 1500 parked on either side of a space, haven't got a prayer of fitting in between them without swapping paint. If I have the trailer on the back, I end up at the far end of parking spaces and pull across them and take up about 6 spaces. As far out as I park, nobody cares but there's no way I could just take up a couple of spaces and pull through. You'd think I was living in downtown OKC or something.


Where I live (2 hours outside of Minneapolis) it seems 90% of the population drives a pickup truck (admittedly most are 1/2 tons but many larger too) or a Suburban/Tahoe/gargantuan SUV and the parking spaces are sized appropriately. I still generally park on the edge if I have our trucks (both 2500 quad cabs with regular box) to avoid turning too close to another vehicle but never have issues parking. However, I took DH's truck to Minneapolis for a work conference last November (he drives the gas, didn't have to worry about plugging in the diesel) and I couldn't fit in ANYTHING! My roof almost hit the top of the parking garage in several areas, took up several spots at stores and restaurants, and looked very out of place in an area where it seems as if 90% of the population drives a luxury sedan. A few weeks later we used our Christmas money to purchase a early 2000's Honda Accord to drive to work and related events mostly from this experience!


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Nothing wrong with a bigger trailer. 

We only have 2 horses & we have a 3-horse, if that makes you feel better. I love the extra room. Aaaaaand it's convenient when we have to stock up on hay. :lol:


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## cbar (Nov 27, 2015)

Way better to go too big than too small. 

One thing I will comment on - I recently sold my 4 horse GN trailer. It was a behemoth of a trailer. 

I acquired a 3 horse LQ GN trailer. This trailer is slightly shorter than my old trailer, BUT it is over a foot taller as well as a foot wider. I DO notice the difference when hauling. Mirror visibility on the passenger side is very poor (with extenders on) - so I have to be extra careful and vigilant when hauling this trailer. 

I avoid parking lots like the plague when I'm hauling my horse trailer. I will make an extra trip to town to get diesel before I'm hooked up. I had a bad experience in a parking lot and it has stuck with me I guess. 

One thing I try to practice is patience. Patience all.the.time. When driving, when parking, when backing up. I damaged my truck with my trailer b/c I was rushing.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Dreamcatcher Arabians said:


> HUH! Where you livin' at?.


Central Florida, in the local Walmart parking lot...That is where I do my food shopping, not much else around.

We do have more trucks than cars and big ones with huge lift kits to boot...
They do take up more space than a small car but our drive aisles are I guess wider, slots to park in are normal sized.
My truck sounds much like yours Dream and it can fit in a space filling every inch of the thing front to back..but like you we don't park it intentionally close to the store so we rarely encounter difficulties getting out of those spaces...
Even when we lived on LI parking was not angled but straight pull in spots, nose-to-nose...or there were side single spaces pull in where you front to a concrete curb...
Still parked further out with the truck but could pull in, just wasn't worth the aggravation of the dingbat who can't park being to close or angled can make your life difficult.
Both locations though I still find the kid with the punked out car that could fit in my truck bed more a pest of a parking patron...hogs 2 spaces, not pulled up all the way.
Our young gentleman fixed that clown when the guy comes out he will find his car surrounded by other vehicles and he is not leaving till they all do...almost never fails this guy also can't walk so illegally parks in the handicapped spot_{no hanging sticker or plate displayed}_...that is rude and a no-no in my town.
He is spoken to by the gentleman about manners and don't do it again if he values his car...a threat, no that "don't do it.." was a promise you won't like the outcome if you get caught again being so rude to our privileged customers.

I do love parking at Tractor Supply...
Truck & trailer designated slots on a angle for easy entry and exit, all spots are wider and longer as clientele are often driving trucks of behemoth sizes..
I pull in with my car and am dwarfed by the trucks.. 
:runninghorse2:...


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

ACinATX said:


> Yeah, this is the same that I've heard from big truck owners I know -- they park at the end of the parking lot and take up two spaces.
> 
> The truck wouldn't be for general driving around, just hauling horses, hay, wood (husband is a woodturner), etc.


You get spoiled. Mine is my daily driver and I HATE driving or riding in the Hyundai. Hubby commutes 75 miles to work, so we bought it for the 60 mpg when the deer took out his Civic CNG (which I also hated). Because I only get about 20 mpg hwy & 15 city, I do try to make sure I don't run around needlessly, even as cheap as diesel is here. I LOVE my truck and would buy another in a hot second. I might go for a 3500 for the next one, if I'm still doing horse shows by then.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

horselovinguy said:


> Central Florida, in the local Walmart parking lot...That is where I do my food shopping, not much else around.
> 
> We do have more trucks than cars and big ones with huge lift kits to boot...
> They do take up more space than a small car but our drive aisles are I guess wider, slots to park in are normal sized.
> ...


I have noticed that TSC is more considerate of the larger vehicles and those pulling trailers. Even my hubby has complained about the size of spaces in Stillwater. We go down to Edmond, Guthrie or even OKC (believe it or not) and the spaces are longer and wider than the ones in the parking lots here. Since this IS farm country, cows & horses and pigs and goats OH MY, and people are frequently hauling, I don't know why they're so chinzy with the space. Not like we don't have LOTS of room for parking lots. 

Just as an aside, I HATE shopping at Walmart and I think I've complained that out of 4 grocery stores in town 3 of the are WMs. I would LOVE to tape a WM bag on my hood and drive until someone asked me "What's a Walmart?". I swear I'd move there tomorrow.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I bought an extra tall, extra wide two-horse bumper pull for my 800 lb 14.2h Arab  . I didn't want him hitting his head or not being able to lower it in those small trailers with the tack space in the front. He has extra room, but it doesn't look overly spacious. I modified it to put a tack trunk on the other side since he always gets trailered alone. A trailer with a separate front tack room would have been really nice, but this trailer came to me from a friend of a friend and was in fantastic condition for the price. And while I was nervous at first, I now find it quite easy to back it up and turn it.


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