# What do you pull with?



## Mckellar (Apr 18, 2012)

So I was wondering what everyone uses to pull their trailers and what kind of trailer it is. We are in the market for a new truck. Our has a towing capacity of 6000lbs. Opps. It does the job but with my one horse on it I have very little room for extras. My trailer fully loaded with only one horse I have about 150-300lbs to spare. 

So my parents and I are in the market, on the forum there was a previous thread about my parents and I and to be clear I will contribute a large chunk of money into the truck. 

We now have a sundowner 2h straight load, + dressing room with all the extras you can get. But shortly we will move to a slightly bigger trailer, I’m hoping to find a nice 3h slant with dressing room. 

And I know each person has preferences and some people have good and bad experiences with certain types of cars so I thought if I post on here I would get way more feed back a lot faster then asking people as I see them.


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

I have a 2003 Ford 250 and my trailer is a 1982 Kingston 2horse bumper pull.
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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

We have a 2010 Chevy 2500 HD Vortec. Its a big *** truck.

And i love it.

We haul 3 horses (1000# to 1200#) in a Titan Avalanche II bumper pull. And it hauls like a dream. With the trailer fully loaded, we barely feel the trailer. It was kind of scary coming from a stock trailer and non-vortec engine. I was always afraid id lost the trailer. Lol.

I couldnt be happier with what weve got. Cost a pretty penny though...
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## CecilliaB (Jan 21, 2010)

I have a 2011 F150 v6 ecoboost and pull a 85' Cotner 2 horse bp. This truck would not work for what you do but it works really well for what I need.


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

My truck is an antique and I love it! We had an '05 Ford 1 ton diesel that spent more time in the shop than out, sold it and bought an old truck and new (to me) trailer. 

Truck is a '92 F-250 with a 460 engine, she's a beast. Didn't plan to buy something so 'aged' but it was a one owner with less than 40,000 miles on it. Runs like a top. Trailer is an '06 Travalong Liberty 3H slant with dressing room that we plan to finish out ourselves. Neither are super fancy, nice enough though and get the job done. Best part, I don't owe a dime on either one


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## Ladybug2001 (Mar 15, 2011)

I pull my 2 horse bumper pull trailer with my 2003 Ford Explorer Sport Trac. Currently I'm looking to upgrade my trailer to a stock trailer that will hold all my horses, and only change to my truck will be a class three or four reese hitch.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

I don't ever recommend half tons myself but plenty use them. Going to a 3 horse with a decent dressing room will definately put you into a three quarter ton and heavier pickup.

I have a '96 F350 4x4 with the 7.3L powerstroke diesel pulling a 3 horse slant. Lets just say it doesn't know there's a load back there.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

MHFoundation Quarters said:


> My truck is an antique and I love it! We had an '05 Ford 1 ton diesel that spent more time in the shop than out, sold it and bought an old truck and new (to me) trailer.


Sounds like you had the 6.0L diesel which was a disaster for FORD and buyers from day one. I don't know a single person who bought one that didn't have continous problems with it. Heck, my cousin owns one still (not sure why) and it breaks down darn near every time he hooks a trailer to it.


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## aforred (May 12, 2010)

We use a 2003 GMC 1 ton dually 4x4 to pull a 96 4 horse slant 4 Star, and a 01 4 horse slant 4 Star with a mid tack and living quarters. The truck definitely knows the bigger trailer is back there in the hills, but it still gets the job done. 

We had to replace the motor in the truck though, at 100,394 miles. It was the first model with the Duramax and Allison transmission, which had to be repaired but was covered by a recall. So my advice would be to avoid any truck that was the first or second year for a new engine or transmission. Once they work out the bugs, most trucks will be pretty decent.
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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

Darrin said:


> Sounds like you had the 6.0L diesel which was a disaster for FORD and buyers from day one. I don't know a single person who bought one that didn't have continous problems with it. Heck, my cousin owns one still (not sure why) and it breaks down darn near every time he hooks a trailer to it.


It was Darrin, I hated that darn truck. It was low mileage, thought we'd be okay...not so much. I think it made a shop expense record, more than 8 grand into it in a single year. I was not sad at all to see it go. It was really pretty and had all the options but what good is that when it's in the shop more than on the road? If we ever get another diesel it will be a 7.3


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## AmazinCaucasian (Dec 10, 2010)

I use an F800 no worries about getting pushed around


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

since yo are already at 6000 lbs with only one horse, you definitely need to move up the scale, Properly equipped 150's seem to do well as long as the weight stays down around 5k or below. Many 2 horse bumper pulls, or stock combo's especially aluminum only weigh about 2000 to 3000, but as you are finding out once you start adding the tall, extra features, dressing room, really starts adding up. Terrain can effect things as well. I plan on moving from a 2 horse aluminum gooseneck to a 3 horse with about a 6-8 foot dressing room, will add a bathroom and shower in the third stall, so will mainly be a 2 horse distance 3 horse in a pinch trailer, aluminum
I drove fords since I was 16, this last one (2007 5.4 L) I was less than impressed, long term known defects, like sparkplugs that either blow out or break off in the heads, crappy exhaust manifold studs that break, few other issues. Also the 6.0 Ford diesel is universally hated by anyone other than someone that makes their living fixing them. Yeh there are a few out there people like but reliability rating is terrible. The 6.4's were better but suck fuel like there is no tomorrow. Ford got their act together with the new 6.7, but it is so new, no used out there and they are god awful expensive. Soooooo I just bought a 2006 Dodge 2500 off road, Cummings Turbo diesel.

2006 was last year of high gas mileage, the emmision laws changed adding particle filters that killed fuel mileage, some now even require exhaust fluids to keep it clean, lots of issues with all three manufactureres. They do work but mileage suffered.
2006 Dodge got the bugs worked out of their tranny issues. So far I am pretty happy. The truck itself doesnt seem to be the quality or fit of the ford, but good lord it is easy to work on, I open the hood I see an engine, the frame to body had plenty of room that putting in gooseneck was much easier. And the power is unbelievable. I have 250 miles on this last tank and am still over 1/2 tank, will dod th emath but seems to be getting good mileage. ? I have about 20 years experience with cummings marine and generator engines so am very familiar with them, opening the hood there seems to be nothing I cant do at home, but if you want my advice if you are specifically going shopping for a tow vehicle especially one that wont need to double as a commuter, I would shop real hard for a Ford 2001-2003 7.3L diesel, or a 2005 to 2006 Dodge Cummings . I wouldnt even consider a GMC, cant say about real recent, but the late 90's are so cheap made pieces fall off them as they run down the road. early 2000 era ones we have at work seem to stay in the shop and again seem cheap made. I will admit the newer ones seem much better but I have no experience one way or the other with them.


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

We have a Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 with a 5.7 liter Hemi engine. We're not pulling anything big, just a BP stock trailer.


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## Roperchick (Feb 1, 2010)

we have a 2006 F350 to pull a CM 4 horse slant gooseneck

and a 2007 Ram 3500 dually to pull a 4 horse slant w/ full living quarters


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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

What do I pull with?

I pull with a 1994 Clyde, one horse, all hoof drive, 1 1/8 ton.
We don't pull anything big just a 6 person waggonette.
He actually produces his own gas.


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## aforred (May 12, 2010)

Taffy Clayton said:


> What do I pull with?
> 
> I pull with a 1994 Clyde, one horse, all hoof drive, 1 1/8 ton.
> We don't pull anything big just a 6 person waggonette.
> He actually produces his own gas.


LOL Taffy, he is gorgeous!
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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

Taffy Clayton said:


> What do I pull with?
> 
> I pull with a 1994 Clyde, one horse, all hoof drive, 1 1/8 ton.
> We don't pull anything big just a 6 person waggonette.
> He actually produces his own gas.


You forgot to mention that he comes standard with a fully independent suspension and a paint job that never wears out.


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## gunslinger (Sep 17, 2011)

I started pulling with a 1984 F-250 two wheel drive. Last year I bought the wife a 99 F-350 dual rear wheel, crew cab, 4x4 with a 7.3 liter diesel.

What a world of difference....towing is actually fun, and like Darrin, I don't know the trailer is back there.....

I went to a 4x4 after the two wheel drive failed to make it up a mountain in the Cohutta's of north Georgia. Six inches of fresh gravel and a steep slope made things quite interesting for awhile.

About the only negatives are the turning radius, and of course, the higher maintenance cost of the diesel.

I thought about adding a wench to the front, but with the combined weight of the truck, trailer, horses, and gear it would have to be a large one. So far, with the 4x4, I'm not sure I need one.


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## Makoda (Jan 17, 2011)

I use a 5.3 chevy silverado crew cab and pull a 2 horse slant / stock combo. It weighs 2500 lbs and I can put 3 horses in if I need.


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## jufamarie (Jul 17, 2012)

The issue can be not If you can pull it but can you Stop it, especially in an unplanned circumstance. It is not much fun to get pushed into an intersection or an accident happening in front of you on the freeway. Living quarter trailers get awful heavy quickly when loaded for a trip with horses, hay and stuff. We use a freightliner to pull our 4 horse (3 horses) and though at times it seems like a lot of truck it has been a godsend a couple of times.


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## NeuroticMare (Jan 8, 2012)

I pull with a 2005 Chevy Silverado 1/2 ton with tow package/electric braking. My trailer is a 2H Titan Avalanche III (galvanized steel). If my trailer were any bigger, I would want a bigger truck, but for my 2H with my two horses in it, no biggy. My older Kieffer was heavier, and while is was great with my horses or my friend's similar built horses, I once had my mare and my friend's Clyde/QH in it and with the heavier boy, I could tell the difference, so I think with that trailer, I was borderline for where I wanted to be with truck/trailer weight ratio.


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## Army wife (Apr 29, 2012)

2006 Dodge Ram Cummins turbo diesel. This was a VERY good year. About 120,000 on her. Just pulled 8,000lbs over the mountains to Eugene. Takes about 3 1/2 hrs. 65 MPH (or more) and she never skips a beat. And got 18 MPG  This truck is a freakin beast!! A work hog for sure. The only thing that ever went out was a lifter pump. Not really a big deal, compared to a motor or tranny.


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## RubaiyateBandit (Jan 25, 2009)

2000 Dodge 2500, Cummins engine and extended box (which is *amazing* for hauling extra hay, the water tank, and such that won't fit in the trailer, but matched with the extended cab and oversized tires that the previous owner modded it for, makes it fun to park alone, much less with a trailer attached.)

And the trailer is a Sundowner 3-horse slant with a tack room. I don't recall the specific model, but I absolutely love it -- the ceiling is higher than the norm (I don't recall the exact height, but my high-headed 16hh boy's ears barely brush the ceiling), the dividers are removable (I only have one horse that fits in the 'stalls', and she fell once and got trapped under them, so no more dividers), the bar between the two doors is removable (helpful for cleaning and reluctant horses), there's lights everywhere (in the tack room, in the horse area, and right outside both doors), and there's a collapsible rear tack area. The main tack area was modified by the previous owners -- they put a mattress and curtains up in the gooseneck, and wired the tack room with fluorescent lighting and such, so it has mini living quarters. (It even came with a mini-fridge. :lol


The truck pulls well -- we pull a lot of hills and our driveway alone is nearly vertical, rough dirt/gravel, but she hardly skips a beat. MPG isn't pretty though, and diesel is expensive. And the loud truck (especially when it starts/shuts off) makes some horses nervous.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

I have a 2000 Chevy 2500 with the 6.0 liter engine. While I may cry when I go to the gas station, I am very glad I overbought in terms of truck size. Unlike my friends with 1/2 ton trucks who complain about swaying on the highway when trucks go by and some sticky stopping situations, I have no such problems. I currently have a BP but can upgrade easily to a GN if I want to. Took me a year to find a good used truck, but I'm glad I did.


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