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Time for a new trailer

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That's a cargo latch alright. Featherlite, Wilson, Merritt, and Exiss all have them to my knowledge. If you don't tie the corners together an aluminum trailer will pop open. Slider can rattle like a loose leaf if it's latched, but latch a full door in the middle only, not a good plan.
 
Not trying to argue at all but think about the rear gate on a pot. Never seen a full swing back gate. I have seen a slider instead of a roll door. That 4 corner strength holds the back end together. Aluminum has the same strength and flex no matter the trailer size.
 
Haytrucker said:
Not trying to argue at all but think about the rear gate on a pot. Never seen a full swing back gate. I have seen a slider instead of a roll door. That 4 corner strength holds the back end together. Aluminum has the same strength and flex no matter the trailer size.
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I Borrowed a Featherlite because it was longer than my Circle J and I was trying to reduce trips. I put a snap on the tailgate latch that should of held it. It didn't. I was going down the freeway when the trailer surged the pickup. I look out the window to see a cow rolling out on the freeway. I stopped and shut the rest in.

Log story short, Everything was ok and survived. The cows calf was still in the trailer and the cows to the outside calves were as well. So, they didn't run off.

Lebanon Livestock Auction made a few calls and we used a hedge of Blackberry bushes along a creek and a few trailers lined up in the grass seed field to "recapture" the cow and 4 calves. I started chaining the door after that.
 
I'm going to go take a picture of our trailer door latch. Featherlite rear door doesn't swing back against the side like a Wilson.
We have never had a door, rear or inside, come open on our Featherlites, and we have pulled one since 1999 (wow, how time flies!)with cows, horses and mineral. We paid $10,000 for it and traded it in 2014 and got $11,000 for it on another Featherlite (used 2013). We had a 1998 Wilson but it was low to the ground for some reason, not sure why, as we see others that aren't that low. It was used slightly when we bought it. We hauled a lot of mineral on small pallets and the floor just didn't work for that. Mr. FH used a cart and a ramp and the rises in the floor made it very difficult. Then we had some problems with it, brakes, I think and the rubber bumper on the back started to come off. We took it in to be repaired. The dealership loaned us a Featherlite to use while they were fixing the
Wilson. The Featherlite fit our purposes better so we called and made the trade. Never went back and got the Wilson. Mr. FH really did like that the door swung back against the side on the Wilson. It doesn't do that on the Featherlite.

The 1999 Featherlite had the slider door at the outside rear, but we changed that to a roll up door. Liked it much better and
it was much more quiet. Just generally worked better, for us anyway. Maybe not so well if you are hauling saddled horses a lot.
 
First I have heard of a back door unlatching in transit. I have seen enough flex to unlatch center gates. Not a fun deal I'm sure. Latches were surely worn. I have nearly tied a 28 foot Featherlite in a knot pulling bulls in rough terrain and not had a latch issue.
 
Faster horses said:
I'm going to go take a picture of our trailer door latch. Featherlite rear door doesn't swing back against the side like a Wilson.
We have never had a door, rear or inside, come open on our Featherlites, and we have pulled one since 1999 (wow, how time flies!)with cows, horses and mineral. We paid $10,000 for it and traded it in 2014 and got $11,000 for it on another Featherlite (used 2013). We had a 1998 Wilson but it was low to the ground for some reason, not sure why, as we see others that aren't that low. It was used slightly when we bought it. We hauled a lot of mineral on small pallets and the floor just didn't work for that. Mr. FH used a cart and a ramp and the rises in the floor made it very difficult. Then we had some problems with it, brakes, I think and the rubber bumper on the back started to come off. We took it in to be repaired. The dealership loaned us a Featherlite to use while they were fixing the
Wilson. The Featherlite fit our purposes better so we called and made the trade. Never went back and got the Wilson. Mr. FH really did like that the door swung back against the side on the Wilson. It doesn't do that on the Featherlite.

The 1999 Featherlite had the slider door at the outside rear, but we changed that to a roll up door. Liked it much better and
it was much more quiet. Just generally worked better, for us anyway. Maybe not so well if you are hauling saddled horses a lot.
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the reason it sat so low was the drop to the axels weather they are spring or torsion in the torsions you can order them about any angle you want, Tube axels are normally a 4" drop some older trailers were a 6" drop and over the wheel flatbeds use a straight axel.

Normal settings on our trailers are a 10 degree up angle which is most common.
 
Is this the Frontier you were looking at, or at least one like it?

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cargo-utility-trailer/prince-albert/2016-frontier-24-gn-stock-trailer/1262914734?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
Is this the Frontier you were looking at, or at least one like it?

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cargo-utility-trailer/prince-albert/2016-frontier-24-gn-stock-trailer/1262914734?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
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For that kind of money you could buy 3 steel trailers here.
 
What is the Us-Can exchange rate now, if there is one? A longer Merritt picked up in Denver is a ways shorter on price, U.S. dollars. A third longer in fact, for about 80 percent of that price. Maybe not as fancy, I don't know.
 
Our dollar has come up recently. Think it was 77cents the other day up from 72/73.
If my figuring is correct that $24,500 CAD = %19,205 USD.
It was worse then that not very long ago.
 
I have a 2015 Wilson that I bought new after pulling a steel trailer for 28 years. Looking at other brands of used trailers and talking to Wilson owners convinced me to buy the Wilson. I ordered mine with a flat floor because I wanted to put mats in it. The door latch doesn't wrap around the corner on the new ones and they have a slam catch on the back door too. Wilson has a lot of options to build the trailer the way you want it.
 
Thanks Big Muddy. That's the price, FOB Denver, for 36 feet. Figure the freight, that' s 32 feet Canadian. The director saved 800 off a Bismarck quote to go get it.
 

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