# IT'S DONE!! Horse trailer re-do (my mini trailer)



## amyjoy85 (Jun 5, 2013)

SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATES

Well, the time has come to re-do our trailer--probably a little overdue though. It needs a major overhaul. We bought it about a year and a half ago. It was originally a 2 horse straight load, but had been modified into a 3 mini horse. It's a 1982 WW. It's about 6' tall on the inside and 5' wide. 
Just what we needed for our trip across the country. Had a solid floor and frame, so we put new tires on it, fixed the tack door, fixed the window, and started our 3,300 mile trip. First picture was from my excitement of getting my "mini" trailer. Great set-up! 
Love the bumper sticker that was, and still is, on it







Now, with all the humidity, the paint is peeling on the ceiling, there are a "few" rust holes, the floor needs help, and the wood inside on the walls is rotting. 




We started the process of taking it apart last night to find lots more rust. Needless to say, we are replacing the side panels. We will be making a trip to the local sheet metal shop to get new sheet metal for the sides


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To make it easy on us, WW made this trailer so that the sheet metal sides are just screwed/bolted on...not welded. So, that is our intention with this remodel too. We will have the front under the mangers welded by our local shop though, since we don't have welding experience or access to a welder to use. The part up there is thicker and the holes will need to be patched.


Most of the screws and bolts were either rusted together and broke on their way out, or they were painted over from its last paint job. Most of the screws holding the floor on are stripped, so we get to play with a crowbar and hacksaw tonight. Once the floor is off, we can sand off the rust from frame, get any needed repairs done on that or add braces, get the front under the manger fixed (by the pros), put new sheet metal in (painted of course!), put a new floor in, and the wood sides. We have our work cut out for us, but it's going lots faster than we thought it would. We are on a time schedule though...we have about 2 weeks to have it completely ready so we can take the horses to get their coggins test done, health papers in our hands, and on the road AGAIN for a 2,800 mile trip. It will be shorter this time since we don't have to go all the way south since it's summer and not winter.

I will post pictures as I go and of course, will post pictures of the completed trailer! We are excited to see what it will look like.

:::UPDATES:::

Floor coming off. Had to use vice grips to get screws out. They were gross.




Half of the floor off. Frame looks pretty good. There is rotten wood and lots of dirt on the frame. 








Airing out to dry so we can sand the rust off the frame. We don't have a sand blaster, so we are going to try a big electric sander. If that doesn't work, we will probably see about renting one. Looks so different already! People keep slowing down on the road to look at it. It does look pretty funny though.




What color should we paint the trailer? We have to paint the new sheet metal, so we might as well paint the whole thing, maybe. The truck in the picture is what we use to pull it. I want to keep it light color so it doesn't absorb as much heat.







We cleaned up the frame and got all the dirt off and it looks pretty good overall. Now we need to sand it down once it dries out and take it to a welder to probably add a couple braces (my own peace of mind) and to fix the holes under the manger. After that part is fixed, we will put the new sheet metal in, the new wood, and the new floor.

:::UPDATES:::

We got it to the welder on friday, they were done that afternoon. Very nice job! They added 3 braces to the frame and fixed the part under the mangers. It looks so much better and much more sturdy. See pictures above to compare. 


We got the new shiny sheet metal and painted it white. We used a wire brush to get the rust off of the frame. The sander didn't work well and no one out here rents sandblasters. The wire brushes did very well. Once the rust was mostly gone, we used a rust converter to "convert" the rust and seal it so no more rust could grow. 



Then came time for the floor. We couldn't find any oak, so we had to use pine from Lowes. We picked through almost the whole pile to find the best boards (took a while!). We used 2x8 planks and it fit perfectly



It looks pretty though, and it is very sturdy. We will just have to be careful about storage and clean-up to help it last. For the walls, we used tongue and groove...NEVER AGAIN! We hate that stuff. It's a royal pain. It looks nice, but it's very difficult to put together.


We finished at about 1am last night. We had to finish because we are taking the horses to get their coggins tests and health papers tonight. It was the only time the vet could do it when we could while making sure we could get the coggins back in time, so we had to finish to avoid the farm call. I still need to sweep and put mats back in (and buy new tires), but other than that, we are done. 




Little Cowgirl has been such a trooper this weekend. This was taken Sunday evening when we were working. She wanted to be out with us to have some company.


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## aliasmel (Jun 6, 2013)

Have fun! I will be doing mine soon as it is getting desperate for new sheet metal side and plywood. Keep up the good work



I will come and check on progress as this stuff interests me, update soon!


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## amyjoy85 (Jun 8, 2013)

I have added some pictures to the original post above of our progress. It's fun demolishing horse trailers. This may become a hobby


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## kuelinkellyville (Jun 9, 2013)

I have re floored a couple of horse trailers. I highly suggest that you jack the trailer off the ground and remove the pins that hold the axle springs in place, odds are they are bent and need to be replaced. Try to find the ones with the grease cert in them.


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## paintponylvr (Jun 9, 2013)

O, how awesome! You asked about color - can you keep the interior white and do the exterior the same color as your truck?

I had my old trailer redone (partially) in 2000. It's a 1969 Hale that had a canvas roof. I found someone with the knowledge and the time and tools (I had none of those at the time!) to re-do the whole floor, the side walls and the center gate with wood. Lots of tiny bolts were replaced thruout the trailer. I then had a new canvas cover custom made for it. I did make one mistake - I didn't have it sandblasted and repainted at that time. Shamefully, then, we didn't take any pictures of just the trailer, so I have little for reference. I have taken it in to a service center and had it checked underneath the frame and the wheels/axles/brakes to make sure everything is in working order. In 2007, the lights were replaced (it doesn't have running lights). In 2011, the canvas roof disintegrated and was removed but not replaced.

Last year, that trailer finally became just a hay trailer and I found a nice little, new, stock trailer... However, the new stock trailer is much lighter weight steel and I'm thinking that the older one may STILL outlast my new one.

I'm enjoying the pictures of your trailer project! Please keep updating it as you move along.


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## aliasmel (Jun 11, 2013)

Looking good! Well done, it will be done in the blink of an eye.


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## amyjoy85 (Jun 18, 2013)

The trailer is done!! See the first post for the pictures


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## Debby - LB (Jun 18, 2013)

wow good job!


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## atotton (Jun 18, 2013)

looking good


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## Jill (Jun 18, 2013)

What an awesome job! WTG



:yes


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## paintponylvr (Jun 18, 2013)

its very nice!

Thanks for sharing.


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## aliasmel (Jun 19, 2013)

well done looks great.


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