Well, if you have been following the blog for awhile now you may recognize this picture. It was taken on our trip to Missouri to pick up some Dexters. On that trip we lost a bearing (which we fixed), but Grandpa’s Trailer has a little more wrong with it this time! The trailer will need two new axles before we take it out on the road!
That is a pretty big problem … but, it is magnified by the fact that we have a bull to go pick up in Missouri. So, I’m taking a shot in the dark here.
Do you have, or do you know somebody, or do you know somebody that knows somebody that has a livestock trailer for sale? We need a bumper pull trailer in the 12 foot to 14 foot range (I guess we could deal with a 16 footer, but we would like something smaller). Something that can haul two or three Dexters would be right up our alley! As far as height goes … well, something between five feet or six feet on the inside would do, but I would consider something a little taller if the price was right.
I’m sorry to post such a boring want ad today, but this is something that we need right now. So, if you are in Iowa (or Missouri) or you know somebody that is with a trailer for sale just let me know! Oh, I guess a rental might work also…
Ethan,
Have you tried looking on craigslist?
Tim
You ought to think about going with a gooseneck. Much superior, in my view.
Tim … I am all over craigslist … just haven’t found the right one yet.
Yeoman … I do realize the benefits of the gooseneck, but for us it just really doesn’t fit. First of all, I’m not going to ever haul horses (that is my dad’s department), secondly I don’t have a truck now and I’m not in the position to get one now, but mostly … Dexters are small … and now that our herd is mostly established I won’t be taking large numbers of animals anywhere. If I were raising a commercial breed and selling through commercial channels then I would be all over it, but just taking a couple steers to the butcher, deliever a heifer every now and then, and picking up a few Dexters or hogs at a time bumper pull works okay for us.
You can get some fairly small goosenecks, and they make just as good of cattle haulers as a bumper pull horse trailer. Having used them, I’d never go back to a bumper pull if I could avoid it.
Yeoman … it is something to look into, but I would still have to buy a truck then and for the amount that I would use it it is not worth buying that truck. Ideally, I think I would like to end up with a lower profile bumper pull trailer. Maybe something five feet tall or so since my Dexters are short. Oh well, we are still searching.
No truck? As a farmer, how do you get by without a truck?
Well, there are a couple of things about a “truck”. First of all, you don’t NEED a truck to be a farmer although I agree that it is helpful. Right now we have a larger SUV that allows my entire family (car seats and all to travel). Secondly, you don’t need a big truck that can handle the gooseneck trailer. But, you gotta remember … if I buy a gooseneck trailer then I also have to buy a truck … seems like a poor use of money for our farm. If we have a bumper pull trailer we can use it like a truck from time to time. When our vehicle wears out, then we will look at a truck.
Ethan,
My sister-in-law and her husband raise cattle with her father in law. The father in law is getting out, and selling off all of his equipment. So, of course the youngish couple needed to get some of their own equipment for going to sales and shows (they raise Hereford seed stock). They are buying a 4 door truck (new), a gooseneck trailer (new on order) and a tractor. Only taking out a 90,000 dollar loan! Sounds like a heck of a deal to me.
Maybe you could do this?
lol I can’t imagine all the cattle they will have to sell to make that payment and also pay for all the corn they have to feed to keep their prized bulls looking good. 🙂 Oh, they also both have off farm jobs and don’t have “time” for kids…. I wonder why.
It’s so important to realize that any money we can keep from spending is money MADE.
The need for a truck, I suspect, depends on locality.
I have two trucks, one crew cab truck, and an old 62 Power Wagon. These serve every purpose under the sun, and I’m afraid I couldn’t get by without them very easily. I’d like to use them less, however, but I don’t live out with my cattle, so that’s not an option right now.
What use are these put to? Well, feeding hay, pulling trailers, carrying supplies, everything.
If I lived where my cattle are located, I think I’d get a couple of Morgans and break them to pull and ride, and then build a hay wagon for winter feeding. Not an option right now, I’m afriad.
Oh, I get what you are saying Yeoman … a truck would be in the plans, but right now what we have will serve us and a bumper trailer will work for our hauling needs. When one of the vehicles dies we may end up with a truck, but hopefully that will be a long while!
As far as the Morgans go … well, that we could do! I think we having something like 15 Morgan horses on the farm at my dad’s … some even broke to drive. Of course the Amish neighbors are already doing that.
I seriously would use horses for feeding if I could. Indeed, in spite of mentioning the truck, I’m not a “motorhead”, so to speak.
I used to really like vehicles. But as I’ve grown older (I’m 44), I like them less and less every year. If they went away, I wouldn’t miss them.
Still, right now, I couldn’t get by without a truck.
The biggest thing I use my truck for, that you couldn’t use an SUV for is getting shavings from a local wood worker. My truck now doesn’t work too good though, because it has a camper shell.
A friend of mine (who I buy hay from) used to have to go out before school in the winter and hitch a belgian to a wood sled of hay and his little brother would knock off bales as they drove across the pasture.
I just wondered if you are still looking for a stock trailer? I have one available. I couldn’t find a way to e-mail you directly, but if you are still looking please e-mail me at monica@tulltribe.org I will be happy to send more info and some photos if you like.