Tell me about Ponderosa Trailers!

[mustangtrailrider]

I am looking to get a small 2 horse bumper pull trailer for under $5,000 brand new! I really like the Ponderosa line...the looks anyways....what can anyone recommend? Is this trailer worth the money? Pm me if necessary.

MTR

[jn4jenny]

In my area, Ponderosa has a reputation for being the cheap POS trailer line (as in "it will fall apart in five years or less"), and having seen a few of them on the road, I have to agree. I hope some actual owners will chime in and refute this for your sake, but I wouldn't buy one based on what I've seen.

[merrygoround]

Ponderosa, Bison, and a few others, are trailers I would never buy. They do tend to fall apart rapidly, and do not appear to be user friendly.

I would, with the present sate of the economy wait, some nice used ones should turn up.

[2bee]

Where are you located? Ponderosa is an entry level trailer. They would not hold up well for someone in the salt/rust belt, down south around here they last a little longer.

[goodhors]

We bought one, 4-horse stock trailer, it was all we could afford. Husband did a lot of work modifying it to suit our needs. Over the years it has had other work done, but most older trailers that get used need some work.

We have added a rear ramp, lined the walls with plywood, changed the gooseneck part to mangers and tack storage. Added interior lights and ceiling air venting. He removed the cattle gate on rear door, made it one peice. These things and others, greatly reduced the noise inside.

They didn't prime before painting, but we have since scraped, repaired rust, primed and totally repainted trailer.

We have had it many years, used the heck out of it. Certainly got our money's worth out of it. Hauled lots of stuff besides horses in it, tractor, sheep, lumber, hay, straw, carriages, really handy to have around the place. Probably has over 100,000 miles. And back then, it cost about $5000 too!

So if you don't mind some do-it-yourself work, upgrades you can put on, they are nice trailers for the money.

[mustangtrailrider]

Thank you for all of the replies....I have decided after looking around on the internet that we are going to get another truck instead. We can get a used truck cheaper than a nice, newer trailer...that is what we are going to do. We are going to fix up our trailer this year...at least the f 350 can haul anything...LOL.

[shawneeAcres]

Ponderosa, Bison, and a few others, are trailers I would never buy. They do tend to fall apart rapidly, and do not appear to be user friendly.

I would, with the present sate of the economy wait, some nice used ones should turn up.

HAve never had a Ponderosa, but I ahd a Bison and it was a good trailer. I sold it after having it for several years and he has since sold it (it was as tock type trailer, so we were "upgrading") and the trailer still was in great condition. I would buy a Bison again if I needed a trailer and found one I liked.

[jkponies]

I guess it isn't relevant to the OP any more, but I have a '92 Ponderosa 2-horse that I have found to be quite durable. Granted, it spent most of its life in California, but there are no more than minor rust spots around the dents and dings. We also hauled this trailer to KY from CA heavily loaded down with "stuff" and I was overall pretty pleased with it. I'm pretty sure that when I buy a new trailer (if I go with steel again), I'll consider this brand.

[chism]

I've had one for 5 years. I had a horse who wouldn't load in a straight load/step up, and needed a four horse. I didn't have much $$$ to spend & didn't want to take out a loan. I bought a 4 horse stock new for around $3500. The only adjustment we made was to install floor mats, which cost about $120. In the 5 years I've had to re-weld the pin for the sliding door in back & put in a new jack. The paint isn't the greatest, it chips pretty easily. It's NOT fancy, I call it my "Yugo" trailer, but it allows me to get four horses from point A to B and still pay my mortgage & hay bills. I would like to upgrade at some future date, but the cost of most 4 horse trailers is completely out of my league. So..if you know what you're getting into, are savvy & able to fix minor issues & aren't worried about keeping up with the jones's, it can be a viable alternative.

[mustangtrailrider]

Well, I think we have solved our problem. We just bought a Ford F-350 for hauling our trailer that we currently have. It is a 1997 Bee that weighs in at 3800# as a 2 horse with all of the bells and whistles it could have. Our F 150 just wasn't enough. We will get our trailer painted later this spring. It is a win win. We don't have to sacrifice quality and we still get a "new" truck and trailer out of the deal....

[walkinthewalk]

I bought my Ponderosa 4-horse open stock brand new in 1987. I THINK that was their first, or nearly first, year in business.

In terms of rusting out, I guess they aren't the best, BUT mine has sat outside its entire life and all it has to-date is surface rust because I have kept it oiled all these years.

Having been to the oiler all it's life, it's about the butt-ugliest thing you'd want to look at but it's still rock solid. When you can say the frame on your trailer is still rock solid after 22 years of hauling horses and sitting outside, that is saying quite a bit.

It safely hauled my horses cross-country twice; from WPA to SoCal in 1998, then to Middle Tennessee in 2003.

The original tongue-and-groove floor has been replaced once. The top layer (I did that on my own) has been replaced twice.

The wiring is still the original and even though everything still works, should be replaced.

I have taken as best of care of it as I possibly could because I knew it might be my last trailer. If you want to see pictures of what it looks like today, I am happy to outside, take a picture and post it or e-mail it or whatever is allowed on this forum.

It is hooked to my 1978 GMC 4-wheel drive that I bought In 1981. It is the truck that safely pulled the Ponderosa cross-country with my three horses.

Is Ponderosa the best made on the market? I highly doubt it, but if it's all that's within reach of your checkbook, my suggestion is to take good care of it and that would include packing wheel bearings as needed, checking the brakes, and keeping the hitch well-lubricated. I also lubricate the hinges of the all the doors and front windows with white lithium every spring:)

Hope this helps you:)

[Tom King]

Look at the Adam trailers.