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  Discussion on Rice Trailer
Author Message
Member:
jivete

Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 9:08 am:

I'm thinking of buying a used Rice Trailer that I believe is the Europa style. I'm not familiar with them at all except for what I've looked up on line. This is an older trailer in decent shape but one of the things that is different about it is the braking system (inertia) and the floor. They have two floors generally. Planks that run length wise and planks on top that are perpendicular. Someone at some point put 3/4 plywood over the second floor (I assume to cover some wearing wood), so now the trailer has 3 layers of flooring. The wood underneath looks good and the floor feels solid. What else should I check on the floor?

Also when I towed it to my barn last night, I notice that the hitch would rotate on my ball side to side. This appears to happen because the hydraulic braking arm is circular and can move in the cylinder. Is this common with these trailers? The hitch still seemed secure, but is was unnerving to see it twisted sideways.

Below is a picture I took of the trailer attached to my truck.

Member:
juliem

Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 2:01 pm:

If you buy this trailer and are using this truck to pull it, you need to get a hitch that will raise the front end of the trailer up so that it is riding level. Right now, it tilts down and this is not safe, or comfortable for the horse. Too much weight on the tongue. There are lots of articles about buying and towing a trailer and it's time well spent to research this. Julie
Member:
jivete

Posted on Friday, Jul 27, 2007 - 3:00 pm:

I will purchase a new hitch attachment. That one has a two inch DrOp. I just hooked the trailer up yesterday to take it home and check it out and I hadn't really looked at the hook-up. Thanks for pointing it out. I wonder if that will help the twisting...
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