Home / Resources / How to Select a Trailer
How to Select Your New Trailer
- According to the experts, straight-load and slant-load trailers each have their own advantages.
In many slant-load trailers, horses can be turned around inside and led out head-first, easing some of those loading and unloading headaches. The slant-load design allows more horses to fit into a shorter trailer, and two-horse and three-horse slant-loads with dressing rooms are popular among recreational riders. However, if a horse in the front stall has a problem, the horse(s) behind him must be unloaded to reach him, unless there's a front- or side-load ramp, too.
In a two-horse straight-load trailer, either horse can be unloaded without removing the other. Also, straight-load trailers can give a horse more stall length to extend his neck. Federal law limits trailer width to 102 inches (8 1/2 feet), so slant-loads can't provide as much stall length, a problem for large horses.
- Experience. The people manufacturing Miley aluminum trailers today have over 30 years of experience in producing high-quality aluminum trailers. No other aluminum trailer company has a team of key people with this many years of experience in producing aluminum gooseneck trailers. And because Miley is part of Universal Trailer Corporation, we can provide you peace-of-mind that we will there for you, providing support for years to come. Universal is the largest manufacturer of specialized trailers and has the financial stability to meet your trailer needs over the long haul.
- Miley trailers are manufactured with an extruded floor that is corrugated allowing the floor mat to “air out” underneath. Some trailer manufacturers use a flat floor that will “sag” between the cross members or an all extruded board that is flat, allowing the rubber mat no “breathing” room to air out. Some other trailer manufacturers use side-to-side extruded planks that lack proper drainage. The Miley extruded flooring is “interlocking”, and when our extrusion “locks” together it provides for one of the strongest floors in the industry. With a full-length extruded floor running length wise and 4 inch “I-beams” running width wise, our floors are built like a house!
- All Miley aluminum trailers feature sealed beam exterior lighting that provides a lighting system requiring less maintenance than the traditional “Light Bulb” type systems found on most other trailers. All of the wiring on Miley trailers is enclosed, but easily exposed for occasional maintenance and inspection that is required from time to time. All electrical wiring that passes through aluminum is protected with rubber grommets to “minimize” wear and potential electrical shorts. All electrical connections on Miley trailers feature more expensive heat shrink type connectors eliminating the “rust” factor that causes many cheaper connectors found on most other brand trailers to fail. All Miley trailers feature a “plug in” type pre-fabricated, wiring harness much like the wiring harness found on your automobile. This type of harness system is more expensive, but provides for a wiring system with the quality and longevity found in the automobile industry; make sure your trailer doesn’t have clip or pinch type connectors.
- One area to look at is the trailer’s fasteners. Miley trailers are manufactured with huck bolt type fasteners. These are the same fasteners used in the semi-trailer industry. These fasteners are xylan coated and will not rust, turn black or bleed onto your new aluminum trailer. Be sure your next trailer is built with the xylan - huck type fasteners installed in the sub-frame and kingpin areas.
- Miley trailers have some of the longest warranties in the business. Our trailers feature a 3-year warranty on the frame, which includes top rail, bottom rail, cross member, I-beam, and main drop gussets. All other manufactured parts (excluding wear items) come with a one-year warranty.
- Inspect the horse area and make sure that there are not any unsafe, protruding parts. Divider latches found on all Miley products are by far the best in the industry. Our patented divider latch is flush mounted in a sidewall providing for a clean, smooth wall surface when the dividers are in the open position. Each divider features a spring loaded hinge point allowing your dividers to remain open when loading your trailer, which reduces the chance of injury during loading and unloading that is possible when the dividers are swinging in a half open, half closed position. Be sure and look at the latch system when shopping for your next aluminum trailers.
Miley Fact
Miley trailers feature light-weight aluminum components that resist corrosion and help reduce the weight of the trailer.