10/05/05 Trailers

Trailers Some equipment purchases pay for themselves in more than one way. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to explain. Stock trailers are purchased to haul livestock from place t place, but an added value to stock trailers is the versatility and convenience they offer. We purchased our first stock trailer about 25 years ago and I believe it's about the best equipment investment we've ever made. Before we had the trailer most of our livestock hauling was done by truck. We went to the rodeos in a truck to the fairs in a truck, to the sale in a truck and sometimes to the pasture in a truck. The problem with a truck is having a loading chute available or finding a bank so the let down ramp gate wouldn't be so steep. It only took about one week using the trailer to appreciate the beauty of loading and unloading wherever needed. Horses and cattle seem to load so much easier into a trailer rather than a truck and a trailer is especially handy to load an injured or sick animal since there are no ramps or loading chutes to negotiate. I'll admit also the pickup that pull these trailers are a lot nicer to ride in than the old stock trucks. It seems trailers save so much time we haul our horse to the pastures where we are gathering o checking cattle instead of riding out. Just about everything about a trailer seems to be a benefit except a comment I heard from one of the more "established" riders about horses sure aren't broke as quick now with the fewer miles they have to travel. But, I noticed he loaded his horse and jumped in the pickup on the way home. I'm Jeff Keane