mjw1048

I'm looking to get a 2 horse trailer. Still trying to decide whether to get a gooseneck or bumper pull. Anyone have advice, suggestions, etc.? I've heard that goosenecks are much easier to pull and back up.


I have a 2016 F150 3.5L Ecoboost with the max tow package.

Thanks.

PerryB

Are you talking about an old school trailer, or a slant-load with a tack room? If its just a simple side by side, I'd go with a standard ball hitch. As you get into the bigger/heavier trailers, the gooseneck has its advantages. They do trail better and don't porpoise/undulate like a conventional trailer does on a heaving road. They also don't try to wag your tail when you get blasted by the wake of a big truck in a crosswind. As far as backing, they're different, but not really better or worse. You have to lead a gooseneck more, both when initiating and arresting a backing maneuver.

Ricktwuhk

A thread you may want to review:

https://www.f150forum.com/f82/10k-go...n-i-do-352684/

smokeywren

With a 2-horse trailer that weighs 7,000 pounds, bumper-pull hitch weight will be about 900 pounds. With a gooseneck trailer that weighs 9,000 pounds, hitch weight will be about 1,800 pounds

The problem is you'll be overloaded with a 9k gooseneck trailer, and maybe with a 7k bumper-pull trailer.
Can you pull it? Of course. That 3.5L EcoBoost drivetrain is amazing. Note my post in the old thread that Ricktwuhk linked to.

Before you commit, load the F-150 with everybody and everything that will be in it when towing. Go to a truck stop that has a CAT scale and fill up with gas. Weigh the wet and loaded F-150. Subtract the weight of the wet and loaded F-150 from the GVWR of the F-150. Do you have 2,000 pounds available for hitch weight? 1,800? Do you have 900 pounds?

If not, then reconsider and formulate Plan B. Plan B for my grand daughter was to buy an F-250 instead of an F-150. She hauls two barrel-racing rodeo horses in a 7k receiver-hitch trailer. SuperCab shorty with gas engine. She loves it. Every time I see an F-250 SuperCab shorty, I think of her.

acdii

Unless your going SuperDuty, go with a bumper pull. I have a Trail-et New Yorker BP with tack room and walk up ramp. It's 3500# dry but pulls like a dream. When looking, find one with Torsion suspension, it improves the ride dramatically, and eliminates the porpoising. I pulled it with a 97 Explorer, so pulling it with an F150 will be a cake walk.

TW on it is no where near the 900# Smokey said, its more like 600# with 2 horses in it. The weight of the horses is pretty much centered on top of the axles so the TW changes very little.

I also pulled it with a 2013 Flex rated at 4500#.

mjw1048

Thanks for the advice. Some of the trailers I'm seeing (even some gooseneck), are averaging 4500#. I'll most likely only have one horse in the trailer (my other horse doesn't leave the barn much). I should be well within the hauling limits of the truck. I'd like to have an F250 but can't justify the cost/etc. when I won't be towing the horse trailer that much.

acdii

The one thing about a horse trailer is unlike regular trailers and travel trailers where loading them can greatly affect the tongue weight, once loaded with saddles in the forward tack room, adding horses has little, if any impact on the tongue since they pretty much are standing on the axles.

If you look at the trailer in my picture, the horses front legs are right on top of the front axle, where the mass of the horse exists, the balance of the horses weight is past the rear axle, which will actually lighten the TW a little bit, so when the horse transfers his/her weight to a hind leg you feel it in the truck.

So payload isn't that big an issue with these trailers, as long as you don't load the truck up too much, just about any 2 horse BP trailer will work with the F150, as long as its GVWR and the trucks GVWR combined doesn't exceed the trucks GCWR. For my trailer, its 7500#, which puts it right at the GCWR of my truck, but thats fully loaded up with a full tack and two draft horses.

I have two T-breds, so the most I would ever see in that trailer is 6600#, and still be under 600# TW.

mjw1048

Acdii - thanks for the comments, advice. Nearly most of the time I'd only be pulling one horse and luckily it's not a draft. I like the new lightweight aluminum trailers. The one I saw was right around 3k lbs. Add 11200-1300lb horse and I should be fine.

acdii

Yep, should be very fine with a lightweight. If I could pull a 7500# GVWR 2 horse with 2 T-breds init with a 97 Exploder, your F150 will pull a lighter one with one horse like it isn't there.

5.0GN tow

This is my previous truck a 2013 5.0 STX 4x4. I was within all limits of the truck with two horses but right at the edge. It towed great even being over GCWR but within GAWR and GVWR with 3 horses. The empty trailer is 4550, at about 8 loaded with all gear and tack for shows. We towed almost 3 years with this set up and had no problems at all. The truck did great averaging 250 plus miles a week towing 9 months a year. You should have no issues pulling what you are looking at.