Question re: Hauling livestock

Animals are animals. That cage will be rocking sometimes.

There are a number of regulations that apply to animals, such as cattle going to slaughter. If one is discovered dead or dying at the plant, they are pulled off to the side for later disposal. Not allowed into the human food chain.

Horses are delicate things, you can hurt them real easy with bad driving. I'll take the bricks over horses any time. Even then a brick will work loose and drop to the deck and then try to get to the edge to go through someone's windshield.

Bigger isnt better. You have a whole set of problems when Mr Moo does not want out at all.

 

I've never hauled livestock, but most cattle trailers seem to be filled up pretty well, I' doubt there is too much movement from the animals.

Horse trailers, if you are talking about the small things pulled behind a pickup, keep the horse in place. A horse should not be able to move around the trailer.

 

The animals aren't left to roam around the trailer, from what I can see. In most cases you confine the animals into as small a space as is prudent and humane.

 

Horses are to be confined as tight as possible. No turning around or forward and rear movement more than a foot or two.
Cattle are packed in and if it’s not a full load, gates are installed to prevent movement.
Just make sure your pickup truck can handle the weight.

 

I'd rather have more truck than I need than to be pulling a trailer that's just barely within the max rating. Why? It'll last longer, drive easier, stop better, and get the job done with less effort on my part. Have I pulled trailers too big for the tow vehicle? Yes, out of necessity. If I have a choice, I want a bigger motor to make it go, bigger brakes to get it stopped, and more spring rate to carry the weight. With those specs, you also usually get stronger transmissions, drivelines, axles, bearings, etc...which reduces repairs by extending component life.

Will the "bare minimum" truck get the job done? Sure...just not as well as the bigger truck. If I needed a 1/2 ton, I wouldn't shop for anything less than a 3/4 ton. If a 3/4 ton was recommended, I'd buy at least a srw 1 ton. If I was going to need a srw 1 ton, I'd get a dually.

 

I can’t see why you need more tow capacity for cattle vs bricks. As mentioned above, they aren’t free to roam in the trailer. You install partitions to keep them snugged up. A long trailer partially full of cattle needs to have flexibility to install the partition where you need it to get your tongue weight right.

 

My limited experience hauling cattle is mostly short hauls from pastures to feed yards or the auction in a body job. Once you get moving cattle will stop moving around and for the most part will stay still when you stop, at a light or something like that. Horses if they have shoes will tear up an aluminum floor really fast. Best to have a thick rubber mat on the floor. The neighbor used to have buffalo. They don't use the internal gates, because the buffalo will destroy them. Get them in close the main gates and go, and pray you don't have to stop for traffic because they will start fighting and that will wreck pretty much anything. This is what the truckers who haul them have told me.

 

Ain’t no feelin like cow mobilin’!

 

Alls you gots ta know is no horned cattle on top. Other'n that pack em in till the hide is hangin out