3D-Printed Horse Trailer Size: Built to Accommodate Big Horses

The first 3D-printed horse trailer, known as the patent pending SafeTack Reverse Carbon, will be initially a 2 horse bumper pull model. It is designed with extra safety installments to make sure that it can haul large horses. Since we specialize in custom-built horse trailers, we have a lot of clients with big horses, such as drafts or warmbloods, reach out to us to build a horse trailer that will meet the needs of L - XL horses.

How Will the 3D-Printed Horse Trailer Dimensions Work for Large Horse Breeds?

Most big horse breeds, such as warmblood horses are anywhere between 16-17.2 hands. Because of their size, these horses need a horse trailer that is large enough. We’ve seen far too many cases of horse owners that try to cram their large warmblood horses into a standard-size horse trailer and then wonder why their horse doesn’t want to load onto the trailer. Warmblood horses require extra height and width in the trailer while traveling as well as additional “nose to butt” length since they are long-bodied. The 3D-printed horse trailer size will be built to accommodate the needs of big horse breeds and ensure their safety and comfort while traveling in the trailer.

In the process of designing the 3D-printed horse trailer dimensions, we wanted to make sure that large breed horse owners out there could still find a warmblood size horse trailer to safely get their horses from point A to point B, even in a 3D-printed trailer.

Feature #1: 3D-Printed Trailer Size

It probably goes without saying that a horse trailer for larger breed horses needs to be larger in size than a standard-size horse trailer. So, our 3D-printed horse trailer model has some horse trailer size adjustments to comfortably fit large horses.

3D-Printed Horse Trailer Dimensions: Length

Our standard 2 horse bumper pull trailer model is 14’ long. The 3D-printed horse trailer will be 15-16’ long, depending on the specific size of your horse.

3D-Printed Horse Trailer Dimensions: Width

A standard horse trailer width is around 80”. In contrast, the 3D-printed 2 horse bumper pull model will be a full 96” width.

3D-Printed Horse Trailer Dimensions: Height

The Double D Trailers 2 horse slant bumper pull model comes standard in a 7’4” height. The standard height of the 3D-printed 2 horse bumper pull trailer will be 7’8” tall. This ensures that your warmblood horse will have ample room to move their head up and down during transit without risk of injury.

Feature #2: Safety Features

A horse trailer for big horses should have extra safety features. Traveling with horses that are so much larger than standard horses can pose safety risks if your horse trailer is not adequately equipped. Specific safety features that will be helpful to warmblood horse owners on the 3D-printed SafeTack Reverse Carbon Bumper Pull model include:

• SafeTack Reverse Layout: Our patented SafeTack trailer design allows horses to travel facing the rear of the horse trailer. Many scientific studies have shown that horses who haul facing the rear of the horse trailer travel with less stress and less fatigue, and more recent scientific studies show that they are more balanced in the rear-facing position as well. (See the full report in this article: Effects of Transport Conditions on Behavioural and Physiological Responses of Horses)

• SafeTack Swing Out Tack Compartment: The Double D Trailers swing out SafeTack rear tack compartment is especially beneficial for warmblood horse owners. Why? The SafeTack tack box allows the rear tack storage to fully swing out of the way of the horse trailer; functioning as a second door. When loading and unloading warmblood horses in the trailer, the 3D-printed trailer size is wide-open and enhances safety for both horses and handlers. The SafeTack compartment in the carbon series will also be fully removable.

• Adjustable Interior Dividers: The interior dividers on the SafeTack Reverse Carbon Bumper Pull model will be fully adjustable. Horse owners will be able to pick up the dividers and move them from slot to slot. For large breed horse owners who have ever hauled their horse in a trailer, you already know how helpful this feature will be. Rather than being stuck with a pre-built stall width, you can adjust your stall sizes as needed to fit each of your horses specific sizes. Another bonus about the interior dividers in the 3D-printed trailer model is that they are fully removable. So, this allows for the 3D-printed trailer dimensions to be able to haul things other than horses such as carriage, ATV, or golf cart.

Feature #3: Horse Trailer Materials

At Double D Trailers, we have spent much time and research ensuring that our horse trailers are manufactured with superior safety materials including Z-Frame technology, Rumber flooring, SafeKick Wall Technology, and SafeBump Roof Systems. Double D Trailers are also constructed with a 3M chemical bonding technology that allows the exterior of our horse trailer to be free of rivets, screws, and fasteners - providing an additional level of safety for when horses are outside of the trailer.

So, as we have pursued 3D-printing a horse trailer, we have once again gone back to the drawing board on horse trailer materials as 3D-printing manufacturing is a totally different set of construction materials. After working closely with a team of 3D-industry professionals in the niches of design and engineering, we came up with a material blend for the horse trailer construction that will consist of polycarbonate, carbon fiber, and a fiberglass fill. So, let’s talk about each material individually.

• Polycarbonate: Polycarbonate is a popular material used in 3D-printing. We chose to incorporate polycarbonate in the construction of the 3D-printed horse trailer because it is lightweight, heat resistant, but also extremely durable. Durability is especially important when it comes to horse owners with large breed horses, simply because of the size of the horses alone. For this reason, we ensured that the 3D-printed trailer size will be able to accommodate the height and weight of these large horses, but also withstand any kicks that happen during travel from the impact of their weight. The British Plastics Federation released a recent study on polycarbonate, noting that the tensile strength of this material is 70 - 80 N/mm(^2). What does this mean? Converted, that number is equivalent to a PSI score of 10,152.65. PSI (pounds per square inch). PSI refers to the measurement of pressure per square inch that a material can withstand. Needless to say… Polycarbonate is not lacking in the strength department; and it’s more than capable of supporting the extra size that warmblood horses require.

  

• Carbon Fiber: Most people are more familiar with and more comfortable with a material known as carbon fiber. Zoltek studied the strength ratios of carbon fiber vs. steel, and found that carbon fiber is significantly stronger than steel and is “ideal” for high-stress applications. We chose this material to be featured in the material blend used in the 3D-printed horse trailer because we know that horses don’t stand completely still during unloading, loading, or transit. Specifically for warmblood horse owners, knowing that the material used in the 3D-printed horse trailer construction is strong enough to absorb the kicks or paws of their big horses will be relieving.

• Fiberglass: We have heard many concerns from clients about the use of fiberglass in the 3D-printed horse trailer design. It’s glass, right?! It will surely shatter and break under the weight of horses, especially big warmblood horses. Fiberglass is what we like to call a misunderstood material. It has a bad reputation - but it performs well. Its use in the 3D-printed horse trailer will serve as a small material fill to simply reinforce strength. In a study on fiberglass rebar for constructing thermal bridges, using load-bearing fiberglass rebars showed to have higher tensile strength compared to steel.

The 3D-Printed Trailer Size Ensures Safety and Comfort for Large Horse Breeds

As a horse owner with a large horse, selecting the right horse trailer for your horses is a really big deal. When it comes to finding the best horse trailer size to accommodate your horses, you should make sure that the horse trailer has enough size, proper safety features, and is constructed out of trustworthy materials. The 3D-printed horse trailer size checks all of the boxes for you, ensuring that you and your big horses can enjoy safe and comfortable travels.

Next Topic: Maintaining a 3D-Printed Horse Trailer