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Old School Bus Makes Great Show Horse Trailer
Terry Riegle, Sparta, Mo., built a 30-ft. gooseneck trailer from a 66-passenger school bus. He uses it to haul show draft horses as well as wagons, carts, harnesses, wheelbarrows, etc. A 1966 International truck equipped with a 90 hp Perkins diesel engine is used to pull it.
"I built it for less than $500," says
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Old School Bus Makes Great Show Horse Trailer LIVESTOCK Horses/Mules 20-1-4 Terry Riegle, Sparta, Mo., built a 30-ft. gooseneck trailer from a 66-passenger school bus. He uses it to haul show draft horses as well as wagons, carts, harnesses, wheelbarrows, etc. A 1966 International truck equipped with a 90 hp Perkins diesel engine is used to pull it.
"I built it for less than $500," says Riegle, who promotes Haflinger draft horses by showing them at local fairs and parades. "It draws a big crowd wherever I go. I built it because I needed a bigger trailer to haul my horses, show wagon, two carts, harness, hay, straw, and other equipment. I got the idea for my bus-horse trailer after reading about another one in FARM SHOW."
Riegle paid $56 for the bus which he bought from a local high school with a lot of parts already stripped off. He stripped off the front end of the frame, then welded on the gooseneck hitch (which he built from an old truck frame). The horses are kept at the front of the bus. He closed off the front of the bus with plywood, leaving the top open so air goes straight through the bus, making it easier to pull. Horses are loaded on a ramp mounted at the bus's side door. A hinged 8-ft. wide steel gate forms a stall behind the plywood front wall.
He also bolted a wooden deck on top of the gooseneck hitch where he carries a one-horse, 2-wheel show cart.
"It's heavy but it handles well and turns much easier than a tandem or triple axle trailer," says Riegle. "I load it full of harnesses, hay, straw, and signs, as well as our wagon which I roll up against the wheel fenders. I capped the wheel bearings so that they're always bathed in oil and I don't have to pack them with grease. I also rewired the bus and mounted tail lights on back.
"I used it for the first time last year when I went to the Missouri State Fair. I wasn't on the road 45 minutes before a highway patrolman pulled me over. He was making a spot safety check and said he couldn't figure out what it was. When I got to the fair I was surrounded by people before I could even unload anything."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Terry Riegle, 656 Pastoral Rd., Sparta, Mo. 65753 (ph 417 581-7709).
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