Pivot Tie
These are some pictures of the “Pivot Tie” (like the name?) my handy husband made for my horse trailer. I will add more details about it later, just putting up pictures for now:
Picture of the entire assembly
One thing to remember if you build one of these – do not make the arm too long! We almost did. You want your lead line to be able to reach close to the ground while also being able to reach the trailer for feeding. So the arm should be approximately the same length as the distance from the ring to the ground (I will post measurements later, but they will vary based on the height of your trailer).
Closeup of the bottom of the "mast"
The lead line is tied or clipped to the ring. The ring is attached to the swinging arm by a piece of velcro which is attached to another ring. When the trailer is not in use or on the road, the arm rests in the padded U shaped area.
Closeup of the front "bumper" - keeps the arm from hitting the trailer as it swings.
Closeup of the joint of the bar connecting the mast to the arm
Detail of the top of the "mast". The pipes are inserted into fittings and can pivot within the fitting.
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Can you add a picture of how the pipe fits onto the bottom part of the mast. It was not clear to me how the closed triangular shape fit into the bottom fitting.
Looks strong. Just have to be sure that the horse can’t rip the whole thing off the trailer. Obviously would bolt into a sturdy “beam” in the framework.
I’d have to ask an engineer or someone who understood the angular forces that potentially could be placed on the trailer at the attachment points to explain and reassure me that the darn thing is going to “hold” – whether for commercial version or home made. THANKS for posting this. Do you recall what it cost you in materials to make it? Is it worth the cost savings, especially if you add in labor.
Hi Melody,
Aside from it being pretty sturdy, we make sure the horse doesn’t rip it off the trailer by attaching the lead rope with something strong enough to keep the horse attached during normal use, but weak enough to break before the swing-tie breaks if the horse really pulls back.
We built it all with scrap materials. If you had to buy the materials and hire labor, it would surely cost more than a “store-bought” one. I think you only want to go this route if you are a person (or have a person) that likes doing this kind of stuff. My husband is an architect who also builds metal sculptural pieces and just likes creating things. And has welding equipment.
What I really like about this one is it gives the horse a lot more grazing area because it pivots. It also lets her stand either to the side or behind the trailer and maybe catch a little more shade or see her friends. I always undo the ramp latches so the rope can’t get caught on them. My horse is so much happier on her swing-tie than tied to the trailer!
I’m traveling next week but will add more information and pictures when I get back. Thanks for checking it out!
Thanks so much for posting! I like the extra room created with the “swing”. What size trailer do you have and do you have room to tie two horses (1 on each side) with this? Had my husband look at this today and he thinks it looks pretty “doable”. Thanks again!
This is a 2-horse Trail-et bumper pull with a tack room on the front, it’s about 16 feet long. We previously had this same swing-tie on a 4-horse stock trailer, also 16 feet long. The only problem with that was the trailer was shorter, and it was like the horse was getting chased by the swing at not much above eye level, so we had to raise it up higher than the trailer. Just keep this in mind if you have a stock trailer. Yes, we could install another swing tie on the other side for another horse. I have it on the tack room side so I can check on my horse if I’m sleeping in the tack room. (I don’t have a window on the other side of my tack room). With this one, my horse can walk to the back of the trailer so I guess if you install 2 of them, just make sure your horses can’t get tangled up at the back of the trailer. Also, if you go to crowded ridecamps, you’d be taking up quite a bit of space as compared to 2 of the commercial ties on one side. (Not much of an issue here in Montana, though I do still need to think about how much space I need when parking). Let me know all about it if you build one – I’d be happy to post a story about it too!
Karen, great idea and I liked the way it looks. The bumpers were a great idea, and the parking notch is great too. I do have a couple of questions.
It looks like it was made of black pipe. Black pipe is notoriously weak were it is threaded. Did you guys do anything to reinforce where you threaded it into the elbow?
What fasteners were used on the front bumper to the trailer?
Hi Bill,
Sorry for the extremely slow reply. I am getting so many spam replies on my blog it’s hard to find the real ones. I will get back to you on your questions about my trailer pivot-tie in the next couple of days. (http://allthingsendurance.com/2011/11/swing-tie-pivot-tie/)
Karen
http://www.allthingsendurance.com