Keep Them Rolling Trailer Repair offers mobile trailer repair in Hunterdon County, NJ by appointment. Owner Brad Smith schedules each trip ahead and handles brake, bearing, suspension, lighting and frame work on site at stables, farms, homes and businesses around the county. Hunterdon is the far end of the service area, so call (973) 651-1045 and plan the visit together.
How a Hunterdon visit works
Visits here are booked ahead and often grouped, so a trip to Flemington might also cover a horse farm in Readington and a boat trailer in Clinton. The more Brad knows before he leaves, the better the odds of finishing on the first visit: the trailer’s make or type, the number of axles, the size printed on the tires, what it is doing wrong, and a couple of photos. Common parts ride on the truck. If the job needs something that has to be ordered, like a complete axle, he orders it and comes back to install it.
Tewksbury and Readington: horse country
Tewksbury, over the county line from Chester, and Readington, which takes in Whitehouse Station, are home to a lot of horse farms and large properties with long private drives. Horse trailers here range from two-horse bumper pulls to big goosenecks, and most spend more time parked than moving. Three things wear on them:
- Floors. Urine and wet bedding rot wood floors from the top and corrode aluminum floors under the rubber mats, where nobody sees it until the mats come up.
- Suspension. Many horse trailers ride on rubber torsion axles, which sag with age and lose their cushion, and the horses feel every bump. Leaf-spring trailers wear shackles and bushings instead. The trailer suspension repair page explains both.
- Brakes and breakaway. A breakaway battery that has gone flat over the winter will not stop the trailer if it ever comes off the hitch.
Flemington and Raritan Township
Flemington, the county seat, is where Route 202 and Route 31 meet. Raritan Township surrounds the borough, so the two share the same roads and much of the same business traffic. Contractors, landscapers and small companies here run open utility and landscaping trailers that go out loaded most days from spring to late fall. Those trailers need attention in a different place than a horse trailer: ramp gates and their springs, deck boards, fender mounts, spring shackles and the lights, which get knocked around by branches and loading. Brad’s utility trailer repair work handles all of it.
Clinton, Lebanon, High Bridge and Califon: reservoirs and river towns
I-78 runs past Clinton, and Route 22 runs through Lebanon. Just outside those towns sit two of the state’s big reservoirs, Spruce Run near Clinton and Round Valley near Lebanon, and both have boat launches that keep boat trailers busy all summer. A boat trailer that only sees a handful of launches a year has a different problem than one that goes in every weekend: its grease stiffens and separates while it sits, and its lights corrode from the inside because water trapped in the lens never fully dries out. Sealed LED lights and fresh wiring connections solve most of the light trouble, and boat trailer repair takes care of the rest.
High Bridge and Califon are small towns along the South Branch of the Raritan River, and a utility trailer or small boat trailer there often gets tucked beside a garage for months at a time. Those trailers usually need tires and bearings more than anything else when they finally come out.
Why a full inspection makes sense out here
Because a Hunterdon visit is planned ahead, it is worth having Brad go over the whole trailer while he is there instead of fixing only the one thing that failed. A trailer safety inspection covers brakes, bearings, tires, suspension, lights, wiring, the coupler, safety chains, the frame and the floor. For horse and livestock owners, a spring inspection before show and trail season catches floor rot and brake problems before an animal is standing on them.
Common questions
Do you really come as far as Flemington and Readington?
Yes. Hunterdon is inside the service area, even though it is the longest drive from Randolph. Brad will not promise a particular day this far out, but he will tell you plainly when he can make the trip, and pairing your job with others in the area is what makes the trip work. Travel is figured into the price, and you hear that price before anything is taken apart.
Can one visit take care of the horse trailer and the farm trailer?
Yes, and it is the smart way to use a planned trip. Tell Brad about every trailer on the property when you book, including the ones that are only a little off, like a light that works some of the time or a coupler that sticks. He can quote each one before starting, bring parts for all of them, and take them one after another while he is on site.
My boat trailer broke down leaving Spruce Run or Round Valley. What should I do?
Get the trailer off the ramp and out of the traffic lane first. If a hub is smoking or a wheel wobbles, stop driving on it, because a failed bearing can take the spindle with it. Then phone Brad, say where the trailer is and send a photo of the wheel. Where it is safe and allowed, roadside trailer repair may be possible on the spot; if not, he will give you the safest next step. For a trailer already home, schedule service online.