On 17 May 2005 10:23:04 -0700, wrote:

Your biggest hassles will be legal ones. Find out first if (a)
the electric brakes will still satisfy the authorities, (b) if the
registration change from "Horse" to "Equipment" will present any
problems, and (c) if the insurance company will insure it after it's
rebuilt. You don't want to spend time and money building instead of
buying if the whole thing is going to be a nightmare. I sure miss the
good old days...

Don't know about your State(s), but this is no problem in MN. Just go
to the local DMV office and tell them you want to register a
home-built trailer. Lotsa folks build trailers! I brought a photo
of mine but they didn't even want to see that. They just asked how it
cost to build, told me how much they wanted, and gave me the plate and
sticker. They don't even use plates anymore in MN, just a permanent
sticker.

I don't think they ask about brakes. Brakes are required on
trailers hauling over 1500 lb in MN, but nobody checks unless there's
an accident or a trooper sees an obvously-overloaded trailer on the
road.

As regards insurance, why would you insure a $300 trailer? You
already have liability coverage with your auto insurance.