Trailer Repair in Ocala: Horse, Utility and Boat Trailers

Most trailer trouble around Ocala starts with the same handful of parts: a hub running hot, electric brakes that grab or do nothing, lights that flicker or die at the plug, and a floor going soft under the mats. All of them are repairs, and most are done right where the trailer sits. Typical prices: bearing repack $150 to $250 per axle, brake adjustment $80 to $150, new electric brakes $350 to $600 per axle, a wiring fault $100 to $200, a wood floor about $9 to $13 per square foot. Tell us the trailer and what it is doing, and we tell you what it needs and what it costs before anyone pulls a hub.

We repair horse and livestock trailers, utility, landscape, equipment, dump, cargo, car hauler and boat trailers across Ocala, Belleview, Dunnellon, Williston, Reddick, Anthony and Fort McCoy. Every number on this site is a typical range built from published trailer shop price lists and flooring cost guides, laid out in full on the pricing page.

Why trailers work hard in Marion County

Marion County calls itself the Horse Capital of the World for a reason. A 2023 economic study for the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association counted 75,000 horses and ponies in the county and 210,000 acres in horse use, more than a fifth of the county’s land. Horses get hauled: to the vet, to the sales, to a new farm, to a show.

And the shows are right here. The HITS Ocala Winter Circuit at HITS Post Time Farm on US Highway 27 runs October 22, 2026 to April 18, 2027. The World Equestrian Center, which calls itself the largest equestrian complex in the United States, runs its Winter Spectacular from January 6 to April 4, 2027. That is months of weekly hauling on trailers that may have sat all summer.

Sitting is hard on a trailer. Grease ages in the hub, the breakaway battery runs flat, brake magnets rust onto the drum face, and urine under the rubber mats keeps working on the floor whether the trailer moves or not. Then the first long haul of the season finds every one of those problems at once.

What we repair

Full ranges, including bearings and races, hubs and drums, breakaway kits, couplers and jacks, are on the pricing page.

How a job runs

1. Tell us the trailer. Make if you know it, bumper pull or gooseneck, single or tandem axle, and what it is doing. Photos of the hubs, the plug, the floor or the weld help a lot.
2. We quote by the job. Running gear is priced per axle, floors per square foot, and repairs per job. Each one is its own line, so you can do bearings now and the floor after show season.
3. Barn or shop. Bearings, brakes, lights, wiring, breakaway, tires, couplers, jacks and ramp springs are done where the trailer sits. A full floor, an axle swap or structural welding may need the trailer brought in. The quote says which.
4. What we find gets priced before we fix it. If a repack turns up a pitted cup or a scored drum, we stop, show you, and price it. You approve it or not.
5. We test it on the plug. Every light, the brakes against your controller, and the breakaway pin pulled, before we call it done.

The parts that fail first, and why

Wheel bearings

Dexter’s own axle service manual calls for bearings to be lubricated every 12 months or 12,000 miles. A horse trailer that does a few hundred miles a year still hits the 12 months. Old grease separates and hardens, water gets past a tired seal, and the first long haul heats the hub. See wheel bearing service and hub hot or wheel noise.

Electric brakes

Dexter’s schedule says brakes get adjusted after the first 200 miles, then every 3,000 miles, and magnets checked every 6 months. Under-adjusted brakes feel like no brakes. A worn magnet or a bad ground makes one wheel grab or the whole set cut in and out. See trailer brake repair and electric brakes not working.

Lights and wiring

Florida law wants two red taillamps on the back of every trailer visible from 1,000 feet (s. 316.221) and stop lamps visible from 300 feet in daylight (s. 316.234). The usual reason they fail is not the bulb. It is a corroded plug, a chafed wire, or a ground that has rusted loose. See trailer wiring and lights.

Floors

Every aluminum horse trailer maker we cover tells owners to pull the mats and wash the floor on a schedule, Sundowner as often as every sixty days. Urine trapped under rubber is acidic, and it rots wood boards and corrodes aluminum planks from the top down. See trailer floor replacement and soft or spongy floor.

Florida rules your trailer has to meet

We are not inspectors and we do not certify anything. But these are the rules in the Florida Statutes, and they are the ones our repairs are aimed at:

• Brakes on all wheels are required on any trailer over 3,000 lb gross, and on a lighter one too if it weighs more than 40 percent of the tow vehicle (s. 316.261(3)).
• Breakaway brakes on trailers over 3,000 lb gross must apply automatically and stay applied for at least 15 minutes if the trailer comes loose (s. 316.261(4)).
• Safety chains or cables are required on any trailer towed by a rear hitch, strong enough to keep it attached under all conditions (s. 316.530(2)).
• Lights: trailers over 3,000 lb need front and rear clearance lamps, side marker lamps and reflectors on each side; lighter trailers need two rear reflectors at minimum (s. 316.2225).

More on each is on the FAQ.

What we do not do

We do not work on semi trailers, commercial fleets or RVs. We are not a dealer for any trailer brand, and we do not sell trailers. We repair the one you already own. For the makers we see on Marion County farms, see Featherlite, Sundowner, Exiss and 4-Star.

Get a number before you haul

Use the bearing and brake calculator or the floor calculator for a typical range, then send the quote form with the trailer details. Pre-season is the time: a repack at the barn in November is cheaper than a tow off I-75 the week of a show.