Two Small tear style canoe trailer's

[oldsparkey]

Today all the framing is done inside about half is saturated and the screw holes filled on the outside. Back wall is braced for the ac and the fantastic fan has been framed in .

You put a small 5,000 btu ac unit in there , attach a generator so when you return from a hunting trip you can use it as a meat cooler on the way home , you will save a bundle in ice chests. :lol:

The mobile home places have the aluminum paint for roofs , it is more like a metalic tar , really thick and hardens to a protective insulative surface. In fact you put it on the roof with a tar brush.
When I got out of the service the wife and I lived in a mobile home and I did the roof with that , made a big difference in keeping the place cool in the summer.

Jack....
I think you have it but I would add one more word to it ... Ronnies " Roving" Sportin' House. Or ... "Tx" River Rat's "Roving" Cooler. This way he could say he has been in the cooler and keep a straight face. :lol:

Chuck.

 

[tx river rat]

Coyote and I finished coating the walls and uprights with poly, after it dried started cutting and installing the foam insulation.

You can see in this pic the bracing for the ac in the back wall.

We ran out of foam so off to the box store tomorrow.
Ron
Ps The plan is to mount 2 batteries and an inverter should run the ac for about 12 hours , later a couple solar panels to help the generater.

 

[gbinga]

Ps The plan is to mount 2 batteries and an inverter should run the ac for about 12 hours , later a couple solar panels to help the generater.

Ron,

What kind of AC unit are you using? The one in my Airstream requires nearly 30 amps at start-up, which would take a heck of an inverter...

We also have a Fantastic Fan, and it is a fine product. Really pulls some air, and it isn't terribly noisy.

George

 

[tx river rat]

George
It is a 5000 btu ac pulls low amps starting , we also are going to instal a fantastic fan . I have one in my cabover and it is great.
I hate listning to a gen at night and I have seen this set up work on a couple campers
Ron
In Texas you never know when you will need the ac

 

[gbinga]

Looks like a great project. Our camper has given us some good times.

 

[oldsparkey]

Ron...

Back when a person could have what we called hunting cabins on the river.
One of our Deputies had a cabin on the Wekiva River as his permanent place of residence ( the only way in or out of there was by boat ). He rigged the place up with solar panels and batteries to furnish all of his electricity for the cabin.

It's hard to get juice to a place that is built in the middle of a swamp on a river island about the size of the cabin.

Thinking about Bruce's Retreat I would say it was about 16 X 24 ( enclosed living space) with a cat walk around it and a open front porch with a dock for his boat. Electric lights , frig , ac with a small wood burning stove and every thing to make life comfortable. It was a small river house , comfortably made. Now that I'm retired I would love to have a place like his was to go to.

I will say he did have quite a nice place , plus it was tax free and no power bill to live there , heck he didn't even have any door to door solicitors showing up. :lol: He did , at times , have a boat with a Sheriffs Star on the side visit him for a cup of coffee when I was patrolling on the Wekiva.

Then the state decided to evict everyone living on the river and all the hunting cabins , including Bruce's were torn or burnt down by the state to reclaim the river as a wild river. They even outlawed hunting on it. :evil:

Chuck.
Not sure about his solar panel set up but it worked quite well for him.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Ronnie, tell Sandra I recant, I repent, and I recycle. Don't want to be on her bad side. She's a great lady. Give her a hug from me, whilst you're at it.

 

[Lee Schneidermann]

Ron,
How does the door open when it's in the truck bed?
:roll:
Lee

 

[oldsparkey]

Lee....

Ron ... Correct me if I'm wrong ....

It will be a trailer and not a camper in the back of his truck as soon as he figures out how to make the trailer.

Ya have to watch out for those iron workers and welders they will leave you guessing all the time. :wink:

Chuck.
PS. Ron said I could have it the 1st year after it is made to do a report on the comfort it offers a Geezer. :lol: Believe that and I have some ocean front property in Arizona I can sell you.

 

[tx river rat]

I took of this weekend for a little good and bad r@r . I will tell the tale in a trip report.
At this get together a friend showed up with his modified tear deop trailer with yaks on a rack on top.
We did a lot of note comparing ,his is smaller than mine 4 ft by 8 ft but Randy and his son were very comfortable in there little house stayed warm and dry .
It convinced me I was on the right track.
Ron

 

[Kayak Jack]

Ronnie, I've seen the proof of your imagineering in solid state. I never doubted but that it would turn out a well thought out product.

 

[a Bald Cypress]

t

Ron, you are a rotten no good person who puts bad[or good] thoughts into other peoples heads.

I have been following your thread and now, I don't know which way to turn. My thoughts have been on another 15 ft tandem cedar canoe, trying to get the weight down a bit but, since following your build, I am uncertain.

I have been reading the posts on this site , http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/

and have become extremly confused as to what I should put my hard cash into. Boat ? Trailer ? arrrrugggh!

I'm so confused!

You sir are a BAD influence.

 

[tx river rat]

Bald cypress
:twisted: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Yep I had the same decision to make but with six yaks in the shed I headed this way.
Several things made up my mind
1 After taking a trip to Alaska (30 days putting up and taking down a tent trailer) I wanted something that I just walked back opened the door and get in.
2 Simple I want a place to make coffee read a book stay dry warm and cool. I will cook outside most of the time.
3 Easy set up 5 minutes tops

4 Low maintenance built with resin soaked ply and then painted it should be tough not leak and if you do have damage should be easy to fix
5 low impact on gas mileage ( a friend pulls one behind a jeep like Chucks and it cost him 1 mile to the gallon. Being able to tow with a small vehicle

6 I want a rig that has all my play pretties loaded so if I decide to go it can happen in a very short time

7 Capability to carry 2 yaks

8 and the big one I think there cool

Ron

 

[tx river rat]

No pics today
We got the rest of the insulation installed and some of the inside skin installed and frames around the outside of the windows.
Ron

 

[oldsparkey]

Ron...

Not sure if you can answer this as of yet , maybe down the road , so to speak. :lol:

1. What do you think the weight on the hitch will be when it is done.
2. A guesstimating on the weight of the camper when done.
3. The cost you have in it to make it to your satisfaction , if you want to share that information.
4. Roughly how much time was needed to have it completed and ready for the road.
5. Did you use any plans or just went with what you thought when building it.

I know what you are saying about putting something up every night and then taking it down in the morning , a lot easier just opening and shutting a door. Especially if it is raining.

That brings another question to mind , are you going to attach a tarp to one side as an awning in case of inclement ( WET ) weather. Just had to ask since I know none of us camp in the rain , it is always blue bird skies and clear nights for us out there. :roll:

Chuck.

 

[tx river rat]

Chuck
I can answer some of these questions
Hitch weight can be adjusted bye how you load the trailer but I want about a hundred lbs on it I set my wheels pretty far back.

Total weight should be right around a thousand lbs that will be with kayak racks installed. Those will be detachable.

Cost should be around a thousand bucks for the camper , It could be lower but I am putting a good axle probably 13 inch wheels, custom frame ,plus I put coats of resin over the whole camper outside skin , this was also done on the inside before I started the insulation and inside paneling taped and glassed and taped all seams. This is a lot more than most folks do.
There is no telling what will be the cost when I get through , I will have a fantastic fan in the roof , twin batteries, solar panels ,inverter ac, and the list goes on :shock:

Time I am not sure off. This camper will be for Sondras son and her grand kids, when I finish it I will start mine ,I will try to keep hours on mine ,plus building out of your head is slower.

I patterned it after some sketches on a trailer forum , and then started changing (you know how I am) added another window made it wider basically took an Ideal and just built on it.
If it turns out well I will do a rough set of plans for anyone that wants them.

for an awning I bought a canopy at wally world that is freestanding, about a minute to set up and was cheap 88.00, they also have a solid are screen wall set for it for about 30.00, I will put two tabs on the trailer that you can zip tie it to the unit. This canopy is a 10 by 10.

My original was going to be a 4 by 8 with an outside profile similar to this one and that trailer could be built a lot cheaper, but after discussing the gas mileage with a couple guys that have teardrops I went with the bigger size.
I hunt in and out of state and plan to take some trips and yak with a few of you guys so it will get a lot of miles on this unit, plus running long distances you can pull in a flyin J or wally world crash then get up and go
No setup
Hope this answers a few of the questions
Ron

 

[tx river rat]

The weather eased up today so I got a little more done. All the insulation is glued on walls and most of the inside ply is up.

We decided to use the 4mm laun instead of paneling the finial finish on the inside will have to be a surprise.

you can see the off set in the back wall where the bracing for the AC is.

In about an hour tomorrow should have the inside walls covered.
Ron

 

[Darrells]

ron,
It's looking great. where you planning on the first trip in it? If the weather ever straightens up we need to go for a paddle.

 

[tx river rat]

Thanks Darrel
I still have a long way to go on this one but we are getting there.
Yea paddling just sounds better on a warm day.
Ron

 

[Kayak Jack]

You do good work, Ronnie. (Not much of it, but what you do is good.) :lol: