Made some decisions

[catrinka]

We did some poking around at home depot looking at their utility trailers. The one that they have there is 5 1/2 feet between the wheels and 10 feet long so I think that is what we will use for the base. This gives us room for a queen bed and hopefully enough room for a porti-potti at the end. We seem to be leaning towards the benroy design....or at least that is the way all of our preliminary sketches look like. We still have to figure out where we are going to build this. Lots of decisions to make yet!

[Guest]

Hey Cathy,
That size of a trailer to work with should be more than plenty big enough. Having a place to build it can be challenging too. I'm going to have to finish building a canoe first, before I can start construction on the trailer. (If I want to build it indoors) I'm sure a lot of people build them right in the driveway. That would be pretty challenging here, as we get quite a bit of percipitation. Keep us posted on your design. You can upload an image from your computer right into your personal gallery here, just click on Album and scroll down to Your Personal Gallery, then click on that.

Enjoy your project!

[Shrug53]

This is a list of mattress sizes if that helps you plan.

[catrinka]

The challenge with building, Dean, is that we live in an apartment. We may have to rent space at a storage place so that we can build it.

And thanks Shrug for the bed sizes. We definitely need the width of a queen but not necessarily the length...so we may borrow a few inches from there for accommodate other things. We'll have lots of winter months for us to plan for building in the spring. Unfortunately up here that won't be until about April.

[Shrug53]

I have considered that problem myself. I do not know how it is where you are, but around here storage places only let you store, not work on anything (especially if you need power. Ideally you need to do it at a friends place.
If that is not an option what you can do is this: First assemble and license your trailer. If you can not park it at your building, you can store it alone.
Bo all the woodwork that you can, cutting, staining, assembling cabinets and so on, on your patio (if you do not have a patio get ready to have a very dusty lving room)

Each weekend you hook up the trailer and do some work. Attach the floor, Attache the wall and brace them temporarily so you can drive the trailer back to storage. Etc, etc.

If it were me, Iwould use something like Mikes weekender design. Simple straight lines, nothing too hard to do quickly, just scale it up a bit.

Hope this helps.

[catrinka]

We do have a few details to work out....but like I said before we have all winter to work that out. The snow starts to fall up here sometime in November/December and spring should arrive sometime in April....so lots of winter nights to dream and plan!!!

[Guest]

Shrug,
Thanks for the bed chart, that will come in real handy when I layout my interior plan.

Cathy,
Same here, storage places only let you store stuff. I found that out when I got divorced. I had to rent a few storage places to store my glass when while I was trying to locate another shop. I would opt on looking for someone with a garage that you could use. I would rather pay rent where I could work on the trailer, without having to constantly move it all the time.

[ALAN GEDDES]

I just rolled my 4 x 10 footer outside to finish up. It was built with about 18 inches on sides and 24 inches front and rear to work. All wood work was done inside and trailer frame built outside. Then I put body on frame. Couldn't even final sand or finish due to lack of movement room. This is my second TD and I would suggest the following: Build the floor, use this as table to cut sides, Cut all roof studs at one time making sure they are exactly the correct width, cut your rear bulkhead and then assemble. If you can build a plywood box you can build a TD; it's just not quite square. Welcome to the group. Alan PS: I'm from northern Ontario so I understand the weather problems. Al

[Chip]

Cathy,,first welcome to the group,,I am in the final stages of building my first tear. Construction room was no problem,,and you need room to store and lay out materials and tools,,one thing ya may want to consider is over the winter,,build or put together a modular galley and cabin shelf/cabinet/bulkhead,,measure and recalculate the exact width you will need,,you can make a fine cabinet that does not take up much room in an apt,, in spring time all you need to do is cut out the sides and tip them up and bolt together,,,second thing is to lay out your galley hatch based on your careful calculations,,,this too could be pre constructed and put in a corner to rest for the winter,,come spring time you have a perfect pattern for the rear of the tear to go by for cutting out the walls,,also you could assemble all the hardware,,electrical parts and could actually put together a full wiring harness,,,,come spring time,,everything could just be bolted together,, final cuts and sanding done, finish put on and ya on the road in less time than if ya wait to start const in the spring,,,,,,,just some suggestions,,,the number one thing to do is to have fun with the whole process,,

chip

[Frank]

Cathy,
When we were in Mich living in a trailer court, I rented a garage from a fellow that did not use his any more. Had to clean it out, put in a couple of outlets and a couple of lights. Wired them so I could run a drop cord to the house and have power when I was there. All I did was run an add in the paper, just an idea but it worked for me.

Frank

[mikeschn]

Many many years ago I lived in an apartment. Reflecting back, yes, it's possible to build a teardrop in an apartment. But you definitely want to build it in the summer. Pick a part of the parking lot that is vacant, or if no construction is allowed, then go to the park, with your cordless skill saw and drill motor.

The other guys have suggested that you get your trailer road ready and legal first. I second that. Then on nice weekends, pull your trailer to the park or where-ever, and assemble the various bits and pieces.

You'll want to use stock sizes where ever possible, since you probably don't have a table saw.

As for the design, I would consider the "Weekender" if I lived in an apartment. Use 1/2" plywood for the sidewalls, and 1x2s for stringers. Cover with 1/4" luan. You could have the body done in a weekend.

There's always a way to work around the circumstances if you want a teardrop or a tiny travel trailer bad enough.

Mike...

[tdthinker]

Wow, you are all brave. I dont think I would want to try to build at a apartment. Good luck, bye

[CheshyreKatt]

My question is where did you find the trailer? Is is a bolt together or fully pre-welded?

[BufordT]

My question is where did you find the trailer? Is is a bolt together or fully pre-welded?

All depends on what kind of trailer your going to build.

You can get them at Home Depot as posted above. Harbor Freight, Lowes,

ets.

What size tear are you looking at.

Bufordt

[CheshyreKatt]

It's not the size that matters.....um...ok....not going there.

I plan on building the 2+2 that angib designed for the contest. I won't be starting until Feb or Mar of next year. As such, I need a trailer that is at least 5x10 (the 2+2 extends over the wheels). I don't find many of those floating around on manufactuer sites, so, I was wondering where catrinka had found her bigger trailer.

If I thought it would be stable, I'd just extend one of the HF trailers, but, something in my gut tells me that that wouldn't be as good.