Removeable/Modular galley?

[Louisd75]

I'm in the process of building a version of Camp Inn's 560 and I'm a bit stuck on the arrangement of the galley. I have lots of trips under my belt where I was camping alone or with my wife out of the back of a small pickup, but now I have a growing family and our cooking arrangements are still evolving. I was thinking about building two small chuck boxes that were sized for the galley space that were removable. This would allow us to load/unload the chuck boxes in the house, then slide it into the galley and secure it. It would also make it easier for the galley to evolve down the road as we figure out what works best for us.

I've run across four images in the galley gallery that seem to show someone who did something similar, but I can't seem to find any other info. Has anybody else on here done something similar? Here are a couple of the found images:





Here's a picture of my galley as it sits:



The three hatches aren't finished yet, they still need seals and flush mount hinges. The leftmost (driver) one will house the battery, the right (passenger) side will be for storing misc kitchen stuff, while the center is a shallow shelf for holding the larger pans. That shelf under the middle hatch is a false bottom with room for installing a Propex furnace down the road. The chuck boxes will be shallow enough so that the hatches can be opened with them in place.

I had thought about using a strip of wood mounted across the galley forward bulkhead that the chuck box top forward edge would rest under. I was also thinking a sliding bolt mounted vertically on the lower aft edge could drop down into a shallow hole drilled in the countertop. I may need to do more to keep it from moving around, perhaps another sliding bolt that goes into the outboard bulkhead.

And for grins, here's a rough idea of what the trailer looks like in a very cluttered garage:

[drhill]

That is a great looking build you have there.

I think building some temporary upper cabinets is a great idea and you can fine tune it after you have used it a few times. I did much the same. I knew how I wanted the cooler and stove/oven arranged below the counter but up above the counter had me scratching my head. I did the first layout just with pallet boards and used it a few times. Then I knew what I wanted to build. The upper portion of my galley is still removable with a few screws. Most of the supplies that need restocking between trips is in the wooden box that slides in below the cutlery drawer.

I am a fan of the tambour doors as shown in the pictures you posted. They aren't too hard to build and they work great in a teardrop galley so the counter doesn't have to be cleared to access a cabinet.

Cooking for a family requires lots of counter space. Below is the table I use that provides a lot of extra work space and the hanging shelf below helps keep the clutter off the counter. Have fun laying out your galley. Cheers,

[Louisd75]

Thanks for the compliment. It's been my hobby project for right around two years at this point. I've got a three year old that's been helping with it since she could walk and I have a one week old who hasn't been much help yet. The galley and counter are a comfortable height for me to work, but I'm worried that they're just a little too high for my wife. It was a tough choice between making the galley low enough for her to work from vs having room for my feet inside. Since I'm the one building the trailer, I won that debate. I think. I'm planning on making two removable tables with lift-off brackets on the back and sides to give more space and a variety of setup options. I like your table idea. Is there room to stow it inside the galley?

I'm not too sure about going with the tambour doors, though I do like how they stow. After spending some more time looking at the galley pictures I posted I realized that those cabinets actually aren't removable. The piece that I thought was a partition is actually a cutting board stored on edge. Oh well. I'm sure I'll be able to figure something out.

[friz]

I plan on living with mine "empty" for a while to see what I end up settling on for a stove, cooler, dishes, etc. Then after I get my rhythm down, come up with an insert. I may end up with a couple variations depending whether i'm camping with the wife or using the galley for a charging station for my aircraft models.

[daveesl77]

You are building a beautiful camper!

Here is how we did Conch Fritter's galley, a bit different than most...

This is the galley in use over Thanksgiving



Here are photos from the original build gallery...

the bed is on a platform and the galley rides under the bed when traveling. It is essentially 2 chuck boxes, hinged together and the ends flip over. Total time to deploy, including hooking up hotwater and propane lines is less than 5 minutes, about the same to reset. The boxes ride on aluminum rails with bearing wheels and locks into place. When extended, we use old aluminum tripod legs to control the height. Once outside the camper, the dog has a big cave, plus we have additional storage for the porta-pottie and a stackable plastic draw set. Unseen is an inset piece that goes behind the galley to close off the trailer when deployed.

















dave

[friz]

That's not a galley, It's a Transformer!

[drhill]

No the table doesn't store in the galley. I store it on the bed when traveling. I usually leave it set up all the time at camp but if I need to I can store it across the floor in the back seat of the tow vehicle. My galley counter height was determined by the big igloo extreme cooler under it and is about 41" high. I didn't want any lower trailer ride height. I find it fine for most preparation and cooking. The table is 36" high and a better height for washing dishes in the dish pans and for kneading pizza dough when you have to press down on it. Prior to this table I had a 2' x4' folding plastic table that was adjustable in height and folded to 2' x 2' for storage. Something like that would be cheap and easy to start with. The attached table has the advantage where the ground is uneven and for the extra storage shelf below.

[Louisd75]

Friz, I thought about just leaving it completely empty and just using totes and bins for now. That's similar to how my wife and I did the truck camping. We had everything stored in plastic bins that slid underneath the platform that we slept on. The platform held them snugly in place and we had a hooked rod that we could fish out the bins that were further in. We tend to go with foods that don't need refrigeration when camping which tends to simplify things.

Dave, your galley is pretty cool! I think I'm a little too far along to go that route, but it's definitely something for me to consider for version 2.0. Yes, I've already got plans for the next go around, much to the chagrin of my wife. I've learned alot building this one and I've been keeping a notebook of things that I would do differently next go around and lessons learned.

Drhill, I've had bad luck leaving my table set up overnight on my truck:



For some reasons birds really like doing their business on it. And then there was a morning where a couple of free-range cattle took offense to it. That was a rude awakening. I usually wind up tossing it back in the truck or folding it down so that the table is vertical. My plan is to stow the teardrop tables at night, preferably in the galley but the back of the truck will work as well. I figure I can do two tables with four mounting points. Each table will have an adjustable leg that folds down, with the other end supported by the trailer. That should give me at least ten ways to set the tables up to fit the campsite. I've checked out the aluminum roll-top folding tables but they all seemed to be a bit on the rickety side, especially when you throw energetic toddlers into the mix.

[Ron Dickey]

You are building a beautiful camper!

Here is how we did Conch Fritter's galley, a bit different than most...



the bed is on a platform and the galley rides under the bed when traveling. It is essentially 2 chuck boxes, hinged together and the ends flip over. Total time to deploy, including hooking up hotwater and propane lines is less than 5 minutes, about the same to reset. The boxes ride on aluminum rails with bearing wheels and locks into place. When extended, we use old aluminum tripod legs to control the height. Once outside the camper, the dog has a big cave, plus we have additional storage for the porta-pottie and a stackable plastic draw set. Unseen is an inset piece that goes behind the galley to close off the trailer when deployed.

dave

Very thought out unit would be fun to see as a video

any problems with is??

[daveesl77]

Well, here is a timelapse, build video I did. It has a few views and got a fair number of complaints on how fast the images go. I did the vid, not as an instructional, but as an overview with music. Anyway, towards the end in the galley in operation. Over the past couple of years it has gone through a few changes and this year, now that we live in "Almost Heaven, West Virginia", it will get a major rebuild/update.



dave and regina