Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Let me apologize for the length of this post right up front. Once I get on a roll, I just keep rolling. I know I do tend to ramble, but I tried to keep it down to a minimum. Also please know that the main reason I’m posting this is to get your input. PLEASE don’t hesitate to ask questions, make comments, or tell me that my ideas are as screwed up as a football bat. I can take it.

We’re doing some final tweaking on our sheep wagon design before I start work on the old Kenskill frame. For those not familiar with that project, you can find it here:

http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=41867

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I’ve been working on two other designs. One is a TTT (well, sort of,) and the other is a tiny cargo trailer (TCT?) First is the cargo trailer.

I’m deep into my Scottish heritage and my wife is a fiber artist (meaning she spins, weaves, knits – everything but raise the sheep.) As a result, we do a lot of events like highland games, fairs, demonstrations, etc. We need a small cargo trailer to haul her spinning/weaving equipment as well as things like chairs, EZ-Ups, display stands, coolers, and various other things needed for spending a day or six at a fair.

Not being one to leave well enough alone, I also wanted the option of being able to use the trailer as a mobile galley – kind of like a tailgate party platform. So I sketched a few designs, prodded DW on what she wanted, looked around online, and basically drove myself deeper into a state of confusion than I’d ever experienced. Last week it suddenly struck me – I was looking for a cargo version of a TD. (Okay, I know I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I didn’t think I was that dull…)

So, with that in mind, I started playing around with a modified Grasshopper design. The rear hatch will open up to give access to a standard galley countertop where we can use our two-burner and such to cook – just like a regular Grasshopper. I added a hatch to the front and divided the “cabinâ€

What are you going to do in your SPARE time?????
Idle hands are the devils workshop.

Seriously, it looks like a good plan to me. Probably be some "tweakage" as you progress. Will

sagebrush wrote::? What are you going to do in your SPARE time?????

Design more trailers, of course...

I haven't even brought up what I'm going to do to the van...

Ok, I've been refining the design for the cargo trailer I've been calling, until recently, The Cargo Hopper. Based loosely on the Grasshopper design, it's more for hauling and storing "camping stuff" than anything else.

Here's a shot from the front, curb side corner:



The access doors I cut into the sides aren't written in stone - just a kind of arbitrarily sized hole that'll change when I get the fenders mounted.

A shot from the rear curb side corner:



And a better shot of the "galley:"



I put the word "galley" in quotes because that's not going to be its only use. When we use the trailer for trips to the fair or other events, it'll most likely be used simply to haul cargo. It'll no doubt be used as a galley, but not exclusively so.

We're going to start the build as soon as I get warm and dry enough weather to sandblast and paint the frame I'm going to use for the build. I could probably start a build thread in the Build Journal forum, but it wouldn't get updated for a while, so I'll wait until I actually start on it.

As far as the frame is concerned, we've decided to scrap the Coleman Patriot we've been camping for the last couple of years and use the chassis from it. The Patriot needs a LOT of work to make it campable (to the tune of about $1100) and we decided that money could be better spent on another camper. With this fact in mind, I've taken to calling this build The Ex-Patriot...

interesting concept almost like a chinese hotel with the pod setup I can see how it would be useful though