Greetings from the mid Florida Swamps.

[Kergan]

Hello everyone; This is a wonderful place, I want to thank you for the amazing compilation of data available here. My name is Mars, but I also answer to the nickname 'Kergan'.
I live in rural Florida near Lake Okeechobee. My favorite local state park is Highlands Hammock, a beautiful 9,000 acre swamp that opened in 1931. My wife and I just got a Honda Element, bolted on a hitch, and bought us a shiny new 5x8 trailer. I plan to build a variant on the 1947 Trailer for Two. Our two sons will get to stay in a tent. Due to weight and budget concerns, I plan to make it from thin exterior plywood and cover it with canvas and paint.

A very big 'Thank You' to Rowerwet for his great tutorials on PMF. that got me dig around and find some helpful classic boatbuilding sites that had a lot of info, one is a business - I am not involved in it in any way, but I learned stuff just looking through the supplies he sells.

http://forums.wcha.org/forum.php
http://www.woodandcanvascanoes.com

I spent the last few weeks avoiding house and yard work by trying to read everything on this forum, it was totally worth it.

My wife and I are starving artists (although I don't look like I'm starving) which means we happily do just about any odd job we can get our hands on.
We used to camp a lot with the SCA, a medieval recreation group, before the boys were born.

I am certainly not a carpenter, but I don't let that stop me from rendering wood into sawdust.

I included a pic of the trailer because I heard you luv pics. It recently went on sale and was the most cost effective 5x8 with 13" wheels I could get locally.
At 400lbs, its a little heavy but I will take the tailgate off. It is one of the recommended trailers and the sale is supposed to continue for a few months.
The axle is 12" back from center, so that is another plus for me. I am not involved with that business other than as a customer.

I haven't started building it yet, but I am already planning on making a "Real" one with a custom frame after I'm done making the newbie mistakes on the first one.

So many awesome builds and beautiful originals here, thanks again.

Mars

[Tomterrific]

The trailer you have pictured gets much of its strength from the top rail, like an old iron truss bridge. Cut the top off the sides and the frame is weak.

Building with thin ply is very doable and you will have a strong lightweight camper when it is finished. I built mine using 5mm underpayment. I used 1x2 and 1x3 cheap furring strips for battens on the outside to strengthen the structure and attach windows and doors. The walls were put up first, then the roof, then the battens on the sides. The concepts and ideas i used made for an inexpensive, dry, lightweight comfortable camper. I never made a build blog or post but my ideas are peppered through this site under my user name.

T

[MadMango]

Kergan, do you have a link for that trailer? I can't find one with 13" wheels for less than $1100. I'm north of you, near Cocoa Beach.

[Kergan]

The trailer you have pictured gets much of its strength from the top rail,
...
I built mine using 5mm underpayment. I used 1x2 and 1x3 cheap furring strips for battens on the outside to strengthen the structure and attach windows and doors. The walls were put up first, then the roof, then the battens on the sides.
T

Thank you for the input. I plan to keep the rails and use them to brace the walls. I looked at your pics of your trailer, I really like it, especially your door. I am slightly confused about what 'underpayment' is exactly. Google didn't enlighten me. Maybe its a regional thing. I am reminded of when my niece from Wisconsin wanted to feed the horses and asked if I had any 'Ootss'. Eventually I said; "Oh, you mean 'Sweeet Fieed'."

Thanks again.