7x14 Snow Mobile Trailer

[Wookie97]

In one of the pics you said the open line was your "Gray Vent". So did you actually vent the tank under the trailer instead of going through the roof? Ive been deployed for 6 months and ready to get back to work on my Snowmobile Trailer also. Some of the things ive been looking at are where/how I want to vent the Gray/Black tanks.

You have an awesome build and I think the Snowmobile trailer is the way to go. Mine sits a littler higher than yours though. I have about 2+ Feet of clearance on my.

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Wanabxtrm

No my system is all 120 volts, Mine was one of the very first on market & they grabbed me for $1,200 - vs $900 today,
you know the old saying, you LEED you BLEED.
I was just giving info in case others are interested.

I do gotta admit you got bigger cajones then me installing that stuff on the exterior.
Nice work however

1.) the rip off factor
2.) accidental damage factor
3.) the stealth factor
4.) all that stuff got expensive "NON WATER PROOF" electronics cuirtboards inside and water gonna blow in there 24/7 from every direction.
I meet some mini installers latter that told me they only last about 5 years max any way
So im glad I went to the extra PIA to put mine inside.

Cheers OTTCT

[wanabxtrm]

In one of the pics you said the open line was your "Gray Vent". So did you actually vent the tank under the trailer instead of going through the roof? Ive been deployed for 6 months and ready to get back to work on my Snowmobile Trailer also. Some of the things ive been looking at are where/how I want to vent the Gray/Black tanks.

You have an awesome build and I think the Snowmobile trailer is the way to go. Mine sits a littler higher than yours though. I have about 2+ Feet of clearance on my.

My grey tank isn't really a tank, but a 6.5'x 6" pipe. Because of this I treated it like a pipe in residential as far as venting. So I went with a single stacked vent on the line, but I've been trying to avoid roof penetrations so I put a u in it at counter level and sent it out the bottom. Similar to a kitchen island rebreather, but because it needs to exhale as the tank fills when sealed I left it open. Well see if it causes issues long term, but initial use says otherwise when draining to an exterior sewer I have zero issues. When sealed it burbs abit depending on flow volume. I wouldn't vent a black to ground due to smell, and an actual tank probably would be better with a dedicated vent to prevent burping. Though I see no reason why you couldn't run it down after going up above your highest drain.

Are you keeping access to your front ramp? If not I'd put the toilet and black there, right of your door along with your shower. If you can take partial access that would still work. Putting the kitchen up there would work to, then lav opposite your door.

[wanabxtrm]

Wanabxtrm

No my system is all 120 volts, Mine was one of the very first on market & they grabbed me for $1,200 - vs $900 today,
you know the old saying, you LEED you BLEED.
I was just giving info in case others are interested.

I do gotta admit you got bigger cajones then me installing that stuff on the exterior.
Nice work however

1.) the rip off factor
2.) accidental damage factor
3.) the stealth factor
4.) all that stuff got expensive "NON WATER PROOF" electronics cuirtboards inside and water gonna blow in there 24/7 from every direction.
I meet some mini installers latter that told me they only last about 5 years max any way
So im glad I went to the extra PIA to put mine inside.

Cheers OTTCT

thanks;
1&3 definitely agree, but couldn't find a better way. 2, well $hit happens. 4- they're meant to be outside so water doesn't worry my, vibration on the other hand does. I plan to cover it when not in use which should help all 4 items. Happy holidays!

[Wookie97]

No, really going to be using the front ramp for what it was intended. My main reason for a Snowmobile trailer was how much higher off the ground it sets vs a normal cargo trailer, basically have 2+ft of Ground Clearance without out having to swap axles. Also, these type of trailers, at least to me, seem to be more ridged since they are designed to be taken off-road up into the mountains. My trailer is 8.5x25 also. I am doing exactly what you mentioned, putting the toiler and shower up in the front. At the main access door I am going to build a wall that will block off the "bathroom area" and have a door on the inside to access it. The front ramp will have minimal use though, mainly to allow me access to that area and store larger items for transit if need be. Beds are already built, went with a Murphy Style in the back giving me 4 bunk beds. Still have along way to go and this deployment set me back 6 months on what I wanted to get done.

I already have a Black tank im going to install under the toilet, believe it was a 16 gallon tank. I found a 30gallon Freshwater tank im going to underneath but over the axle and will fit perfectly between the frame rails. When I ordered it the dealer said the factory could install insulation for me (extra $250). Why not? Well they screwed me. Took off a few panels to work on window placement and its some crappy Styrofoam board that doesn't even fit between the studs well or go all the way up. There is about a 6" gap at the top. As soon as I get back im going to pull it all down and redo it the right way before I get to deep into other stuff.

[wanabxtrm]

Still unpacking from our 2k mile round trip (10 days), which went great, as both the trailer and family didn't tear themselves apart. But here's some wrap up:
Mini split kept it warm and cozy while in the 40's; Sequioa towed it well without issue, though mileage wasn't quite as good as I hoped, but doing 70+ I can't fault it. Bunk beds worked well though we never actually use the table and ate inside mostly because we were with friends, who had an awning so we'd eat at the picnic table.



The shower became the baby swing spot so it never got used, but I also realized in a late night install I put the valve in upside down Doh!

Nose also held the bikes

Length shots:

Still need to clean up a lot of little things, and change a handful of things.

I'll highlight lessons learned and things to change in a later post.

[Wookie97]

I see you mounted the tankless water heater in the front V section. Two questions for you about it. Do you have an additional vent that goes out the roof or do you have to move it outside? Also how well does it work? I'm looking at the different setups and have seen most people have mounted theirs on the outside so we here but I don't want to do that. If you have any additional pics that would be awesome.

[wanabxtrm]

I see you mounted the tankless water heater in the front V section. Two questions for you about it. Do you have an additional vent that goes out the roof or do you have to move it outside? Also how well does it work? I'm looking at the different setups and have seen most people have mounted theirs on the outside so we here but I don't want to do that. If you have any additional pics that would be awesome.

Heater and solar panel are transported in the shower in the nose, they may eventually find a more permanent spot, but until then I plan to just pull them out as needed. The solar allows being placed to avoid shade, and the hot water heater I frankly haven't found a good home for, so right now it hangs outside in use; 3 lines for hookup, and hangs on a screw. It works well though, I got mine from eco temp directly as a refurb at half price. Check their website. They also make a dedicated interior setup. There are cheaper and more expensive brands and units, but I doubt it'll see enough use to justify a more expensive one. It's an L10. A company called Takagi was better reviewed in my research but not worth the added cost for me. If I was using it weekly that may change. Also the Takagi has freeze protection. Built in, but relies on 120 VAC which wouldn't be connected while traveling

[wanabxtrm]

Things to change/lessons learned (and as a checklist for myself):

The trailer sits low enough that my grey water connection is below the height of a 5 gallon bucket and aquatainer jug; which was how I planned for to dump grey water. If I allow it to build up enough I can get a siphon flow between the two, but it's a little less user friendly than intended. I may look at the low profile Blue Barker portable tanks instead, but haven't decided.
http://www.amazon.com/Barker-Manufactur ... 40&sr=8-12
We avg'd about 5 gallons a day washing dishes, without much conservation. I solved my 'burping' issue on the tank by putting a shutoff between the shower and main vent/drain stack, not positive why it worked but it did, and prevents any odors from coming back up.
Anyone use portables have thoughts?? Worth the money? I just carried a bucket each night/AM to the toilet this trip.

We need blinds across the beds to help separate the kids from other lights. I need to change our wood door step to a grate to eliminate some dirt coming in. Need a porch light and awning solution.

The benches/lower beds were slapped together the night before we left. I literally was nailing and glueing things the morning of in the rain. Here's a late night sample, you can see the ramp in 'patio' mode. They're 1/2" face framing with a lid and then 4" foam, all the same size and are interchangeable, with eventual wheels, and are roughly 12x24x36 (adjusted to fit the space, and 18 tall including wheels/foam). They can be configured as a rough equivalent of a single (2 long) bed, a twin (3 wide), full (2x2) or an off size between a king and queen as seen in the picks (2x3). They provide a ton of storage, but we need subdivides to organize them better. The center table supports are not worth the money on initial opinion, we'll see if that changes with time. They were a easy button solution since I ran out of time for a better diy one. Hindsight I think the heavy duty plastic tubs are about the same height and could have worked, saving a lot of weight, but wouldn't be as finished or nice of a fit. Currently I need to add webbing handles to the sides and lids to ease access, as well as a center support.


ARB fridge worked well, we had it on the edge of freezing which kept ice and beer as it should, while only unintentionally freezing a few veggies. I need new quality slides, the Home Depot specials had issues when it was fully weighted. Wife didn't like opening the cabinets to slide it out. Might move it, take off the doors, or make them 'faux' doors attached to the slide. Under sink slides worked well for trash

The Dickinson heater came in, but to late to mount. We would have used it to heat without 120 to run the mini split and boondocked on the travel legs there and back. I think it'll go just right of the door, low, vented either through the roof or side.

Hooks come in handy, I had 3 sets in, used all of them and needed more. Collapsible bar saw a lot of use, but I need a stool/bench up front when the beds/kids are in use at the rear. Any ideas that don't take up space? I'm thinking double tri-pod with leather hammock seat.

All counter space got used, we had 3 adults and 4 kids at one point inside while prepping dinner. Sink drying/drainer area saw a lot of use, but my gas lines need reconfiguring for a port near the door for grill/lantern/stove connections. USB charger outlets saved outlet space. Built in outlet nightlight was nice for me but to bright for the kids.

Luggable loo potty seat worked well and contained my kids odors.

My wife bought me a hammock chair holder for a 2" hitch so I need to install a receiver on the trailer to use it ( and transport the bikes outside). May add a shelf bracket outside akin to the AC shelf to carry the generator, need to make covers for both. May make cabinets above the door if the sink shower corner doesn't provide enough storage.

For reference Weight wise the entire rig (car/camper) came in at about 11300 fully loaded with everything. Which puts the trailer in the neighborhood of 4-4.5K lbs depending on tongue weight fully loaded. In the future I may redo the loft bed to reduce weight (it's roughly 200 lbs) or rebuild the cabinets (which I should have done in the first place anyway, which would cut a chunk). It'll be close to my original goal of under 3.5k empty, though not quite there with the unplanned additions of the shower, double insulation, and other items I knew I'd be overshooting. All in all though it hits the mark leaving 2k+ in payload on the trailer, and well under the tow vehicles weights.

Shot of the Fam the end of the trip. makes the effort worth it.

[McDave]

[quote="wanabxtrm"Shot of the Fam the end of the trip. makes the effort worth it.[/quote]

Beautiful. Nice job, Sir.

[wanabxtrm]

Made a workable solution for the blue Aquitainer jugs for grey water, I'll try to post a pic of it tomorrow but here's the jist of it; my initial issue was they were to tall relative to my drain outlet by a few inches so I couldn't just drain into the top. The existing white caps have the finer threads for the spigot, don't recall the specifics, so I put a conversion nut in to standard garden hose. This allowed me to make it water tight and put it on its side vent up, main white cap down, and eliminating my height/drain issue. I then put quick connects on to swap between a full and empty jug easily, or using a y for dual connections. A short section of pipe slips on the vent to vent from one to the other in case of soap bubble or other overflow, or park manager concern and viola, 7-14 gallons of grey storage for under $50.

During quick testing the other day it worked well. I think the only problem I could run into is if the quick connection orifice gets gummed up with food particles. If so I can always fall back on screwing them on, but that's more of a pain than I'm hoping for.

Cheers!

[wanabxtrm]

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Also made some progress on a hose holder...

[wanabxtrm]

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[wanabxtrm]

It's been a while since I've had time to do anything with the trailer. A few updates; moving to Colorado so I had to go back to cargo mode for a few days and loaded it with 3k lbs of junk. Towed the round trip nicely. I've added airite springs to the rear of the sequia also; first impression is very positive. We're headed back to Orlando while we're still only a few states away before the move, so I'll post how the springs do.

Still have lots of stuff to finish on it, but it's very usable at this point. Added a porch light, tv, finished up some of the 12v wiring for the co detector water pump and misc other stuff.

Lift bed is still working well added a collapsible fence/barrier for the kids; so they can sleep up there themselves.

Anyway, we'll see how our 2nd big trip goes with all 5 (6 including the dog). I'm sure I'll have another laundry list of items to fix, improve, or invent.

Happy Memorial Day!

[wanabxtrm]

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Nice day for a rest in the hammock.

In other news the air springs are a definite improvement. Worth the 80$ from Amazon if anyone is on the fence. Took about an hour to install. The limited version of our truck comes with factory air suspension so there was already an easy route to run the lines. If I put a set on our jeep I'll let you know if it's any more of a pita.

4" drain pipe cut in half works great for the sewage line support, definitely a savings off the pre made ones.

And as expensive as they are, the yeti beer cozy is worth it if you savor vice gulp your beer on a hot Florida day.