mini camping trailer

[Randy_Taylor]

as anybody built a "mini camping trailer <http://www.minicampingtrailer.com/>" or bought the plans? i am looking to upgrade my small cargo trailer to something with a kitchen. and was wondering if these plans were worth anything, or should i just get some teardrop plans and scale them down.

[TomS]

Those things have been discussed here before. These guys have it bass ackwards. It's the worst of both worlds. You're still sleeping on the ground in a tent.

And, what's worse, the potty is right next door to the kitchen. Picture this scenario, Pa is in the potty "taking care of business". Meanwhile, Ma is a couple of feet away rustlin' up breakfast in close proximity to all the wonderful sounds and smells associated with a bathroom in use. GROSS!



Oh yeah. Did anyone notice the Google ads for competing products. I get the feeling the designer of this concept doesn't think things through.

[vinoscooter]

I completely agree w/Tom...I looked at those plans, looked sooo cool,if your sleeping in tents,cooking on the ground,etc...They are light weight,but what are you realley gaining?...Tiny trailers are light weight also..If you can modifi a cargo trailer,or thinking about building a mini...YOU HAVE ALL THE SKILLS TO BUILD A TINY TRAILER,traditional or non- traditional...Once built you'll have a real bed (your wife will love the heck out of ya)..cooking,all your gear,& places to store them in...I bring a tent for the porti potti...others have built them in.....Warm,dry,cool in heat.So much more to offer than anyother light weight camping unit..A while back I did an inventory,Allmost 3,000 bucks of every kind of camping,stove,light,cooler,tent,sleeping bag,camp storage container,& the list goes on. Ive since sold some of the things I can't use in the pod,enough to pay for my modified camp pod ...Ive had a motorhome,several campers,9 trailers,tent trailer,popup camper..Being an avid backpacker for years untill a back injury...Iv'e never been camping as fun as it is in one of these tiny trailers...You might also look at the camp pod plans...
http://butlerprojects.com/ his plans start out w/a trailer half the size of the one I built..look for CAMP POD once your on his web site...I say go for it...Build a tiny travel trailer...Use the forum,thats why it's here..Good luck..vinoscooter

[Randy_Taylor]

thank you for your thoughts on this, i think you are right. i just cant see myself talking the wife into the four of us in one of those really cool really small trailers. we have a 4 year old and a 7 month old. to me one of the hardest part of setting up camp is the kitchen. so if i could roll in and bam my kitchen is ready to go. i could throw up the tent while my wife makes dinner. maybe i will use teardrop plans and make just the galley?

[JeffKimble]

Randy, check out this thread.. there are some excellent links to kitchen ideas.

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=4219&highlight=&sid=ea4fe578b9ec8c1283e6821d8740622a

[cracker39]

Randy, With two kids, even a TD may not be large enough. I camped with two kids, but mostly in tents, then a tent popup, and finally a large pickup camper. Now, it is just the wife and I and the TD is still too small for comfort for us old fogies. That's why I designed my Squidget (Thank Andrew for that name). It's still small, but at least we can sit at the table inside and can cook inside if we want to. Not to mention getting up to use the porti potti inside at night. I guess it could be modified to sleep two kids too without too much adding on. I've seen enlarged TD plans with a "shelf" bed above the main bed that would sleep small kids. However, if you want to use a tent, you could design a small camp kitchen setup in a cargo trailer. That would be a fun project.

Dale

[swizz]

That isn't such a bad idea - it'll never compete with a camper you can sleep in but for people (particularly families) who tent camp, lugging their gear around in a small trailer it works.
I wouldn't bother paying that much for plans though.
Better measuring all your gear & designing one to suit.
Swizz...

[cracker39]

Swizz, I agree. I wouldn't buy plans either. I'd much rather design something that fits my needs I do look at other plans designs, photos, etc. to get ideas to use or expand on. I built a small camp kitchen box that would slide into my Coleman pop-up while closed. It had a utensil drawer, shelves, and sliding doors. I'd set it up on the end of a picnic table under a canopy.

I sometimes think I have more fun planning, designing and building than I do using what I built. This weekend, I am going to build a 1/12 scale model of my Swidget. At least, I hope to get it built. If I do, I'll put pics of it in a photo gallery. for viewing.

[mikeschn]

Dale,

I can relate. I enjoy designing new and unusual teardrops.

I like building them too, but I am running out of room in the backyard. So maybe it's time to switch over to model teardrops...

Mike...

[cracker39]

You must have read my post in another topic. This weekend, I plan on building a 1/12 model of my design. If I get it finished, I'll put pics up for all to see.

[Randy_Taylor]

well, i have decided to just keep the current trailer and modify it to make it carry more cargo. the trailer is a coleman caboose, which is a 3'x4' trailer with a big heavy "cartop" carrier with molded fenders. i have two ideas and was wondering if you guys/gals could advise me on which would be safer/easier. option one

is lengthing the tongue and adding a platform to put my kitchen box and ice chest (these items are kinda heavy, so i am concerned about making the tongue too heavy.)
if i did go this route, what thickness of steel should i use, the current tong is 4' long square 1/16 steel tube bolted to the frame in two places (at the front and in the middle) i would get an 8' long tube to replace it.

my other option

is to lift the body of the trailer with some kind of frame to allow me to slide the camp box and annother storage box underneath the current cargo area.
if i went with this, what kind of material would i need to use to raise the cargo box, i was thinking of a 3/4 " plywood box with 2"x2" framing

not sure which way i should go. like i said the heavy stuff will be in the "kitchen/patrol box" so i would like to keepit over the wheels, but i am not sure if making the thing taller will make it untsable in a turn. it has a 4 foot track, is 6" from ball to bumper. and is currently 3' tall. i tow it with a volvo wagon rated at 3500lbs. so and raising it 15-20" wouldn't be a problem wind wise.

i would rather make it longer, so i can carry a kayak ontop of it. wÊãOëdo you think?

[february1966]

What kind of weight (total) are you talking about putting on the trailer and what is the weight limit of the axel and springs?

my first impression would be to add storage over the axles (weight limits permitting).

[Randy_Taylor]

the weight limit on the trailer says 1000 lbs. it is just typical camping stuff. approx. 600 lbs.

[madjack]

...just off the top of my head(the pointy part) I would say lift the box and build under it, keeping all of your heavy stuff in the bottom portion should make stability not a problem. A 6' long tongue is loooooooong and you would probably need to go with something faily heavy duty...such as 3x3x1/4 tube which is heavy and expensive. The up side to raising the box and building under it, is that the only cost would be the material for the camp boxes themselves. Me, I would build the boxes outta 1/2"sand ply and 1" aluminum angle(as cleats) along with some gorilla glue. Paint your boxes with some UV stabilized urethane(MinWax ClearSheild) and use it to camp until you can talk the boss into a tear(take her to a couple of TD gatherings and you will be in like Flint)
...just my buck r $2.98(damned inflation ya know)
madjack

[cracker39]

Darn, I typed all this already, submitted, and it failed to go. Now, I have to type it again....It was the fault of my ISP. Their service seems to have breaks in it at times.

Ok...here goes. I thought about your plan 2, and came up with a compromise that I think would work (but, I have been wrong before. Help me Andrew...you are good at stress factors.)


First, the tongue on my plan is 4.5' long and I think that would be OK. I modified a 4'x6' trailer to carry a 12'l x 4'w boat that I made of pine and plywood, and fiberglassed. My tongue was bolted to two cross members and extended at least 6' (probably more like 7') from frame to coupler. It had two pieces of 1.5" angle from the frame corners to about 4' forward of the frame for side-to-side stability. The tongue would flex under load, but never was close to breaking. I used it for 5-6 years and fished a lot.

My mods move the ice chest compartment to the rear on a frame extension welded to the existing frame. The storage boxes are on the front, resting on the extended tongue and 2" angle braces. I modified the storage box dimensions, but they contain the same interior space of 8100 Sq. Inches. The boxes slide in from either side, but could be modified to both slide in endways from the same side. This arrangement distributes the new weight, lessening the extra load on the tongue, especially if you put the lighter items in the new storage boxes. Here it is. Hope you like it.