aggie79 wrote:Mike,
I like an outdoor galley. We love cooking a big breakfast while camping. Bacon and sausage grease/smell is not something I want inside a camper.
Take care,
Tom
I agree, with a couple of exceptions...1) I like the " bacon and sausage/grease smell" anytime, anywhere...and 2) though I would prefer to cook outside, there are times when it would be preferable to cook inside. My build #2 pipedream is to incorporate a small ventahood inside to vent away fumes over a small griddle/grill. The location would be aft, with cooking gear, galley supplies, and additional storage accessible from the inside thru a bulkhead door, or from outside thru the "clamshell" hatch, for outdoor cooking. This area would be isolated in one corner of the trailer, much as a portapotty would be in another corner (also, thankfully, vented), on the other end (diametrically opposed!). The minimum dimensions envisioned would be about a 2.5' x 2.5' space for each. Since the 2.5' on each end would be so reserved, and the outside storage/galley would entail another 2-2.5' (I found that 21" deep, in my vertical storage area, worked for me on trailer #1), and sleeping space in the middle would reserve about 6.5", the minimum length would come in about 13.4. Proportionally, the ratio of length to height of the cabin structure, would be 1.618:1 to meet the golden ratio, so the height should be 8.3'. Much too tall to fit under a garage door (standard = 7'). Not that aesthetically pleasing to the eye, at least to me, I prefer an anamorphic aspect ratio of 2.39:1, as I have become accustomed to it over the years, watching movies filmed that way (a widescreen teardrop)? That ratio would set the cabin height at roughly 5.62'. A that height, cabin perched on a trailer frame of 2' (mine is that height with 14" tires, axle over spring suspension), it would give a rooftop height of 7.65'. Still will not fit under the standard garage door! Therefore, for inside storage, the spring suspension wouldn't work, even with smaller tires. Torsion axles would be more height adjustable, and might work (I have no experience with them). Thes are just my current leanings, but the trend on these forums is taller (standies, cargo, foamies), wider (for larger mattresses: everyone), and longer trailers (more storage, inside features); I guess that is the new tradition to be. Tiny trailers are obviously not in the
majority of builders' plans today, though everyone still likes the "traditional" appearance. Here are some more reasons I had in an earlier post, to justify a larger, taller , new "standard" TTT:
I also see no need for a 5' high, at the present time, if I was to use it for single person camping, occasionally. That's what mine was built for. But, I also see a need for a taller, roomier trailer (of my manufacturing, not my wife's 20 footer), if a)we were to both camp in it together, b)either of us were to use it where we couldn't set up the "peripherals" - (canopy, porta-potty with cover tent, external cooking and cooler stands) due to time, weather, or space constraints, or c)becoming too physically inflexible to enter/exit/move around in the little 4x8 cabin. My next trailer (hopefully not too long till I can!) will be built to meet these three "new" refinements. I built the present trailer to the max height that I could fit into my garage/shop: made on a spring-suspension frame, 12 foot long, which is 24" to the floor (after installing 14" wheels/tires), and after adding the superstructure >> the thickness of the floor(3/4")+wall height(48")+roof(3/4")= 24+3/4+48+3/4 = 73.5" total height, it will barely fit into my garage bay, partially due to the angle of the slope into it. Build #2 will have to be stored outside, so 5' high (or maybe more) will be the order of the day. Even if I had used a different suspension on #1, it still wouldn't have squeezed under the door very easily, so I don't regret going that direction then. But, on the next one, a longer-taller-wider design, any of the 5'+tall designs would fit the bill. For TnTTT purposes, a teardrop shape is a must, but again, I will probably go outside the box on my #2 build.
as usual, I talk/write too much based on very little experience, and most probably I am "outside the box" again on my reasoning, but that's my view.
by mikeschn » Thu Dec 12, 2013 4:25 am 
