Low Cost design contest…

[Chip]

Rik,,you are right on the money,,,,I am a scrounging, yard sale, use it if I find it, recycler of pre used building materials,,not counting a/c or interior decorating stuff I have almost 900.00 in my trailer,,and mine is 55"x9'-6",,,I think that if someone is contemplating building a tear and budget at least a grand, and are good at re-cycling they can put together a respectible unit,,it may, as mine not win a beauty contest but will keep ya dry and warm or cool as the case may be,,, A lot of the process is to find something and make it work ,,a lot of extra effort comes into play but then again I was not paying myself for my time,,,,My trailer: even though fits the mould of a tear drop it is not conventional in several aspects,,thinkin outside of the proverbal 4x4x8 box makes for an interesting build,,,,just killing time,,

chip

[Shrug53]

I am all for scavenging. I got my utility trailer 4x8.5 on Ebay for only $5.50 and I even got the guy to store it until my house is done and he will bring it to me, and all I had to do was wipe the virii off his computer.
He even had two extra rims and tires for it.

He was so happy with the work on his compuyter that he gave me a propane stove and a sink that he used to have on a boat.

For taillights I am using a pair of extra 1954 Chevy taillights I have lying around.

I got the construction guys at my house to leave behind a lot of scrap 2x4s and even a 1/2" CDX piece of plywood which is 4x8

I plan on hitting the flea market, Salvation Army store, and surplus hardware places as well as garage sales and pawn shops to get a lot fo what I need.

I think I am going to be building Andrews Compact, and should be able to bring it in for about another 500 in cash.

The only problem with that is not everyone can do it. How many people can find a $5.00 trailer? Nor can they always get lucky scrounging other materials. I think that is the point of the contest. To build it using readily available parts with verifiable prices.

But you are aboslutely right, I think everyone should scrounge as much as they can! I saw a great dresser at the Salvation Army last weekend as I was scrounging for vintage LPs. It was 30 bucks and it was pretty big. You could take it apart and use a couple of the drawers in the galley. Use the top as a table or counter, etc!

Remember, just because something was built for one purpose, does not mean it has to be used that way. Find old beat up desk chairs, the kind that are adjustable height, and use the legs for an adjustable table in your camper. Stuff like that.

[Laredo]

Homemade windows & doors.

Okay, now you're talking.

go to www.usplastic.com and take a look at the acrylic shapes.

given a little extra weatherstripping and glue, those are home-made, stay-shut windows looking for a place to happen.
I specially think that the bronze mirror panels would make awesome looking windows mounted in the front upper slope (either side of the a/c atop the blanket chest) if they were behind a wall cutout.

[Rick R]

I can get away with quite a bit on the outside of my TD, because its being made to look on the outside like an old shack in the woods, which will fit the name Love Shack. I'm planning 2 small homemade windows, and 1 large one, with the doors being wood-trimmed, and with thin skid boards being used as "clapboard" siding. And the outside will be allowed to weather to an old-wood grey color. The actual shell tho is being done with half-inch ply screwed-and-glued to "nailing strips", rather than dirrectly to the next sheet thru its edge. I used to work in furniture, and found edge nailing or screwing to be weak and unreliable. And in spite of its intended outward apearance, the inside will be made sturdy and very comfortable, with as many of the "comforts of home" as I can build in.

So because of its design, I can save a lot on the exterior. But thats where I'm drawing the line for myself. Others would have different needs and desires than I do tho, and may be willing to do more or less "recycling" than I will be doing. That's one of the great things about these campers, they can be built and modded to reflect their owners far better than the things done on an assembly line! I'm sure even the T@B owner that just joined will find some creative ways to mod his T@B!

I think this is a great contest for getting people to think of creative ways to save money. Its already given me a couple new ideas. Being on a small fixed income, saving money is very important to me. I'm sure its important to many others too, who may not have much of a hobby or camping budget. It might even convince some to try their hand at building one, once they see that it doesnt have to cost a lot!

[Laredo]

"The object of this contest is to come up with a spreadsheet of parts and prices required to build the lowest cost teardrop possible. It doesn’t matter how long it takes to build it. The weight is not important either. All that matters is cost. "
Does that mean you don't have to stick to plywood?

[mikeschn]

You can build it out of shipping crates if you want, provided the price of the shipping crates is on the web.

Mike...

P.S. Only 5 days left... how are the spreadsheets coming?

[mikeschn]

Okay, so here's the second part of the prize... A CD with the following 10 antique plans...

1947teardrop
wanderer
camp trailer
lilguy
wanderpup
camptrailer
poptravel
scaleteardrop
jimdandy
runlite

So the winner of the spreadsheet will get a package that looks like this...



Mike...

P.S. The number to beat is $807

[mikeschn]

Low cost design contest ends at 6:00PM today. Any more spreadsheets, get em turned in!!!

Mike...

[mikeschn]

Geeze guys, what happened. Only 1 entry in the low cost design contest?

So Shrug wins by default...

Mike...

[Shrug53]

Hooray!

[Eric Adams]

Geeze guys, what happened. Only 1 entry in the low cost design contest?

So Shrug wins by default...

Mike...

Shrug wins his own CDR? And the lights of course.

[Laredo]

Actually, i'm not sure it was so much by default as by several lengths.
I'm very happy for Shrug, by the way.

I had figured out how to get a spare tire and do the siding and skinning with fence panels instead of plywood, but he still beat me by $4.22 -- and I was using windows made of acrylic sheets from usplastic.com and getting my water tank there, and sliding the windows on on internal rails over openings screened with two layers of nylon tulle from hancockfabrics.com, and getting my (small battery powered LED) lights from cheaperthandirt.com. I had a harbor freight camp stove and a sportsmansguide.com regulator and a walmart cooler

I never found a source for angle iron on the net that had a quoted price, but the big hurdle for me was the trailer. Northern Tool had a trailer for $179.99, but you had to add wheels afterward. I found some the first Saturday for $25.75 each but the sale expired before I could get a spreadsheet turned in, and I didn't want to use the 8'' ones for $20.99 apiece. So. I wrote that I didn't think anybody could beat Shrug, and left it at that.

[Jimbo]

I just found out that I'm going to need the low cost design... My company announced Friday "While President Bush was in town" that they will be closing down my site before July 31st 2005. I am going to keep building but just going to slow down my purchases (and progress) while we chuck back some money.