Grasshopper homage. Or fromage

[Daveyj]

After a long hiatus, I started my build again. Thought I’d share a few construction pics, as I enjoy reading about others projects.

https://imgur.com/a/MGg3WDN

https://imgur.com/a/8uBppl5


https://imgur.com/a/NZWxKaC

https://imgur.com/a/ixegXdd


https://imgur.com/a/ynvFiOU


https://imgur.com/a/aE5CQD0

Progress thus far, hdo plywood walls and floor, ( in 1/2”) 5X8 on the floor, 9’3” overall on the body.
Douglas Fir spars ripped from 2x8’s in a 4/4x1.5” , 1/8 Baltic birch ceiling, 3/8 Baltic birch bulkhead
No kitchen hatch , just a cubby using a used R.V. baggage door. I’m toying with the idea of a pull
Out stove drawer, have to see if it’s necessary or not. Also came across a 10 gallon water tank at a garage sale
May or mayn’t use it.
Plan is for a light tent replacement so.....
12 volt wiring only throughout, I am adding a 110 circuit to run a battery tender.
Sheathing will be ACM panels for the sides, 1/16” five bar For the front and rear , final section of roof is still undecided

[John61CT]

FYI you can create a gallery in IMGUR then we'd only need to click on one link

[MickinOz]

Interesting build.
Lots of rafters/spars. should be as solid as a solid thing.
Is that steel ply something special or just a brand name?

[Daveyj]

Steel ply is a brand name, it’s a high density overlay plywood that’s used for signs and concrete forms. Waterproof glue, durable stuff. I bought four 4x10 sheets about 3.5 years ago, they’ve been sitting unprotected on a trailer frame for all that time. No delamination or rot, so I figured they would last for this. Best part? I got them for $20 Canadian a sheet. I should of bought more.

I’ll go back and insert the pictures once I get my kid to find me the laptop, it’s not easy to do on mobile.

[Daveyj]

Spaghetti time, running wires for the fan and interior lights. Adding a USB outlet to the front too.

https://imgur.com/a/cWf6YjD

[Daveyj]

Not much done today, but I cleared a few things of a honey do list
Picked up some insulation for the roof, not a lot of reasonable priced hard insulation in 1.5” thick. The Orange borg store had the best price, $22 a sheet for the white stuff. It’ll do, as I’m mostly worried about condensation rather that cold weather camping. Also picked up a couple 4x10’ sheets of ACM, I ended up going with 4mm , .5 aluminum on each side. I had my heart set on the black, but the owner of the place (ad-mart supply in Edmonton) recommended against it. Total plug for him, but the stuff I bought was only $52a sheet, vs $102 for the black, and I appreciate he wasn’t just out for a larger sale.

I can live with the colour, a medium grey. Should look good with the white window I have. And I can match my compartment doors to it easily enough.

I’m still thinking about the roof, I can get a sheet of 4x10, 1/16 five bar aluminum for around $170, including one cut. That would do both ends, and fill in the middle with the ACM. That would be an additional 144. Total price around 450 ish with tax for the skin. Not too bad. I’m still debating trim as well, a local rv repair place has a couple 16’ of dead soft trim, but it’s $86 a piece. Ouch, I wasn’t expecting that price. It would finish off the skin nicely.

https://imgur.com/a/eWk2ozG

[Daveyj]

Couple busy days, installed the Acm, and trimmed it to fit. it cut like butter with a plywood blade on my skill saw, and just as good with a router.

https://imgur.com/a/UPDp8Cy

https://imgur.com/a/xadZTAZ
You can see the staples holding the acm on here. Narrow crown staples, 1” long.

https://imgur.com/a/DNx8roM


Finished the insulation and sheathing on the roof. It was a stressful few minutes bending the ply around the curves (7” radius) but it actually worked really well. I really like working with Baltic birch.
Pl premium is my new favourite too. Long working time.

https://imgur.com/a/m6p89oO

Roof on. Used a couple 20’ straps and a 2x6 to hold the ply down as I tacked it with the staples. Good thing Dad was there to help, very much a two person job.

https://imgur.com/a/m6p89oO

Rear cubby trimmed out. I started playing around with the layout, I think I’ll make the Center section removable. That way I can access the mechanical space without becoming a contortionist.

https://imgur.com/a/NaQ6uw6

And here is the wiring chase, front panel will be on hinges and contain the fuse panel and charger on the back, front will have the master disconnect and charge ports.

https://imgur.com/a/ENpafQw

120 power in , the only thing that will run off this is the battery tender, it’s camping, you don’t need a tv. Just a phone. And high speed internet. And USB outlets.
I mounted the inlet high, I’ll have the water intake to the tank under it, I wanted to avoid giving the electrical a shower if a line pops off. Need to figure out a vent for the compartment as well. Maybe something marine.

[Daveyj]

Last day off work, at least it was more or less productive.

Picked up a 5x10 panel in white for my roof, it was a pain to haul home but I made it in one pc. Clamped it down , and it actually bent fairly easily. Harder than the 1/8 bb, but not excessively so. Decided to float the top, trim will hold it on. I used my narrow crown stapler to go around the perimeter until I can get the trim on.

Sure makes a mess with the router, but it cuts cleanly. I’ll need to tweak the rear hatch opening a bit, I didn’t quite leave enough room. No big deal.

https://imgur.com/a/PFvcKpZ

I swear I’m not a shill for the product, it sure looks like it in the pics due to branding on the protective film. Can’t wait to pull that off

I’m going with 24” of checker plate on the front and rear, the place with the best prices is closed until tomorrow.

My drawer slides came in, so I finished assembling my pull out. Had to shim the large slides, and one side of the inner one. I’m sure not a cabinet maker. It’ll do. Also installed my faucet, was a 1/2” to tall, thankfully I had a tubing bender in the right size to tweak it over. Also glad I bought the el cheapo amazon set, the tube was thin enough I could bend it.


https://imgur.com/a/UB30H3n

Back to work tomorrow, hopefully I’ll have the energy to work on it in the evening

[Daveyj]

Picked up my checker plate today, thinnest the supplier had was 1/16”, so I went with that. 4x8 sheet was 126 taxes in, seemed reasonable to me. Cut it up with a skill saw, just used the plywood blade I had on there. Worked good, and I think the blade survived too. Cost to cut on the shear was $22, so I don’t mind sacrificing one blade if I had to.
I ran some roofing membrane along the front and the rear, I’m sure that’s going to be a tough area to seal. I’ll use some aluminum trim with butyl as well once I’m at that point. Belt and suspenders.
Trimmed the hatch area with the flush cut bit on the router, if I thought the acm made a mess, the checker plate was 10 times worse. Glad that’s over with

I sealed in between the roof sheathing and the plate with butyl tape, got it pretty tight with some nice squeeze out. When I’m done trimming I’ll seal over top with dicor no sag sealant, I’ve used it on other trailers .

https://imgur.com/a/9vXObOk

[Daveyj]

Got off work a bit early, decided to start the trim. Managed to bend it fairly easily, the second side looks a lot better than the first one. Used a rubber mallet, then cleaned it up with a block of wood and a ballpeen. Don’t get excited and whack it without the wood, you’ll scar it up.

https://imgur.com/a/Z1Q8vLu


Also changed the access door from an overlay type to an inset. I think it looks better That way. Did a bit of wiring, I’ll need to clean it up some and one of the switch’s on my panel is a bit flaky but I’m happy with how it’s going.

https://imgur.com/a/Oub68MQ

[Daveyj]

Busy day. Had to do some errands, managed to get some free time after lunch.
Rolled the body out of the shop, and used the tractor to set it on the frame. It was a sketchy lift, but I managed it. Dad backed the trailer under while I sweated.

Went out again after dinner, managed to get the tail lights mounted and the rest of the electrical buttoned up. The tail Lights I bought have back up lights , I decided to do a little surgery so I could run them independently , hooked them up to a switch on the panel.i figure it’ll be handy to have them setting up camp in the dark. Switch on the panel is broken, I’ll have to see if I can get a replacement.

Tidied up the water line to the tap, it was getting tangled about %50 of the time when I slid it in and out, I used a couple old throttle return springs to keep it in the right orientation. I think I can call that done now.

Installed my compartment doors and the window too, but I had to call it a day. Having company tomorrow for a shrimp boil, so I probably won’t work on it at all, but at least I can show it off.
I’m still debating if I’m going to use the used rv door I bought a few years ago. I’m bidding on a cargo trailer door on an online auction, it’s brand new and maybe easier to cut to length ( I can make the opening a little larger if I have too) but I’m experiencing a lot of budget creep since I started this. Not sure if it’s worth the extra $$.
https://imgur.com/a/Bs3e1qB

[PCO6]

I always liked the Grasshopper design and your improvements to it and your craftsmanship are far from "cheezy". Nice work! I'm enjoying this thread.

[Daveyj]

Thanks for the kind words, when I look at it all I see is the mistakes. I’m sure that’s probably true for all of us building anything, we are always our own worst critic.

I did have a few moments free, I sheeted the rear cubby with leftover acm from the sides. Looks a little more finished. I’m sure it won’t last long before it gets scratched, but it has the benefit of being free, so it will do for now. I’m thinking about adding a shelf to the right side for additional storage, but that can wait for now. I’m also not happy about the tongue weight, I really don’t want to put the water tank and battery in a box on the front, I have about 4” I can move the axle towards the rear. I’m going to try that and see if it’s enough. Wish I knew what the trailer weighs, I could just math it out instead of guessing. Might wait until I can run it across a scale.

https://imgur.com/a/VogypFb

[Daveyj]

One step forward and two back today.

I mis read my tape when I laid out the opening for my door, for some reason I cut it at 26”x42”. Unfortunately, my used rv door is 24” wide. Crud. I ended up ripping down some dimensional lumber to fill the gap. Not a perfect solution, at least the flange is large enough to cover everything. Measure three times and cut once.

Cutting the door itself went ok, the screen door too.decided to use the leftover checker plate to cover the door, I had intended on painting it but didn’t like my chances of matching the side wall colour. Had a heck of a time trying to use my router to cut out the window opening, eventually I went to town to buy a new bit. Still didn’t help. Ended up using a jig saw , could have saved myself $20 and an hours trip to Canadian tire.

I left the door sill loose from the sides, I’ll screw the sides in then use a little caulking to seal it up. It’s a pretty tight fit at least.
Went to install the door, and I was 2’ short of butyl tape. Time to call it a day. I’ve gone through four 30’ rolls of butyl so far, and I still need to do the rear hatch.


https://imgur.com/a/DyTz3Iw

[Daveyj]

Not too much to report, trimmed down the excess butyl tape. Raided the picnic set for plastic knives, they worked really well.

I won a couple things at an online auction, some rims and a bunch of brake parts. Unfortunately the brakes are all for 10-15k axles, pictures were a bit miss leading.i Oh well. One other item of note, I managed to get a 7” bag awning, brand new in the box for $106. Pretty amazing deal, up here they go for $400 plus. Just need to figure out how to mount it. I’m thinking roof racks with a awning rail to give it room above the door. No rush on that.

I also rechecked my weight calculations, I think my earlier estimate was a bit high. I think I’m currently around 960 lbs, so loaded up I shouldn’t be much over 1300. My tongue weight is still too light at 70 lbs, so I’m going to move the axle back about 4-5 inches and see what I get. That’s pretty much as much as I can move it before my fenders will run into my side doors. Hopefully it’s enough, and I don’t have to move my battery to the front. I really like how self contained it is now.
I’m not totally opposed to a tongue box, but I’d rather keep that available for camping chairs and jacks.
Busy weekend ahead, making sausages on Saturday with friends, hopefully I can sneak into the shop on Sunday.