Ugh, I'm so frustrated!

[Ron Dickey]

I am working on my 2nd trailer. the first was a basic one The box kite it was build on a free boat trailer. It need some welding but I did non and they broke and I had them welded later. Now the tire rod is bent and the cost was equal to a new HF trailer frame.

As you work on those houses you will have spare wood or know where you can find some. you can start with a very very simple build walls roof no galley. latter you can add a galley, later you can improve on the doors, later you can. And once you are ready and under stand what you want out of the trailer you can flip it's sale to someone who want to work on an existing one to learn before they do a new build.

I put on new bearings, wheels, tires, mine was on a boat trailer. I used found material as wall as new. I found a aluminum pallet, I bought kiln dried 2x4 from HD. Plywood for the floor any way it took me 5 years to build it with many things getting in the way. When I was close I found out about a gathering that would be just over the mountain and finished my build the night after they started. I have pulled it to New Mexico and back and up to northern CA many many times. Stayed at 9 KOA's through out CA and AZ. I got new doors several years ago and now I am farther into this new trailer faster, because I have looked at hundreds of TD's and old trailers until I kind of under stood the basics.

I have new concepts a curved front left to right like a utility trailer, Saddle bags behind the wheels instead of wheel wells, Doug H. showed me how to make a Trolley top as did many others. I am saying this only because you are in the perfect environment for building. There are ideas every every where, there are people from all walks of life, from Cabinet makers to draftsmen, many of which have been there and done that.

You want to start ..... Start asking ....... If you can show pictures of where you are at that is worth you know how many words. You can start with an old trailer is you wish but new will cost you just as much over time. If you know how to fix up houses you have built a TD for each room in that house. When people went to the national gathering they came back and were ripping things out of their trailer because they found a better idea there. Nothing says you have to keep your trailer the same way you can change most of it when ever you like. As long as you have time and already have the parts ready to put on.

Talk to your buddies, find out what TD or TTT folks are in your area. The first gathering I went to was in a tent. We had the only Prius there, but now we pull with a Carolla.

Best of luck. If you a looking for idea look on my gallery and many others.
Ron Dickey
Los Osos, CA

[Kody]

Build one that suits your specific requirements, especially in regard to your height. I would suggest an 8 x 4 or an 8 x 5. The finished job would be a something to take great pride in. Read as much as you can about the build links here and ask lots of questions. Decide how/where you will use it, always on a sealed road or off in the sticks? A TD used more often in the sticks will need to be more stable and stronger but don't build one that is too light regardless of where you use it. A TD can be very simple or it can be built with all the mod cons you want to fit in it. A good rule to remember is that the more you fit in it, the more you have to take care of. It's a lot of fun to build one and extremely satisfying.
I am of the opinion that if you renovate a 60 year old trailer, you still have a 60 year old trailer that simply looks a bit different. I much prefer new material, especially for the steel frame and the springs/axle etc.
The best advice is, jump in and do it. Ask lots of questions on the forum here and don't be afraid to post photos.

Kody

[bobhenry]

I built my barn trailer in 5 weekends for about $800.00 and have had a million dollars worth of fun in it.



My 5x10 teardrop was about the same money but took about 6 months to build. It houses a pillow top queen mattress and feels hugh since you can sleep right up to the wall without fear of falling out of bed.





There are dozens and dozens of build pics in my album ( start at the back )

[LWW]

I think dollar for dollar you can't beat Mike's Weekender for ease of building. You can build it in a couple of weekends and if you make it 5' wide like I did you'll end up with a queen size bed and plenty of room for tall people. You can build the shell and put doors on it and use it for camping even before finishing it off on the inside. You can also build it while you look for a used 5 x 8 trailer then just bolt it down. Larry

[mike_c]

I don't think I'll ever regret building our TD. It took two years of infrequent spare time, I made LOTS of mistakes (cough cough THREE galley hatches cough), and it undoubtedly did not save us any money in the end. But we have a rock solid trailer with handmade custom woodwork throughout and no corners cut at all. AND a bit of a jones to do it again, LOL.

I built ours 5 x 10 with plenty of leg room in the cabin. I mean, I laid down on the deck in there after I framed the galley bulkhead, felt a little pinched, then ripped out the bulkhead and moved it six inches back. Now there's plenty of room.

It's a BIG project. By the end it felt like a bit of an albatross, but I get a rush of satisfaction every time I pull up in front of the house and see the TD parked in the yard, waiting to go camping.

--Mike C.