Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi All,

Well, I got my new Tiny Trailer* today. I'm hoping to have the sides cut out today and start work on the floor tomorrow. Cost for wood + screws came out to be $215.

I'm hoping to have the camper ready for this Thanksgiving. I'll work on the inside as I go, but I want the outside finished in a few weeks. It should be a nice challenge. I'm working a lot and taking some grad classes too, so I'm gonna be hammered. Sure is a lot of work to be able to go relax. Also, what are you guys with the folding tongue trailers doing to the tongue? Do you just leave the pins in, or you welding the tongue solid?

I'll document the build as I go.



*some assembly required

*phew*

I've been humpin' it today and have made some good progress. I got the floor finished, the sides up, and tomorrow I'll get the spars and plywood on the roof!

Way ahead of schedule. This was one days work. Thanksgiving shouldn't be a problem.



Sorry for the crappy pic. Light was getting low - I'll get some more tomorrow.

I designed it to be 81" tall. Well, the garage door is 81" tall, I'm gonna have to let some air out of the tires until I get some more weight on this thing.

I got 3 spars installed tonight but it was too dark to take a picture.

Wow! You are really making great time. I wish I was moving anywhere near your speed. One of the projects I need to finish before I start my tear is a sleigh bed for my wife. My day's accomplishment? I drew the posts for the bed at full size...

I feel like such an under achiever.

Really though. Great progress on your trailer!

Congratulations, that is one heck of a good days work. Makes me feel guilty. At this rate you will be done way before Thanksgiving.

Work hard, and make us proud.

Sweet. How wide is your trailer going to be? I would love to see your floorplan. Have fun building.

Dude are you half Beaver? thats alot of sawdust!

ccdell - Thanks! Well, I spent a lot of time drawing it up in CAD and building it in my mind. When I started laying it out, I'd already fixed most of the design flaws in my head. Framing it out doesn't take much time at all.

Miriam C. - I appreciate that. I don't have time to work on it during the week, so my weekends are going to be all out!

NightCap - The camper is 96" long and 72.5" wide. Short & Fat. I think I'm going to name it the Puffin. It'll be white with black accent area on bottom.

I'll attach a few drawings to this message. I'm not good at 2D drawings, but I'll try to give you an idea of what I'm working with.

Ma3tt - LOL! I don't mess around when building. I've always been fast on all of my projects. This one should be a lot of fun because I'm not going to bog it down with all that mindless sanding like my other projects. I'm going to seal it with epoxy/fiberglass and roll some white paint on with walnut shells to give it a nice texture. This will hide all the imperfections and really speed up the build. The interior will be pimped out with sponge painting and I've got some really cool ideas for the storage areas & bookshelf - I think you guys will get a kick out of it.

Boy that's fast. It's going to look nice. You will be finished in no time. Enjoy Peg

Steve:



I am with Matt ... you got to be one eager beaver?

sawdust.

Your effort is coming to in grand style and > > > fast~ !
*******************Fruition******************

Yup, I was shocked to see how fast he built the Cowper. Now you all will see a speed demon at work.

That's some fast work there. I like your design, should be a nice little camper when you getter done.

great plain don't have to been over sweet looking i hope you show a lot i will dream of build one out wood

steve wolverton wrote: Also, what are you guys with the folding tongue trailers doing to the tongue? Do you just leave the pins in, or you welding the tongue solid?

Steve I swap out the pins for some bolts with nylock nuts.

Nice speed on that build. I wonder if I could do the optimized EH that fast?

Get some more photos coming.

Mike...

Steve,

That's looking good - and very close to the Lil' Guy in the Vintage plans section above.

As the resident "Ah, but...." smartarse (like a smartass, but worse - with a Brit accent) have you thought about the door hinges? You're going to need some hinges with pins that are fairly heavily offset from the body, due to the thickness of the 'rubbing strakes' down the side of the body.

Andrew

peggyearlchris - I sure hope so. I've always been the type that enjoys the end product more than the construction. I like building, but I like playing more.

hoot - I've thought about it, and I think the easiest thing will be not to have any flats. Actually, I'm using the 8" wheels, and I have enough clearance to change the tire with the sides of the trailer covering the wheels/tires like it is. I think it gives the trailer a retro look like that.

I'll try to change a flat before I leave on my first outing just to make sure though.

sdtripper2 - I'm eager to go camping!

asianflava - Well the speed demon sure is sore today. I'm hoping to start applying epoxy to the sides next weekend, and painting the outside the first weekend in November. I can't remember how fast the Cowper came together, but this one is going much faster.

GeorgeT - Thank you. I remember being really impressed with your design - I was even looking at your site again last night. I hope to see it in person sometime.

glassice - I wanted a place to stand when changing clothes & cooking. I don't really plan to cook inside unless it's really cold (not very often here) or raining. I think I'm going to really enjoy it.

mikeschn - I have a little rattling when hauling the trailer and I'm guessing it's those pins? Did the bolts stop that? I really don't want to weld it unless I have to.

I'll try to get a few more pics up soon. I didn't take a lot yesterday, I was on a roll!

angib - Thanks Andrew! Good call on the Lil Guy reference - I based my design heavily on that one. I downloaded all the drawings of the Midget/Tidget/Widget/Pidget/Fidget/etc. from your site and studied them for weeks while creating mine. Your site is a great resource!

About the rub strakes - I don't have my door hinge yet, so I'm not sure how wide it's going to be. I'm going to go back and notch out the strake so that the hinge will sit flush with the sides. Same on the opposite side, not sure about the width of the t-molding yet. Good eye!