Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

As I contemplate this as a project. I need to be clear about my needs and what I have to have.
Since I drywash I must be able to bring the drywasher,and battery, a pair of shovels,water,food,porta potty,clothes. Netbook,chair,table.compound bow and target and maybe some reading material.
My generator and maybe some way to see if I am getting gold. So at the least a gold pan and water.
A second consideration is time frame. How long can I stay before I need to move to get supplies ? My normal in the rv I have that is not working was 10-12 days at a time. After all the big thing for me is that the longer I can dig before I need to resupply. The more Gold I find between gas use.
I use a solar panel to keep the battery charged up. So dry washing can go on for a decent amount before I need to break for refill on the batteries.
I could go with a small thru the wall ac and a small generator. Though I do not know is a 5000 btu unit can be run on a 1200 watt generator.
I do know my small ice maker can make ice cubed in 8 mins. Though I do not know how long they will stay cold in the desert. Though I guess I could make a better ice chest by adding more foam.

I do not know If my 1986 honda civic wagon van can pull a teardrop.
Though I am looking to replace that with a ford f150 crew cab of some recent year.

My next biggest questions are kind of key.
1. Working alone how many man-hours would a simple teardrop take ?
2. Can a teardrop be made reasonably with using only brush and roller type painting. No spraying!
Mechanically there is little I can not do. Physically I'm limited. I built aircraft till 1995 then became disabled when I tore my shoulders up.
I'm leaning towards something squarish that might not allow me to stand fully up but maybe close to or even have a raised section .
I definatly think I will make a model first.
and see where that gets me.

Hi Ebonbetta,

Welcome to the forums.

Wow! You've got quite a book of questions there. I'll take a crack at a few of them and, hopefully, someone else can chime in with the rest.

As for your generator, I doubt a 1200 watt will run a 5000 BTU AC without bogging down.

As for how long the project will take you working alone, that's a hard one to answer. Everyone works at different speeds, material availability, tools available, your work methods, etc. I'm building a "squarish" model. I'm five full weekends into it and only about a third of the way done. That's about 10 hours per day, three day weekends. Once you get into it, you'll find that there's a lot more to it than people think. I'm very proficient working with wood. How much experience you have with the ways of woodworking makes a big difference, as does whether you're cutting with a miter saw/table saw or a hand saw.

How long the batteries last depends on a lot of things. How much power will you use? What quality batteries are you using? All these play into how long the battery charge will last. You mentioned a portable ice maker. If you're into the electrical frills and steady battery draw, they aren't going to last very long.

I don't know whether this helps or not. Remember, though, just because they're small, doesn't make building one easy. It's a big undertaking and, if you're learning as you go, it takes a whole lot longer than it would take someone who is working on their third or forth TTT.

At any rate, I hope you decide to build, good fortune shines on you during your build and everything turns out square and true. You'll find that if you search the database here on the forum, just about any question you still have will be answered. The combined knowledge on this forum is unbelievable.

Best of luck.
Brian

Your needs are going to be a good bit more than the average teardroper and you might want to consider doing a cargo conversion. I would look to the Australian outback caravans for inspiration.
http://www.kimberleykaravans.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evTg-TT4 ... re=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91Ej37th ... re=channel
http://www.bushtracker.com
http://www.australianoffroadcampers.com
The Kimberly was the one that drove some of the outfitting of our grasshopper design Mega-Mini.
180W solar panel, LED lights, 2400W Kipor commercial generator (8hr run time) to power AC, conventional 6gal RV water hearer sink and shower. You are going to be wanting a large water carrying capacity that is protected from rocks...
Since you have aircraft construction experience you could consider building using the same techniques.

ebonbetta wrote:My next biggest questions are kind of key.
1. Working alone how many man-hours would a simple teardrop take ?
2. Can a teardrop be made reasonably with using only brush and roller type painting. No spraying!

1. It took me about 15 months to build mine. I worked an hour or two each evening after work and most of the day on Sundays. My tear was pretty detailed so it took a little longer than most.

2. Yes, yes you can. I only used a foam roller. No spraying or brushes.

I slapped mine on with a couple different sized paint brushes.


Build time to campable 5 weekends. started 6/5/09 in parade/campout 7/11/09



http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=30307&start=0

Here is the time stamped build thread !

You build will be limited only by you time and physical abilities. Mike did the weekender in 3 days with help. If you are insulating it may take longer.. Nice takes even longer...

You are looking for a full size RV type electrical system and you can get it. Just add money! And a truck! You can go with solar and do without if you have to have battery. I guess I have trouble working in the heat while gold mining and sleeping in air conditioning.

Paint, just be careful to get it sealed really well.



Ok a few more words.....

Just out of curiosity what sort of dry wash set up are you using, it is an area I am not familiar with and had to look it up. I did some panning for gold (very wet) as a kid in California (not very successful)

Why do you have a problem with mining ? and gold ?

In any event I use a bellows drywasher or puffer.

Once I figure out how to do photos, I can show you a picture of the drywasher.

No comma's in that statement. Problem with the concept of being out mining in the heat and a cold sleep at night.

ok there is a picture of the drywasher i use in my album. I bought this one this year.

You've gotten some good answers above and I couldn't have written better than those. You mention an old shoulder injury. You will need to do some lifting during the build, such as turning the completed trailer floor or putting the plywood roof on. Will you be able to lift things or to get help when lifting things?

I also read it as she was against gold panning and I PM'd Miriam and said she would get in trouble with that left out punctuation.
As I said I have never heard of dry panning and had to look it up. A couple of questions, from the picture there is an electric blower or vacuum involved and a good bit of dust.How do you protect yourself from silicosis? I am assuming you are using a small generator to power the separator and using the 12V and the question concerns using it to power a small AC unit.
Are you boondocking (not in a campground) [my assumption] if so how long are you out with out access to water? how much water will you need or want, shower each night finish washing your findings...?
Have you considered a cargo trailer conversion, you could include a large water carrying capacity easily?

OK I fixed it with more words. If you have commas then it says "with gold mining", and "air conditioner." Without it says the two don't go together well in my world.

I was more ay risk from silacosis <sp> when I was building aircraft. Or maybe boriliosis. But I spend a lot of my time staying out of the dust. and setup so the wind blows it away from me. I enjoy the heat more than the cold. The djd(Degenerative Joint Desease) in my shoulders and neck hurt less. As for lifiting I can get help to lift if I need it.
Biggest problem in the desert is ffinding shade that will not blow away.
The high desert is noted for its wind.
The drywasher only draws about 3 amps max.

i have a 5000 btu ac in my teardrop it pulls 512 watts. I run it all the time on a 1000 watt generator with no problem.