Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hello,

I am in the process of designing a teardop with a custom frame. Finished trailer body will be 9 feet long, 66 inches wide, and 54 inches high. I'd appreciate your thoughts as to proper galley design: how deep should it be? What stove would you use and where should it be mounted? Colemans stoves took forever to get something hot 40 years ago, and I can't believe they are any faster now. What electrical items would you choose (lights , microwave)? sink? Trailer mounted stability when camped would suggest a table (s) somehow attached to the unit. I shall be attaching a windscreen of nylon so the gusts will not interfere with the cooking,-conversation process. Hinges, handles and struts? How much water capacity for a container would make sense? How many spaces ( cabinets?) do you need and how much workspace? My dimension for the galley will be: hatch height 36", flat space below 18" ground clearance should be ten inches. With a trailer width of 66 inches, how wide or narrow should the galley hatch be so that there isn't any leak problem over time?

Basically anything dealing with galleys I am willing to read about! I wish to make just ONE of these trailers, which is why I am really going to take time in its design, and also its fabrication. It will be basically steel frame sandwich contruction of straight angles for the exterior. Wood can be used where needed.

Thanks in advance,

Geneso

WHEW !

That's a lot of info but you are right in planning ahead.

I am going to use Chubby to answer your questions from my prospective.
He is 120" long 67" wide out to out and 5'6" tall. So he is real close to your plans.

My galley is 18" +/- deep but the flip out feature makes 9' + of counter space. I have tried all the cook tops but find my little 2 burner propane cooktop is a hands down winner. Gets HOT quick and controls well. The fact it is not built in (just bungi corded down for transport) lets us have infinate possible choices when cooking. We have used it on the picnic table , my campchef dutch oven table and of course on the tile topped swing out counter top. Electrical items in the galley I have found most useful are lights of course , a toaster oven for hot cinnamon rolls , biscuits , and toast as well as to reheat leftovers. We toted a microwave on one trip and I gave it away. The single most important electrical appliance ( please don't laugh) is our red neck hot water heater. A 32 cup large coffeemaker.
I plug it in as soon as I am up and in 8 minutes I can have hot chocolate or coffee singles or hot tea. Washing greasy dishes in cold water is a fruitless chore. Having hot water on demand for the cost of a used $6.00 coffeemaker from Goodwill is almost decadent. On our second outing we invested in a 10 x 10 first up gazebo. This was the single most important addition to the build. It provides shelter from rain, snow, cold winds, and the beating sun. It is infinatly flexible in that it can cover the galley or act as a privacy room , living room or an extra kitchen area.
The hinges I used on the hatch were off the shelf stanley strap hinges and by cleverly covering them no runs, no drips, no errors, opps I mean leaks. I have pressed the small bathroom grab bars as the ultimate handle both inside and outside of my builds. The little blue 5/6 gallon water tote jugs have been all we have required as we are generally in state parks. When we are boondogging we keep back up ice in a seperate cooler and used the water from that cooler as well for pottable water. As to cabinets, you can not build in enough. My wife gave me two stanley plastic tool totes and I pressed them into service as a dry box for dry food stuffs and a utensil box for the small camping tools and toys. I built my hatch full width with a 1 1/2" overhang and have had no problem with rain and water infiltration. One thing you didn't ask about is cooler in or out of the galley. They are a space hog and we choose to use the open space below as a staging area for the pots and pans and other needed cooking items so the cooler sets out close by but not IN the galley. My album has a ton of pics on 4 builds all are vastly different and work well for different reasons.
We have found chubby ( my first full sized camping build) to still have our favorite layout and functions fantasticly for our style of camping. Hope you have as much fun in your build as we did.

Here is a thread on outboard side mounted dishwashing station and prep and/ or dining tables that may be of interest to you as well.

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=43504&highlight=table

geneso wrote: Colemans stoves took forever to get something hot 40 years ago, and I can't believe they are any faster now.

They're real pieces of crap...I wonder why they are the best selling campstove for nearly 100 years...

A great deal depends on the design of the tear. A grasshopper design is some what easier to design. Ours has a three burner SS Atwood cook top and a sink with a pull out faucet as well as a 6 Gal gas electric water heater. Ours is 6' wide lots of cupboard space and LED lights.

Look Here:

http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q120 ... 20Gallery/

Shadow that is one fine galley!

Here is my galley complete with sink and fresh water tank and faucet installed.

campmasterk wrote:Shadow that is one fine galley!

Here is my galley complete with sink and fresh water tank and faucet installed.

I like that - nice and simple (to build and maintain).

For us, as many cabinets as will fit. Although we have 110, we have never used it . Can't see any reason for a microwave or any other electric appliance, as we are camping. If we were on the road for more than two weeks, maybe something but I don't know what. DO takes care of any oven type cooking necessary. Coleman propane stove (horrors- I said the P word Doug!;) heats up very quickly. Hook up to 5lb propane gives us all we need at lighter weight. pull out cold water storage (see album). no sink. Ice chest with home grown ice and upgraded insulation lasts 4-5 days.

S. Heisley wrote:Look Here:

http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q120 ... 20Gallery/

That was SO MUCH FUN!!!! So many great ideas. Thank you for directing us to it.



Becky

I'll throw in a different point of view. I don't consider myself a camper. I mt bike and kayak, camping just gets me closer to the trails/water. So, quick meals, particularly in the morning, demand a microwave. Sink, holding tanks around 7gal fresh and grey, demand water pump and city water connection. Even if you only go with a city water connection, consider what to do with grey water. Two burner slide out PROPANE stove, run off of 5lb tank on the tongue. Slide out cooler, no room in the Jeep. All lighting 12v with a decent power center and deep cycle battery. Only thing I'll loose off grid is AC and the microwave. Make the cabinets as deep as you possably can. Profile comes into play too, a flat back design like a benroy gives more galley room .

Discussing galley design is almost like asking someone about religion or politics.

I think the best approach to galley design is to not build the galley at first, camp with your teardrop, and then see what works for you and what doesn't work for you. Cardboard boxes and/or plastic containers make a great interim storage solution.

Here are some points to consider:

1. Your teardrop design (profile) and length generally dictate whether or not you will have just lower galley cabinets or upper and lower cabinets. The more "swoopy" the rear of the profile is, the greater the chance that there isn't room for upper cabinets (or at least you won't be able to have both upper galley cabinets and interior cabinets over your feet/legs.)

2. You don't have much room to begin with. So, anything you add to the galley, you take away from storage space. I do not have a sink in the galley, water storage or water heater. My coolers - one for food and liguids and one for adult beverages - and a dry goods plastic storage container ride and remain in the tow vehicle. My A/C unit is in the tongue box of the teardrop. I do have my electrical center and battery in the galley. We use a plastic storage container to clean our pots and pans.

3. If you use a campstove to cook, depending upon what you cook, it can cause smells and/or grease. Do you want either of those around your galley? My galley has a drawer for my Coleman stove, but it is just for storage. I cook on a side table or a picnic table.

4. Do you camp in parks with electrical service or wilderness areas? If you don't have electricity, that answers the question about electrical appliances. We camp mostly in parks with electrical service. Although cooking is another hobby of mine, camping is for relaxation. I don't mix the two hobbies. I generally bring prepared meals to heat. For that reason, and because we camp where there is electricity, I have a microwave oven.

Tom, you're going to have to write a TD building help manual, you've got a lot of knowledge built up. Thanks in advance for the techniques I've gleaned from your build and advice!

Breezy

campmasterk wrote:Shadow that is one fine galley!

Here is my galley complete with sink and fresh water tank and faucet installed.

I love it!!!

aggie79 wrote:1. Your teardrop design (profile) and length generally dictate whether or not you will have just lower galley cabinets or upper and lower cabinets. The more "swoopy" the rear of the profile is, the greater the chance that there isn't room for upper cabinets (or at least you won't be able to have both upper galley cabinets and interior cabinets over your feet/legs.)

I saw a TD around here (Casseydog?) that was built on a benroy platform, but the front curve was mimicked in the rear, giving lots of room in the galley.

I went a foot longer as stated in the OP and am putting every last inch of that foot into the galley. I already know how I camp, and the things I'm willing to pay $85 a night for at a hotel 25 miles from the trail head/water. So, put the bed, TV, microwave, and air conditioner all in a TD, and its a perfect match for me.