Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

With the removable tongue firmly bolted in place, and no doors installed as yet, I towed the new 215 lb tear to the Spamboree Gathering, about an hour from the shop. Hardly knew it was behind the car on the freeway, and even got a few thumbs up as passers by peered through one door opening and out the other. Ooh, do I love that Spam............not bad, there were a lot of great dishes served by the trailer folks.

To my surprise, I can lift a tire about 4" off of the ground with one hand, when parked. (no jack needed, :-) Building with 1/8" plywood roof and cabinets, a 1 3/8" hollow core door for the floor, sure keeps the weight down. Upon returning home, I flipped it up on end and stacked it inside my garage against the wall. Now I have my woodworking shop back again. Next step, is to build the 3/16" plywood doors. (flap, flap, flap). May have to use a bungy cord from door to door to keep them in place while in tow

Roly ~~ nothing fancy, just a super light-weight teardrop that's stackable!

Great seeing you!
Very Cute!

Stackable? On what? Like a london bus? Call me stupid does.


john

john wrote:Stackable? On what? Like a london bus? Call me stupid does.
john

When it's not in use, he stacks it against the wall in his shop on it's rear. Like a bear sitting against a tree.

Have a good day.

Gage,
You remove the tongue, set the front down on the ground and lift from the rear and it stands on the front, look at the radius on the front, thats what it is for to roll on ,ask Roly

Woody wrote:Gage,
You remove the tongue, set the front down on the ground and lift from the rear and it stands on the front, look at the radius on the front, thats what it is for to roll on ,ask Roly

Well, Roly told me just this last Saturday that he removes the tail lights and then lifts it up on it's rear. He also has sliding doors on his galley cabnets to keep stuff from falling out. I suggested to him that he have a couple of tubes welded under the tear and then have a lightweight 'roll cage' made that he could slide in and that way the tear wouldn't be sitting on the hatch and scratch it all up.

Have a good day.

Well Woody, that was my original intent, but since the back weighs more than the front, I decided to roll it up on the hatchlid, with some flip-out supports to keep it from going all the way over on the top. I left the stub of the tongue sticking out about 5 inches in the front, which makes it impossable to roll it up on that end. Now that it is standing in the garage, I realize that I could have made it 6" longer, since it fits under the roll-up garage door with plenty of clearance. Hmm, maybe next time...........

Roly, gettin' ready to glass the corners and roll some paint on it.

PS, thanks for posting those pics, Matt, good to see you again.

well I stand corrected by the man himself, I didn't realize that weight of the rear had change the concept you had strived for. Novel idea of the radius in fromt and removable tongue for standing on end though. Ya see what happens I'm out of the loop because of a pesky hurricane and no internet for a couple of days and the plans changed. Sorry Gage I didn' t get the memo, I went by what I had seen on another site with info posted on the concept before the storm had hit.

Woody wrote: Ya see what happens I'm out of the loop because of a pesky hurricane and no internet for a couple of days and the plans changed. Sorry Gage I didn' t get the memo, I went by what I had seen on another site with info posted on the concept before the storm had hit.

That's alright Woody. He had also stated that he wasn't going to be at the Spamboree on that other site because they were all booked up. I don't know what Roly did about the Pot Luck, but the last time I saw him Saturday, he had a plate full I talked someone into making a double batch so I could go to the pot luck. There ain't nothing like the Spamboree Pot Luck. That was the first Spamboree that I've gone to without a trailer. I think there was as many 'big' trailers as teardrops there this year, and I forgot my damn camara on the kitchen counter so I didn't get any pictures

To get back on subject, I think Roly should now have an 'eye' welded to the tongue and put a hoast in the rafters so then all he has to do is wheel the 1/4 Nelson in place, hook up and pull a rope, less energy used. Then he can get to work on that wooden coffee pot and mug for the 1/2 Nelson. I mean to say, everything else is wood

Have a good day.

By the way, how you doing back there. Hope everyone is high & dry that has ended up in the path of that over size wet tornado.

Gage,
We are fine, lots of rain and wind and lots to cleanup. The storms eye took a jog south right before it hit us Went through the eye and both eye walls. That was enough to knock power out and flatten lots trees and some building damage. It was a strange storm and plenty strong with 100 mph gusts for a Cat 1. South of me by 15 miles is were they go 8- 10 inches of rain and someplaces got 15- 20 inches. They are underwater, flooded homes and businesses. I talk to a friend in the lower Keys they got 20 inches and heavier winds and now look what it did in the Gulf States WOW. Thanks for asking

PS. After the storm passed had both teardrops and house filled with neighbors due their power being out in this area, but I had power since I am tied to a different grid. They really liked the A/C in them for sleeping since they had none at home due to no power. Lots of smiling faces

Roly,

I hope you'll be publishing full details of how the 1/4 Nelson is built, as 215lb certainly looks like being a T&TTT record.

Andrew

Gage said:
"Well, Roly told me just this last Saturday that he removes the tail lights and then lifts it up on it's rear. He also has sliding doors on his galley cabnets to keep stuff from falling out. I suggested to him that he have a couple of tubes welded under the tear and then have a lightweight 'roll cage' made that he could slide in and that way the tear wouldn't be sitting on the hatch and scratch it all up."



I say:

Cool!!

john

re the hatch, can you tell me what the ribs are made of?

And, how is the ply attached to the ribs. If screws, I assume they are visible from the outside when the hatch is closed?

I'll be starting a hatch project in about a week but don't have a good idea about how to build it.

In answer to your question, Arnereil, about what the hatch ribs are made of, my first woody tear has laminated pieces of pine which total 3/4" in width. I glued and nailed down the first layer of 1/8 " plywood, then glued and clamped the second layer to the first with no fasteners showing. This leaves a smooth, uninterupted finish on the hatch lid.

The little 6 ft light weight tear has hatch ribs made of 1/2" baltic birch, bandsawed and sanded smooth. I only used one layer of 1/8" on that one, and yes, the screws show, but I will fill them with woodfiller and simply paint the whole thing. Nothing fancy, just cheap and light.

Roly ~~