Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I am getting close to finishing my wall build. Just wondering, I am getting close to more weight than I care to lift by myself. Anybody care to pipe in if you have actually weighed your walls prior to installation? I will post the weight and build description when I'm done if anybody is interested in a comparison...

51.4 lbs.
1/2 inch outer ply, 3/4 inch foam insulation 1/8" inner wall.

Psngr Side Wall, door, styr & ply 45.23125 lbs
Drvr Side wall w/styr, ply 50 lbs
Back Wall w/ door,styro, & ply 28 lbs
Front wall Curve: 39 lbs (Estimated by weighing what I could: Cross boards,11 + styro + two 1/8" ply. =about 39 lbs)

Here's the frame. I did have to add a couple more blocks for a few things I didn't think of at the time, but it's easy when doing this type of construction, as long as one side skin is still not in place. I did the build from the inside-out. One block was for coat hooks, another for 2 drink holders & another was in the galley, when I changed the upper cabinet & needed a bit more blocking for the screws into the face frame. There was one added for the rear corner brace on the outside galley shelf.



With the skeletonized frame out of 3/4" plywood & 1 side laminated with 1/8" plywood (baltic birch), it's 27#.



Mock-up for the wall to deck fit, frame & panel in place. This is before the doors & windows go in.



Add insulation & another skin & it's about 42# per side, an estimate since the assembly has started & I can't weigh a complete side at this point.



This construction isn't too heavy, has decent insulation & is very strong once both panels are glued in place. 3/4" plywood is about 1.9 pounds per square foot, 1/8" is about .44#. A 3/4" alder solid board is about 2# per square foot, red or white oak is about 4#.

My walls are foamie hybrid construction consisting of a minimal frame; just a 2x2 cedar sill and door frame.


Along the edge of each galley wall I later grafted on a laminated hard edge made up of glued strips of fir slats, roughly equivalent to a bent 2x2 that ends just forward of the hatch hinge.

They are 9’-8” at the base and a little over 49 inches tall.

There are various points of 1x blocking let into the foam on the cabin side to screw cabinet frames, lights, light switches, coat hooks, etc., including a full height 1x4 at the bulkhead. Also various 1x blocks let into the outer face for fender mounting, porch light and side table. Here is the inside of the curbside wall just before covering with 5 mm Okoume marine ply, including the door which was shimmed in place and covered at the same time (similarly constructed using 1x2 cedar frame).


After skinning the inside, not including the inside of the galley yet, and before cutting out the door or the skin over the window opening, the whole assembly weighed 45 lbs.


Here are a couple of shots giving a little better perspective with the walls stood up after cutting the doors back out.



I could easily handle each wall by myself by grabbing it in the upper rear corner of the door opening and stabilizing with the other hand on the galley hard edge.

Tim:

I build using 3/4" skeletonized plywood, sheathed in and out with 1/4" subfloor plywood. I haven't weighed them but I'm guessing they weigh close to sixty pounds. I can man-handle the finished wall. I think the key to putting them up by yourself (I had help on the last set BTW) was haveing my deadmen ready to receive them along with a clamp ready to hold them in place on the aft side of the door opening.



I lay a bead of PL Premium on the floor, set it in place, clamp and ensure it's where I want it and then start the screwing process to attach it to the floor.

So... this sixty year old can lift a wall and set it by himself, but it's easier done with two! Also, I think it's not the weight that's the issue, but dealing with something that's 4 x 10' that's the issue.

Tony

My walls similar in size to the above but I went with a 19mm or 3/4 thick stick frame with 6 mm ply inside.
I fitted them with the outside unlined and could easily lift them by myself despite being a little awkward as tony said due to size.
I didn't weigh them and I'd only be guessing but the framing wouldn't have been more than 10 pounds tops over the sheet weight.
I installed and removed them numerous times on my own prior to final instalation witch I also did on my own.
As tony said have everything ready before you put it in situ and it's easy

KC, nice job. Someday I want to try a building foamie so I can tow it worry free with a four banger car. I'll finish this one first and see how it goes.

Tony, Deadman, that's the term I was looking for. I like how you added interior siding to the galley area before framing the rest of the galley. Gives you another great area to clamp/screw against.

And,thanks all for the wall weights everyone. I can still man handle these walls, especially after cutting out the door to give me more hand holds. I'll weigh them soon to add to the data

60 lbs folks. Without doors and door hardware. A little heavier than what I was hoping, but OK. They are 5/16" cedar paneling over 1/8" lauan over a frame skeleton of 3/4" pine over 1/8" lauan. Two coats of paint on interior and four coats of spar varnish on exterior. They are a little awkward to handle by myself. I managed to move them around several times before finally mounting them today. Thanks for the replies folks!

Noseoil, that's some nice looking woodwork in that skeleton.

My wall is 30.2 pounds, that's with the hard edges, and the canvas glued on, on both sides!!! (no door)



Mike...

Noseoil,

What are the dimensions on your on your trailer side. I am having a time figuring out the weight of my sides, I am using the pico-light profile( 45X 80 roughly) . 1/2 ply skeletonized and I still come up with 40 LBS.

Thanks

Marc

My walls are 9' long & 47" tall. They taper a few inches towards the back end & the curves take some weight out as well. Most of the webs I left are only 1 1/2" wide, & I took a lot of 3/4" ply out of them to reduce the weight quite a bit.

The weight doesn't include doors & windows, so you would need to add them back into the mix. I wanted the 3/4" thick plywood to get a bit more strength & insulation into the sandwich core. They are very strong now with both skins in place, the floor glued & screwed where it attaches & the roof with it's two layers of 1/8" birch, 1 1/2" spars & 1 1/2" of insulation. Hope this helps. tim

Tim,

Your info did help, I went back and tweaked a few more "cells" out of the design( went from 17 to 11). Ended up having only 26% left of a 1/2 inch, 4X8 sheet that comes in at 11 LBS. I using a 1/4 inch outside, 12.1 LBS, the 1/2 "frame" 11 LBS, and a 1/8 internal 6 LBS, grand total 29.1 LBS per side. Not bad, with everything else total projected weight is just a bit over 400 LBS.

thanks for the help

Marc