Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I will be making my hatch shortly. My intention has always been to use Steve Frederick's hatch seal system.

Looking at my galley/hatch it looks like I will have to put my 1/8" spacer and 1/2" seal plywood in the area outlined in red (see pic below). That seems like a lot of extra weight seeing how my Galley bulkhead is 57" and the counter top plus a few inches is 33"

Am I correct in thinking that is where those should go?

Any thoughts/suggestions or alternatives?

Can someone provide some feedback that has experience with this type of hatch?

Do I need to make a cut out for the entire galley side wall?

Wayne:

I've done it both ways, and you're right, Steve's suggested method is weighty. I did it the lighter way in this little 4x8 I built for my sis.





I hope this is the answer to your question.

Tony

p.s. Make sure you've got plenty of room with your counter for the hatch's gussets.

tony.latham wrote:Wayne:

I've done it both ways, and you're right, Steve's suggested method is weighty. I did it the lighter way in this little 4x8 I built for my sis.





I hope this is the answer to your question.

Tony

p.s. Make sure you've got plenty of room with your counter for the hatch's gussets.

Tony, I had the exact same thought on how you did it. I wasn't sure if that would work but looks like you got it.

My concern with that was I was going to use my sidewall as a mounting surface for a slide out drawer. I am eventually going to mount a ARB freezer there and don't have a lot of clearance. I thought the drawer might hit the lip that creates. I can measure the clearance on the drawer slide maybe it will be greater than the 5/8" lip for the hatch seal.

I noticed in one of your pics there is a cooler down there. Did you put it on a slide?

Also do you have a finished picture of the galley?

Thanks for the help!

[img]My%20concern%20with%20that%20was%20I%20was%20going%20to%20use%20my%20sidewall%20as%20a%20mounting%20surface%20for%20a%20slide%20out%20drawer.[/img]

There you go, thinking this stuff out.

As you can see in this picture, I had to add blocking for the drawer slides.





Tony

[quote="tony.latham

There you go, thinking this stuff out.

Tony[/quote]

Awesome thanks again

Tony, it looks like you have improved the Steve Fredericks' galley hatch design in several ways. Bravo!

1) The most obvious is that you reduced weight by using an inner curved ( 1/2" ?) plywood (male) lip instead of fully covering the inside sidewalls of the galley with 1/2" plywood. It may cost less too.

2) It also looks like your outside hatch rib gradually widens in the middle more than it does at the top and bottom, which would help stiffen the galley hatch. Steve Fredericks' plans, instead, have a somewhat similar wider in the middle hatch stiffener on the inside of the galley hatch. This looks like another way your design reduces weight and construction complexity.

3) You also have multiple horizontal inner hatch ribs instead of multiple vertical (fiddly to make correctly) curved inner hatch ribs. To my eye this looks easier to build (less construction complexity) and it may be less prone to construction errors that sometimes lead to do overs. It may also cost less.

4) I'd like to see a photo, or more detail, about how you weather strip the hatch. I'm unsure if your design creates an upper (female) socket for the weather strip like a Fredericks' design does. I'm guessing that your rubber weather strip will be used somewhat like an edge band at the interface of inside/lower hatch skin and outer ribs once you install the inside/lower skin to the galley hatch?

1) The most obvious is that you reduced weight by using an inner curved ( 1/2" ?) plywood (male) lip instead of fully covering the inside sidewalls of the galley with 1/2" plywood. It may cost less too.

2) It also looks like your outside hatch rib gradually widens in the middle more than it does at the top and bottom, which would help stiffen the galley hatch. Steve Fredericks' plans, instead, have a somewhat similar wider in the middle hatch stiffener on the inside of the galley hatch. This looks like another way your design reduces weight and construction complexity.

3) You also have multiple horizontal inner hatch ribs instead of multiple vertical (fiddly to make correctly) curved inner hatch ribs. To my eye this looks easier to build (less construction complexity) and it may be less prone to construction errors that sometimes lead to do overs. It may also cost less.

4) I'd like to see a photo, or more detail, about how you weather strip the hatch. I'm unsure if your design creates an upper (female) socket for the weather strip like a Fredericks' design does. I'm guessing that your rubber weather strip will be used somewhat like an edge band at the interface of inside/lower hatch skin and outer ribs once you install the inside/lower skin to the galley hatch?

Well.... I build my hatches according to Steve's plans. I swear. Iv'e done it three times. (Hopefully I haven't screwed them up. )
The seal is exactly as Steve's manual suggests. And they are dust proof and spring-back-proof with that 3-4" (or is it 6"?) gusset. Don't quote me on those dimensions. (I'll never understand the hatches that have several vertical ribs, BTW. Way too much labor!)

Building that lip for the little 4 x 8 in the above pics, instead of a full piece of 1/2" ply does save some weight but it also adds labor (there's that damn word again). Everywhere a slider will go, you have to add 1/2" blocking...and since there's a 1/8" spacer piece behind "my" lip edge, there has to be one for each of the blocking pieces. So you don't loose all that much weight.



What I do highly suggest with Steve's methodology is a change in the walls from 3x4" pine to 3/4" plywood. I've done it both ways, but never again using boards. Too much labor. (There's that word again.)

Lazy,



Tony

DWT77 wrote:

tony.latham wrote:Wayne:


My concern with that was I was going to use my sidewall as a mounting surface for a slide out drawer. I am eventually going to mount a ARB freezer there and don't have a lot of clearance. I thought the drawer might hit the lip that creates. I can measure the clearance on the drawer slide maybe it will be greater than the 5/8" lip for the hatch seal.
?

Thanks for the help!

There are some nice heavy duty bottom mount draw slides. They can be kinda spendy but could be an option.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

KTM_Guy wrote:

DWT77 wrote:

tony.latham wrote:Wayne:


My concern with that was I was going to use my sidewall as a mounting surface for a slide out drawer. I am eventually going to mount a ARB freezer there and don't have a lot of clearance. I thought the drawer might hit the lip that creates. I can measure the clearance on the drawer slide maybe it will be greater than the 5/8" lip for the hatch seal.
?

Thanks for the help!

There are some nice heavy duty bottom mount draw slides. They can be kinda spendy but could be an option.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

That is true. I have already purchased my slides. I don't think they can be mounted that way. I did buy a 200lb slide though

Tony,

Thanks so much for your post advising the 3/4 inch plywood over the method in the plans. I am building the Rondack Lodge and this is my second build. My wife wanted a bigger teardrop.

I have welded up a trailer according to his plans, added the dexter axles, and completed the floor so I am about to tackle the walls. I love his plans so far. On my first build, I used ply for the walls and was really wanting to use ply for this one but was hesitant. So, seeing your advice is just the push I needed.

Thanks!
Eddie

1960es wrote:Tony,

Thanks so much for your post advising the 3/4 inch plywood over the method in the plans. I am building the Rondack Lodge and this is my second build. My wife wanted a bigger teardrop.

I have welded up a trailer according to his plans, added the dexter axles, and completed the floor so I am about to tackle the walls. I love his plans so far. On my first build, I used ply for the walls and was really wanting to use ply for this one but was hesitant. So, seeing your advice is just the push I needed.

Thanks!
Eddie

For a plywood skeleton, this is how I stretch my plywood. The "sheathing joint" is where my sheathing butts.



I hope this helps. I just use an 1/8" cutting bid with a pilot and use 1/8" plywood as a spline. It's a weak joint until you glue your sheathing on the sides. Also... 3/4" foam is 3/4" thick, but 3/4" inch plywood isn't quite that thick... I glue in my foam and then take a bit of it with a random orbital sander and 80 grit. It's fast and painless.

Tony

tony.latham wrote:[img]My%20concern%20with%20that%20was%20I%20was%20going%20to%20use%20my%20sidewall%20as%20a%20mounting%20surface%20for%20a%20slide%20out%20drawer.[/img]

There you go, thinking this stuff out.

As you can see in this picture, I had to add blocking for the drawer slides.





Tony

Tony I like your galley design with the propane and pot storage

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

That's my sis's four-wide. Here's our five-wide:



I'm in the planning stages of #4. It'll have a slide out 12" x 18" Partner Stove on the left (that'll come out at 90º). Below it, there will be the slot for the seven-gallon Reliance jug that is the same width. In between will be another drawer. Over on the right, the cooler will be on a slider and a larger drawer in between.

It'll look something like this:



I'll probably put a slide-out cutting board above the cooler.



Tony

tony.latham wrote:That's my sis's four-wide. Here's our five-wide:



I'm in the planning stages of #4. It'll have a slide out 12" x 18" Partner Stove on the left (that'll come out at 90º). Below it, there will be the slot for the seven-gallon Reliance jug that is the same width. In between will be another drawer. Over on the right, the cooler will be on a slider and a larger drawer in between.

It'll look something like this:



I'll probably put a slide-out cutting board above the cooler.



Tony

That hitch bike rack is awesome!
Beautiful galley Tony! Thanks for sharing!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk