Hello from Wales

[TwinRon]

Hi from Wales,

We’ve been camping for many years (decades) and it’s probably time to take that quantum leap to something a bit more solid and watertight for out of season trips.

I like the idea of a TD and I’ve been drawn to building a Widget 6 or similar. Any tips on this or alternatives much appreciated.

We drive an old (but reliable) Volvo 940 estate. Presumably this would tow a Widget or similar sized teardrop/caravan OK?

Any advice?

Cheers

Ron

[tearhead]

Whereabouts in Wales? We have visited various parts of your beautiful country. Welcome to the board!

[Vindi_andy]

Welcome from the midlands.

It took my wife a year and a half and 3 camping trips to decide "we" needed to make the jump to soething more solid and comfortable

[Creamcracker]

Hi from Wales,

We’ve been camping for many years (decades) and it’s probably time to take that quantum leap to something a bit more solid and watertight for out of season trips.

I like the idea of a TD and I’ve been drawn to building a Widget 6 or similar. Any tips on this or alternatives much appreciated.

We drive an old (but reliable) Volvo 940 estate. Presumably this would tow a Widget or similar sized teardrop/caravan OK?

Any advice?

Cheers

Ron

Same question Ron....where in Wales?..........which Ron are you? Ron the Coal? Ron the Plumber? Ron the Farm? Ron the......?

[TwinRon]

Hi,

Thanks for the welcome.

Where in Wales ? – up in the hills near Capel-y-ffin. Mid Wales.

Which Ron am I ? Ron the Chippy of course, I run a furniture business with my twin.

So Vindi-andy you must be a fast learner – have you built (or bought) anything more solid and comfortable yet?

Cheers

Ron

[jackdaw]

Hi Ron, Welcome to the forum,
Your Volvo should be more than adequate to pull a widget.
We had a gathering a couple of weeks ago, and there was a guy from your way joined us in his Pod.

We have an ever growing membership over on the Teardrop club of Great Britain, but this is the number one trailer site for builders, hand down. We don't have the experience of our 'merican cousins.
There is a huge amount of knowlede on the board, and plenty of experienced builders willing to share their experience.

Have fun with your build fella, and please take loads of photos as you go. We all love the photos

[Creamcracker]

Hi,

Thanks for the welcome.

Where in Wales ? – up in the hills near Capel-y-ffin. Mid Wales.

Which Ron am I ? Ron the Chippy of course, I run a furniture business with my twin.

So Vindi-andy you must be a fast learner – have you built (or bought) anything more solid and comfortable yet?

Cheers

Ron

Hi Ron....."the chippy" ok....well I'm from Morriston, Swansea...left in 1984. My brother-in-law is the Vicar of Bronllys.......welcome to the forum.
Philip

[angib]

Merkan readers should not read this, since it talks about Yurpeen towing practice which is obviously dangerous to the point of madness, will lead to lightning striking you dead, etc, etc.

Kerb weights of Volvo 940s are in the 1500-1900kg range so trailer weights up to the 1300-1600kg range are OK - that is more than twice what a laden Widget should weigh, so I think there's a margin of safety there.....

Andrew

[Alfred]

Welcome to the T&TTT forum, from the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, on the other side of the big pond!

AL in Asheville

[Vindi_andy]

Its not me I dont mind camping have been a scout etc so used to roughing it but the wife isnt. 2 Cold kitcar shows were enoungh for her.

Not got anything more substantial yet need to get a towbar on the towcar (see avatar) Looking at building a GRP over foam Grumman2 along the lines of Jackdaws. Slightly wider because I personally dont like the Semi recessed fenders (as our cousins call them) I prefer the wheels enclosed. Then again I might get a set of what we call cycle wings (see front of car) and cut those down to tie the trailer in to the car even more

Anyway welcome to the forum not been here long myself but picked up loads of info already. Managed to get across to the meet with jackdaw and that got the wife hooked on teardrops. Cant wait to get started on the build

[TwinRon]

Hi and thanks for the welcome.

Like I said I’m planning on building a Widget (or something very similar), it seems to tick all the boxes for me. I’ve read quite a lot about it on the forum and I’m impressed with the design, innovation and quality of construction by those who have shared their photos but I can’t quite fathom the origin and evolution of the Widget from its beginnings to where it is now. There seem to be evolving versions from presumably 1 to 6 or is it 7 now.

Is there a definitive record about it and Is there a “Widget mastermindâ€

[angib]

I guess I am the 'Widget mastermind', though that's not how I would put it.

The name Widget comes from Winter Midget - the idea was to build a miniature standy (well, nearly-standy) based on the lovely Midget shape (see the vintage plans), but with the galley inside. Here is the Widget 1 which is just the Midget body with different interior:





Widgets 2 to 7 were just developments of this design for different reasons - for example, the Widget 7 was a custom variation for Bev Traxler that put a Widget 6 body on a pop-up trailer chassis. But it's long enough ago that I can't tell you what the 2 to 6 variants were!

Along the way, a few practical features crept in, that moved it away from the 'ideal' egg shape of the Midget - putting some height over the galley was one and making the floor and frame longer (without such a 'tucked-under' body) was another.

Andrew

[TwinRon]

Hi,

Thanks Andrew for the information - I thought you might be the expert. I've studied your dxf files and they are very comprehensive.

Of course this has left me with a few questions so I've opened a new thread in the "Trailer and Chassis Secrets" Department. http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=37924.

Many thanks

Ron