ST's Bow Top Vardo

[SuperTroll]

all made possible by Timothy Lemke of amvardo.com ...Thanks Tim!

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/563851245sWnsUl?start=0

UPDATE: it's been about a year and a half since Timothy posted this here.....and a few other folks have built this vardo, one in Canada, one in Mississippi, Tims son, NC I think, and now MINE built in Alabama...

I'm just about to pull my vardo out of the Garage, (built it off trailer and will mount it later due to height restrictions in the Garage)...still doing finishing trim work, the slide out table needs mounting under the bed, and the door needs the window installed and i've yet to hang it on hinges...

All credit to Timothy, please take a look at the book, buy the templates, and then build one....(I owe Tim that one because I did none of that.....I took basic info from his site, used the photos to exstrapolate a little, added touches gleaned from two or three other sites, and took to cuttin' and sawrin'....the results will soon be forthcoming, the Polyurethane is drying on the tabletop as I type this, but until I get the photos so far posted (I took not nearly as many as you will find on the link I'll post shortly) take a look at the BLOG for this one built in Mississippi.....

http://mygypsycaravan.blogspot.com/

Now mine is NOT lightweight, I over built on purpose, using 3/4 inch ply, and I'm wiring 110V for lights and AIR, as well as 12V for lights and appliances, to include batteries and inverter.....

I've also taken the liberty of retaining the 4'X4' drop ramp on the trailer as a porch for the VARDO, when lowered I'll have a nifty place to set a lounge chair........and raised I'll have a first rate expanded steel security gate for the door....The 10Mil PE Tim used for a cover is not my style, I special ordered a Truckers Tarp in light gray for the roof, the door will be fitted with a deadbolt for a glass storm door, small, perfect for keeping the curious out....but obviously with a tarp roof, NOT the criminal element out.

This was built as a busywork project, started last February, it's use will be as a nightly resting place during trips to the lake 9 miles from my door...not much towing planned, but ya never know, if it tows well to Guntersville lake I may expand my horizons a little....

[amvet1944]

Nice job! I am building a Vardo with Tim's kit. My wife and I plan on a two year tour of the US including Canada and Alaska. I am building a box on the front for a Sharp solar panel and our 60 amp gel-cell battery.
It will not be wired for 110v We will cook on a gas one burner cast iron stove and a 5lb. gas bottle.

[SuperTroll]

Almost home...it goes on the trailer when the rain stops....

Check my Album and the link to my webshots .....

[SuperTroll]

99.9%

5 strapping young men (Friends of my Step-Son) simply picked it up and set it on the trailer......no problems.

It needs to be bolted down, and the curtains and mattress covers need to be completed and hung, other than that it's done......


pics to follow.....

[mikeschn]

Hey Amvet,

Welcome to the forum.

Off the grid sounds pretty good. You got a picture of your cast iron stove?

Mike...

Nice job! I am building a Vardo with Tim's kit. My wife and I plan on a two year tour of the US including Canada and Alaska. I am building a box on the front for a Sharp solar panel and our 60 amp gel-cell battery.
It will not be wired for 110v We will cook on a gas one burner cast iron stove and a 5lb. gas bottle.

[amvet1944]

It's just a gas burner from Cabella's. Vardo is done. Will post pics as soon as I figure out how.

[SuperTroll]

I haven't researched what's "Normal" for Tongue weight yet so don't gasp at it, but I measured the tongue weight this evening, it's 81.8 pounds on the digital scale....

Since the trailer dry weight prior to putting the vardo on it was a whopping 460 lbs, not to bad I think. (Trailer has a 2,000 lb axle with 12" steel wheels).

The trailer is framed with three full lengths of 2" X 2" ..1/8 square tube steel (From hitch to the end of the trailer the 2" is solid, as are the right and left axel supports running the length of the trailer) with 5 cross members of 1" X 2" 1/8th Steel tube. laid across this framework is a 4' X 8' aluminum plate 1/8th thick.

a 40 X 50 steel angle ramp with expanded metal surface forms the ramp (Now it's a porch....). TOTAL: 460 lbs

I will reweigh the trailer soon to compute the weight of the whole vardo and the weight of the plywood sections separately....

ya'll can laugh now...I can take it.....

EDIT: Ford Ranger Edge PICKUP 2002 4X2 Automatic 3.0L Torsion Bar Suspension SuperCab ...max trailer weight 3,780 lbs...(No prob...) max forward surface area of trailer 50 SQ FT (Trailer is a 6Ft circle so sq ft = 28.2...does my math stink?...3.14159 X (3X3) = 28.2 also no prob....add a weight distributing receiver hitch rated to 200 lbs Tongue weight and I think I'm okay here.

wouldn't ya od thunk I'd have done this stuff BEFORE I built it?...

well, it was the PROJECT I had an interest in, not the using of it...although I will do that soon enough.

[SuperTroll]

Vardo is on the trailer...



22 new photos in my webshots album

[Dee Bee]

Vardo is on the trailer...



22 new photos in my webshots album

Nice alternative for a stanbd up. Enjoy it.

Dee Bee

[mikeschn]

This might help...

http://www.mikenchell.com/pichelp.html

Mike...

It's just a gas burner from Cabella's. Vardo is done. Will post pics as soon as I figure out how.

[Dee Bee]

Here is someting I hadn't seen before.

It looks like a trailer based modern vardo/shepherds wagon.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://trccamps.com/images/rangecamp/rangecamp1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://trccamps.com/products.html&h=500&w=692&sz=63&hl=en&start=72&um=1&tbnid=SWkWzAtLogz34M:&tbnh=100&tbnw=139&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwood%2Bgas%2Bcamp%2Bstove%26start%3D60%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7SUNA%26sa%3DN







Dee Bee

[SuperTroll]

Nice...I wonder if they are highway approved? I did not see lights...the four wheel design appeals to me, but I would want to be able to tow it....

And, to stay correct here...they aren't tiny, and they are not Tears....I'd have to move to a whole nuther forum to document THAT build!

[Dee Bee]

Here is a website that shows an entire vardo bow-top build sequence
http://picasaweb.google.com/lemke.ian/VardoConstruction#

Result...


Dee Bee

[Wimperdink]

please pardon my ignorance, but why not a hard top of most of these? To cover with canvas or dacron is a lightweight solution, but wouldnt thin ply be more permanent and hassle free?

[SuperTroll]

Every solution comes with it's own unique set of pro's and cons....

Canvas or Nylon, Nylon or PVC...I wanted to retain some of the Original Bow Top Flavor, a hard top loses a lot of that....a quick search on Gypsy Wagons will show you many differing types of construction and floor plans, some hard top, some canvas.....

THIS one is a rendition of Timothy Lemke's design, with a few of my own additions like the table and center ring for area division and structural reinforcement....Tim will tell you straight up that a lot of the fun in his design is seeing what each builder will do with the concept...so Please....

Build your own, and keep us apprised of the build through photo's, (Don't forget to E-mail tim and show him your vision!).