Birch Ply Woodie

[corvusallen]

I will try to find some photos of the camper in process... I was active on this site during the construction of my camper... I would never have probably been able to complete it without the resources here... But I have not been as active since actually finishing the camper. I've been wanting to attend some teardrop gatherings (I live in east Tennessee) which has got me back on this site.













The dogs love the camper. It is like a mansion-den to them. Lots of places to nest.





Designed it myself on google sketchup. I am partial to the size and shape. 4' wide but used oversized 10' plywood which curves out past the trailer so you have a nice cured space to lean on inside.







In process:













I don't recall if I ended up using a harbor freight trailer kit or northern tool... I think it was harbor freight but we re-inforced it a little and moved the wheels back some. It has worked great so far. I tow it with a kia soul and it works well... not a whole lot of weight, but the hitch kit we got, which was the only one we could find, sags over time with weight a little and I've had to raise it back with a jack. The suspension on the kia soul is already not great so it can be a little bumpy, but no complaints really.

[robc in wi]

I think it's gorgeous. I am currently in a holding pattern due to budget issues but I did purchase plans for a Benroy 5X8 and in the plans/instructions they also went with 3/4 birch for the sidewalls with no sandwich/insulation. What convinced you to go this route vs the stick built or plywood sandwich? I'm just curious because despite living in the upper midwest it is extremely unlikely that my wife and i would be doing much cold weather camping and I wonder if the insulation is really needed.

I also love the oversized doors.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Looking great! Check out the Gathering Calendar on TearJerkers.... definitely some events down your way! http://tearjerkers.net/new_forum/Calendar.html Give the map a minute to load all the events.

[Tomterrific]

It does look good!

T

[Vedette]

Great Job!
Thanks for the pictures.
And as Zach says........go on the Tear Jerkers Forum for info on Gatherings near you.
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[Andymanout]

She's a beauty indeed. I like the look of the outside walls. Great work on that one!

[corvusallen]

We had difficulty obtaining oversized plywood so we went with what we could find... were only able to get it through knowing someone working at home depot.

We insulated/sandwiched the bottom but chose not to do so on the sides to keep things light... it probably would not have added that much weight but my car is a 4 cylinder so it was a concern. Also simplicity.

It stays pretty well insulated. We have a small 12 volt heater, though it doesn't add a whole lot of heat. We camp pretty much three seasons with it... if you pile up blankets it stays warm especially.

[SlowRoad911]

What size trailer did you use? This is very close to what I want to build and you just happen to have the same tow vehicle that I will be using.

I was pointed to this thread by Vedette from my intro thread in answer to some questions that I had.

Very nice looking trailer.


Tim

[corvusallen]

It was a 4' x 8' trailer. We used 10' plywood, though, so we could get a seamless feel and the area could extend further than the trailer bed.

We changed the location of the wheels, moving them back some which I think is helpful.

Let me know if you want the sketchup design for reference.

[SlowRoad911]

Thanks for the info. I may take you up on the design later on.

Tim

[Gunguy05]

We had difficulty obtaining oversized plywood so we went with what we could find... were only able to get it through knowing someone working at home depot.

We insulated/sandwiched the bottom but chose not to do so on the sides to keep things light... it probably would not have added that much weight but my car is a 4 cylinder so it was a concern. Also simplicity.

It stays pretty well insulated. We have a small 12 volt heater, though it doesn't add a whole lot of heat. We camp pretty much three seasons with it... if you pile up blankets it stays warm especially.

Is that purbond plywood, and if you don't mind me asking, was it ridiculously expensive? I checked on some 5x10 a while back and it was nearly 200 bucks a sheet If I remember correctly. Just thinking about my next build....

Great work. Keep it up, and keep us updated.

[corvusallen]

I don't recall but the birch oversized plywood was indeed very expensive. That's why we went with a thinner kind. It was a splurge but I think looks so much better than other options would have.

[Tomterrific]

I looked more closely at the pics of your beautiful completed camper and saw a dark area at the bottom of the door. It might be water intrusion which is very bad, obviously. I used a polyurethane saturated brush along every edge of my plywood to seal the end grain ply. The dry end grain wood really sucks up poly, or water and I'd much prefer poly. It is worse at the bottom of the sheet as water drips just hang there. Not too late for edge saturation and caulk.

Then again, I'm looking at a tiny picture so I might be way off. :-)

T