Build journal: quicksilver

[dragunov_shooter]

Hi all,

I am Manish. Joined the forum after lurking around in aug 14. I am from India ( a country where camping/TD culture is almost non existent). I intend building a trailer (standie) for my 3 year old daughter. My design/resource skill are high and woodworking/ craftsmanship skills are almost non existent . Before I embark on the build proper, I thought of sharing my ideas here. The following would elaborate my plan of action.

1. I am 6 feet 2 inches tall. The intended build would have to cater for self, wifey and my lil princess. My emphasis is more on elbow/headroom and hence the intended standie style of trailer.

2. The tow vehicle is a 4x2, 3.0l Tata safari ( rated by OEM to tow 2000kg (4400 lbs)). No idea on the permissible tongue weight. But I intend keeping the build to approx 1500 lbs.

3. As explained above, India has no concept of camping sites or trailer parks. Hence, shore power etc are out of question . However, advantage is no grey water or black water storage required . This will simplify the design issues. Don't ask me what I intend doing with the black water stuff ( in the army we dig a hole and well... Rest u know ). Power requirement would be minimal. No heating, entertainment ( TV/ Music) refrigeration ( more due to lack of propane refrigerators in India) required.

4. Due to lack of camping related stores ( porta potty, trailer electronics etc.) , everything would have to be designed and sourced from ingenuity. This does not bother me much as I have an army (literally) of expert tradesmen at my disposal ( welders, carpenters electricians and mechanics). Did I forget to mention, that I am a half bird colonel in the army .

Based on the abstract rumblings, I have tinkered around with a basic design for a 6 x14 trailer (heavily inspired by one of the builds found on this site)

image.jpg (75.87 KiB) Viewed 1156 times

Eventually the trailer design should look something like this[attachment]image.jpg[/attachment]

[noseoil]

Welcome Manish! Glad you found the site. There are some great people here who will be willing to help you with your build. I would suggest looking at the trailer spreadsheet for weight & balance, just to have an idea of where your weight distribution will end up once you're finished. Looks like a nice design, build it light so it tows well! I'm sure your daughter will enjoy helping you with the build and the workers will find it interesting to have a different type of project to work on for a bit of variety.

[S. Heisley]

Welcome, Manish. Your plan looks good. I am assuming that you will be cooking outside?
Will you be living in this trailer all the time or just when camping?

[dragunov_shooter]

Welcome, Manish. Your plan looks good. I am assuming that you will be cooking outside?
Will you be living in this trailer all the time or just when camping?

I intend cooking inside. It will mostly be MREs . Also I will be using this trailer minimally ( even for camping) as India has minimal camping facilities. Mostly backyard camping

[dragunov_shooter]

Welcome Manish! Glad you found the site. There are some great people here who will be willing to help you with your build. I would suggest looking at the trailer spreadsheet for weight & balance, just to have an idea of where your weight distribution will end up once you're finished. Looks like a nice design, build it light so it tows well! I'm sure your daughter will enjoy helping you with the build and the workers will find it interesting to have a different type of project to work on for a bit of variety.

Thanx for your kind words. It will be almost 2 months before I start the build. So this is currently the ' Research Phase'.

[Sheddie]

Hi Manish, welcome from New Zealand. I look forward to seeing your progress with your build, and your travels when you get it done.
Good luck, Frank.