Last weekend I bought a 16' Kenskill off of CL and just wanted to share this awesome trailer with the group. I won't be doing a build thread because there's not much I need to do to it! I do not know what year it is but it is clear that it is n the 1960's. The model # is 188 and the serial # is "Serial - 8 18118", I am presuming 1968 but there is no tag on the tongue to reference any help in identifying it would be appreciated. The angled kitchen cabinets are all original and I thought the design was very modern. The curved entry wall and sliding bathroom door is also a nice touch. It has a shower too. I picked it up for $2300 and am very happy with it! It was a bit of a nightmare getting it home so here is the whole story for posterity, sorry it is such a long story, but I had to live it so why should I suffer alone haha
Right off the bat, I had a flat a mile from the place I got it from, in the dark, on a Saturday, on a two lane mountain road, which was 5 hours from home and 30 min from the nearest tire shop... I called the previous owner who went to a local used tire shop and persuaded him to stay open until I could get the tire off and get the trailer unhooked and get down there. The guy was also super cool because I was worried about the other tire too and he came back to the shop an hour and a half later to put a tire on the other side just in case. This is nothing against the camper, just the PO who didn't understand what I meant when I asked "is it roadworthy"... No Taillights, no trailer chains, no good tires... Luckily, I brought lights and the chain!! I even brought my mechanic's floor jack and spares but they weren't the right size. It had been sitting at a riverfront resort community on the Illinois river in NE Oklahoma for who knows how many years.
Anyway, I planned to drive home that same day but after the five hour drive, and the additional five hour tire ordeal I was pooped and looked up the nearest state park just a few miles away and decided to stay the night and drive home in the morning, no big deal right? Well, the Polar Vortex rolled in as soon as I laid my head down to sleep. I was on the edge of the lake at the top of a hill and the cold front came in and the trailer got knocked around and shaken all night long, so I got zero sleep, very unnerving. Also, the louvered windows did not seal great and my little space heater couldn't keep up so I was also freezing. When the sun rose, I saw that the entire park was frozen over. I had never pulled a trailer this big before and pulling any trailer on ice is always not a good idea... BUT... I decided that it was not going to get any better so I should at least survey and see otherwise I would be stuck for two days and the next night would be in single digits and I would literally not survive. I pulled out and drove to the main park road and decided it was just too dangerous and turned back and at least was able to unhook the trailer at a spot that was not right next to the water.
I drove the truck up to the ranger station and explained that this was an emergency situation and I couldn't move the camper and I couldn't stay in it and I was going to look for a motel to wait it out and also survey the area. He was cool, and in the end he didn't charge me a dime and just requested that I visit again so please take the time to camp at the Sequoia State Park just East of Tulsa sometime! So I drove into town on the ice and stayed at McDonalds for a couple of hours and saw that Hwy 69 (my gateway home) was looking pretty good since it was a well traveled highway. If I could get there I would be just fine. The trick was driving the 8 miles across a frozen bridge across the lake and 4 miles of two lane road on top of a levee with no shoulder and no guard rail. yeah... So I drive back to the park and it seemed that with my skill I was willing to take the chance if I drove really slow. I knew it was a chance... I drove the 8 mile harrowing journey pulling the camper and made it to 69, and then made it home without incident. So all is well and I now have the not so wonderful experience that I do not wish to repeat, but at least I am very comfortable pulling the camper now!~ haha
OK at long last, here's some pics, and the last shots are of it at home and me too.. safe and sound...
Looks to be a 18 footer, not a 16. Travel trailers are measured from the tongue to the rear most part (but not always the bumper) of the trailer.
