6x14 Build Log

[tylerjd]

Also, love the riding plans. I hope to do that a lot too. I just got a new (to me) Salsa XL Beargrease - not sure how popular/reasonable fatties are out west...

Sweet! You see fatties most places out here too, although I'm not sure if it's because they're practical or because they're just so hot right now haha. I do a lot of riding in sandy areas and want to do longer trips so I've had my eye on them for a while... but still too in love with the downhill and freeride lifestyle. And I can only fit one bike in my CTC!

And - I keep thinking I should learn to climb. Seems like a really popular thing to do and that it has strong synergies with the nomadic lifestyle. How did you get into it? I imagine a good first step for me is to be less fat! (6'6" and 300lbs!)

In 2009 I moved into an apartment in San Francisco with two climber dudes, and on my second night there they said "right, you're our new roommate, so we're taking you climbing". The local indoor gym was a 5 min walk away. So I climbed mostly indoors for maybe 5 years, then finally got better access to the outdoors when I moved out of the Bay. And yep, totally suits the nomadic lifestyle. I don't know that climbers invented dirtbagging, but they sure did perfect it in my opinion. And in many places out west it isn't difficult to find partners to climb with on short notice.

Losing any excess weight will help with climbing immensely! I've also found once you get into climbing a bit, it's good motivation to keep up healthy lifestyle habits so you can climb better. Honestly probably 80% of my motivation to drink/eat/party moderately is due to climbing and riding and wanting to suck less at them.

Getting out of the rat race helps immensely too btw... stress kills.

[McDave]

So tylerjd, now that you have built a CTC, left Santa Fe behind, Gone to Greece climbing and lost a girlfriend what's next?
I'm going to Disneyland! ... ...
Just kidding, I like your style.

Getting out of the rat race helps immensely too btw... stress kills.

Wise beyond your years. Truer words were never spoken. (written)

McDave

[tylerjd]

I finished the underbelly insulation:


I used 2" polyiso boards*, dropped 1/4" bolts down from my subfloor and cinched up metal straps. I then stuffed outdoor-rated pipe insulation around the floor joists, duct taped the pipe insulation down to keep water and road crud out, lexel'd the joints for good measure, and foil taped the seams in between insulation and framing.


View from above, showing the bolts countersunk into my subfloor.

*In retrospect, I should have used XPS. I didn't realize how fragile the thin foil face of polyiso boards is (it's easy to accidentally punch a little hole if I haven't clipped my nails - forget about highway rocks and gravel roads), and the stuff inside it can kind of powderize once exposed. XPS on the other hand is a lot more rugged to exposed blunt-object-impact abuse.

Why did I use polyiso? Because that's all my local hardware store had. If I had it to do over again, I'd drive further to get XPS for the underbelly, but at this point there's no way I'm ripping it out and redoing it. If it starts to really shred under there, I'll think of something to protect it.

I also got the ceiling cavity insulation complete, and the furring strips for the 'almost-continuous' second layer of ceiling insulation in place.

The furring strips are 1x2 pine, which is actually 3/4" thick, plus 1/4" hobby board trim-screwed in to make it 1" deep, to match the thickness of the second layer of insulation.

It rained good here for the first time in no one remembers how long, and no leaks despite all the holes I poked in the roof.

[hankaye]

tylerjd, Howdy;

Grab 3 sheets of this stuff. Same as they use under RVs to protect their bottoms
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Coroplast-4 ... /205351385
Start with the rear most piece then overlap the front edge with the next piece.

hank

[tylerjd]

tylerjd, Howdy;

Grab 3 sheets of this stuff. Same as they use under RVs to protect their bottoms
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Coroplast-4 ... /205351385
Start with the rear most piece then overlap the front edge with the next piece.

hank

Brilliant! Thank you hank.

[McDave]

Very Nice. That's some pretty good progress, and while insulating ain't the most fun it pays off later. Floor insul. should help a lot.

McDave

[tylerjd]

No progress this week because I spent the entire week down at my buddy's place in town helping him tile his house. Huge job, can't believe how much we got done.

But! Not an entire waste, because I pulled my trailer into his side yard and moochdocked the whole week, the first time I slept in my trailer. I just had a futon, a chair, a milk crate of clothes, and a few random tools I didn't bother to take out. I stuck an extension cord in through the roof so I could get some work done in the mornings, and powered a shop light.

Observations:
.The insulation is definitely doing its job, even though I haven't finished with the ceiling yet. The coldest it got was 28F, and the trailer was shaded all day. It was nippy in there in the mornings, but I was fine with a medium-weight down blanket and another thin blanket under that. I'm feeling good that once the insulation is done, and I've taken care to better seal up leaks and etc around the doors, I'll be just fine in winter boondocking conditions.
.Oh, right: metal boxes block wireless signals! I was 20' from his very strong wifi router, and it was crap. My cell phone burned through its battery in an hour trying to get cell coverage. Since I plan on working in this thing full time, I'll need to get a cell booster (the sort with an external antenna that sends the signal into the interior).
.The backup cam I mounted directly above my trailer ball was worth every frustrating minute running wiring around under my dash and through the underbody. I typically nail it on my first or second attempt.

Progress this week will be modest since I have to make up for slacking off on my real job last week but I'm planning on at least getting the ceiling wiring and insulation done.

[tylerjd]

Right, lots to catch up on. The internet where I'm at is pretty bad, so I avoid using it as much as possible until I get to decent internet.

All ceiling wiring sorted, and the 2nd layer of insulation going in (1" polyiso)


2nd Layer of insulation complete:


A couple layers of 1/2" styrofoam insulation stuffed in the complex curved surfaces:


Ceiling paneling halfway there:


Ceiling paneling complete:


And I got the balcony floor started:





I'm redesigning the rear half of my trailer, as the original design was for 2 full-time occupants and now it's just one. I'll post images of the redesign shortly, definitely interested in feedback for it.

Also, I just bought a nice bike (2015 YT Capra CF Comp) and it needs garage space

I'm in a dilemma of the best sort... my weekends are filling up with plans for fun adventures. But that means my time spent on the trailer is getting cut into (the point of which is to go on fun adventures.... hmmm).

Last weekend:



Cheers all!

[McDave]

Sierra Nevada's?
Hey nothing wrong with updating the plan. It's good to be flexible like that. Frankly, building the trailer should be down around the middle of the priority list. Fun first, Food second, Safety third, Always safety third! The rest are kinda tied for fourth, so fight the hottest fire.
You still at Disneyland? Looks like a real nice day in the desert. I haven't seen too many blue skies for a long time. That looks pretty good. Hopefully soon.
That's gonna be a pretty cool patio ramp. I have some ideas about screen/canvas rooms to cover the ramp when needed for bugs/sun/rain. PM me if you are interested, maybe we can collaborate on one.
Anyway, looks like you're making progress, and having fun. That's all that matters.

McDave

[rastaman]

tylerjd....curious as to what you used on the balcony, and do you have any concerns that the ramp may get wet,stay wet and may cause rot?
I love the look and would like to do something similar.

its all looking good...nice work

rasta

[tylerjd]

Sierra Nevada's?
McDave

Close - Telescope is in the Panamints, one or two ranges east from the Sierras, in Death Valley. If you squint, you can actually see Mt. Whitney just to my right, in amongst the snowy peaks. I think you can also make out Olancha Peak. It was an incredible view up there - could almost see to Vegas, could see Mt Whitney, could see Owens Peak (which is 5-10 miles from Disneyland).

Yep still in Disneyland, am focused on getting Serenity to "functionally complete" by end of March, and then I'll do a shakedown cruise back out to NM for April.

tylerjd....curious as to what you used on the balcony, and do you have any concerns that the ramp may get wet,stay wet and may cause rot?
I love the look and would like to do something similar.

its all looking good...nice work

Hi Rasta, thank you! It is beetle-killed pine, finished by the outfit I bought it from with plenty of polyurethane. And I do have concerns that the ramp may get wet! My strategy is this:
1. Try to never let it get rained on (never leave it down if I'm any distance away, etc)
2. Be real careful not to spill stuff on it
3. Be in arid conditions almost always so when it does get wet, it dries out quickly. My typical habitat/range is the deserts of the SW and Oregon, with only brief jaunts into more wet areas like the Pacific NW or the coast. I don't see myself ever getting much further east than the Front Range with the trailer. So hopefully even if a few planks do happen to get soaked, it'll take a short time for the relatively negative moisture pressure of the air to pull it right back out.

Cheers!

[McDave]

Ah, I see your sign now. I forgot I have to zoom out to see some pictures, Others I get the whole thing. Don told me it wasn't my fault so I forgot about it. I suppose you have been to Wheeler Peak Up by Taos and Red River. That's up there around 13,000ft. I used to have a place at Angel Fire and it didn't take long to see who was from the "Lone Star State". If they made it to Wheeler they were so tired and winded I was afraid I would have to carry them back. But when you grow up at 6000+ASL your better acclimated and able suck in that thin air.
There is a place not far from McDaveland called Beartooth pass. Not too far before you go over the top is a town called Cooke City. The elevation there is just about 10,000ft I think. They received 42" of new snow yesterday. they are at 200"+ so far. When I ride there in late June there is still 15' of snow pack. It is pretty refreshing in those tunnels. If you ever get up this way, Red Lodge and Beartooth seem like your kind of place. Here is a shot of Beartooth Highway in mid July.
A couple while riding.




McDave

[tylerjd]

Oh my lord that is a lot of snow.

Almost made it to the top of Wheeler when I was interning in Taos with the Earthship folks back in 2006, turned back a mile or two from the top due to lightning. I'll have to tick it this year for sure.

McDaveland sounds like my kind of place, definitely going to have to add it to the list!

[tylerjd]

Here's the redesign:





A couple notes:
The dimension for the framing for the kitchen counter are just preliminary - definitely going to have more than two 1x2's holding half of the thing up.

The two water tanks are 14ga Stainless Steel "fusti" tanks, of the sort used by winemakers. I got the idea from some vandweller website. I really like the idea of having my water sit in SS not plastic, since I'm going to be drinking this water 365 days a year more or less. Also, I can somewhat easily take them out, put them in my truck, and drive off to get water, without having to move my whole trailer if I don't want. (Yes, 14ga of water is heavy, about 120 lbs. Plan A is fill up without having to move them manually, but I'm a strong enough lad so as an occasional plan B, moving them myself is fine.)

https://morewinemaking.com/products/sta ... lon-1.html

Obviously I'll have to have them strapped down really well so they don't shake loose and pulverize the inside of my trailer on a bumpy road.

The white cubes over the sink represent a computer monitor. I'm thinking I'll put a monitor arm on that wall so I can pull the monitor close to me as I sit on the bench, and have a lap desk with keyboard and mouse pull our from under the sink/above the water tanks.

The water tanks and the batteries are mostly centered over the axle. Any thoughts on weight distribution? It's looking like I'm reasonably in the ballpark of the 60/40 rule, but I'll have to do a more detailed calc soon.

The sink will probably be a sinkology copper bar prep sink.

[McDave]

Mmmm Hmmm,
McDavey Likey!

McDave