Doug Hodder update

[Vedette]

Doug will remain with us, with every waffledog we prepare in the future!
He patched me at the 2014 IRG, and I hope to honour that patch in Doug's name at our next Gathering.
We will most definitely be enjoying a Memorial Breakfast in Doug's name.
Good Roads My Friend!
Brian & Sandi

[satch]

I remember going to his home and listening to his tales of boat building and dreams of building trailers. He did it all with skill and passion. I'm sorry I never had the chance to camp with him, but the day will come when we all will sit at the final fire with him.
'till then, rest easy Brother, we'll keep the lanterns lit.

[danlott]

Very sad to hear of Doug's passing. He is one of the very first teardroppers that I met. He was always helpful and encouraging. I never heard him say anything negative.

I will miss you Doug.

Dan

[KCStudly]

I never met Doug in person. ... The quality of his trailers pushed me to be better.

This is true for me, too. The man had mad skills and did his best to steer me on the right path with my build. Of course I was green and didn't see all of his wisdom at first. After spending far more time on my build than I had originally planned... in part trying to come close to his level of quality... a mere mimicry on my part... I gained enough experience to see that if I had taken his advice from the beginning I would have been further ahead with less effort expended.

The thing I respected about him most was his ability to envision a theme, and then see it through to perfection. Never over done, but always done from A to Z, and to perfection. No compromises.

The man was a master whose legacy will live on for a very long time.

[CAJUN LADY]

So very sorry to hear of Doug's passing. I know he's wearing those wild and crazy pants proudly up there.

[tupelosue]

I am trying to upload a picture from this old thread, but can’t seem to do it. Can somebody please share the first pic from this page, Doug and Dean Bessom on my scooter. One of my favorite pics. Thanks.

viewtopic.php?f=45&t=39015

In case this link doesn’t work...under Jefferson State, July 2010, IRG 3.0 pics

[S. Heisley]

Most of the links are either broken or gone for back then. But, this one is pretty cool:



...Wish this one was bigger:



This one is nice:





Wolfgang had this picture of Doug in his gallery:



And, here is another one of Doug's trailers from IRG 2010:



And another teardrop:



One of his firsts:



And my favorite of his teardrops:



I had forgotten about this one:



Doug's last trailer:



Lets not forget his boats:



His sewing abilities:











and his restoration projects:











... He gave us a lot of memories.

[tupelosue]

Thanks for sharing those pics!

[The Teardrop Nanny]

If it had not been for Doug, I probably would never have discovered the world of teardropping, nor be the owner of an original "Dougkraft" Teardrop Trailer. It all started when my husband, Dean (boyfriend back then) had me go camping to " meet a
few people from this trailer forum " he had started going on.....

Imagine my surprise when about two dozen people showed up towing these tiny trailers and I had never talked to or met any of them!!!! They all knew Dean and were very excited about camping in the Redwoods. One of the first people he introduced me to was Doug Hodder who had hatched the plan to caravan over to the coast and camp with us. And the rest is HISstory.....

Since that initial meeting Doug encouraged us to start a gathering, build a teardrop, and keep cooking in Cast Iron. Because of that we have experienced the International Redwood Gathering (IRG event hosts/organizers), have 2.5 teardrops (1 awaiting fenders and another partial completion) and a very successful cooking show on YouTube. It was Doug who planted the seeds, nourished the growing process, and helped us enjoy the fruits of our labor.

When I told Doug if he ever decided to sell one of his teardrops I'd be interested in buying it...... he knew I was seriously hooked. He said he knew I would give it a "good Home" and I truly appreciated the workmanship. He turned over the title to the Road Titan to me and I became PROUD owner of a beautifully done Arts & Craftsman style teardrop. Over the years I always thanked him for his wonderful build and he was always pleased to see that his efforts were well spent and the TD was loved and frequently used.

So many fun times and fond memories......Light up your Coleman lantern in honor of him. We will have many things to share about Doug around the campfires in the years to come. He made connections with us that will last for decades to come.

Happy Trails to you, Dougie! Until we meet again..... DougKraft "Yesteryear's Trailers Today"

[bc toys]

God bless you Jonnie for that great tribute to Doug
I only got to talk to him on hear I had boult a camp stove a a lantern they both would not hold pressure
So doug coached me through the fixing of them and I read most of the post he put on here
wish I could have meet him in person

[gudmund]

Joanie -- Thank you for 'the rest of the story' Never got to know Doug, but the 2 times we spoke -13 Shasta/14 IRG- I enjoyed the conversation. (Hope everything has been good (getting better?) at your end of the coastline?? I am still hanging in here, just getting older by the day) --take care tell Dean Hi for me. Ted Hoefer

[halfdome, Danny]

I have a copy of the PDF "Trailer Frame Tutorial By Doug Hodder".
I did a search and it didn't come up on the forum.
Is there a way to make it available to the membership?
Danny

[alaska teardrop]

I have a copy of the PDF "Trailer Frame Tutorial By Doug Hodder".
I did a search and it didn't come up on the forum.
Is there a way to make it available to the membership?
Danny

Here is a link to the original "Frame Tutorial" by Nitetimes Rich & Doug in the Trailer & Chassis section:
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=13246

The last post by Mike includes this link to the tutorial: http://tnttt.com/images/2015/tbuild.pdf

It would be helpful if a moderator could replace the dead link in Rich's first post with the newer link.

[alaska teardrop]

Doug certainly added expertise, beauty and humor right from the early days of the forum. I only met Doug once briefly at his last IRG. However, we shared some unique Alaskan humor because Doug spent a part of his youth and later worked in Alaska as a geologist.

We'll miss him, but Doug is still here on T&TTT and we'll still bump into him now & then.

[Jiminsav]

Wow..haven't been to the forum in awhile, and the first thing i see is this...R.I.P Doug..build the Father a great teardrop.