Slow Build in Oz

[TimC]

I really like the hatch prop design. We might have to try something like that with my son's TD. The removable prop rods on my TD are functional, but, a PITA with a heavy hatch while trying to position them.

Good job on you TD and happy travels!

Tim

[MickinOz]

Thanks mate. I started out thinking, no gas struts, they aren't in character.
Then I discovered I could be fitting gas struts for less than $50, because they are so commonly stocked at so many places these days.
So then I was disappointed in myself for not leaving enough space for a decent length of strut.
Back to the drawing board.


I'm happy with the design, if not the execution.
I just looked through your build thread.
I'm sure the execution won't be a problem for you, very impressive skills.
Get the best quality hinges you can find. The hardware store specials I used have a bit of play in them and this looks like it may bee a problem later.

[MickinOz]

I find there are two sorts of sales people in the world - those who know what a TD is, and those who don't.
Met two examples of the former yesterday.
Two trailer places, two salesmen said, with no further explanation required, "Building a teardrop? Nah, mate you gotta put curved mud guards on that."

[MickinOz]

The day saw advances, none miraculous.
Got the under bench partition in, which needed to happen so I could install a slide out for the stove.
That all went mostly according to plan.

The old stove out of my boat was OK for mocking up and all, but it is too daggy for the new teardrop, so something new has to be bought.
I've had the old one for more than 20 years. They are brilliant things, for an occasional user like myself they are fabulous value for money.
You can sometimes pay less for a butane stove than you'd pay for a 6 pack of beer.

I have a second set of slides rated for twice the weight, and now I have half an idea of what I'm doing, it'd be an easy deal to make another slide out that takes up the rest of the width, and then I could run a two burner stove.
The first slideout would become the cutlery drawer, should I take that approach. We'll see. I sometimes envy these people who have a plan and stick to it.

One small issue with the slide out. I mismeasured somewhere. I had intended for it to be impossible to close with the trivet up the right way. I.e, I meant for it to have to be turned off, turned over and packed up like it was going back in the case.
I'll fix this, once I buy a new stove, by extending the feet, or whatever else works to make the stove foul the frame if you try to slide it shut with the stove in operating configuration.
Just my paranoia kicking in.

Stobe slide.JPG (94 KiB) Viewed 3651 times

Stove closed.JPG (113.24 KiB) Viewed 3651 times

[TimC]

For your stove drawer would a simple slide bolt latch thingy work? Just a small block of ply with a hole drilled in it lined up with the bolt latch would eliminate complications of mounting that other metal retainer thing. It looks like a wood block might glue nicely to the wood cleat your slide is mounted on.

[MickinOz]

Great minds think alike. I've just bought some stainless steel pad bolts on Ebay, similar to the picture.
However, my concern wasn't about the drawer sliding shut accidentally.
Had a mate who lost the whole trailer when the drawer was slid shut with the stove still burning. I want to make that pretty much impossible to do.

[swoody126]

¿ would it be kinda like having your supply tank in the next bin w/ the hose coming around the front of the partition ?

that way you would have to completely disconnect the fuel supply to close the slide-out

IMHO that method would be FOOL PROOF

sw

[MickinOz]

It would. But I'm keeping it real simple. That's a butane stove. uses the little canisters that look like a spray paint can.

[edgeau]

Seems to you have a simple choice. 1 Redo the slider with the right measurements 2 add wood to raise the stove to achieve the effect 3 get yourself a double burner and repurpose the existing slider after doing the new one. I predict you will do 2 then 3.

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[MickinOz]

You could be right mate.
You often are. Well, most of the time really. OK, all the time.


I think in the first instance I shall just use it. I was checking it out tonight and I'm pretty happy with the height of the cooking surface.
I'm worrying about one instance, a while ago now, when a mate slid his away without turning it off and cooling it down.

For those who say there is no point in worrying it never works and most of the time you worry about nothing:
When I had the public address equipment, I'd lie awake before a big show worrying about what could go wrong.
The result of all that worrying was I always ran the wires where people couldn't trip over them, fiddle with them etc.
I always had back up mikes and amps, and never let anyone down.
So, to a certain extent, worrying works. You think about what could go wrong and engineer the problem out, or devise a response plan.

In this instance, awareness is a defence. I know it can happen, I'm a bit worried, and so it probably will never happen.

[MickinOz]

Thought up a very simple fix to the issue of being able to slide shut while the stove is still running. Pictures to follow, as soon as said idea is implemented.

[edgeau]

You are teasing us

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[MickinOz]

Bought polyurethane boat trailer mudguards.
The ones with the built in steps.
Mocked 'em up looked crap.

Nah.JPG (106.23 KiB) Viewed 3219 times

So I cut the steps off.
That's a lot better in my opinion.
Will need to add mudflaps, but that's OK.

[TimC]

Good move removing the steps. I agree they are much better without.

[MickinOz]

Thanks mate. It's been interesting finding suitable guards.
I chose 13 inch wheels, which made things a tiny bit tricky. Most stuff offered for sale has a radius that better suits 14 inch wheels.
Rolled steel guards were on my shopping list, but they had their issues.
Heavy, not exactly cheap, shipping more expensive too. And, unlike these plastic ones, no inner liner to protect the wall of the camper from damage.
So more fab work to be done, though I would have liked to fix real wheel hugging hot rod type guards to the axle. More difficulty.
Add paint, extra materials, etc, and they started looking kinda expensive, both weight and money wise.

So I took a good look at the old guards that came with the trailer and figured I could do a decent trim job and make plastic ones look OK.
That inner liner makes mounting easy. Just have to drill a hole wherever I want to put a bolt.

There is one more reason I settled on plastic guards:
Steel brackets back to the trailer frame or down to the axle were always going to be a problem.
No insurmountable problems, but still an extra layer of difficulty.
Whichever way I looked at it, I was going to have to settle for fixing the guards to the timber.
At least with a plastic guard, I stand a good chance of just tearing off the guard when I side swipe one of them big furry grasshoppers we get around here.
I was afraid If I fixed steel guards to the plywood wall, the wall would come off second best when it took on a big grey buck.

A note about the moulded plastic boat trailer guards that are available in OZ.
Always read the ad carefully. Some of the black ones are made from High Density Polyethylene. HDPE is thermoplastic, the hotter you get it, the softer it gets. Not a very good idea here in OZ. Also they aren't very shiny.
I was able to spend a few bucks more and get polyurethane guards. Very shiny, and supposedly made from a thermosetting plastic.