Realistic Cost

[mike93lx]

I've been planning a teardrop for quite a while and finally sat down to estimate cost. It's a 5x8 benroy and I'm at just over $3,000, which seems expensive to me. I fully expect that budget to be exceeded, as is always the case.

The big ticket items are the trailer (Northern Tool, $530), doors (premade, $280 each) and all of the CPES & Paint.

So what have your builds cost?

[48Rob]

$3000 to $5000 is a realistic amount for an average trailer.

When you do oversize trailers, and add in a lot of extras, $6000-$10,000 is realistic.

Sure, you can, and many have, built them for less, though sometimes by sacrificing quality, and or using found, used, free, etc parts.
Nothing wrong with that, but if you're looking for average costs, it is hard to include builds out of the ordinary.

My first tear was built with a $300 goal, using found, free, etc.
It came in at $1200.
Other trailers have been oversized and somewhat extravagant, and have passed by the average cost.


Rob

[jss06]

I am about $4k into mine right now. That includes the battery, electrical , lights, windows, latches and building the trailer frame.

[Oldragbaggers]

I thought I would be spending $2500-$3000 (I am building a 4.5x9' Benroy) but looking at what I have spent so far and what I still have to buy, I am thinking now it will cost closer to $3500-$4000. (And I am preparing myself for it to be even more than that.)

I bought a $100 frame on Craigslist, but then I ended up modifying it so much and getting a new torsion axle, larger wheels & tires, stabilizer jacks, lights, hitch receiver on the back, yada yada yada, that it was not cheap by the time I was done. (It is exactly what I want though.)

On everything else, with the exception of doing a lot of internet searching for the cheapest prices on things, I am not cutting any corners. I am doing exactly what I want to do, exactly the way I want to do it (within reason of course, we ain't rich people).

But even at $4000, it's cheaper than anything I could buy prebuilt, and I get to have it exactly the way I want. And I am building it to last, not skimping on anything, good fasteners, quality plywood, good glues and lots of it, fiberglass cloth, epoxy resin, marine paints, factory doors, sink, water tank, pump and drain in the galley, nice two burner drop in stove, nice interior lights and fan. If I'm not ridiculously over the budget by the end I will add an undercounter drop down LCD TV with DVD player and AM/FM radio in the cabin.

It's all in what you want, what your budget will allow, and what you're willing to live with. There are lots of people on this forum having tons of fun with few or none of the conveniences I mentioned above. There are others that have everything except hot and cold running Coca Cola and a hot tub on the roof.

There is at least one person on here that challenged himself to build one for $500. Even if he doesn't make that mark exactly, it'll still be a darn thrifty build and if he likes it, has fun in it and feels satisfied with it, then it is a successful build, as successful as anyone else's. (And some people are so thrifty, connected and ingenious that they just seem to know how to "find things" in places most of us wouldn't even dream of looking.) I'm so envious of all these people who either weld themselves or have friends or family who do it for them. And how I would love to live near an RV salvage yard like some are fortunate enough to do. Some people seem to have almost McGyver like skills and seem to be able to make a Better Homes and Gardens galley out of an old milk crate and a used garden hose.

Then there are others who have more likely spent double what I am spending and are building teardrops that look more like pieces of fine art than trailers. (Check JuneauDav, Steve Frederick and anything Doug Hodder builds. There are many others as well.)

Trying to pin down what a teardrop is going to cost based on what others have spent is going to be difficult because there are so many variables, approaches and types of builds. Skill level matters too. Some people know how to do professional quality paint jobs with auto paints and have mad woodworking skills. Others pay to have some things done, or buy prebuilt things like cabinet doors.The better your skills, the more you can do on your own and the less mistakes you make, the less it will cost you. (I'm paying through the nose for factory doors, as you are, where some people build beautiful and perfectly functioning doors with little extra expense.) Knowing what you want and sticking to it helps too, because it adds cost to buy something just to decide you don't like it and buy something else. (Ask me how I know this.)

I don't know if any of the above, past the first paragraph, is helpful to you. Keep searching this board for ideas. Ask people for ideas on thifty ways to do things, or where to find the cheapest this or that. Maybe you could start with a bare bones design and then get it campable and add the finer things as you decide you need/want them or can afford them. Where there's a will there's a teardrop.

And by the way, happy Thanksgiving!!

[mike93lx]

skip northern tool the same trailer can be had from harbor freight for around 300 to 200 and something.

my build gets up around 25000 to 3000. don't worry about the cost.

its not hard to buy parts over a period of time and get them when you need them.

YOU DON"T NEED ALL THE MATERALS AT ONCE>

or all the cash needed at once!!!!!!!

keep this in mind.

get a basic trailer like harbor freight and SOME of the first basic materials such as plywood to do the outside shell first.

then worry when you get to it about the other parts and most of the expensice stuff. it will take you a least a year at average to wack this out

if your not a supper fast carpenter.

this will give you time to get to the more pricer items such as the door.

and stuff like window and things.

ebay can cut your cost dramaticly

slowcowboy.

Harbor Freight hasn't sold a 5x8 trailer for a while and I am not interested in building over the wheels. I have yet to find a less expensive trailer option, short of buying used.

Budgeting is not the issue; I just want to make sure that I am in line with other builders' experiences.

[Oldragbaggers]

Harbor Freight hasn't sold a 5x8 trailer for a while and I am not interested in building over the wheels. I have yet to find a less expensive trailer option, short of buying used.

Budgeting is not the issue; I just want to make sure that I am in line with other builders' experiences.

You're right about HF, no 5x8. RedTrailers also has one, but I think a lot of times you can hit a free shipping deal with Northern Tool if you don't live near one.

If you're just at over $3000, you are probably on track with most people that aren't doing something out of the ordinary. But I agree with you, it's always higher than you estimate because if this is your first build it's hard to really know every single part you're going to need.

[asianflava]

If you know someone who can weld, skip the Northern Tool trailer and go with a custom frame. In the end, it will probably cost the same, but you will get exactly what you want with better parts.

[Sparksalot]

Compass Rose is a 5x10 woody. I've got about $4,000 invested.

[bobhenry]

What a loaded question.....

Some have to have 11 ply oak veneer plywood and polished aluminum or stainless steel exteriors.

Others are somewhat less exotic.

Then there are the junkers like me. Grabbing a frame here and there for little or (" Just take the damn thing") nothing and make it work for the build. My latest little 4x7 was built on a $60.00 frame with about 65.00 worth of FRP off of Craig's list and three sheets of 7/16 zip panel from work at $10.00 a sheet. Needed new tires and new bearings. I bought the tires used and mounted on the correct rims at a yard sale for $5.00 each. However I really did buy new bearings. I had this and had that but realistically at one time I had purchased them ( for little to nothing) so there were a few very old bucks involved. To bring it to reality I would add 125 to 175 dollars to the cost of the build for what I had and what little I actually purchased. Bringing a completed trailer in somewhere between $350.00 and $400.00.

[Wolffarmer]

I built my own trailer and a lot of the iron was free, the axle and springs was free. I then was able to build the rest for about $1500-2000. Not counting tools that I bought. those are charged to new wood working hobby. You can cut costs by building your own doors. And probably have a better looking over all trailer.

Randy

[Oldragbaggers]

Slow, he already said money is not a problem. He just wanted to get an idea.

[doug hodder]

$3000 to $5000 is a realistic amount for an average trailer.
Rob

All of my trailers have fallen in that range...kinda towards the upper end. I never think twice on what I spent, that's a waste of time. I'm happy with what I have. Doug

[LWW]

Wow. I've got less than $500 in my weekender. I bought new 1/2" plywood ,2x2s , glass cloth and West epoxy but put it on an old boat trailer that I had already turned into a 5x8 utility trailer.Larryw

[GPW]

So inexpensive , it was worth saying thrice ...

I spent $2800.00 on my 6X12, but only $600.00 on my 4X8 Foamie trailer ... That’s including the HF trailer kit ...

[StandUpGuy]

I am building a somewhat more elaborate trailer but I have taken the discount route on materials. I am not using any hardwoods and I have aquired all of my trailer extras used off of Craigs List (microwave $5, cube fridge $20 for example). I am not far from finished and have spent $1,200 thus far. I have a couple of big ticket items to aquire yet: Air conditioner and the foam for cushions to name the biggies. All said and done I expect ot be about $1,800 max.