Empty Shell

[Stoney]

Met an older gentlemen yesterday pulling a boler trailer with his 4cyl toyota truck , being that I'm still shopping for my own egg of sorts , I bent his ear and bought him a cup o joe . The guy had lost his wife and now spent his time (except winter) with his old hound camping and fishing . He said after all the years of spoils that he wanted change , he bought the old boler and proceeded to gut it out . The only things that now remains in the hollow egg are a bed in the back and a 2 person dinette up front with a power inverter on one side with a gfi receptacle it's connected to 1 heavy duty battery on the hitch .The trailer has lost all interior lights, furnace,fridge,stove,sink,propane,and excess cupboards and fiberglass . Intends on putting in a fantastic fan for air circulation , it's simple spacious clean , the fiberglass hull was fixed of all holes and painted inside and out . He reminded me that the absence of all those little things meant very little to him and that the important things are the people you meet and the times you experience said he's happier now with this empty egg than with any of the other rv's he's ever had , said he missed his wife . He wished me well and went on his way , I went home sent flowers to my wife . cheers mike

[Chester Taje]

Good for you.

[Ron Wrighton]

Thanks for sharing that. I think you and the gentleman are on to something. Perhaps the world needs more flowers and less stuff.

[Frederick L. Simson]

He reminded me that the absence of all those little things meant very little to him and that [b]the important things are the people you meet and the times you experience said he's happier now with this empty egg than with any of the other rv's he's ever had

[Greg A]

[Bruce Thomas]

I knew a man Bojangles and he danced fo you....in worn out shoes....silver hair and ragged shirt and baggy pants............................................

[Heathc]

great little story. i wish him well!

[Stoney]

I'm an avid motorcyclist and tent camper and have met a ton of people just like this gent and I must say I really liked the open feel of his egg . He said he did all cooking , dishes ect. outside and replenished his food on a daily basis , he had a small heater he could plug in that he said he rarely used and if it was raining he would watch a movie on his laptop . I'll bet his egg was less than 1000# , a rolling port in the storm so to speak .I like his minimalist approach , pack light keep it simple although I could handle it the wife would take a little more convincing . By the way his pup was a red tic coon hound , haven't seen but a hand full in all my days . cheers mike

[Raya]

Not to be negative, as the fellow sounds like a great guy, but the shell does need some internal support. Usually, it's provided by the closet, and also - to some extent -by the combination of kitchen cabinets-and-base-plus-"wrought"-iron-brace.

That's not to say that one couldn't take those out, but one would want to replace them with some bulkheads or something else structurally suitable.

Fiberglass is really quite a floppy material. That's why fiberglass boats have bulkheads, stringers, and other reinforcement. Without those, they would distort, flex, and ultimately suffer cracks and breakage.

So an open, kitchen-and-closetless Boler/clone is doable with proper support.

Raya

[Donna D.]

What a GREAT story! Thanks for sharing Mike

But for those that are considering gutting a trailer, I have to agree with Raya. It IS doable, but the roof should really be reinforced. Perhaps by fiberglassing rafters in on the inside. Similar to what folks need to do when adding roof A/C to older trailers.