how stickies are built...... - Fiberglass RV
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Old 03-04-2012, 02:02 PM   #1
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how stickies are built......

This might seem like a strange thing to bring up, but only here might I have an understanding audience. Did anyone watch the PBS special on the Amish Wednesday night? Toward the end it showed hard working Amish men working in a factory that makes 'sticky' trailers, (price of farm land is so high, and less available, that even frugal Amish can't afford to buy land for their 'kids' to start farms. So this generation of Amish work 'out'.) The factory was fast pace, hurry hurry hurry, and the amazing thing was to watch the frames being put together with just one shot from the nail gun at each joint. I kept thinking, these things will just fall apart in even a mild accident, or a tree branch falling.

Not that FGRVs don't get crushed, we've all heard the horror stories on the forum, but I like to think FGRV factories have better working conditions and take their time to make something lasting.....I know Escape does!

With their tradition of fine, quality workmanship in carpentry & woodworking, it must be hard for these Amish men to make what appeared to be rather shabby 'stickies'.

Penney

PS - If you are relatively new to the forum, 'stickies' is the term used for trailers made with internal wood framing, usually more boxy & heavier trailers. Some have fiberglass exteriors, but not molded fiberglass.
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Old 03-04-2012, 03:17 PM   #2
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hi penney---dennis and i watched that show and i was shocked to see how quickly these workers were forced to work---actually running between stations!---to keep things moving on "the line". it was an excellent documentary and having lived near an old order mennonite community in ontario a number of years ago, can attest to how hard it must be to live one's daily life while being constantly treated like some kind of freak, with people taking photos and following their buggies. but that section that showed the inside of the factory was quite illuminating!!
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Old 03-04-2012, 05:09 PM   #3
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Thanks for that - coincidentally PBS has started broadcasting on cable in Britain, but of course the schedules are all different, so I was able to watch that segment here:
The Amish . American Experience . WGBH | PBS
It's at about 1:30, the beginning of 'Chapter 8 : Working outside the farm'.
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Old 03-04-2012, 05:28 PM   #4
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The Amish also build heaters/fireplaces for additional income here
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Old 03-04-2012, 06:04 PM   #5
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A trailer moving down the road has been described as a moving earthquake. I'd think anything just stapled together or nailed with the fewest nails possible would absolutely shake itself to death while in motion. In some manufacturing, it's all about quantity... not quality. Aren't we glad we have molded? I AM!
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Old 03-04-2012, 06:57 PM   #6
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I grew up in MI/IN area where most of these factories are located. We used to get the fliers/magazines with factory photos and I believe they exploit the Mennonite/Amish workers by using their photos hinting that they have "crafts" people with actual skills to try to win your business. I believe that is wrong. I spoke with someone from my area about 5 years ago and he told me that you see very few Mennonite/Amish in the factories and more likely than not, you will see what appears to be an illegal population at work. The last travel trailer we bought new, as time went on, the floor separated, putty striping was left out of the front window and it leaked during an almost never ending rain storm, the skylight in the bathroom leaked and had to be repaired more than once, the dinette benches kept coming apart - this was within 2 years time and the flier showed the Mennonite/Amish crafts people! When you need a paycheck, you do things the way you are told to do them.
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Old 03-04-2012, 07:26 PM   #7
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I too saw that show on PBS and thought the same thing. That stickie was barely nailed together.
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Old 03-04-2012, 07:34 PM   #8
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The Amish built my coal stove which is top notch.
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Old 03-04-2012, 07:34 PM   #9
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Hi: Penney H. & Mike E... We saw that PBS special . The largest concentration of RV Mfg's. is in Indiana. We drove thru the area seeing acres of RV's. The majority of men working in those factories are Amish.
We did tour one quality shop. Troyer Carrage hand makes the Calash hooded buggies used in most cities for tourists. Here was a prime example of quality hand work by Amish craftsmen.
The stickies on the other hand are slapped together. Very shocking!!!
Here's a Troyer Carrage in use in Frankenmuth Mich. and one awaiting delivery to a customer.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie
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Old 03-05-2012, 12:39 PM   #10
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Wow! Those are beautiful buggies! I wonder if you can pull a small FGRV with one?

Cathy I would agree, the 'Amish built' statement has become a marketing scheme in many places. I think the traditional quality people have come to expect from Amish carpenters is found in the shops that are owned by their own communities. It has been many years since I lived in PA (spent better part of my growing up years there) and saw how the Amish worked and lived. Things have changed, as the show indicated.

I only know when I've been in the Escape factory (the old one) there was a very different pace and attention to detail, that was what I was comparing what I saw on the show to. I mean who wouldn't want to work for Rease & Tammy? (if you had the skills to do so!)

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Old 03-05-2012, 08:44 PM   #11
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Talking The American Experience - the Amish

I can't believe I watched a 1 hour and fifty minute show in order to see about 2 minutes of sticky building!

The show was interesting, however.
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Old 03-05-2012, 10:56 PM   #12
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The Amish built my coal stove which is top notch.

Nothing like that Amish stove pictured, I'd bet. An ordinary electric heater dressed up with a photo of an actual fire, sold by full-page newspaper ads to uninformed consumers, is about the last con I'd expect the Amish to participate in. Or am I missing something here?
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Old 03-06-2012, 12:52 AM   #13
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I also watched the program. When I realized what they were building, I couldn't believe how shoddy the work was on that trailer, whatever kind it was.
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Old 03-06-2012, 06:41 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by John McMillin View Post
Nothing like that Amish stove pictured, I'd bet. An ordinary electric heater dressed up with a photo of an actual fire, sold by full-page newspaper ads to uninformed consumers, is about the last con I'd expect the Amish to participate in. Or am I missing something here?
You are right John its nothing like the one pictured. Wish I seen the show.
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