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Old 11-30-2012, 09:57 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by Thomas G. View Post
I was looking at the defunct Burro site and was surprised to see that they offered a kit version for a $1000 savings. I've heard that other FG manufacturers have from time to time also offers kits. Given that it seems like it would be an inexpensive option to offer a kit, what killed it? Low take rate, liability or warranty issues?
The kit components are the "meat and potatoes" of fiberglass trailer production, finishing them is just the gravy. I inquired at Scamp recently about buying an unfinished trailer and the cost is too close to a finished trailer to make it a practical purchase.
Here is a Scamp photo of their kit offering from circa 1978....
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Old 11-30-2012, 11:59 PM   #22
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Well it does give you the oppurtunity to customize it to the layout you want... Nor'sea 27 is availible in kit stages and I would love to build one oneday
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Old 12-01-2012, 02:13 AM   #23
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Smile The modern day kit

Kits are somewhat like computers. By the time you learn how to use it, it's obsolete!
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Old 12-01-2012, 03:11 AM   #24
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Nostalgia ain't what it used to be--no it ain't.

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Old 12-01-2012, 05:27 AM   #25
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Raz, I see you're stilling dreaming about that boyhood SuperHet.

jack



This one was built in the early '80s. We use it every day. Heath kits were fun to build, well designed, very serviceable, and made in the USA. Unbuilt kits often show up on eBay and command high prices. No trailer kits but I believe they had a helicopter kit at one time. Raz
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Old 12-01-2012, 05:40 AM   #26
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LOL! I'd say those are a couple of pretty good lookin "comfortable" kids/dogs you got there.
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Old 12-01-2012, 12:58 PM   #27
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The funny thing about this discussion is:

There are TONS of trailer "kits" out there, and many of us have "assembled" them.

They're called "used trailers", and as every single one of us knows, they're nothing but a good start 'til we get done not just assembling, but perfecting them!

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Old 12-01-2012, 06:25 PM   #28
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The old Popular Mechanics kit projects appealed to the generation which lived thru the Depression. Popular Mechanics Encyclopedia and Boy Mechanic books were the rage but I thnk a lot of that sense of make do, homemade and diditm'self has got a bit thin on the ground.

jack
Also appealed to their offspring who grew up seeing Dad fixing and building things. Poor kids now growing up in condos without a workshop and only their X boxes.

I loved my PM books and built several projects including the steamed rib canoe as well as a trailer, similar to this one but simpler, one axle. Talk about stick built, look at the roof construction.

After listening to me moan for 30 years that I never got the last volume my wife found one online for me They were originally bought weekly at the supermarket, 99cents each.

Looking at the old photo of the Scamp kit, to me it's more just "some assembly required" I think that I would have bought one, even at the factory finished price, just so I could install the electrical in a little more high class way. Seeing a bunch of exposed wires with marret connectors makes me wish they were more accessible so I could install a proper panel etc.

Looking at the old Scamp kit photo, yeah, it's probably true, many owners who've rehabbed their trailers have actually done much more work than was involved with just installing the ready made parts.

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Old 12-01-2012, 06:47 PM   #29
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Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles View Post
The funny thing about this discussion is:

There are TONS of trailer "kits" out there, and many of us have "assembled" them.
Um, disassembled would be more accurate in my case.
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Old 12-01-2012, 06:50 PM   #30
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Um, disassembled would be more accurate in my case.

Can't make a good omelet unless you're willing to break an "egg"!

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Old 12-01-2012, 09:59 PM   #31
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Hummm....
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Old 12-02-2012, 10:11 AM   #32
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Renovators, despite their best intentions, are a good source of "kits."
The words ". . . interior removed but have everything" and "I bought it with the intention of . . ." say it all. Life is what happens and you throw a tarp over it. Scratch-built that got scratched is even sadder.

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Old 12-02-2012, 10:17 AM   #33
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When I built my first little travel trailer I looked for a year for a particular one, a sunliner sunspot for sale. It was very light and I had a pt cruiser for a tv. The day I ordered $600 worth of lumber one came on the market and I was so pissed... well someone on my forum bought it and basically had to gut it and rebuild it.... glad I didnt buy it lol was easier to build from scratch then to rebuild one lol
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Old 12-02-2012, 11:49 AM   #34
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Did you build a teardrop, Deryk? Do you have all the "tools" in your box--welding and metal fab. skills, wood shop machine tools and skills? etc. The usual problem of scratchbuilt is you almost can't afford to build one-off given the investment of time and money in exploration and perfecting of build method and design, physical plant, fabrication tooling, raw material (the "ten shops in one" conundrum). If you manage to beat the "economy of scale" monkey and are happy with cost vs. kit or out the door retail, you're one of the lucky few. Building to a "proven" design and fabrication methods avoids some pitfalls; project cost isn't usually one of them!

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Old 12-02-2012, 11:59 AM   #35
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Well I built a small gypsy caravan, but in proportion size wise to a teardrop. I had access to a friends woodshop, trailer I purchased. I am pretty handy, so that might give me an edge over most folks. I also have alot of experience with fiberglass, did alot of work on the boats I have owned, includeing mostly rebuilding my fiberglass keel on my last boat. Sometimes sweat equity is a tradeoff when you dont have the cash to buy new... and if you enjoy puttering and tinkering then it is worth it... then you get to see the look on peoples faces when you say "I made it".

A friend said to me the other day, "You moved into an apartment and are thinking of buying a brand new trailer, what are you gonna do to fill up your free time lol"

Might take up stained glass...or brewing

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Old 12-02-2012, 01:10 PM   #36
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I built a glassed stripper canoe in a one-bedroom aptmt. in 1972. I ripped up western redwood 1x6s on a ridiculouly-underpowered 8" table saw in the basement laundry room. Somehow I got that cleaned up and managed to get out the ladder frame, station moulds, and stems; "planked" and glassed the thing inside and out; and moved out a year later without giving up the damage deposit. Tribute to good drop cloths. What was wrong with the neighbors' noses as well as the rental agent's, I'll never know! Styrene was strong enuf to wake the dead for six months. I still have the moulds hanging in the garage. I built a few small boats afterwards but that one was the craziest.

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Old 12-02-2012, 01:10 PM   #37
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Reminds me of the old joke. Guy says to his pal, "I can't believe you are going to build an airplane from a kit". Pal says, "What's the big deal, you built your own boat". Guys says, "Yea, but I can swim".
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