Added Honda Gen to tongue of Casita

[lonlawrence]

The weather got warm yesterday (almost 70 degrees) and instead of installing my front clear rock guards (I'm going to wait for really warm summer weather for that as I've worked with this stuff before and it goes on better if it's really warm outside) I decided to get the welding done on the tongue of the Casita to mount the HOnda Gen. I still have to get my TV and Southern Mattress and wire up the portable 165 watt solar panel. I bought an AudioVox 120v/12v TV with DVD player ($217) and the DVD player freezes all the time, so had to send it back for a refund. Going to try a different brand now. For a complete description and pictures, visit my website and click on the last set of pictures titled "Generator Mount."

http://web.me.com/dr.pepper007/Site/Casita...asita_Mods.html

[Jake Jacobson]

With the generator and dual tanks, how is your tongue weight?

I have been thinking about doing something similar, but am worried about overstressing the tongue and causing it to fail......

[CarolnJim]

When we mounted our generator, we didn't want to worry about tongue weight. We removed one propane tank - removing one tank and adding the generator was almost equal weight. We have a WDH.

We moved the propane tank to the front and our generator is against the trailer. We have never regretted having only one tank.. we've gone on 2-3 week trips and still have propane left.

[Pete Dumbleton]

With the generator and dual tanks, how is your tongue weight?

I have been thinking about doing something similar, but am worried about overstressing the tongue and causing it to fail......

I don't know about the relative strengths of the Casita frame vs the Scamp frame, but the Scamp already has two LP tanks AND a battery on the tongue, whereas Casita has the battery elsewhere. Also, I note Jake is using WDH.

Anyone running with one LP tank should consider a Steak-Saver fitting and a couple of one-pound LP cannisters for backup.

[Cliff]

At one of the recent gatherings, someone used an upside down Rubbermaid style bin to hide the generator. I thought it was very clever. Padlocks on both sides of the handles as a theft deterent. You would never know an expensive generator was underneath. The generator was further locked down with security cables, and more padlocks. I have pictures at home if you are interested. The upside down bin is removed while in use.

[Jake Jacobson]

I don't know about the relative strengths of the Casita frame vs the Scamp frame, but the Scamp already has two LP tanks AND a battery on the tongue.....

My Scamp 16' has a single tank. I don't know if they have changed the frame design since mine was built or not. Is it safe to add a second tank? I actually would like one for better balance. I am not using a WDH...

[Pete Dumbleton]

I believe dual LP tanks is an option on Scamp 16' and they likely have the right brackets.

[lonlawrence]

With the generator and dual tanks, how is your tongue weight?

I have been thinking about doing something similar, but am worried about overstressing the tongue and causing it to fail......

I do not have the capability yet to weigh the tongue and I'm not concerned about the weight because, as you saw on my website, I have a WD hitch. Will the tongue take the weight of the two tanks and generator some have asked?... YES. Adding 50 lbs of weight to that "C" channel tongue is insignificant and many have done it. NObody has ever had a tongue fail on a Casita regardless of what they put on it. I could never give up the second LP tank because I've had the automatic switch-over select my other tank in the middle of the night when camping in cold weather (furnace in use) and using up the first tank of propane. If you don't run the furnace, nor depend on it in cold weather, then you could get by on one LP tank, but I'd never do it, personally.

[Pete Dumbleton]

Read the instructions on your WDH -- I believe you'll find that you should have the tongue weight right before you start the setup.

If you already know the total weight of the rig, the tongue weight is easily done with a bathroom scale, but likely you haven't weighed it. I highly advise getting to a commercial scale and weighing all the axles on TV and egg with it all loaded as for a trip.

Dry weights don't mean much because we rarely tow empty and dry. It's kinda like what one weighed in high school before adding adult fat!

http://www.rverscorner.com/articles/tongueweight.html

[Jake Jacobson]

Just got off the phone with Casita. They said the additional 50lb weight is too much and will compromise the frame integrity of the tongue, and it could eventually cause failure as it is not designed for that much weight. They stated this is the reason the battery is not located on the tongue. They suggested either removing one LP tank, or else beefing up the frame by welding additional support lengthwise from the hitch point, down through the middle of the trailer frame (underneath the trailer), with appropriate crossmembers. Might be something to consider, especially if you are planning on adding an additional gas tank.....

[Ken C]

..... NObody has ever had a tongue fail on a Casita regardless of what they put on it....

anyone remember that photo of a front frame tongue buckle making the propane bottles crunch up into the front of the trailer? The owner says they just went over rail road tracks. Was it casita or scamp i cant remember? Might have been at casitaclub forum.

[Joy A]

On my Scamp the frame is made of a rectangle box iron not "C" channel and the two pieces run the entire length of the trailer with cross bars. There's a slight bend to make up the tongue. My welder as well as the Uhaul fellow that added my brakes both have remarked about what a great sturdy frame my trailer has for a small trailer. I'd asked both of them about adding a generator to the tongue along with the battery and propane that are already there. Both said no problem that frame will surely hold the weight.

I'm not aware that Scamp has ever used any other type material for the frame.

I have yet to add the generator because the short tongue on the 13 footer is giving me heartburn. It's tough to add the third item. Since I changed to a center jack I might be able to do it without everything hanging way over the edges of the tongue. I've been plotting and made a template out of wood. However, it's been raining here and I've not yet taken the propane or battery off to try it out. The final product won't be wood. I've got something else in mind.

[Michael Pupeza]

I, also, want to add my Honda 2000i to my trailer, a Bigfoot 17. However, I've decided to keep it in a box mounted on the rear bumper. I'll move the spare tire over to the left as far as I can, without blocking the light, and mount the box next to it on the right. The box is a diamond plate welded aluminum one made for trucks, to be mounted underbody and has a drop down front door. It's about 24 X 20 X 17.25 inches and weighs 18 lbs. Since I had already added an extra battery up front, along with a heavier converter, I'm close to balancing back to the original hitch weight. I doubt that I can run the genny in the box, even with the front down, but it will be handy and is lockable. It's quite a nice box but over $200. I could also use it without the Honda as a storage box.
My tongue is quite 'busy' and I'll have trouble changing my type 24 battery to a type 27 without some mods!
It's another thought on how to carry the genny!
Good Luck.
Mike

I have yet to add the generator because the short tongue on the 13 footer is giving me heartburn. It's tough to add the third item. Since I changed to a center jack I might be able to do it without everything hanging way over the edges of the tongue. I've been plotting and made a template out of wood. However, it's been raining here and I've not yet taken the propane or battery off to try it out. The final product won't be wood. I've got something else in mind.
[/quote]

[Pete Dumbleton]

Someone on this forum in the past, I don't recall who, made a really nice diamond plate box for the generator AND an LP tank. The box was cleverly designed to allow the generator to be started and run inside. Of course, it was mostly open on the bottom so neither fuel or LP could be trapped inside.

Both the box beam and C-channel used in Scamp and Casita frames, respectively, are sturdy beams -- The weakest points on the beam would be more or less halfway between the ball and the axle bracket, but in practice the heaviest loading might be the forward edge of the FG body -- Placing a heavy weight right in front of that is not so good -- Closer to the ball would be better.

Reportedly, Casita was welding the axle bracket to the frame, instead of bolting it as Dexter recommends for C-channel, but have changed the practice to bolting.

Placing a heavy weight on the rear bumper is the worst place for sway because it is now out on a long lever -- I advise moving the spare tire to the front, perhaps under the tongue or U-bolt mounted to the frame.

[Bill F.]

The weather got warm yesterday (almost 70 degrees) and instead of installing my front clear rock guards (I'm going to wait for really warm summer weather for that as I've worked with this stuff before and it goes on better if it's really warm outside) I decided to get the welding done on the tongue of the Casita to mount the HOnda Gen. I still have to get my TV and Southern Mattress and wire up the portable 165 watt solar panel. I bought an AudioVox 120v/12v TV with DVD player ($217) and the DVD player freezes all the time, so had to send it back for a refund. Going to try a different brand now. For a complete description and pictures, visit my website and click on the last set of pictures titled "Generator Mount."

http://web.me.com/dr.pepper007/Site/Casita...asita_Mods.html

We bought a Curtis 15" LCD flat screen TV/DVD(#LCDVD152) yesterday for CDN$200 at Zellers. The 120V power cord has a transformer that converts to 12V (about 40 watt). Hopefully we can plug it directly in to 12v and dispense with the original power cord. I did this with a 7" TV/DVD player in our previous trailer and it worked well. It's nice to have TV when boondocking. Many of the TV's we looked at did not have the 12V feature and few had the built in DVD, so you might have to spend some time looking.
Bill
Bill

[Pete Dumbleton]

Be VERY sure the TV can stand the voltage fluctuations found in 12VDC systems (low battery up to converter charging voltage) -- The TV may have been designed for the adapter world, not the cruel 12VDC world...

Were it me, I'd check with the manufacturer OR put a voltage regulator between it and the Egg electric.

[Bill F.]

Be VERY sure the TV can stand the voltage fluctuations found in 12VDC systems (low battery up to converter charging voltage) -- The TV may have been designed for the adapter world, not the cruel 12VDC world...

Were it me, I'd check with the manufacturer OR put a voltage regulator between it and the Egg electric.

Pete
I have no electronics knowledge. I may well have been lucky to get away with the direct 12V hookup I used in our previous trailer. Now you have me worried that i might not be so lucky this time. Can you explain how to add a regulator?
Bill

[Pete Dumbleton]

I don't really know how because I've never had the problem, but I know that you might need one -- Likely, Peter H will have some answers (the LED regulators won't support the current needed).

[lonlawrence]

Just got off the phone with Casita. They said the additional 50lb weight is too much and will compromise the frame integrity of the tongue, and it could eventually cause failure as it is not designed for that much weight. They stated this is the reason the battery is not located on the tongue. They suggested either removing one LP tank, or else beefing up the frame by welding additional support lengthwise from the hitch point, down through the middle of the trailer frame (underneath the trailer), with appropriate crossmembers. Might be something to consider, especially if you are planning on adding an additional gas tank.....

Jake,
I know a lot of people out there put a lot of store in what Casita "engineers" tell them, but I've been a metals-man all my life and former machinist. Mounting the gen next to the ball puts very little stress on the tongue and if they haven't designed the tongue with a safety "fudge" factor built in, then they have way under-designed the tongue. According to MVSS, there should be at least a 50% safety factor built in. If the tongue was designed to carry 400-500 lbs (everybody seems to have a different weight on their SD 17 tongues) then you should be able to add at least 200 lbs to the tongue before fatigue failure. If Casita is only building in a 10% safety factor, we should still be OK. If they aren't building in that much, then their engineers are a bunch of flunkies and they shouldn't be producing ANYTHING. 50 lbs is inconsequential and nobody should worry about it. Think about how much load is transfered when you hit a bad dip at highway speeds. The load increases several hundred percent. At peak design load, could an added 50 lbs cause failure? Yep, it sure could. But what's the odds? I feel safe. Do what makes you feel safe. If we took a poll there are probably more than a handful of owners who have put an extra 50 lbs on the tongue (spare tire, gen, batteries) and is anyone reporting problems? Not that I've seen. By the way, the reason the battery is not on the tongue has nothing to do with the weight. There are a lot of reasons it's inside, 1. it's better protected from theft 2. it's a shorter and more efficient run for the electrical cable (very important on a single-battery camper) 3. it's more cost effective (less wire to buy)

[Al and Cindy K]

I'm not suggesting this setup for anyone else but its worked well for us for over three years and 40K+ miles. Tongue weight on our 16' Scamp with the EU3000, two full propane tanks and the Grp 27 battery is around 400-425 lbs.




Lon, how's that Southern Mattress setup working our for ya? We live a couple of miles from their factory and had one made back in 04 soon after we bought the Scamp. Living in the Carlsbad area as you do, do you ever get down to the Dog Canyon campground in Guadalupe Mountains NP or any of the Lincoln NF backcountry. You've sure got some beautiful spots to choose from out there.

Al