I like the dinette table set up in my
Burro. I think it looks really neat, especially when it has a vase with a flower in it on it. We all know the dinette works great for playing cards or board games, and is spacious enough for a dinner with a lot of food on plates, etc. When I show off my
Burro to newbees more than anything the dinette area is a statement that immediately defines the interior. It is welcoming. I will hold on to that dinette table and its chrome pedestal.
Yet, there is a problem. We are big. A tad and a half too big, for this wee trailer. "
You can sleep in that?" is the usual incredulous reaction. Well ah, nuts. Regardless, what is really annoying for me is when we are out there,
boondocking in woodsy paradise, I have to convert that fine dinette each night into our sleeping quarters, and then in the morning have to set the table back up again, for breakfast.
I must be getting lazy. I must be going soft. When we camp I want to be doing less, not more. I want to lounge about, instead of spending my time setting things up. I want to reach for another cup of coffee, listen to the sounds of the forest, stretch, snooze. Why can't I do more of that, and less set-up drudge?
There must be a solution.
Early on, recognizing the need for more flat counter space, I made a cover for the stove burners. That cover could also become the new dining table. Eureka! The solution is, employ multi-tasking. The table would be in the center of the room, and two people could sit opposite each other to use it. Lounge time gets multiplied. Drudge set up becomes history. All that is needed is a way to set it up. A hinge? A hook? A flange? Hmmm...
Being resourceful, and cheap, I decided to use what was already at hand. Though that stove cover is small it could work. I could always make it a little larger with a fold-out flap extension. Rooting through my workshop, I found telescoping tubes salvaged from a kids mini-scooter. I had thought this would work on an earlier, different project, but it didn't. Telescoping tubes could work here, as a table support that drops neatly out of the way when not employed. The cabinet door would need a lock to keep it shut. A window lock. Yeah.
So the stove cover nests into the long, wood, "hook-ledge" I screwed to the cabinet door. To keep the table top in place I drilled a hole and screwed a 1/4 -20 threaded insert into the sycamore ledge. Could have used a thumb screw, but I made a softer, kinder knob that tightens against the stove cover. Fun to make your own stuff. I imbedded a 1/4-20 hex bolt in a bottle cap with resin.
Though this arrangement is far less formal than the dinette it is a much faster set up and may even prove to be a practical keeper. We will see. I'm not throwing the dinette table away any time soon.
Burro interior space being so small to begin with, doing any standing is for us simply not an option. Now, we can sit with everything still at arms reach (we have very long arms), and the word "lounge" has a nicer ring for me. Maybe I will Formica over my new table top. Why not?
Next up is a king-sized bed. Rube Goldberg, move over.
ET-19
Very nice! Please tell us where you got you 
Thanks for sharing it.
Escape Hatch II
Our Escape Hatch
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie 
The Mountain Egg AKA 2006 13' Scamp
The last time I heard of any one sitting on the stove their bottom has burns too both sides 
Now..for a trim where did I put my "GEEZER TWEEZERS"??? 
Linear Mode
