Maintenance & Restoration

Ken James · 11-16-2005, 02:40 PM

Several years ago my wife and I decided that for two retirees, who rarely took others along, we wanted a place to sleep and a place to eat without making up a bed. So, this is how we solved that problem. Most of these little trailers have the bunk across the front and a dinette at the rear that made up into a bed. We tore out the front bunks and built this little dinette in it's place. At the rear we left the bed made up at all times. We felt it would be useful to post the pictures of this mod again on account of the hijacking.

Ken James · 11-16-2005, 02:43 PM

Later, we decided to further improve this mod by building the porta-potti in under the right hand seat. Here is how we achieved that.

The key to this mod was that little plywood flap that opens to allow access to the potti. What a lifesaver that is in the middle of the night. No loss of floor space this way.

This is in our 1972 Boler 13'

Ken James · 11-16-2005, 03:16 PM

Di recovered the cushions.

Instructions for recovering are in an album on Webshots here: http://community.webshots.com/user/kjames68

Christi V. · 11-16-2005, 03:18 PM

Very nice!!!!!

Karalyn · 11-16-2005, 06:45 PM

wish you were closer, I would hire you to make me a front eating area. Very Nice!

Ken James · 11-17-2005, 12:45 AM

Here it is with the hardwood floors

Larry B · 11-17-2005, 11:40 AM

I do like that mod and the floors.
nice job.

Kate and Dave · 11-28-2005, 03:37 PM

Hi all: I am relatively new to this site.
I love this modification and hope to duplicate it somewhat.
We have a 16' Scamp with the bunk beds and side table - no bathroom or storage closet.
Removing the bunk beds and putting in a table is perfect!
This way the bed can stay and not be put away for eating.
Currently we are in the planning stage and checking out what all will need to be done. I hope to post some photos once it gets done (may be by the first of the year?).
I am so glad I found this site.

Kate & Dave

Louise · 02-15-2006, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Several years ago my wife and I decided that for two retirees, who rarely took others along, we wanted a place to sleep and a place to eat without making up a bed. So, this is how we solved that problem. Most of these little trailers have the bunk across the front and a dinette at the rear that made up into a bed. We tore out the front bunks and built this little dinette in it's place. At the rear we left the bed made up at all times. We felt it would be useful to post the pictures of this mod again on account of the hijacking.

We plan to buy a 13', which also has bunks in the front (no bathroom). Has anyone ever done this mod on a 13' egg? Would there be room for a small dinette up front instead of the bunks.
Louise

**Gina D.** · 02-15-2006, 09:31 PM

Hi Luise.

Yes, you could do it with a 13. I have bounced back and forth on doing mine. The porta potti is the problem, there just isn't anywhere else to put it in a Burro unless you have a full time bed. That is something I don't want.

Jackie · 02-16-2006, 12:21 AM

Since it has finally stopped raining up here in Washington, I can maybe get started on the mod I have in mind. I want to keep the ability to have the bunkbeds, as I have two small grandson who love to go camping with me (and I don';t enjoy getting kicked to death at night!). I do have a permanent bed, (I totally removed the dinette and benches) so my port-a-potty slides right in under that.

I have removed the bottom section of the seat. The fiberglassed 'rib' remains in the trailer. I plan to use the seat as a template to cut a new top out of 3/4" plywood. I will cut a knee-hole in the middle where I want the table to be. I will use more plywood as uprights for sides on the seats. I plan to keep the couch back in place, so it can be raised to make the top bunk. A piece of plywood will bridge the gap in the knee-hole to make the bottom bunk. Access will be cut into the top of the seats for the storage compartments. I plan to use one of those plastic 'personal' tables for the eating area. Large pillows will be the seats themselves. Pics to follow as work progress (rain holding, not freezing outside!)

Louise · 02-19-2006, 02:02 PM

Thanks for sending all your modifications -- all very interesting. I think we need to get the 13-footer first to see if we really need the modification.
But I did have a thought about yet another idea and have no idea if it could fit. Instead of having 2 seats in the little dinette (replacing the bunks), has anyone tried to add a closet on the right as you walk into the trailer, then have a fold-down table attached to the closet wall, and then a seat in the far corner. We have worked this out in our small campervan where we have a very small fold-down table attached to a closet door. One person sits on the bed and the other on a fold-up stool (which we bungie against a wall during traveling. So I thought with the 13-footer we could perhaps do almost the same arrangement, except we wouldn't have to use the bed this time having so much more room up front, and would also end up having some more storage room. Not really sure yet how much storage we'll need since we will also have the towing vehicle to put stuff in, which we've never had before. OK, I guess I'm just rambling, but wanted to pass on my thoughts.
Still looking for our "egg".
Louise

Donna D. · 02-20-2006, 08:26 AM

Louise, I don't think there's enough room between the edge of the front window molding and the side of the trailer to make much of a closet...at least in my opinion. The effort to build the closet would be more than the space you'd gain for storage.

Ken James · 02-20-2006, 12:01 PM

The pictures shown earlier on this thread are of our 15' Trillium, but, we did a similar mod to the 13' Boler we had before that. The mods appear on our web site below. The modification works just fine on a 13'. One could make the table to bridge the seats and create another single bed when needed.

I still say the built in porta-potti, with the plywood flap, is the best mod we ever did. No need to slide the potti out when needed so there is no loss of floor space at night.

Good luck to anyone contemplating this mod.