Maintenance & Restoration

Legacy Posts · 03-06-2003, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Orginally posted by Nathan and Daisy Justus

If the trailer is in Canada, you might be getting a weight that is in Kilograms. Multiply by 2.2 to get pounds.

That was my first thought, too, and I asked him about it. He assured me it was pounds, not kilos.

If, by some miracle, I get up there before it sells, I'll

1) look inside the closet for a specs sheet
2) insist on taking a test drive
3) haul it off to a public scale.

It's only about a three hour drive from here. Of course, the return run through the border may run a lot longer, but I'm used to that. I would also have to stop and refill my stock of BC hard cider. That's a must.

Thanks all,

Kitty

Legacy Posts · 03-06-2003, 11:21 AM

What do you think? Will getting a trailer into my steep-hairpin-turn-at-the-top driveway be manageable? Not to store it, but for refits/cleaning. Pulling in, backing out is impractical, but I'm thinking that if I drove up and pulled the minivan into the garage, we could disconnect and manhandle the trailer around on the flat area, and reconnect for a straight pull outbound.

You can't see my driveway, of course, but what's your experience with rotating one of these lightweights by hand? In a pinch I think we could use a come-along secured to the trees.

Be assured, I am *very* aware of the possibility of runaways, and would make judicious use of wheel chocks and 4x4 barrier boards, though I am only talking about working on the flat area outside the garage.

Thanks,

Kitty

Legacy Posts · 03-07-2003, 03:50 PM

Kitty, there is a misconception out there that the older rigs were lighter because the GVWR on them apparently only applied to the dry shell before "options" that are now standard (such as the closet, bunks, table, range, kitchen unit, electric stuf, etc.) It may also have been a misunderstanding by the buying public as to what GVWR actually meant.

The tag on my 1991 Scamp 13' list a gvwr of 950 lbs, but it came with load range B tires and a 2000 lb axle, and certainly weighs more than that ("wet", with all my personal junk aboard, it weighs in at 1,700 lbs and I dont have converter, gray/black tanks, water heater, ac, refrigerator, etc.). Someday I'll take everything out, including the propane and battery and tongue jack and weigh it, look at the "950 lbs" and really laugh. When I did an axle replacement, I had it "rubbered" for 2,200 lbs, which I believe Scamp currently puts under the 13's.

I surmise the old 950 used by Scamp and Casita was to sell a trailer that weighed less than 1,000 lbs, so it didn't need brakes, special license, etc (in Vermont, trailers under 1,000 lbs don't even need a title). This would be kind of like all the 9.5 and 9.9 outboard engines that started to be marketed when there started to be restrictions on motors of 10 hp or greater (another "legislative threshold" at 50 hp).

Charles, are you sure that the Casita 13' has the big axle under it? Between high tire pressures and a really stiff suspension, that would tend to shake that smaller unit to pieces in short order -- Kinda like putting a 3/4 ton truck suspension on a Honda Civic...

Pete and Rats

Legacy Posts · 03-07-2003, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Orginally posted by Pete Dumbleton

Kitty, there is a misconception out there that the older rigs were lighter because the GVWR on them apparently only applied to the dry shell before "options" that are now standard (such as the closet, bunks, table, range, kitchen unit, electric stuf, etc.) It may also have been a misunderstanding by the buying public as to what GVWR actually meant.

Pete,

Wow, quite a bit of fudging there! Actually, I based my belief of the weight difference strictly on the amount of *stuff* stuck into the newer models. Plywood instead of 'glass, more doodads-- nice, but not as nice as being able to pull the sucker.

Thanks for the info.

Kitty

Legacy Posts · 03-08-2003, 08:26 AM

>>Casita 13' has the big axle

No Pete. I'm not sure. I know they moved the 16 footer to the bigger axle ... but am not sure about the 13 footer.

Best thing for folks to do, is call the factory, and ask for the current specs.

Legacy Posts · 03-08-2003, 11:32 AM

Kitty,

I would think that what you are proposing to do to man-handle (oops! person-handle!) your trailer for a turn-around would be easily do-able with, as you say, some precautions against having it take a walk on its own. Before we got the Casita we used to take our small Rockwood tent-camper into some way-way-back spots where there wasn't much room to do much of anything in the way of maneuvering. One trick we learned was to carry one of those hand-cranked lightweight winches or come-alongs to put the trailer into tight little spots. Tedious, but it worked. This also helped us to turn around on those occasions where we got to the end of a track and there was nothing there and no room to turn truck and trailer around at the same time. I'll bet you can do it, but do be super careful!

Legacy Posts · 03-08-2003, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Orginally posted by Robert Brummett
I would think that what you are proposing to do to man-handle (oops! person-handle!) your trailer for a turn-around would be easily do-able with, as you say, some precautions against having it take a walk on its own.

Robert,

I was thinnking of a time when I was dragging a very lightweight tent trailer north on Highway 15 in your neck of the woods. A semi had careened sideways down the narrowest point above the Susquahana, completely blocking the road. I was stuck with two small hungry, children and no hope of backtracking, when three burly guys helped me do a u-turn by literally picking up the camper and carrying it around into a 180o position. I don't think I'll be able to do that with a light hardshell. :)

Thanks,

Kitty

Legacy Posts · 03-08-2003, 03:07 PM

Hmm, what I need is some sort of wheel, kinda like the wheels that come on some of the larger tongue jacks, to move the trailer when I get into a situation where I have to separate the truck and egg (usually on unfriendly surfaces like sand, mud or unlevel dirt when that happens, so the little tongue-jack wheels won't do).

OTOH, maybe some sort of skid for the tongue jack base would be enuf, as I usually wind up using the truck and a tow strap for power anyway. Also with a skid, nothing is going to roll away by itself very easily...

Pete and Rats

Legacy Posts · 03-08-2003, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Orginally posted by Pete Dumbleton

Hmm, what I need is some sort of wheel, kinda like the wheels that come on some of the larger tongue jacks, to move the trailer when I get into a situation where I have to separate the truck and egg (usually on unfriendly surfaces like sand, mud or unlevel dirt when that happens, so the little tongue-jack wheels won't do).
Pete and Rats

Hovercraft tongue jack. :wave

Legacy Posts · 03-08-2003, 08:44 PM

All right , my first posting on an excellent site. I have a 1984 Bigfoot, 17 ft which I purchased last year. I checked the spec sheet in hope this helps. It shows a GVWR of 1875 lbs, and a tongue weight of 250 lbs. Hope this helps.

Legacy Posts · 03-08-2003, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Orginally posted by Dan Poulin

All right , my first posting on an excellent site. I have a 1984 Bigfoot, 17 ft which I purchased last year. I checked the spec sheet in hope this helps. It shows a GVWR of 1875 lbs, and a tongue weight of 250 lbs. Hope this helps.

Dan,

Cool! That's exactly what I'm looking for-- though I expect I'll still take a trip to the public scales.

Thanks!

Kitty

Legacy Posts · 03-09-2003, 06:36 AM

I built myself a two wheel dolly with a ball hitch for moving my trailer-
there are also several comercial models available from manual to battery to 110 volt plug in to aid in driveway nightmares- places like JC Whitney, Cabelas, most trailer parts stores carry them.
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3e6b363011b7bdolly.jpg/>

Legacy Posts · 03-09-2003, 07:11 AM

Dan, welcome to the board,

Kitty good luck

and Joe; what a great looking project. It looks very well designed. Can you share some details on man hours and stock?

Do you change over to pneumatic tires when on softer ground? It looks like hard rubber in the inset photo.

Legacy Posts · 03-19-2003, 09:34 AM

A "17'; Bigfoot - 1988, loaded, ex cond, $5250 obo" has just popped up in the local newspaper. I've left a message on the owner's answering machine.

tick tock tick tock tick tock

:omy

Kitty

Legacy Posts · 03-19-2003, 10:01 AM

Good luck Kitty! Hope you get it!

Go sit on his front porch!

Legacy Posts · 03-19-2003, 12:02 PM

Published weight specs by the manufacturer or statements from the salesman commonly have little or nothing to do with the weight you'll be towing when travelling. Yet buyers innocently use the 'dry weight' or someones unfounded claim as to what the weight may be, and choose a trailer and/or tow vehicle accordingly. Soon thereafter, one or the other is usually sold or traded.

That recent trailers are 'heavier' is partly due to buyers wanting more options AND the fact that buyers are becoming better informed.

Many sellers won't allow weighing before the purchase, because they already know the results won't be in their favor, they primarily want to make the sale (well, we knew that).

Overloaded :)
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3e78ac6736fedDonkey Cart1.jpg/> .

P.S. RV manufacturers who are members of RIVA post a near accurate 'curb weight' on their trailers. None of the small trailer manufacturers that I know if are RIVA members. Neither Casita nor Scamp want to publish the weight of a 'fully loaded' trailer. Might scare off some buyers.

Legacy Posts · 03-19-2003, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Orginally posted by PineConeDon
Overloaded :)

LOL
Not overloaded, but wrong noseweight .
:jester :laugh :party :loltu

Legacy Posts · 03-19-2003, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Orginally posted by Charles Watts

Good luck Kitty! Hope you get it!

Go sit on his front porch!

I might just do that. I did a "reverse directory" search on the phone number and got the associated address. Looks like they live about five miles from here.

tick tock tick tock tick tock ;)

Kitty

Legacy Posts · 03-19-2003, 01:13 PM

Is it just me or doesn't 1875 lbs for a 17' Bigfoot seem rather light. I thought thats about what Scamps and Casitas weighed and Bigfoot's (Bigfeet?) weigh alot more than them.