Scamp Factory

[DavidWW]

My wife and I are thinking of taking a trip to the Scamp factory in Backus. Worth a 900 mile round trip? Doesn't look like much in Backus. Where do others stay and eat? David

[Mike Magee]

If you are seriously contemplating a purchase of a Scamp, especially a new one, then it may be worth the trip.

You might be able to make a vacation out of it. Find some other places out that way to see or things to do. Mall of America, the North Shore waterfalls and scenery, something like that.

[fusedlight]

There are plenty of things to do near backups. When Dorothy and I were up there in early spring we drove a little ways up to the headwaters of Mississippi up at lake itasca.

[fusedlight]

Darn spelling corrector on this iPhone. Not near "backups"!

[Laura June]

Are you looking for a motel or a campground?

[LukeP]

Originally Posted by DavidWW

My wife and I are thinking of taking a trip to the Scamp factory in Backus. Worth a 900 mile round trip? Doesn't look like much in Backus. Where do others stay and eat? David

Part of the answer would be regarding your purpose of visiting the factory? If you need something that can't be shipped - then it's worth it simply b/c you have no other option! If you're going to simply spend a day checking it out - then get the opinions of folks who have done the same.

I was in Minneapolis last month so drove the extra 3 hours so I could pick up a screen door. Now that I've been, I don't think I would have made that same drive just to "check it out" - while they're very friendly, it's not setup like huge factories that cater to ongoing tours/guests (think: ben & jerrys, john deere, brewerys, etc). It's more like a nice machine shop.

Unless I didn't completely missed something because I didn't get a 'tour' - hence, ask those who have

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by fusedlight

Darn spelling corrector on this iPhone. Not near "backups"!

LOL dont you love it! you have to admit it gets pretty creative some times

[Jeff Richardson]

Because I was going to St. Cloud, MN from Seattle, WA on vacation in July of last year and I wanted to buy front and rear overhead cabinets for my 1977 Scamp I stopped by the factory in Backus on the way to pick them up. This saved me the $300 in crating and shipping charges for these two items. They have to carefully crate them to keep them from getting scratched and it is an oversized item.

I would not have driven the 3200+ mile round trip just to see the factory and pick up my cabinets but I'm glad I was able to combine it with other activities in MN. Well, except for one activity...

The night before I went to the factory I camped about 20 miles away at a resort at Crow Wing Lake 12 or something like that. I was going to sleep in the back of my Ranger pickup like I had for many years. Unfortunately the legendary Minnesota mosquitoes made their appearance after dark and I could not get rid of them. I drove up and down the highway trying to blow them out of the back of the truck but they reappeared once I climbed in the back. I even tried to sleep in the front seat but they were in there too!!! It was like I was living in a real-life horror movie.

I eventually set up a dome tent I brought just in case I couldn't sleep in the back of the truck with the cabinets in there. I kept the screen door zipped closed untill I could dive in and quickly zip it closed again. I was finally free from the winged warriors at 2:00AM!!! I could hear them buzzing outside the tent but there were none inside.

After I paid for the cabinets I asked Trent if I could take a look inside the factory. He gave me a quick tour. He said if I wanted a more in-depth tour one of the salesmen could do that. I was happy seeing what I saw with Trent. I enjoyed seeing the complete process from start to finish.

I did not feel comfortable asking him if I could take pictures so I didn't. There were workers everywhere and they might not want to be photographed. There are some pictures of the inside of the Scamp factory on their Facebook web site. Here's a link:

Scamp Trailers/Eveland's Inc. - Small Business - Backus, MN | Facebook

In the past I've been able to look at those pictures without signing up with Facebook or loggin in. I couldn't do it today.

I did take a lot of pictures of the Scamps outside at the sales office. It was such a treat to see so many of them. I took detail pictures of the things that I had never seen before and will use for ideas on my Scamp.

There were always people stopping to look at the Scamps. The salesman told me that they leave these trailers on display for about a month and then sell them at a discount as if they were used.

There were other trailers along the fences. The group of 16-footers look so alike that I am wondering if it was a fleet order.

It was raining when I got there but after a few hours the skies were clear, everything dried out and it was getting hot.

I ate lunch at a restaurant across the highway. It was very busy and the food was good.

I've attached several photos around the outside of the factory plus one of how I brought my cabinets home and still had room to sleep. I wanted to travel light so I left my trailer at home.

Jeff

[steve dunham]

There is not much to see in Backus proper . There is a nice restaurant and grocery store on the Hwy east of town. I was told at the Scamp factory this April that if I was looking at buying a new trailer that a salesman would give me a tour of the factory but they have no scheduled tours due to insurance reasons. There are things to do and see in Brainerd Minnesota which is south of Backus on Hwy 371. Backus itself has a bar, a church, and an auto repair shop but not much else except Scamp . There is a lot of lakes and campgrounds in the area and Brainerd Lakes is a big tourist area.

[DavidWW]

Thanks to all for your thoughtful replies. We will go next week to check out their trailersand see the sights in the area. After owning a 17' Casita SD, a 21' Big Foot, and a 19' Escape we have come to the conclusion that for us we can't find the perfect lightweight camping and sitting trailer. We decided to focus on a camping trailer exclusively which for us means something under 3500lbs GVWR. Will probably look at the Parkliner and Lil Snoozy as well. Although we are leery of their casette style toilets. Hope someone comments on them at some point. Again thanks to all. We love this site. David

[rgrugg]

Couldn't hurt to take a look at Egg Camper along with the others.

[Ed Harris]

Originally Posted by DavidWW

Thanks to all for your thoughtful replies. We will go next week to check out their trailersand see the sights in the area. After owning a 17' Casita SD, a 21' Big Foot, and a 19' Escape we have come to the conclusion that for us we can't find the perfect lightweight camping and sitting trailer. We decided to focus on a camping trailer exclusively which for us means something under 3500lbs GVWR. Will probably look at the Parkliner and Lil Snoozy as well. Although we are leery of their casette style toilets. Hope someone comments on them at some point. Again thanks to all. We love this site. David

What do you mean by perfect camping and sitting trailer?

[DavidWW]

A trailer that is small enough to hook up and tow easily and one that is spacious enough if you stay in one place for a month PR more.

[Ed Harris]

Ahh!

They do seem sort of mutually exclusive I suppose?
Did the biggest one you have owned have enough room for sitting but was too big to pick up and go?

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by DavidWW

A trailer that is small enough to hook up and tow easily and one that is spacious enough if you stay in one place for a month PR more.

Some people just require more space than others. It's a very subjective thing. We've had no trouble living in our 13' Scamp for 3 months at a time, with close to a month in one place. Others couldn't stand living in anything less than a 40' MH. Everybody has an ideal size for them. For Anne and I it's our little 13'.

[RogerDat]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Some people just require more space than others. It's a very subjective thing. We've had no trouble living in our 13' Scamp for 3 months at a time, with close to a month in one place. Others couldn't stand living in anything less than a 40' MH. Everybody has an ideal size for them. For Anne and I it's our little 13'.

I'm not sure how well we would do in our 13 ft for 3 months, suppose we would work out a routine and system over time. We might possibly consider it, on the other hand I could park the 13 in the living room of my sisters 5th wheel (with the expandos) and she has been known to say it gets crowded with a grand kid along.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by RogerDat

I'm not sure how well we would do in our 13 ft for 3 months, suppose we would work out a routine and system over time. We might possibly consider it, on the other hand I could park the 13 in the living room of my sisters 5th wheel (with the expandos) and she has been known to say it gets crowded with a grand kid along.

You definitely have to like the person you're traveling with and I often say to people that look at us like we're crazy, "it's not for everyone".

[DavidWW]

The Big Foot was a marginal sitting camper. Would like something bigger for extended stays but didn't like pulling even the 21' Big Foot. We have decided to rent a park model for three months this coming winter in Mesa, AZ and anticipate doing that for the forseeable future. Still have much to see around the country but will do that in a small camper for a week or two at a time.

[jennykatz]

We have the Lil Snoozy it has the cassette toilet (4 1/2 gallons) Usually needs to be emptied every other day (2 people) But for traveling it's great to be able to empty in a truck stop toilet and not have to go to a dump station saving $ and time . For us it was a plus . if you are staying for a week or month or longer it could get to be a pain then again I hate that toilet snake what a mess . we bought our snoozy used so we didnt get the factory tour but I hear Alan is very accomodating

[Egg Shopper]

David I just returned from Backous MN yesterday. I had this impression that north of Brainerd it would be sparsely populated with not much being up there and I was definitely wrong. Baxter which is fairly close and south of Backous has a Costco, various hotels and restaurants you would find in the Twin Cities metro area. When you go north of Baxter is seems obvious that many people from the metro area go here in the summer with all the resorts, very nice houses, condo, specialty shops and other businesses on your way up to Backous. You should have no problems for places to eat and stay.