The
Oliver is a fine trailer with a lot of features and a price tag to match! I considered one, but was not impressed with the sterile looking interior (like a hospital operating room).
Oliver had just introduced the Elite II and had graciously agreed to allow me to tow one around town. At the time, I had just
sold a
Scamp 19 which I desperately wanted to replace. My ownership experience with the
Scamp had been very trying on my patience, and I did not like the bed at all. My tow vehicle was a 2012 F-150 with 3.5 L V6 EcoBoost, rated to tow @ 12,500 lbs, even more than Ford’s V8. When towing the Scamp at 60 MPH on the interstates, if I punched it, the 3.5 would pin me back in the seat and accelerate to 75 mph quite literally in a heartbeat.
When Oliver hooked their trailer to my F-150, it’s added
weight was immediately noticeable. The “zip” experienced with the Scamp was not there, and punching it did produce an increase in speed, but over a slower time. Obviously, added
weight has an effect on fuel efficiency. I pulled into an empty gas station to check maneuverability. The added length was definitely detrimental to a degree (though manageable, just not as convenient. My final test was backing into a “perceived campsite” in a parking lot. Because the Scamp 19’s wheels are closer to the connection point it is essentially a short lever that swings rather quickly (very responsive to minor steering adjustments). The Oliver, being a bumper pull with a tongue positions the trailer wheels much further back makes it much easier to back as it is somewhat less responsive to steering adjustments. Anyone who has ever tried to back up a dump cart attached to a lawn tractor will understand this principle! Of course, over time, one learns the intricacies if backing any trailer. Bottom line however is that going from one trailer to another will result in different towing characteristics.
Scampy
Linear Mode
