Just purchased 1985 Burro 13'! Will be needing some advice on renovation...

[ADK burro bret]

Hello from the southern Adirondacks of upstate, NY! Just purchased a 1985 Burro that was only an hour drive away! (Feeling lucky to find one so close). She is in ruff shape, but i like the blank slate and am excited to get her fixed up. I am going to be needing advise as i go... so dont be shy with some helpfull tips and advise.
This little trailer is going to not only serve us for camping, but its initial and primary use will be as a mobile acupunture studio!
To Do list:
- Floor is shot (Pull the shell from the trailer and replace plywood)
- Sky Light (Needs) replacing
- Sort through all the electrical and utilities
- Re seal all the windows
- Cabinet doors
- Upholstery
- Basically EVERYTHING...

I have looked at many threads already and everyone on this forum seems super helpful,

Thanks in advance and wish us luck!
Pics:
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[mary and bob]

Bret, is that the one that was in New Lebanon NY. Only 20 minutes or so from us.

[ADK burro bret]

Yes it is, did you stop by to take a look at it?

[jen b]

Congratulations and welcome to the Burro herd!

[mary and bob]

No, we didn't look at it as we already have a 13' Uhaul, and didn't need another project. But it's the case of you never know what's going to show up in your own area. If it had been real cheap we may have bought it for resale. We'll be at Fish Creek Pond June 6 to 9th, but with our teardrop, not the Uhaul. Have seen only one Burro in our travels, a 13' model that was in storage at a gold mine / campground in North Carolina.

[Donna D.]

Hi Bret to FiberglassRV. I'm late to the welcoming party because I've been out camping.

Thanks for posting the pictures, looks like you've got a nice trailer that will give you many happy memories.

We're glad you're here

[Rozanne G]

Hello from ADK north section. Nice to see there is another Burro 13 in the North Country. Just a thought- check out the tongue area of the trailer, especially the angle from the Burro to the hitch. It is a weak area needing a little extra metal for support . When we found our Burro both sides were cracked. We did a clean severing and had welded plates attached for a nice strong trailer frame. Enjoy your Burro- we certainly have and though we now have a bit larger camper we keep the Burro for special camping. I have often thought of getting rid of the 3 way fridge and just utilising area for easy access storage- also your idea to upgrade the electrics is great- Look forward to maybe sighting your Burro on the road- have a great summer.

[mary and bob]

Do we see an Adirondak fiberglass rally forming here, two Burros and a Uhaul??

[Jared Sartee]

Hi Bret,

Just found your post, my wife and I just purchased a 13'er with a very similar list of repairs. I'm wondering if you've gotten to removing the shell to take a closer look at the floor. I know we need to do this, and that we will likely be replacing the axle at the same time, but I'm wondering what materials to go with for the new floor. We're thinking bamboo floor on top, but the baseboards are fair game for anything that will last another 30 years. Let me know if you have additional pictures of your teardown that might be useful, and I'll be sure to keep you updated with the same.

Thanks,
Jared

[ADK burro bret]

My trailer frame is in good shape and came with plates welded in that area. I had a local fabrication shop at supports down the center of the trailer as well as in the entry area. I have been plugging away any am getting closer to finishing the project. Let me know if your are

[ADK burro bret]

In the Southern park of the park and you can come visit

[ADK burro bret]

I can't remember if I sent you a message yet.... How are you coming on the project?

[Jared Sartee]

Just started to take the floor out of ours. The entire thing needs to be replaced, and we're looking to separate the shell from the frame today. We've read the blogs on how to do the removal, but we were wondering if you have any tips. We've removed the 11 bolts that hold the floor to the frame (3 rows, front, axel, and rear), but it seems there are still a few more hiding somewhere.

[ADK burro bret]

Hello,
To begin the process of removing the coach from the trailer frame, I first removed all of the electrical wiring and gas lines that connected through the floor. My coach was fastened to the trailer using lag bolts. The bolts heads were a mess, so i decided to cut all of the bolts from underneath. I used a sawzall and was able to slide the blade between the floor and the frame and cut off all the bolts. I then removed the front and rear windows of the coach and slid long boards all the way through from front to back. I then lifted each end of the boards using come alongs. (I am fortunate to have a barn with exposed rafters to use the lift the coach off the trailer. I then cut the floor away from the coach. The floor was fiber glassed to coach, so i used a grinder to cut through the fiberglass on the inside of the coach until i hit the wood floor. The wood was very rotten so i was able to pull the wood out from between the inner and outer shells of the coach.
The task of inserting the new floor into the grooves between the inner and outer shell took a while. I used some rope and a cam strap and cinched it down to get the coach to its orginal shape. The reason for this is that the gaps in the door need to be right before you measure and cut your new floor. The coach will not hold its shape without the help of a strap/rope. I then placed 3 4x8 plywood sheets on the trailer and lowered the coach down. I traced the outline of the coach on the plywood to give me a ruff estimate of where to cut. Once i fiddled with getting the 3 sections the proper shape and inserted into the coach, i mixed up small batches of resin and fiber glassed the plywood to the new floor on the inside and outside as well as the seams in the plywood sections. Once it was all finished, i lowered the coach with floor back onto the trailer. I used galvanized carriage bolts to hold it down. I also had extra supports welded into the trailer frame down the center to give more support to the floor.
I could then move on to fastening the inner shell of the coach to to floor. for this i choose stainless steel screws.
Replacing the floor was the hard part. I am now finishing up with patching the exterior where the vents were for the gas fride and range.... I am finished wiring the 12v system, the 110v system, and put in all new pumbing. Upholstered seat cushions are done and are waiting for me to put in the new cork floor. Only a few hours left and she will be ready for the road!

[ADK burro bret]

Here are some pictures of floor replacement for reference. I also used an asphalt fence paint to seal the exterior of the new plywood floor. I painted it while it was suspended. I refurbished and painted the trailer along with the addition of the new supports. before i lowered the coach on the frame. I stuck ice and water shield on the trailer frame to seal the floor to the trailer.








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[Jared Sartee]

Thank you for posting all those great pictures. I think it inspired us to just get going with it, although we did not have the luxury of exposed rafters to lift against.

Fortunately, our landlord had 6 ratcheting jacks that we used to lift the shell while we removed the wheels and slid the frame out. We were able to slide the frame out the front, despite the rear bumper interfering with the jacks, by lifting with a 2x4 while a third and fourth person removed and repositioned the jacks. Tough work, but if you throw enough people at it, anything is possible. Kind of like an old fashioned barn raising. (how did your barn get built anyway?)

Here are a couple pictures that are hopefully pretty self-explanitory...

[Mary F]

Hi, guys! This is too good a topic to get "buried" here in the introductions forum; so, I copied the Removing Coach Shell from Frame posts into a new thread in the Moderations forum. We will link back to this thread from there, but you may get more lookers on the Mods forum, as some people interested in your project may never even look at this "Hi, I am..." section.