This photo of a handmade teardrop trailer in the desert is by Engineer_Allen. His 71-1/2" wide, 108" long, and 60" high trailer is featured on Instructables and his requirements and step-by-step building guide is available on the website.
Showing posts with label plans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plans. Show all posts
Friday Teardrop Photo
This photo of a handmade teardrop trailer in the desert is by Engineer_Allen. His 71-1/2" wide, 108" long, and 60" high trailer is featured on Instructables and his requirements and step-by-step building guide is available on the website.
Featured Teardrop: DewDropN
William Warren is a reader of the Tiny Yellow Teardrop blog and sent me some photos of his wonderful build: the DewDropN. During his build, he lurked on a few websites while trying to decide what he wanted to build. He worked on and off for about a year on his trailer and still considers it a work in progresss. He purchased all of his trim, hinges and latches from Grant Whipp of Li'l Bear Tag Alongs.
"There were some frustrations and I stumbled along at times but whenever I hit a problem I would stop and think about it or just sleep on it and do some more research and boom there would be the answer," William said. "Sleeping on a problem is actually very good life advice I think."
Bedding for the Tear has been a journey too.
"We tried 4 inch pads and an air bed which was more comfortable than the pads but it did eventually let us down one night," he added. "So, I finally found a memory foam mattress that fits and it is awesome!"
Photos courtesy of William Warren
Woodcraft Camp Kitchen
Various teardrop trailers have a very basic galley. Some of the Little Guy trailers, including the Platforms and Sports, have a simple flat galley with no kitchen storage or cooking implements. This can be remedied by building your own camp kitchen.
Woodcraft Supply has a set of plans for a wooden camp kitchen that is only 30 inches long by 19 inches deep by 17 inches tall. This kitchen is also mobile and can be moved from the galley to a picnic table. It can hold a stove, pots and pans, cups and plates, and it even has a dowel rod for a dish towel. The kitchen can be build with basic stock wood and plywood and painted or stained.
Woodcraft Supply, LLC is one of the nation's oldest and largest suppliers of quality woodworking tools and supplies. You'll find Woodcraft stores in more than 70 major metropolitan areas across the U.S.; and Woodcraft annually distributes 1.5 million catalogs featuring more than 8,000 items to all 50 states and 117 foreign countries. The Woodcraft catalog is a standard among woodworkers as the most complete offering of first rate products for woodworking available anywhere. Woodcraft also publishes six issues of Woodcraft Magazine annually.
Woodcraft Supply has a set of plans for a wooden camp kitchen that is only 30 inches long by 19 inches deep by 17 inches tall. This kitchen is also mobile and can be moved from the galley to a picnic table. It can hold a stove, pots and pans, cups and plates, and it even has a dowel rod for a dish towel. The kitchen can be build with basic stock wood and plywood and painted or stained.
Woodcraft Supply, LLC is one of the nation's oldest and largest suppliers of quality woodworking tools and supplies. You'll find Woodcraft stores in more than 70 major metropolitan areas across the U.S.; and Woodcraft annually distributes 1.5 million catalogs featuring more than 8,000 items to all 50 states and 117 foreign countries. The Woodcraft catalog is a standard among woodworkers as the most complete offering of first rate products for woodworking available anywhere. Woodcraft also publishes six issues of Woodcraft Magazine annually.
Teardrop Camping with Big Dogs
I first met Ernie and Joy and their two large, black Labrador Retrievers, Rudy and Holly, at the International Redwood Gathering. They are fairly new teardroppers, but all four of them already look like pros. I wanted to get the Seattle couple's input on how they camp in their 2014 Cozy Cruiser with their big dogs—while still having room for themselves. I also wanted to get Rudy and Holly's opinion on teardrop trailers.
"We are having fun learning the ins and outs of teardropping," Joy said. "We love the time when we’re able to get away and we love bringing “the darlings” with us. The darlings are our two black labs, Rudy and Holly. They will be 12 years old this Christmas. Rudy is short for Rudolph and Holly is short for Holly Berry, our 2002 Christmas gifts.They’ve been going to work with us every day since they were seven weeks old, but both have slowed down in the last couple of years. Both have health issues and have their limitations, especially Rudy."
Why did you decide to get a teardrop?
Ernie had been looking into getting one for some time. We hadn’t been camping in a lot of years but knew we wanted to get back to it. We wanted something simple that would be easy to tow and wouldn’t require a gas-guzzling vehicle to pull it. We also wanted something that would get us off the ground to sleep in, yet still allow us to enjoy the outdoors.
Did you have to consider how the dogs would fit?
We didn’t agree on this topic. I wanted the dogs to sleep in the teardrop with us, but didn’t want to admit they were too big for that. So our plan was to buy them their own tent. We wanted one that would attach to our teardrop but still haven’t found the perfect one. We settled for an EZ-Up tent as a temporary solution and set it up close to our teardrop. The darlings have the entire tent for their beds and toys and they’re happy.
What are the sleeping arrangements like?
The darlings are very happy sleeping in their very own tent together. Ernie and I sleep in the teardrop. When Ernie goes camping by himself Rudy gets to sleep in the teardrop with him. Holly doesn’t go with Ernie because she has separation anxiety when I’m not around.
A couple of times I couldn’t get away from work to go camping but Ernie could and was anxious to take the teardrop out again. I didn’t want him to go alone so he took Rudy along for company on two trips. With just the two of them going, Rudy was able to sleep in the teardrop with Ernie. Ernie said Rudy can really stretch out and also added, "...that dog knows how to relax!" The mattress that came with the teardrop was good but we added a very plush mattress topper to improve it. Now it’s definitely very, very cozy. Ernie said Rudy takes up more room than I do. They watched movies at night on our TV in the teardrop and Ernie had his furry companion to cozy up with. Ernie was telling me there is no way all four of us could fit in there after sleeping with Rudy.
What items do you have to bring for the dogs?
Treats, tent, foldable fencing, dog beds, leashes, dog food, water and food bowls, treats, toys and medicine. Did I mention treats? We have to bring our propane camp ring because Holly is afraid of the smoke from campfires. If there’s too much smoke from campfires nearby, she’s happy relaxing in the teardrop until it’s time to go to bed.
What logistics do you keep in mind?
We have to stop more often to allow them to stretch their legs and go potty.
What's the best part about camping with dogs?
First of all; they love going for rides in the car. They love camping and we’re able to spend more quality time with them.
What are some challenges?
We’re limited on some of the places we can go because they can’t be left alone for long periods of time.
Rudy and Holly, what do you think of teardrop camping and what's your favorite camp food?
We LOVE getting out of the house and going camping with Mommy and Daddy. It's fun sleeping in our new tent and smelling all the smells of the great outdoors and we enjoy swimming any chance we get. The fresh air makes us really hungry! We enjoy our dog food and doggie treats but also enjoy any leftovers Mommy and Daddy want to share.
"We are having fun learning the ins and outs of teardropping," Joy said. "We love the time when we’re able to get away and we love bringing “the darlings” with us. The darlings are our two black labs, Rudy and Holly. They will be 12 years old this Christmas. Rudy is short for Rudolph and Holly is short for Holly Berry, our 2002 Christmas gifts.They’ve been going to work with us every day since they were seven weeks old, but both have slowed down in the last couple of years. Both have health issues and have their limitations, especially Rudy."
Why did you decide to get a teardrop?
Ernie had been looking into getting one for some time. We hadn’t been camping in a lot of years but knew we wanted to get back to it. We wanted something simple that would be easy to tow and wouldn’t require a gas-guzzling vehicle to pull it. We also wanted something that would get us off the ground to sleep in, yet still allow us to enjoy the outdoors.
Did you have to consider how the dogs would fit?
We didn’t agree on this topic. I wanted the dogs to sleep in the teardrop with us, but didn’t want to admit they were too big for that. So our plan was to buy them their own tent. We wanted one that would attach to our teardrop but still haven’t found the perfect one. We settled for an EZ-Up tent as a temporary solution and set it up close to our teardrop. The darlings have the entire tent for their beds and toys and they’re happy.
What are the sleeping arrangements like?
The darlings are very happy sleeping in their very own tent together. Ernie and I sleep in the teardrop. When Ernie goes camping by himself Rudy gets to sleep in the teardrop with him. Holly doesn’t go with Ernie because she has separation anxiety when I’m not around.
A couple of times I couldn’t get away from work to go camping but Ernie could and was anxious to take the teardrop out again. I didn’t want him to go alone so he took Rudy along for company on two trips. With just the two of them going, Rudy was able to sleep in the teardrop with Ernie. Ernie said Rudy can really stretch out and also added, "...that dog knows how to relax!" The mattress that came with the teardrop was good but we added a very plush mattress topper to improve it. Now it’s definitely very, very cozy. Ernie said Rudy takes up more room than I do. They watched movies at night on our TV in the teardrop and Ernie had his furry companion to cozy up with. Ernie was telling me there is no way all four of us could fit in there after sleeping with Rudy.
What items do you have to bring for the dogs?
Treats, tent, foldable fencing, dog beds, leashes, dog food, water and food bowls, treats, toys and medicine. Did I mention treats? We have to bring our propane camp ring because Holly is afraid of the smoke from campfires. If there’s too much smoke from campfires nearby, she’s happy relaxing in the teardrop until it’s time to go to bed.
What logistics do you keep in mind?
We have to stop more often to allow them to stretch their legs and go potty.
What's the best part about camping with dogs?
First of all; they love going for rides in the car. They love camping and we’re able to spend more quality time with them.
What are some challenges?
We’re limited on some of the places we can go because they can’t be left alone for long periods of time.
Rudy and Holly, what do you think of teardrop camping and what's your favorite camp food?
We LOVE getting out of the house and going camping with Mommy and Daddy. It's fun sleeping in our new tent and smelling all the smells of the great outdoors and we enjoy swimming any chance we get. The fresh air makes us really hungry! We enjoy our dog food and doggie treats but also enjoy any leftovers Mommy and Daddy want to share.
Teardrop Trailers on Makezine and Instructables
There are tons of teardrop trailer plans and schematics on the web, and because of the popularity of DIY, many of these home built trailers been showing up in Make Magazine and the handy step-by-step site, Instructables.
While these types of sites don't take the place of a well drawn plan, they are a handy tool to see the process and final project. What's also great about these plans is that the trailers have already been built by the owners and they are sharing not only the visual steps they took to build the trailer, but also what issues they run into, how they purchase their supplies and any links they found to be helpful.
Here are a few teardrops that have been featured on Make Magazine and Instructables.
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