RV all seasons

September 2010

2010-09-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

Fall is here and we sure do have alot of leaves on the ground. Been at this campground for three months now and have really enjoyed our time here. It's still Rob myself and Brandon and of course the two dogs.
Brandon is in school in town and I am gearing up to re open the shop about a mile from the campground. Not really in a big hurry to re open, the economy is shit and from what I am hearing from the other shops, is that there just is not that much work out there. Although when I open this shop, it will just be me, no employees, I am thinking that it will be a bit of a tough go, also due to being out of the my area by about 12 miles. That won't help for sure.

The new shop has a place for the fiver, right between two buildings and even has a septic there. Waterline and hydro no problem. Shop is 2500 sq feet and the only problem is heating it as its old and in need of repair. What I want to do is rent this for the winter and make do, and then move to one of the other units there that are under construction. Real nice unit with infloor heating. So figuring if all works out well, maybe move into the new unit in the spring when hopefully it is completed. Also depending on whether I make any money or not this winter.

Now failing all of that, I can stay at this campground for the winter. I just have to move the fiver up too the front of the campground where there is access to water. 100 bucks a week plus the hydro and I am set for the winter. I have enough money to last me the winter, but will go into next spring with little funds. The problem is that I have to stay in this area due to the kid being in school and I really don't want to see him have to change schools at his age, 16.

I could go and work at a shop too, I am a little out there for driving back and forth though, maybe 4 day work week and 10 or 12 hours a day, but no one is hiring right now and if anything shops are just scraping by and trying to keep the guys they have working.

This recession, well I for one am sick of it, problem though, is that I figure it is just gonnna get worse. Don't know what is gonna happen in the States as they have a ton of problems and alot of people not working, never mind thier debt problems. Been reading how alot of very smart people are saying the dollar could collapse and a very good chance of a double dip recession.

All in all it does not look good. I am glad that I chose this lifestyle so many years ago and have lived a debt free life.

Off work now for 4 months and that is getting tiring too. Worked for so many years, that it is hard to just stop. I feel better and my lungs for the most part are cleaned out.

The fiver has been working good, and with the exception of the skirting, we are pretty much set for the winter. Once I figure where we will be, thats only about a days work. Figuring on 1/4 plywood cut to size to run around the fiver. My underbelly is sealed and heated via the furnace and last two years with no skirting we had no problems. Thinking of maybe a 250 pound propane tank if it is cheaper to refill due to a larger quantity. Did find a place about 12 miles north of here that will fill a 100 pounder for 65 bucks taxes in, that is cheap.

Also i tore out the living room carpeting and need to replace that, good job for this week.

Another item that I have been researching is preparedness, seems the gov down in the states is having a preparedness month, trying to get thier people aware that it is prudent to have some food and energy supplies on hand in case of a problem. I think that is good measures, and considering stocking up on food items, water and fuel for the genny. I try to keep a good supply of groceries and the freezer full but adding some more sure won't hurt. The cost of groceries is sure creeping up. One really has to shop wise these days as the money sure don't go far. I feed three guys and two german shepherds and it easily is 200.00 per week, although we eat well, a meat dinner everynight. Dogs are on a raw food diet, and one would think that this is expensive, but not. I say that and smoke at over 7 bucks for a pack of em. I did quit this past summer for a whole month, but damn back at it.

Aug 2010

2010-07-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

Been camping the last two months, paying monthly at a campground in Acton, very nice here, have a huge site with two firepits, lots of trees and nice landscaping. Great neighbours and weekends very little transient campers as we are in the seasonal section. Its my brother in law Rob and I and my kid too, Shane has been here for most of the summer too and some of his buddies, for the most part my campsite has been very busy with kids, also Jane and the grandbrats are here every other weekend. Kids meet other kids here, so at any one time you could have like 10 teenagers on the site. But overall the kids have been swell, good mixture from 12 to 18 years of age, all polite too.
I am back in my fiver, long story there. The truck camper deal i built is parked here in storage. Yea its better, way more room and a onboard washer dryer. Easier for the dogs too, they sleep with me so now we have a king size bed for the three of us to sleep on. Dogs have been good, but sense they are bored, they like being in a shop with lots of people around.
525 a month here, which is cheap compared to Rockwood at 1000 per month and other local campgrounds at 720 per month. Yup camping is not cheap. Hst came in July 1 and upped our month rate from 525 to 565. Thanks, i think this hst is just another tax grab and they needed a way to get a additional 8 points from gas and diesel sales.

So seriously thinking of renting a shop that is about a mile from this campground. 2500 square feet for around 2 grand per month. Has a spot for my trailer and a water line and septic is already there. My trailer will sit in between two buildings, out of the wind and real close to the shop. I have not secured the deal yet, but am close, mostly trying to figure out what day to start back to work. I have alot of people that are wanting me to do some work for them and waiting for me to re open. One guy wants to build a International tractor into a rv puller, and that will likely be my first big job and i may start that in around the middle of august.
the wife and kid got kicked out of our seasonal campground that we were at for 7 years, seems the kid had a party. Wife is living on her own now, and the kid is with me. Finally we are going our own ways and i could not be any happîer about that. If i take this shop, the kid can go to his high school here in Acton, that works out well for him. He can take all the courses he failed this last year, yea smart kid failing, more on this another day.
So big changes in my life lately, and overdue changes too. One thing i need to do is reconfigure my truck to haul my fiver again, yup, redo all the work that i just did this last spring, take the truck camper off and all that. So that will be a project this winter. Looks like it will be Rob me and the kid living at the shop for the winter. I might have Rob stay in the truck camper for sleeping and showering etc, see what pans out. roughing it, ha not really, but this year, i am going to spend some time setting it up for winter rv living, skirting the trailer and what not. Once the trailer is parked in its spot, i will not have to move it around like i had too last year. I will be able to hunker down and concentrate on making some money, and most importantly, guiding the kid as there is a number of items that he needs to address starting sept 1. I told him we are just gonna waste the summer away, take it easy or as he says, chill man.

2010-06-19T12:12:00.001-07:00

So here is the drivers side. Batteries and some extra room which i have now filled with a espar diesel heat system and fuel tank. heavy duty battery charger with time and a iota converter three stage battery charger, 45 amper. I use two 1000 watt inverters to supply all my power as they are cheap at 100 bucks a piece, and i can turn one off without affecting my main fridge. the beer fridge from a warm temp, turn it on and within two hours it will freeze a beer.

I went with the espar heating system as i also had a cold floor in the camper. I cut a hole close to the floor as a heating duct and this where the espar shoots out the heat, heats the floor very nice and warms the camper quick and easy, especially when it is minus 20 outside.

In the coldest weather it uses about 5 gallons a week of diesel which is very affordable considering I was using 40 pounds of propane a week. Also the heat is more uniform and remains a constant temp as the espar switches to a low setting to maintain the temp.

My doors in the camper that allow extra storage when you have the camper in the back of a pickup truck, well i enclose two of them so that i can have more storage. real handy for extra canned foods and stuff like that. My camper has alot of storage already, but more is better.

The Truck Camper

2010-06-19T12:01:00.000-07:00

1993 Lance 10.5 Squire 8000, i bought last fall for 2500.00 off a older lady that used it as she travelled around with her horses to shows and stuff. Bought it for the kid and one day it will go back to him providing he smartens up, it will fit nicely on his truck that sits in storage again till he figures its time to smarten up and work with the people that are behind him. yea teenagers, time will tell.

I set the camper on my ford e 350 dually that i use to haul my fiver with. Powerstroke diesel with a chip, lots of power. I suspect this whole deal weighs in around 10000 pounds. Left the sleeper on for extra storage but had to cut the roof down to get the camper to sit where i wanted it to sit.
The above pic shows the camper with the side doors open, honda 3000 watt genny, snap on tool box, and the beer fridge, also in there is a two speakers tucked up under the camper and in the side compartment is the sony explod system with a separate amp for subwoofers. Sounds good and once your into the campsite, just unbolt the doors and they either lay down to have a nice big table or unhook the chains and they go right to the ground. Grab a beer and chair, turn on the radio and relax.

I had to build a 12 inch high platform for the camper to sit on in order to get clearence for the cab . This puts the camper a little high on the truck but after using and driving the whole unit, it feels very stable, probably due to the dually and extra wieght of the sleeper.

I use the sleeper for extra stuff to have around when travelling and camping but the big thing is a freezer. Yup a onboard chest freezer, and its full of different meats, frozen juices breads and southern comfort. This is the best thing to have when travelling and living fulltime whether in a fiver or truck camper. Can take advantage of deals at the grocery store and less spending in the shops close to campgrounds where it can tend to be expensive.

The outside beer fridge and freezer work off one of the inverters. 1000 watt inverter supplies the power from 4 crown 6 volt batteries. i can easily run 24 hours with this setup as long as i am frugal with the camper lights and what not. I should also say, the camper fridge inside is a home unit too and works off the 1000 watt inverter that supplies the camper power.

Been Awhile

2010-06-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

I see i have not posted anything for quite awhile, been busy in the shop the last few months and actually made some money. But i closed the shop June 1 to take the summer off, i plan to open up again maybe in mid august. This time around, just me working in the shop as there is not enough work to warrant a payroll.

I moved into the truck camper back in Feb and have been customizing it over the last few months to my liking. I installed it on the truck that i use to haul my fiver as I had my fiver moved to our seasonal site and it will sit there till at least this fall.

The wife does not want to travel and that suits me fine, so it is basically my brother in law and I travelling the summer away. My 15 year old has been screwing up in school this last year and has to do summer school so he wont be available for extended camping trips.

So I have the summer off, wife is settled into our seasonal site and the kid can come out on weekends when he is not tied up with army cadets. I am also considering going on my own and the wife do her thing as threw the years we pretty much ended up doing our own thing anyhow. Getting close to 50 now, really appreciate my time alone and not with all the business of the wifes bullshit.

When i moved into the truck camper back in Feb, I decided to do everything on my own, yup shopping, cooking laundry and cleaning. You know what, it was the best thing that i could do. I am happier and more content and the peace and quiet is the big plus. I dont see any reason to go back. Matter of fact i camped at our seasonal site about a month ago and parked right beside my fiver, had the whole family over for dinner and even sat on my seasonal site with the wife and had a campfire.

this fall, the wife and kid are going to rent a apartment about 10 miles from our town so that he can go to the school that he wants to go to, i will likely remain in the truck camper but have the choice of going back into my fiver. The fiver is a pain in the ass though, levelling and 4 slides, big 40 foot unit fully equipped, nice unit, but i only ever used the bedroom and shower. With my truck camper i can get into the nice tent sites in local campgrounds where my fiver would never fit. Plus i can easily tow my boat if needed.

I really dont want to tow anything anymore, after so many years of towing i think i am finally done with it. I dont need alot of room and the last four or so months in the truck camper has confirmed to me that i am okay with it.

The Cold is Coming

2010-01-26T07:18:00.000-08:00

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I moved the trailer outside a few weeks back cause we got busy in the shop with work, needed more work room. But the weather overall the last couple of weeks has been warm, well warm for this time of year. Cold front is starting to move in and we got snow last night.

Here is the trailer outside the shop, I have it close enough to run a 20 amp service and a 50 foot water line to fill the onboard storage tank. It's working well except that we are right in the wind again.

I am glad that it is turning colder due to the ground will finally freeze up and we won't be tracking in mud into the trailer. I keep getting the forklift stuck right outside my overhead door due to mud and lots of it. I am doing a dump truck for a ashalt guy and he says about 1200 bucks will get the area outside my overhead door asphalted. He starts work in around March so that is high on my priority list for spring cleanup time. I did cleanup all oustide the shop door, I moved all my parts and junk to the back yard and piled it neatly.

I have been working on my little hauler truck a little here and there. I did find a used power chip programmer for my truck for 100 bucks, I installed it and what a difference in power. I have it set to level 2 which is insane for pulling a heavy load like my fiver, but its a guy thing and I had to see just how much this chip will make. Well with the trailer hooked up and on gravel, I can easily spin the tires, not bad, but hard on the truck never mind the tires. I am hoping for a increase in MPG too as alot of guys with the same setup say I should expect that. I got the flatbed part made already and the fuel inlet welded in, the electrical is done with a receptacle for the trailer and a terminal box mounted just behind the hitch where it is easily accessible if I have any electrical problems.

I will probably mount a small headache rack today. Something to sit behind the sleeper on the deck to protect it.

IHere is that Peterbilt from last fall that was white, we are expecting to finish this job tomorrow and kick it outta the shop. Its in the shop right now to paint the frame, then install the fuel tanks and tires. Finally done. The flatbed job is in the shop too, and we expect to get that out next week.

I put a ac unit into the truck camper last week. 13500 btu unit which is way overkill for such a small area. It went in easy as the camper was prewired for it. Fired it up and it shoots real good airflow. The kid and two of his buddies camped in there last night, his army cadet buddies, they have exams today at school and I found out this morning that they were up too 630 this morning, the wife got them outta the camper at 8 am, exams will be tough today ha.

Shop has been steady but seems like it takes a long time to get anything done. Impossible to collect money too, I don't think this year is going to be any better than last. Guys are getting stuff fixed but little money to spend.

With all this good weather this winter, collision work is way down, we are doing alot of welding work instead of usually doing collision work this time of year. Got a little dump truck job to do on a single axle, shorten the frame and mount a 10 foot dump box, the frame is done just waiting to get it sandblasted now. I painted the cab last Friday night and it turned out nice. Pics coming

Slow progress

2010-01-09T16:29:00.000-08:00

I got a few more things done to the truck,. Progress has been slow due to being busy with customer work in the shop. Anyways, got the terminal box done, and receptacle for the trailer plug, also the fuel inlet tube. I made a access plate over the fuel tank too. I added a Edge programmer to get a extra 60 horse out the powerstroke. It works good, the motor is more responsive and feels like it has extra power. Won't know for sure till I get it out on the highway with the fiver hooked.

Buddy dropped me off a real nice wiring harness, which we feed the whole rear end of the truck for all the lights, slick for sure. I am hoping this coming week to have some sort of sides welded on and rear lights installed.

Shop has been busy, here is a pic of that white Pete from last fall, just getting around to finishing it off, I painted the hood the other night as I was waiting for grille surround. Pete wanted close to two grand, aftermarket 600 bucks, big difference.

Pretty much booked this month for work, thats a good sign for the beginning of the year, maybe it is starting to turn around. At any rate I hope it sticks.

The kid made a island for the kitchen area in the fiver. Problem with our unit is the lack of counter space and we have a large kitchen, lots of floor space. So he made this in wood shop at school, brought it home and I stained it and then clear coated it, it looks pretty good and is at the right height too, wife is happy to have the extra counter space.

Were still camping in the shop, been inside since before the holidays. I figured to move the fiver inside to save on propane and fuel costs on the generator and seeing how business was not overy busy, might as well use the shop space. Now I am busy again and could use the space the fiver takes up but now that we are inside its nice and warm in the trailer without using a ton and a half of propane. We have no water today, no water on the property, so thats a bummer, I could go out and load up some water in one of my tanks, but once i do that the water will be back on, you know murphys law.

Theres a shot of the trailer in the shop, tucked into the corner. Were going through about a 100 pounder of propane every two weeks, alot better than one every three days.

2009-12-15T17:28:00.000-08:00

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Here is the deck completed, I got around to it this afternoon, we have been busy in the shop, shortening a Peterbilt. Now the customer wants the frame blasted and painted, good for us, bigger bill for him.

Pretty happy with the deck, I need to install a fuel inlet and a access panel on the rear deck section so that I can open up the fuel tank if needed. Thinking of what I want to do for some side rails or walls and a rear bumper and lights etc.

I found a used Edge Power Chip and will have it in about a week or so when the guy comes down our way. 100 bucks and works on my year of truck, apparrently three settings, up to a 100 hp improvement, I would only want the level one setting which is supposed to up the horsepower some 60 hp.Here is the Pete, cut out a 26 inch section, move the drives up and redrill, mostly together now, tomorrow need to ream some holes and tighten it all up. Weld back on the rear section, lift postion and weld, sounds easy but can be a bear sometimes jobs like these, especially with 8 inch bolts going through aluminum housings, one inch impact would'nt even budge them, heat impact heat impact and then finally break them loose. I woke up this morning and my arms and wrists felt it, not getting any younger. Got all new hardware today, always use new hardware as I like to sleep well at night knowing the work going out the door is done proper.

Cold weather is heading our way from what I hear, glad the trailer is inside the shop.

It's been a month

2009-12-14T15:08:00.000-08:00

Man how times flies, I have not posted anything for almost a month now. Let's see what is new. I moved the trailer indoors now, its been in the shop the last two weeks, I got tired of paying for propane and gasoline and getting dirt and gravel in the trailer cause its in a truck yard, so one day I packed it up and moved indoors. Business in the shop has been steady and if I get real busy I can always pull it back out.

Propane use is way down, a 100 pounder last two weeks now, were plugged into a 30 amp service I installed, so using the fireplace for some additional heat. I took the hd antenna off the trailer and got wire and ran it to the roof of the shop, getting at least 25 stations all crystal clear. Very happy with the tv system now.

I bought a Flojet macerator and about 100 feet of hose so that I can drain the grey and black tanks. I dump the black every two weeks and there is a public bathroom at the front of our complesx where I can do the dirty deed, usually late at night lol. Grey water goes onto the tank on the truck and out to the back of the yard. I have the empty the grey tank every day. The flojet works as advertised and can pump 100 feet no problem at all.

Last week I decided that I am going to keep my truck and not go with a bigger unit. I can't see the sense of going bigger when we only travel a half dozen times with the trailer. The truck is a 95 but only has 220 k on it, mechanically perfect and paid for. Next year I will be lucky to put on 3000 k so I might as well make do with what I have. I do need to loose some weight from the truck and I have started that project already.

I removed the steel bed and the fake fuel tanks, that was about 1400 pounds or so, built a flatbed and remounted the hitch about 18 inches ahead of where it was, it now sits just ahead of the rear axle. I am enclosing the fifth wheel hitch so that it is no longer removable. This truck will be dedicated to trailer hauling duties full time. My idea is to have the truck all setup and ready to go at a moments notice. Water and waste tanks mounted, genset mounted along with the water pumps etc etc.

I should have most of the work done maybe later this week. Once the flatbed is finished i will paint the cab sleeper and then have graphics added to match the trailer.
There she is with the hitch mounted and no deck, I had thought of enclosing the frame rails and then adding fenders but that little hump over the axle really irritates me, with the flatbed I don't have to look at it lol.
I don't need the truck till next spring anyhow, so I can take my time with the repairs

Showtruck

2009-11-16T15:18:00.001-08:00

We had this truck in the shop for over a year, picking away at it. Custom tri stage paint, stretched frame to 310 inches and doubled up. Custom hood scoops. Looking sweet at the Fergus Truck Show. Pumping 1000 horsepower too. We built a custom headache rack, but customer has decided to leave it off for now.

The interior panels such as door panels, roof panels, are all custom made with fibreglass and then prepped and painted a dark red metallic, looks real cool.

2009-11-16T14:45:00.000-08:00

I busted my Wingaurd antenna that is mounted on top of the fiver last summer. The damn thing would not come down via the lever inside the trailer. So I got the kid to climp up the rear ladder and force it into the travelling position. I could hear a loud snap sound as he did this so I knew it was busted.

So anytime we wanted to watch tv, we had to go and manually lift it up into position and as well it would not rotate to fine tune a station. You can see it on the roof at the front of the trailer and if you look hard you can see the round dish antenna at the back of the trailer which is the one that I installed this past weekend.

I picked it up at the old Radio Shack, The Source and it was on sale for 50 bucks off. So I got to reading about it, and apparrently it will pickup the digital stations. I had to buy the converter box for 90 bucks to convert the digital signal to anoloq to work with the tv's that I have in the trailer. Problem now is that I will need another converter so that each tv can watch whatever program they choose. I am getting about 16 channels, and it is working very well. Crystal clear cable like tv. I am getting real good signal strengths too. The antenna also has a wireless remote so that I can fine tune the station for best signal.

I am using the converter box on the bedroom tv and and the living room tv on regular anoloqe signal. The antenna is better than the Wingaurd that came with the trailer, and having a remote to fine tune the channel signal is sweet.

I mounted the antenna on a 10 foot pipe and wire tied it to my ladder on the back of the fiver. This is a temporary mount till I figure out something better. As it stands now, the antenna is about 6 feet higher than the trailer. I need to see what happens if I lower to about a foot higher than the roof, whether I can get a good signal.

I watched Nascar yesterday and 60 minutes last night, all US programming. Sweet. All I need to do now is buy another converter for the living room tv.

Work Day

2009-11-04T06:36:00.001-08:00

Theres my office desk/mess. I work off one of my toolboxes as it is easier than having a separate office. All the customers and I make all the deals over this toolbox, everything stops and starts at this toolbox.

When I ran shops for other people, I did it the same way. Nothing fancy as this is a nuts and bolts industry. Keeps me on the shop floor and in tune with whats going on, on the floor.

The dogs have been in the shop overnight since we re opened about two months ago. I put a blanket out for them and this serves a couple of purposes. If we need to move equipment around the shop, all I have to do is tell them to go their blankee and away they go, out of the way.

They get pretty dirty here, they go in this Friday to get shampooed and will come back different colors than they are now, I will post a pic. They have freedom here at the shop and the yard, they are always on the go. They get to see alot of people during the day and this is good for them as they are well socialized.

This week we are doing a 2001 Pete for a local brick hauling company. We have done a few of their trucks over the last few years. Not too many guys these days are doing a complete body and paint, this due to lower revenue/recession.

Basically, tear the truck apart as much as possible, prep and repair all body damage and corrosion. Sandblast the frame, and paint. Truck is going custom colors, orange frame and some copper color maybe two tone on the cab and sleeper.

Rebuild the hood, new chrome grille assembly and fenders too. We have the truck for two weeks and will be painting sometime next week, I will post pics.

The shop has been busy, but has slowed down the last week. Alot of shops are laying off and some are closing. Were a small two man shop now, so we don't need alot of work to keep things going.

Here is the truck in the shop tore apart. Were almost done the prep and body repair and today I need to remove the fuel tanks and battery boxes to get it ready for sandblasting tomorrow. Luckily my neighbor does the blasting, we work back and forth and have been doing so for years. Pics are dark as my flash was not working properly. We have some small jobs outside for welding repairs, aluminum headache racks, but waiting on parts. We do alot of welding too, all sorts of dump trucks and garbage wagons etc. Frame stretches and shortening, busted truck frames, crossmembers and the like. It is usually a interesting day as each job is something different.

Full Campground

2009-11-01T05:21:00.000-08:00

We have three fifth wheels here, and my other buddy has been off work the last week, so he has been staying in his fifth wheel too. We pulled his trailer into the shop and I repaired the underside where he damaged it hooking up somehow.

Mike cleaned out the trailer and organized his stuff. He usually is driving his truck and lives in the truck full time as he criss crosses the country hauling frieght. But typical in this economic climate, he is out of work right now and trying to get the truck back on with a carrier that is busy. Which is tough right now.

We moved the Honda's to the back of the where the trailers are parked. This last week they have been running pretty much full time. Rob has been working very little hours too, so have a couple of guys sitting around doing nothing, and cause they are here bored, they watch tv and need to have the gennys running. Still cheap though, 3 splitting the fuel works out to about 25 cents per hour each.

I go thier fivers going with batteries, although they only each have one battery, it gets them through the night although as it is getting colder, and the furnace is cycling more often, I am noticing that by morning they are out of power.

Rob's trailer will cycle the furnace once and then Mike's will cycle 6 times, that gives you a idea of how well one trailer can be insulated over another.

I am the only one here with running water, as I did all the prepwork to ensure water all months of the year. Rob showers in my trailer and Mike is usually never here anyhow, but the fifth wheel truck stop is about a half mile away, Mike showers there.

Today though I am going to run water into both trailers, Rob needs to flush out his tanks and I told Mike that I would run water for him so he could shower in his trailer.

It will be water day today for sure, as the wife is doing laundry and will need about 65 gallons for three loads of water, plus more fuel for the genny's.

Cold weather is coming our way this week, overnight temps close to freezing. It has been very windy here too, having the trailers parked close together really helps. I like the cold weather as all the water in the yard has dried up and the mud is now hard, easier to keep clean all the way around.

We have been busy in the shop, have another Pete to do for a complete body and paint and frame paint, customer might want to stretch the truck to a 304 wheelbase, see what happens. Derek my right hand man, has two herniated discs and is in alot of pain, I am sure he is going to have to shut it down and get that looked after, which means I will be running the shop myself and I can do it, but it will take everything out of me, like there is much left anyways lol.

Another buddy of mine, wants me to buy his 2000 Ford F350 Powerstroke pickup, only has 165 k on it and been babied it's whole life. It's a standard cab so not really ideal for me with the dogs, but the wife can bomb around in it. Plus nice to have another dually around with a fifth wheel hitch in the bed for moving my trailer around.

I would like to be able to leave my custom dually hooked to the trailer full time. Leave the gennys on the truck, move the water tank to inside the sleeper where it is warmer for the winter months. Keep all the rv stuff together as one unit, I don't know see what happens.

I have four onboard Crown 6 volt batteries and I phoned last week about how much to add two more. 140 bucks each, they also have the Iota 65 amp converter chargers, at 265 a piece. I have two onboard converters now that I just replaced, but I cheaped out and bought two different makes. I should have them the same plus I can use the odd ball ones in the truck camper and Rob's trailer. I have never really had a problem with not having enough 12 volt power, and that is with my family that has no clue as to energy conservation. But a overage of available power can never be a problem especially when I rely on the system throughout the winter months.

It's been good here at the yard though. No real complaints, it is quiet at night and if it is somewhat warm outside we will sit outside and have a beer. BBq off the back of the truck. We are right in town and Timmy's is across the street, beer store about a ten minute drive lol.

My next project is getting together a macerator, a tank for the back of the truck so that I can empty my poop tank and truck it to the bathroom at the shop and pump it out. I will need a tank about the same as what I have on there now, 65 gallon and then use the macerator pump to drain it to the bathroom toilet. It's a shitty job for sure, but during the winter it will save me from having to drag the trailer around the corner to the local campground that is open all year. I guess it is six of one and a half dozen of another.

I rented out a truck parking space, he just showed up and parked his truck and trailer. 150 a month and i told him not to pay till the end of Dec, as that is when my property taxes are due which works out to 900 a month, yup thats expensive. I need to rent another spot out and that will keep my overhead on the shop to where it is affordable.

At the Campground

2009-10-25T15:20:00.000-07:00

I got over to the local campground around the corner from my shop late this afternoon. It's a year round campground. I needed to empty the poop tank. When I got here I found that I did not have my sewer hose, I left it at the seasonal campground so the wife took a trip to Cdn tire to get another one, good to have two anyhow.

Well it is peaceful here except for the traffic on the 401 which is very noticealble. But I am sitting outside on grass and in front of the campfire, the wife is making home made burgers, my shit tank it empty and I'm on my fourth beer, so it's pretty good.

I redid the wiring on my truck to the trailer again, everytime I have to move someone else's trailer I have to redo the wiring to match their trailer. I like the wiring to be neat and tidy, and the last few weeks moving all these trailers, I had a real mess. Did some cleanup on the trailer and pulled out the door screen and this is the last time, as I am going to put in plexi glass instead of the screen due to the damn cat and his claws.

The shop has been busy, but my right hand man is having alot of problems with his back. Herniated discs, so bad that the wife had to drive him home the other day, he could not even drive. He is waiting to get into the specialist but that will not happen till next month. I am thinking that is going to have to shut her down and let himself get better. I might have to work the shop on my own for a bit. Which is okay.

I miss my dogs already, they are at the shop as I wanted a break from them. I am with them 24/7. The brother in law and my buddy are at the shop anyhow so they will look in on them.

Picked up a Mr Heater diesel fired heater today brand new in the box for 300 bucks, they go for 500 in the stores and is a 210000 btu unit. Enough to heat the shop no problem. Once in awhile a good deal comes my way. It has been decent weather during the day, but in the morning, it is cool, once the sun goes down the temps drop fast. Prob going close to freezing tonite.

The campground is about half full, looks like some campers are getting ready to pull out in the morning. I would stay here for the winter, but at 550 per month plus hydro I would sooner stay at the shop for free. My buddy works here too, he is retired and is the maintence guy, he loves it. I was hoping that he would be here, but he took a mini vacation to the east coast, but I see he left his fiver here.

While we are here we are going to take advantage of the included hydro with the site fee and get all our laundry done. Running the Honda's for the laundry can cost a bit, but I think still cheaper than going to the laundry mat.

While we are here, we will do a real concentrated cleanup on the trailer. One problem living at the truck yard is the dirt that gets dragged into the trailer. Lots of dust.

I have a pull through site here, so I am leaving the truck hooked up, we have the Explorer and the wife can drop me off at work in the morning. Nice not having to unhook for a change. I might come over here maybe once a week or so for something different to do, or even once every two weeks when I need to empty the shitter.

It's been Cold

2009-10-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

The last week has been just that, cold and colder at night. It started warming up yesterday in the sun, but as soon as the sun went down, it really cooled off.

I put a 100 pounder of propane on the fiver last Tuesday morning and it should run out late today. That is pretty much 7 days out of that tank. Not bad considering we are also running the fridge and water heater on propane too. 3 or 4 showers a day in the trailer keeps the water heater working hard.

I installed a 12 volt deep cycle battery into Rob's trailer, late last week as his battery was no good at holding a charge. All went well the first couple of nights till I took my battery charger of it and had his onboard converter charger doing all the work. It seems the his converter charger only puts out a little over 12.5 volts, not enough to charge the battery. So I disconnected that and mounted my little high quality charger in there to do the job. It is working well. But I also ran a 12 volt over to my battery bank and tapped into it.

Currently we are running both fivers off of my 4 6 volt batteries and the one that is mounted in Rob's. No problem gettting through the night and well into the next day afternoon. This is with the furnaces cycling off and on and lights here and there as needed. Were getting onto the schedule with the genny's, four or five hours per day. The wife can do a load of laudry at that time too.

I am figuring it is taking me about a hour a day, to load water and transfer to the trailer, fuel the genny's and a oil change once a week or so. Double check everything on two trailers.

I had the gennys on the truck which makes it real easy for refueling, just drove across the street to fuel up. But have them on the ground now as we are using the truck and I really don't want the genny's stolen as they are not cabled down.

Fivers in the yard

2009-10-13T07:48:00.000-07:00

I moved my trailer and the brother in law's down to the yard yesterday, that took up most of the day. Rob's trailer was sunk into the ground about 6 inches so a bit of work getting it out with the truck. I just held the power down and then the truck started to pull the trailer. It's a heavy Newmar unit 36 footer.

The other trailer is my older unit that I sold to another buddy, he is parking here for storage which works out well, as we use his trailer to block the wind.

My plan is to run the two fivers off my two Honda's. Rob's trailer has only one battery and is almost dead so I will buy two more Crown 6 volt deep cycle batteries to add to my unit bringing the total to 6, and then run him a 12 volt line to his trailer. He could put the batteries in his unit, but he really does not need them as all the time he is parked seasonal, plus I am not sure what kind of converter charger he has onboard, and concerned about his unit frying the batteries.

Last night was our first night, Rob ran out of 12 volt power around 4 in the morning, so his furnace quit working. His unit holds the heat better than mine, but still his floors were cold.
100 pounders of propane, one for each trailer. I am going through at least one a week right now, and Rob's will last two weeks or more.

I am trying to get the Honda's on a time schedule where we only run them for four hours per day. This will recharge the batteries and power the trailer for dinner time and some time watching tv. But that has not been working out, the family runs the Honda's all day, leave them on and forget about them, basically wasting fuel.

Only my trailer will have water, Rob can shower in mine and eat with us as he usually does anyhow. So his trailer for the most part does not need heat all the time, he can turn his thermostat down to 55 or so when he is gone away working. He won't have to worry about water lines freezing up, matter of fact we will run rv antifreeze through everything just to be safe.

I still need to park some 53 foot trailers around the whole deal to block even more wind. But am thinking I might go out again camping this year, I need to flush my shit tank and make sure it is cleaned out before the winter sets in.

The truck camper is parked beside mine, and we will use that once in awhile. I will drain the water and run the antifreeze through it, and if we want to use it, just turn on the furnace for a hour or so to warm it up.

It sure has gotten cold early this year, the other night there was a few sprinkles of snow coming down. I can't remember the last time it got this cool this early in the year. I am thinking we are in for a cold winter, best to prepare as much as possible.

The shop is busy. My next project in here is getting the heat figured out, as I have natural gas heaters in here and they will drain my wallet faster than what the kids do. I would prefer radiant tube heaters but I am too late in the year now to get them in. I would like to run some diesel fired heaters and then the overhead natural gas heaters to maintain the temp.

It was cool in here this morning and the temp today is only going to 10 c. The sun is out now and we can work with the overhead door open.

More pics and stuff

2009-10-13T07:04:00.001-07:00

I park my truck in front of my site like this so that I can have a bit more privacy and also for the dogs as they are never on a leash, the dogs get to know how far they can go. Other dogs pass by on the road, and my girls just stay put.

I leave the sleeper door open for them, and alot of times they will go in and have a afternoon snooze. Most of the time though, they are active and my site usually will see alot of traffic due to the kid and his buddies. They swarm in and then swarm out. lol.

Our site really is not all that big. The fiver takes up most of the room and what is left is just enough. The dogs tear up the grass area so we only have to mow the lawn maybe once a year.

The back part of my deck right up against the slideout. Bare bones right now as we were putting everything away for the winter.

Cold Turkey

2009-10-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

Got into our campground on Thursday night and spend the weekend. Man was it cool. I could hardly drink beer it was that cold. Southern Comfort went down no problem though.

We moved the truck camper up on Friday night and kid and his cousin slept in there for the weekend. I filled the propane bottles, and the camper consumed one 20 pounder of propane for heat and hot water over the course of 3 days. I thought that was pretty good considering the cold weather.

There is the pic of the camper sitting behind my site. The site is small, just enough room.

Setting up for Winter

2009-10-05T11:52:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend getting the yard setup for the winter months. Re arranging the trailers and getting them outta the mudhole.

The kid and I spent the night in the truck camper Friday. All went well, we watched a movie and ate junk food lol. The bed is a little short for me, even though it is a extended cabover type camper. My feet were well over the edge of the mattress. We went to Walmart and picked up a flat screen tv and other things. I put in a 12 volt deep cycle battery, Walmart kind which is not my first choice, depending how much we use the camper, I might put in a set of deep cycle 6 volters. I find the onboard converter charger really does not put out alot of power and will update that too. Probably going to paint the camper the same color as the truck too. Wife went to the second hand store and got all the kitchen stuff for next to nothing. Also added a small microwave, not that I use but the kid does.

My buddy brought over his trailer and that is the one that I sold to him last year. He is storing it here for the winter and will pull it out next spring. I have it tight to mine so hopefully that will help with the winter wind. As you can see in the second pic, my awning only goes out about 4 or five feet.

I have the truck camper parked in tight too, but I am bringing my brother in laws fifth wheel down this weekend to park beside mine. So a little more moving around yet. After that is all done, I will get a couple of 53 foot dry vans to block the whole deal in. At least this is what I am thinking for now.
I moved some stuff around in the rear of the truck, put the Honda's beside each other and on the side closest to the trailer when I have the truck parked. Water tank is on the other side now and easier to fill the tank, don't have to climb onto the bed to put the water hose into the tank.

Had to do a few repairs on the truck. Heater fan motor, yes it is that time of year, and a belt tensioner. I want to put in a partition from the sleeper to the cab so the dogs can not get into the cab area, we have had so much rain and as soon as the truck door is open they hop inside and all full of dirt and mud. I powerwashed it all out and want to keep it that way now.

Was thinking of taking off my rear deck, but I think I will leave it alone. Maybe add some air bags and still move the fifth wheel ahead about 18 inches. My buddy Bill is stateside on vacation with his fifth wheel and picked me up some rv stuff at Campers World. A new brake controller, I will install that this Thursday and looking forward to seeing how this works out as it is a proportional style controller.

Yea up on the seat the other day, they completely destroy the truck when they have been in the yard in the rain. My fault though for leaving the door open, as my dogs do no wrong lol.

Truck Camper pics on truck

2009-09-30T09:40:00.001-07:00

There she is sitting on the truck, guys went up this morning to get the truck from the campground, slid on real slick. Still have to wire it up and mount the bar underneath for the turnbuckles.

I am putting in a deep cycle battery this afternoon and I have my little 1000 watt inverter generator running the camper right now. Want to see if the 1000 watter will run the charger as well as the camper lights etc I am thinking it will.

Truck Camper

2009-09-29T17:59:00.000-07:00

Dj and I went up to Orillia today to take a look at a 92 lance truck camper for 2500.00. I was also looking at a Jayco same year, but never got to go and see the Jayco as I really liked the Lance and bought that one. It's for the son and we are going to put it on his Chevy. Thinking maybe tomorrow bringing his truck down from the campground and getting it setup with the truck camper.

Thats the truck camper sitting on the previous owners truck, I will have pics later this week of our setup. Took Dj's truck to get the camper which is a 2500 series gmc with the 6 litre which is the same setup as our truck. The truck handled the weight no problem and had lots of power on the highway even in the strong headwind.

We cleaned it out tonite and moved some stuff in to make it feel homey. Tomorrow I will make a list of the stuff that needs to be done and we will get r done over the winter months as this is really a project for my son and I.

One lucky thing though, after reading on rv.net about lance campers of that vintage and some of the problems they are known for, apparrenty rot in the rear wall and floor area by the door entrance. The previous owner had it all repaired last year and all that is required down is to replace the linoleum, which I will with peel and stick, something like what I used in the Jayco.

Business has been good, the name is getting around and more guys are dropping in. Fleets are telling me that they are picking up and I sure hope it sticks. Have a couple of insurance jobs in the shop right now and some fleet returns, welding work is picking up too.

The last ten days has been cold and wet for the most part and my achy bones feel it. I am still smoking and having the odd beer or twelve pack. I parked the trailer at the shop into a different spot and on Monday we got a heavy downpour of rain, so I am standing at the rear of my shop watching the rain hit the yard, it all pools to one area and then makes a river right to my trailer. Like 4 inches of water around my trailer. I am going back up to the campground this coming weekend and when I come back I am placing the trailer on high ground.

New Shop Stuff

2009-09-22T07:34:00.000-07:00

So I quit smoking and drinking a couple of weeks back and all was going good till I hooked up with my old buddy at his campground last weekend. Beer and mixed drinks and what else goes best with that, smoking, damn. So a effort has to be made one day this week to shut it down again.

Had not seen Kenny and Michelle for ten years or so, was real good hanging out with them for the weekend where they seasonal camp. More get togethers are planned and looking forward to them.

While I was away for the weekend, Derek and Dj built a wall in the shop to make a smaller shop at the one end. Derek is renting this to continue his sidework on cars and motorcycles. This will help with the overall cost of rent here in the shop and the money that he pays for rent will go to pay the property taxes on our shop which run 900.00 per month. Yup expensive.

Here is a pic of the wall with a fireproof tarp for the top section. We are thinking in the summer to remove the tarp and allow air flow. We have some work in the shop this week, a insurance job on a Volvo that hit a low bridge and some trailer work.

We have not been getting our Bell bills for the Bell stick and the cellphones, so the wife went to them to get a number on what we owe them. The Bell Stick was 670.00 for one month due to all the megabytes we consumed. Yea, just a little retarded. That was for the second month, and we should have another bill right about now and I bet its that amount again or more. Cell phones and the stick was just under 1300.00 for one month, so some changes are gonna happen here real fast.

Ran the honda's this past weekend camping with my buddy as the campground only had 15 amp service and was a fair distance from where I wanted to park the trailer, plus I wanted to try them out anyhow. We got there around 5 Friday afternoon, ran them most of the weekend for 4 or 5 hour spurts, mostly late afternoon into the night to keep my beer fridge going. Alison did some laundry and sometimes had the ac going too. Left the park Sunday around 430 pm. 21.00 for the fuel which I thought was very good.

Running both Honda's while using the ac and maybe the dryer, is the way to go, they barely rev up, are quiet and maintain very good fuel consumption rates. I never heard them rev up to full speed at any one time. Also I have two onboard converter chargers that recharge 4 batteries, and they consume a fair amount of amperage too, especially when we run on battery power overnight and into the daytime.

Here is our setup this past weekend. I parked the truck this way to keep the exhaust fumes away from our main camp area and also to have a blocked in area so that the dogs know their limits. The Honda's are on the rear deck of the truck and I ran a cord to the trailer. Worked out very well as no one even noticed the Honda's running. We also trucked our own water. Campground was very nice and we were across from the manmade lake. In that lake is a schoolbus and jet airliner as they do alot of scuba diving.

More Honda stuff

2009-09-17T08:54:00.000-07:00

I put the honda's back into the truck. I ran them out of fuel, and I really don't like using jerry cans to fill equipment up. Having the Honda's on the truck deck allows me to drive a half kilo to the gas station, and they also sell propane there too.

I need to get the power system on a routine and what I have come up with, is running the genny's from 6 pm to 10 pm. This allows lots of power for the dinner prep, laundry time and the downstairs tv and Xbox for the kid. He goes to bed at 10 so that should work out fine. 4 hours to recharge the batteries fully works perfectly. This system will optimize the fuel we use making sure that it is not wasted. Yesterday everything ran all day for the most for nothing, intermittent laundry duties.

My upstairs tv and dvd are running off a 1000 watt inverter full-time and I also have a plug that is wired on the same circuit, which I can plug my laptop into and surf the net while laying in bed with the genny's turned off.

Here is a shot of the Honda's in the rear of the truck, with the water tank in the middle and my Honda water pump that I use to transfer water from this tank to the one that I have mounted in the basement storage of the fiver. This looks like it is going to work out well, as I want to leave the truck hooked and dedicated to the fiver. I do want to loose the steel deck and fuel tanks to save some weight but thats a project for the winter months.

Here we are hooked to the truck, everything is sort of just sitting where roughly I want it but not bolted or secured. We are heading out this weekend to a campground around Woodstock to see a old buddy of mine, so I get to try stuff out then. You can see on the last pic, how the truck is squated a bit. I either need to install air bags, or loose the deck and fuel tanks and move the hitch about 18 inches forward.

Fueled the Honda's up, they were both empty, 24.50 for the two. which is 26 litres. Now burning roughly 1.5 litres per hour, 6 litres for four hours equates to 5.64 per day for hydro approx.

These numbers are just off the top of my head and will likely change but gives me something to work from. My hydro bill at the campground for 3 1/2 months was 365.00.

In the yard

2009-09-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

So we needed the room in shop and also have to do some painting, no sense getting overspray on the fiver, even though I could spraymask the trailer to protect it. But none the less, I moved it outside to the back section of the yard, in our corner where we have truck parking.
Still a problem with dust. What we need is some rain. I got back my other Honda genset today and went to the electrical store and got the required plugs and receptacles and made myself a parallel kit for the Honda's.

so they are running right now. Very sweet, have the ac unit running, and starting a load of wash. The wife will have no problem now with power as there is almost 50 amps in total feeding the trailer.
Wondering too, if my fuel consumption will go up by much. Do you run one genset at full bore or two at idle?????????

I need to figure how to mount the units too, I would like them side by side on the pin, thinking that may be a little too much weight, 300 pounds in total. Maybe leave the one on the pin and mount one on the rear of the trailer off the hitch assembly????????

One consideration is when the units are mounted on the pin box, the weight goes directly to the truck, does not add any stress to the trailer frame.

Dusty

2009-09-14T17:43:00.000-07:00

The yard here sure is dusty, no rain the last couple of weeks and when trucks come into the yard the dust really kicks up. I decided to move the trailer indoors this afternoon and here she is.

But I gotta take it back outside tomorrow as I will need the room. Got a few calls today and fleets are getting busy again, so a fair amount of work is coming my way this week and next. So far so good.

Post more later.

Ready for work

2009-09-13T16:37:00.000-07:00

Well the last few days have been busy, got all the equipment and tools moved in and I spent the weekend hooking up the compressor and installing welding plugs, power washer and water lines, general cleaning and organizing. My rear door entrance was full of gravel so most of today was spent cleaning it all up.

I moved the trailer down this afternoon. Have it parked in the yard for the week now as we are taking off this coming weekend to see a old buddy of mine in Woodstock. This should be fun. I quit smoking and drinking over a week ago and that is going real well, but next weekend I will be drinking with my buddy as I have not seen him in ten plus years. I'm okay with that.
I finally got the pics out of one of the cameras from last month's camping stuff. Here is our site at Rockwood which is just around the corner from our seasonal campground. Real nice site, in a valley too, no wind and just the right amount of shade. We had a good time, took the dogs swimming and a general do nothing for three days kinda relaxing. My brother inlaw and his son came with us too. Good to have a drinking partner.

Well here is the homestead at the new shop, out in the yard with the trucks. No hydro or water, so running the genny and trucking my water again, kinda like boondocking, but services just nearby. Will stay here for the week. I do have a spot in the shop for Jan Feb and March, no sense being out in the cold.

And there is the shop, another one. I can barely get together the energy and desire to do this again. But here I am, narrow and long, I rent out 40 feet of the shop at the front to my buddy. That will help with the rent, and I have parking outside to rent out as well. The rent and property taxes are enough, 4000.00 per month total. Plus the heat and hydro, at least I am a middle unit and have business on both sides of me which should help abit with keeping warm?????????

Early September

2009-09-09T10:27:00.001-07:00

And i am sitting on my duff waiting for the keys to my new shop. The shop deal up north fizzled and thats okay. When it's ready I will go, so for the time being its back to the grind starting hopefully today or tomorrow.

The new shop is right in the heart of trucking in Milton, a very good location with lots of trucks driving by. Shop is a proper truck shop with lots of yard space, easy for guys to pull in and turn around.

Once I get the keys I will move my fiver down there. We likely are not coming back to our seasonal campsite next year. After the last month of being off work and doing some travelling, it was real nice to get away from our campground and meet other people and families. We are thinking that next year, we will spend the weekdays at our business and then weekends travelling and camping at campgrounds within a couple hours distance. I got online and was surprised just how many campgrounds there are.

I am going to sell the boat either this fall or next spring. After a bunch of bullshit with it, at the last campground we went too, it just is not worth it all to get in a couple of hours boating time. I wanted to tow the boat behind the fiver, but we are too long, and although i would chance it, it really is not a optimim thing to do. I broke the toungue on the trailer going over a very bad speed bump a little too fast. That happened at the campground on the day that we were leaving, so I had to jerry rig up the busted metal enough so that it can be towed behind the trailer. After buying all the hitch stuff, none of it fit, so we had to make double trips back to our campground, one trip for the fiver and one for the boat. Also a wheel seal on the boat trailer, one stop light busted, tore up a prop too. plus pay 10.00 per day to have the boat at the dock in the that campground. Where I already pay to be a seasonal visitor on the lake and conservation area.

The kid is too busy for boating now anyhow, most of the time it is just me going out. He wants to hang with his buddies and girlfriends. Thats okay.

Never did go up north, found a really nice private campsite, but I checked the weather and it was calling for rain and shit weather for the whole week.

It was good to have some time off, but I am now ready to get back at it. Will post some pics this coming weekend once we get the keys.

Interesting

2009-08-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

Just got a email back from the shop up north. I can get the shop on a rent to own basis, which I like, if it does not work out in a year, I can leave without having to worry about the property shop?????? If it does work out, I would own it after say 5 years???? more to ponder??

Pondering

2009-08-05T15:58:00.000-07:00

Been sitting on my deck having a few beers the last coupla days pondering the future. I am waiting on two emails, one to finalize my new shop and another from a guy in Kapuskasing that has a shop for sale.

I have wanted to move north for some years now, and this shop came up a couple of months back, but I thought, no I am not ready to go yet. This week, I started to think about just exactly what I am doing down here in the big city. It's been a battle this year trying to make any money in my shop for myself. The economy is going to get worse and therefore likely my situation will be worse. Would it be better in Northern Ontario, well I certainly would not have to make the money that I have to make here in the city. I could just work on my own and at my own pace. My overhead would be next to zilch. Park my fiver on the 4 acres of property, just outside Kap population 9500. Wife could get a Wally World job. I could concentrate on getting the business established and getting my name out. Can also hook up with the fleets that I work for all ready, as they transport through the area. Last winter I had 3 trucks towed down from that general area to my shop in the city at a cost of 3 grand plus per unit. No one in the area that does the line of work I am in. They would welcome having a guy like me in the area. Lots of moose hits, and of course bad weather accidents.

As I mentioned the economy is not getting any better. Our phones are real quiet even though I am shut down right now. It's like I am not missing anything. My buddy is here in the campground and is looking for work as a driver. I phoned around today to contacts that I have, and no one is hiring. So we got into the Job Bank on the net and browsed what's available, not much, and what is available for driver jobs was sub 17 bucks per hour. 1990 I made 15.50 per hour driving a roll off truck, 20 years later, its the same rate plus minus a buck or so, tell me whats wrong with that.

Shunt drivers, 9.75 to 14.25 in the city. Wow.

So for the most part, today I have a few things on my mind that are possibly life changing. The wife wants to go north, so I have that in my favor, the 14 year old, is hesitant as he has a ton of friends at school and such. My two grandkids are here in the city and I and the wife will miss them, as it is 12 hour drive to visit.

The other thing that I thought today, is seeing how I have a month off, I should load the camper and head north to see the general area around the shop. As I will be heading up that way anyhow, just not as far. Gotta wait for the email first though.

Stay tuned

2009-08-02T14:00:00.001-07:00

Bill sent me the pics and here they are. Pretty cool. Truck handles the weight no problem. We installed the deck and a underneath storage area for the ramps, a winch arm assembly, cut the frame and move back the fifth wheel. Bill did the design work and we worked closely with him to ensure the end result would be perfect due to the tight tolerances getting everything to fit nicely.

ha

2009-07-31T15:31:00.000-07:00

well I moved the whole shop today into a 53 foot dry van, just about got everthing in there. And not going into the new shop till Sept 1. So I seem to have gotten the whole month of August off, oops. How the hell could I guy my age get the dates all screwed up and end up having to spend the hottest month of the year on my boat and up north camping. Well i will just have to put up with it I suppose, post more later

Moving

2009-07-25T13:47:00.000-07:00

Well we are moving the shop this coming week. Found a fair sized unit that we can work out of and is the spot where over 4 years ago I said to myself, this is where I should be. Right in the heart of trucking in our town, lots of yard space too. About another grand per month for the rent, but drive in traffic will increase. The unit that we are in now, has been flooded out the last week due to all the rain.

I am thinking that this coming winter, I will be able to section off 40 feet in the new shop and put my fiver indoors for the winter months. Maybe even build a deck and throw down some green indoor outdoor carpeting and call it a campsite for the winter months. Add a bbq and a picnic table and all should be good.

We are building my buddies truck to haul a Smart car. Today we loaded the car on the deck we built and it does look smart. I should have pics later today.

Birdie

2009-06-28T10:45:00.001-07:00

We got birds in the shop and they have babies about a few months ago and they are trying to flew the nest. But one on Friday kept landing on the shop floor. Here is Derek putting the birdie back into its nest, about a half dozen times in total. Little usafe on a ladder on a forklift, but the trying to help the little fella to get going.

Been hot this week, and sure was nice to get back to the campground after working all day and going for a swim in the pool. Lifesaver, I usually don't get down to the pool all that much.

Buddy of mine boat a 1990 Doral 20 foot bowrider with inboard outboard, got it cheap as it sank. When they were pulling it up out of the water, they cracked the both on both sides approx midship. We repaired it this last week and it was a nice change from working on heavy equipment. I was hoping to get out on my boat yesterday but Thursday night I started tearing out the carpeting in the kitchen.

The kitchen has carpeting and linoliem, and I was hoping that when they made the trailer that the linoliem was across the whole kitchen floor. Once I got the carpet out, I found out that the linoliem was about a foot short. Now I have to replace the floor.

The wife wanted a wood floor, and was at Home Depot and found peel and stick planks, she phoned me and I told her to pick up a box and bring them home so that I can ascertain if they are going to work.

The floor looks great and I took my time doing it so as to not have to use alot of trimwork. It is a fully floating floor. It took about 4 hours to install and maybe a hour or so to remove the old carpet. I went right to the entrance door and thinking maybe of going into the living room with it. Thinking in the winter time it would be better to have the carpet, help keep the floor warm. I really like the floor and I hate carpet, with dogs and kids and a couple of felines thrown in for good measure, you can imagine what our carpet was like in the kitchen, it being a high traffic area. Seems every trailer we have I end up doing this and if I ever order a new fiver, I will option the wood floor in place of carpeting.

I levelled off the trailer this morning. Last year when our last trailer burned down, I pulled it out and we were without a home for about a week. I had the owner of the campground bring me a load of gravel to cover my trailer spot. After spreading it out, I backed and parked our new trailer on top. It's a nice clean look, having the gravel under the trailer, but the trailer needs to be levelled every month or so. I wish it was a concrete pad, when I finally buy my own land, concrete pad it the first thing to do.

I am on my own this coming week in the shop as Derek has a week's holidays. It's supposed to be off and on rain for the next four days and Wedesnday is a civic holidy too. I got my nephew up for a few days and hopefully me, my son and he can get out on the boat. Hopefully there is not much going on and I can leave early everyday. I am not taking any holiday time this year, so I gotta get when the getting is good.

Been working on getting more tools to keep in the trailer. I bought a Snap On toolbox last year and it fits nicely in the basement storage. I open the cargo door and it is sitting right there. I bought a Makita cordless drill and it came with all the bits and two batteries, and really comes in handy around the campsite. I had to cut holes in my new floor yesterday to fit the heat vents and needed a jigsaw so I picked one up at the local hardware store along with a bunch of hardware items, like screws nails etc. Always handy to have around. I have a shop full of equipment and tools but all geared towards heavy equipment repair. Plus I don't like trying to remember what I need to bring home, I always forget.

I also picked up some dark brown silicone to seal around the new floor. Wow, what a good idea, cleaned up and hid all my mistakes ha. Good little trick.

My neighbour got his new to him trailer onto his lot, and the deck is up and levelled. It required about ten of us to move into place. Will get some pics maybe today and post em. His site looks nice.

Here is a shot of the floor at the entrance door, there are my two retards. They want to come in the trailer cause I am in here. I have been taking them down to the lake lately from swimming. So everytime they are in the truck they think they are going for a swim. Me and the kids boyfriend took the dogs down by the water and I told him, hold onto them as they will fly through your window to get out of the truck. As we got closer to the lake, I asked if he had a good handle on them, he said yes. He is a big guy, my size and only 24, so strong, he could'nt hold em, out the window they went. He could not believe how strong they were.

Here they are on the bed now, they don't want to be outside with me being inside. We go through alot of comforters, as you can see a new one the wife picked up today at Wallyworld. the animals are a constant concern but we love them.

One might think that having a onboard washer dryer is a good thing. Well, the brother in law is over doing his three loads of laundry today and if it's not him it's the daughter doing her's on the weekend. Maybe I should advertise a little wash and fold service here in the campground, might be hard to get that pass the other half. ha.

Hot

2009-06-23T17:26:00.001-07:00

I was out in the yard today moving a Kenworth and the dash said the outside temp was 91 degrees. Hotter in the shop, especially doing fibreglass repairs on a boat that my buddy bought. All that fibreglass being grinded and floating around in the air.

Last thing I did today was paint a Peterbilt hood and then I went to check out a shop for rent. Had been talking to the owner of said shop the last couple of days, making sure that the shop is okay for what I need it for. Everything was going good so I dropped by there after work today. As you as I pull onto the road that the shop is on, there is a big no truck route sign. So that didn`t work out.

Got to the campground around 6 and headed right to the pool. Refreshing, water temp was perfect. I have been taking the dogs down to the lake after work for a swim, but tonite was my turn.

My neighbour bought a newer trailer, so this week they are moving his old trailer off the site and tomorrow his new one should be sitting in it`s spot. Complete with a big deck. I catch some pics tomorrow night and post em.

Shop is still steady with work, finishing up now with a bunch that are going back off lease and another company we do work for bought 6 Kenworths T 800, all 2006 models, most of them need touch ups here and there, usual bangs and scrapes etc. Keep us busy for a week or so, not hard to take. Most everyone else is just starting to pick up. Gravel guys are moving more than a couple of hours a day now. Been a slow start this year for them. Hopefully this lasts, but I am thinking it is going to crash right after summer. Been reading about all the smart guys with regards to the economy, and thats what they are mostly saying, this little blip increase in economic activity will be short lived. Read today, that oil will hit 100 bucks a barrel later this year.

Last two days the ac unit on the fiver has been working overtime. The trailer mostly sits in the sun so when we leave in the morning I set the ac for around 70. The system maintains the temp although it is warmer in the bedroom than the rest of the trailer. The fiver has in ceiling ducted ac, and vents throughout the trailer, but the ac unit is mounted at the rear most section of the trailer. So there is not alot of ac for the bedroom, but I can live with it.

I am scared to see what our hydro bill is gonna be. It`s either the ac going or the washer dryer. I am not going to conserve until I see the bill, besides I am the only one in the family that knows what conserve means. I mean, the ac unit going and the door open to the trailer.

No Pics Today

2009-06-19T13:18:00.000-07:00

Thank god it's Friday, I went into the shop this morning and spent the afternoon out and about looking at jobs at quoting prices. One was a cement truck was a broken frame and the other a boat that was splitting in half. I got the boat job, and the cement truck they are going to fix inhouse.

We have been busy in the shop the last three weeks and actaully made some money, but this will only help to offset what we have lost since Feb. If the rest of the summer is anything close to steady in the work department, then we should be okay.

Been looking for another shop, my current landlord is starting to irritate me. We have problems when it rains like it did this last week, floods out the front of the shop. Another problem is going to be heat for this coming winter, I need a furnace and I need some walls repaired in the shop to contain the heat as there is little or no insulation in the majority of the walls.

The landlord is not real keen on investing any money into the shop and I think he mostly thinks that I will just put up with the bullshit. Oh no, that is not going to happen. One of the big problems with moving my shop, is the phone numbers and internet access. Well I run everything off a cell phone now and my internet is mobile, gmail for email and a bell stick for access.

I need the landlord to cement about a 100 sq ft area in front of my overhead door, buy me a furnace and allow about 2 grand for wall repair. I will do labour part of the work, but I am not paying for it. This week I have had a mud pit in front of my overhead door, every time I bring a truck in, the tires drag in all sorts of mud and crap.

But the shop is in a very good location and although our yard can sometimes get hectic, we do have enough room to do what we have to do. I have birds in the shop too, alot of young ones and I need them to move. I would have thought the birds would have vacated by now due to welding and paint fumes, but no. I need to figure out a safe way of getting them to leave.

Left the shop early, got back to the trailer around 330 and let the dogs hop in the lake to cool them down and clean them up a bit, now they stink like wet dog but cleaner ha.

Going out tonite to fish on the boat, supposed to rain tomorrow but nice on fathers day,which reminds I better make my list ha.

Kids Trailer

2009-06-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

Bought this a few weekends ago for the daughter and her boyfriend and my two grand kids. This sits right behind my trailer, so it is nice and close for the kids to venture back and forth, and yet far enough away so that i maintain my sanity. Came complete as you see here, a older unit, but everything works and they have enough room. They are seasonal and are up on the weekends.

Not a bad campsite either, lots of trees and still a area in the center to let the sunshine in.

I got the Bell stick for internet at the campsite. Just plug it into the usb port and away you go. Works fast and i can watch you tube videos no problem at all. Cheap too, 2 year plan at 30 bucks a month and the stick is free. Rogers has their version too, but i have spent enough money at Rogers lol.

2009-06-08T17:17:00.000-07:00

The wife and brother in law got some gardening done this weekend. They laid in some 4 by 4's and top soil and this is what they ended up with. I am not really the flower type guy, but have to admit, it did turn out nice. Trying to keep the dogs out of the garden is another matter though, you can see my grass or what's left of it. This is where the dogs usually hang out.

Here are the girls this afternoon, Shilo on the left has a rock in her mouth and wants to play fetch. I got the lacrosse stick and ball going and gave them a good run, man can they go. Out of all the dogs in the park here, these guys are the fastest and have the most endurance, they are really in good shape. Sheena on the right turned two yesterday, Shilo is just over three. I will post a video on how fast they are later this week.

So after living this lifestyle for 10 plus years I finally agreed to letting the family poop in the trailer. We always camp near a washroom so I figured why not just poop in the public restroom, saving me the trouble of looking after it on my trailer. I got a Rhino Flex system from Crappy Tire, 50 bucks. It went together real easy and am impressed that it is somewhat heavy duty. Because we had no solids through our waste system i always used a 3/4 id water hose as you can see on the ground. So we had been pooping the toilet the last week or so, and was time to drain. I pulled the lever and all went well. What i like about this unit i got, was that the end that goes into the pipe in the ground is cone shape, creating a good seal, so good in fact, that there was no smell. All this came in handy this past weekend drinking that cheap beer, yup right through me, lol. back to Coors Lite this week, yea 10 bucks more a case, maybe i will take it outta the kids allowance.

Long time

2009-06-05T09:03:00.001-07:00

Been a bit over a month since my last post, I have been busy moving to the campground and getting things settled and setup for the season. I bought my daughter a trailer that is sitting right behind my trailer, a older Prowler travel trailer complete with deck and shed and most importantly a beer fridge for her boyfriend and the times that I wander over.

This is working out real well, instead of the daughter and her boyfriend coming up and sitting on my deck and making a mess, they now have their own place. Big big bonus, is when the granddaughters come up, they can stay overnight in their trailer. I get to spoil them and then send them home some twenty feet away.

So I inspected the trailer and did all the component checks and it all works, no leaks and at some time in it's history someone had retiled the floor and redid the roof. The daughter painted the deck and cleaned up and they have a great little spot to spend the summer, beats hanging around a apartment with no air conditioning in Mississauaga.

I bought the trailer and the boyfriend paid the seasonal campground fee, he wants to pay me for the trailer, but I told him it's okay, I am getting just as much enjoyment as you guys are.

I have another fifth wheel, a 93 Jayco with a large slide out, that I sold to my buddy last year but he has failed to pay for it. I had tried getting it back earlier this year and was going to put the kid in that one. Still trying to locate the Jayco and my buddy. Real impressive eh.

Weather has been kinda up and down, yesterday morning there was frost on the windshield, and the weekends lately have been windy and cool, this weekend coming is supposed to be nice, maybe I will get back out on the boat.

So a recession or depression is ongoing, and yet, there is at least 10 brand new trailers in our park and another half dozen that have upgraded to almost new trailers. On top of this, many people in the park have been laid off or at least had their hours cut, a couple of families have had both mom and dad loose their jobs. So go figure. All the people that I talk with, are making the best of it and just trying to survive as best they can.

We have been slow in the shop, I have picked up some work but overall we are down at least 50 % and now it is just me and one guy in the shop. Earlier this month and last month I have been feeling down, due to all that is going on. It was this week that I sort of pulled up my pants and started to think about all the good things in my life. The good things far outweigh the bad and although this is a bad year for business and money is tight, I am still enjoying life and moving ahead very slowly.

Because of our lifestyle, our personal living expenses are damn near nil. So we are in a great position to whether out the economic storm. Instead of worrying about paying a ton of bills every month like most people have to face, I downgraded my choice of beer to Lakeport Lite, and I am saving 10 bucks a case. lol. We are also trying to limit all our trips with the Explorer, getting everything done in one trip. Why the wife has to make three or four trips to WallyWorld everyday is a big mystery to me.

I have found a piece of property up in Northern Ontario that is ideal. In between North Bay and Sudbury, about three acres with a well built 16 by 40 shed on it, driveway already installed as well as a cleared area, lots of room for a big fifth wheel. On a county serviced road and hydro at the entrance to the property. All this for 9500.00. I am still sitting on it and pondering?????? Thought the already built shed is a real good idea, to hold my 1500 gallon water tank??? maybe some tools etc. I would have to go into debt with the bank to swing it though.
http://northbay.kijiji.ca/c-housing-other-Priced-to-sell-W0QQAdIdZ129114464
Theres the listing if anyone is interested.

I can't move up there till another 3 to 5 years as I have a 14 year old at home still. It's also just far enough away, that going for a weekend trip would be too far.

It took six months before I could get the wife to let me bring the dogs into the trailer, see, persistence pays off. We bought this trailer after our last trailer burned down and the first thing that came out of her was, there will be no dogs in the trailer. ha lol. They have been keeping fairly clean anyhow, and I have been taking them down to the lake in the campground for a swim, and that cleans them up pretty good. Problem is the carpet in the trailer, especially the kitchen area, I would really like to take it out and just have tiles or linoleum. It's a high traffic area and the carpet gets killed.

We were sitting over at the daughters having a campfire and the dogs were with me, then around 10 pm, they went and wandered back over to our trailer and wanted in to go to sleep. They rarely sleep during the day, but come bed time, they have had enough.

I should get some pics together this weekend and post em.

We can't get a wireless signal at the campground, last year I got one although very weak. As it turned out the wimax modem for internet at the shop went down, the modem failed and I am waiting for a replacement from Bell. I did take the modem to the campground to see if it would work there, but I was too far away from the tower. I ended up with a Bell Stick that plugs into your usb port and works off the cell network on a 3g system. Well this works very well and even plays you tube video with no problems. Cheap too, 30 bucks a month and you get the stick on a contract for two years, free. Otherwise the stick is somewhere around 400.00. I use it here at the shop all day and then take it home and plug it into the laptop. the wife and kid go do their thing.

We spent 8 grand at Rogers video over the last three years. Wow, we are the top renters in our town. Now does that not sound a little excessive?????? What burns me though, is that most of the movies that they put out now, are simply garbage and most of the time I get half way through one, and either fall asleep or become non interested and shut the damn thing off. I ordered a movie and it cost me over 30 bucks, I thought it was going to be a good movie, called My Winnipeg, as I lived in Winnipeg for years, and this movie was also a top choice at the Toronto Film Festival. After waiting over 45 days to get the movie, I watched it and it was just a complete utter waste of money, so much in fact, that I was looking for any type of a email address on the packaging where I could write and complain.

So we are looking at getting Bell sattelite, which we had years ago and did not like. But I don't like spending what were spending at Rogers Video more. Figure the system is around 100.00 and then 40 per month or thereabouts. I am pretty handy with sat systems, so setting up and getting a signal is a no brainer for me. But, what I might consider, is the VuQube dish, just set it on the ground where it can see the southern sky, and locate and lock onto your signal from inside the camper via remote control? Also looks alot nicer than a dish hanging off yer trailer or on the property.

I also miss all the documentary and history channels too. Hopefully I can delete the channels that carry Oprah and Dr Phil lol. My buddy in the campground is working on the digital antenna system, he brought the converter box over to my trailer last weekend and we hooked it up and with my onboard antenna, I got six channels super clear. If we were at the shop as we are in the winter months, we would get 19 channels of clear digital tv with 5.1 sound all for free. Good channels too. Converter is about 55-85 bucks. At any rate, my buddy went back to his trailer and the antenna up around 20 feet and all he could get was one channel, the CBC, my personal favorite. This weekend he is putting up a homemade tower and going close to forty feet to see if that helps.

A couple of weeks ago my buddy brough over his free to air sat system, we wanted to watch the UFC fight on the Saturday night. So I checked out the system and it costs around 650.00 for two recievers as we have two tv's in the trailer. Problem with that is sometimes you can get zapped and then have to go on the internet and download a new file to enter into the reciever so that the signal can be rebooted. Well I did that 10 or so years ago with Direct Tv and got real tired of having to go all through that to save under a hundred a month. One day it went down twice.

My beer fridge has been working overtime ever since we got into the campground. Everyone there drinks daily and lately so have I. I'm good for about 6 beers before I have had enough but have been known to pound back a 24 of Coors Lite. Looking at 50 now, and sure can't carry on like I used to, probably a good thing too.

My buddy is down in New York State for a weeks holiday, he sent me some pics of the campsite he is on

Pretty disgusting eh, look at him pretending he is enjoying himself. Too bad the only site you could get was right on the water and look at all those trees you have to look at. And the sun, I can see why your under the awning, man I sure am glad I'm not there. Thank the good lord, there is no ladies in bikinis wandering around the lake and beach, like a guy needs to look at that kinda stuff. Yea I am a little envious, looks like your having a fine time Bill.

Well thats about all for today, will get some pics up later.

Warm Weather

2009-04-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

Supposed to be plus 25 this coming weekend and I am going boating. I go the boat out of the campground storage today, did a cleanup and started and ran the motor, even on last years fuel, it sounds good.

Tomorrow I will replace the battery, as it is not holding a full charge. Also need my safety related items that I usually replace every year.

I got my diesel finished today too, installed a new fuel pump and hoses. Seems to run a little stronger now, more power just off idle. Starts easier too. Won't know till I hook the Jayco whether the power is up or not.

My buddy George brought his trailer out to the shop yesterday and dropped by today to do some small repair work. It will sit here at the yard till the weekend when he uses my truck to haul it to the campground.

Wifes Explorer needs a camshaft sensor, I ordered the part the other day but it ended up being the wrong part. Something said to me, to check to see if the part was correct before I tear the top end of the motor out. Besides i can't have two vehicles down at the same time. Real pain in the ass, having to tear down so much of the top end to change this part, one of Fords better ways.
My buddy Richard is in tomorrow, he is bringing in his truck and boat for some paint work. As you can see, the boat is yellow and we are putting yellow on the truck to match, I will take some more pics of the whole deal tomorrow. What a boat though, custom one of a kind built by his brother. That's what I call a Corvette on the water, 350 chev with the motor in front. Real cool and I drove it two years ago, quite the machine.

The Campground

2009-04-13T15:11:00.000-07:00

So to carry on from the last post. George and I went in to take a look at the campground. Earlier this spring George wanted to buy a trailer, and I found one for him. He bought it and has been doing some odds and end type repairs getting it ready for summer camping. He will go seasonal with this camper. Went in and talk to the owner of the campground, he wanted to see the trailer first cause the trailer is a 1979. Well the owner seen the trailer today and approved the trailer so I expect maybe this weekend or next, we will be hauling it in.

I have my boat in storage there too and went by to check it out, it all looks good. Thats my little 1968 14 footer that I redid a couple years back. Ken the owner of the campground is likely going to let me move in around the last week of April. Some spots in the campground are a little soft still, and if I go in, then he has to let everyone in.I have this Chev too sitting up there in storage, been there over a year now. It belong to the owner of a transport company and he went bankrupt. So they owed me some money and I ended up with this. My 14 year old is trying to get his dirty little digits on this truck. He turns 16 in a year and a half and is eager to get his license. I would be okay with him having this truck, but has to get his act together, you know teenagers.

Campground looks a little bare without all the leaves on the trees. Ken is going to put down some asphault material to cut down some of the dust from the vehicles. Ken is 71 and still works like a madman, always on the go. Has had the campground for 30 years and made a ton of improvements over that time. He does all the work too, right from re doing all the hydro and septic systems to building decks and add on rooms for the campers.

I just heard back from a buddy of mine that used to rent that shop I looked at, he said the owner/landlord there is a real jerk and advises me not to make the move. So thats done. He also told me he had one of his Peterbilts stolen over the weekend, still have not found it. Alot of theft going on in the area, if it's not locked down it will go missing. I expect things to get worse as the economy tanks even further.

Been welding a headache rack most of the day today in the shop, a little tired out from the fumes as it was aluminum. Gotta get going on the phone tomorrow to get some work happening in the shop this week. I still have that beavertail job, removed the beaver tail but waiting on some pics so that we can build it to the customers liking.

Truck Repairs

2009-04-13T14:37:00.001-07:00

Slow day in the shop today, so instead of sitting around looking at each other, we brought in my Ford Diesel, it has had a little fuel leak for about a year now, just irritating, but whats worse is trying to get at the offending part that is leaking. The truck being a van body, makes it all the more difficult. Here is a pic of the motor from inside the cab, with the exhaust and turbo removed as well as the air tubes etc. Looks like the fuel hoses are starting to weather crack and some leakage from there, but the main culprit is the fuel pump. The underside of the fuel pump has two weep holes. Removed the fuel pump and actuated the plunger on the work bench and bingo, fuel leaking.

So while I have this all opened up, its time to check and double check the wiring and any other hoses that are starting to wear. Bear in mind the truck is a 95, but only 220 k on it or 130 miles. Maybe halfway through its life. I don't really use the truck all that much and that is why I don't replace it with a newer unit. My buddies often say why don't you buy a dually, but a dually is no use to me with respect to all the gear I carry while rving. I am thining of a dually Ford project as I have a little deal in the works, see how that pans out.

Another little thing I am working on is with my brother in law. He has pulled his truck off the road and is going to work for a customer of mine. 2001 Sterling, this is a full size highway unit and considering making this into the same deal as Big Bill's Volvo. Rob my brother in law has a 34 foot Newmar fifth wheel and has been using my truck to pull around his unit. He was is thinking of selling it and I would paint the truck for him and safety it so that he could come out with a half decent buck, hard in this economy though. Might be better to keep the truck and use it for a toy fiver hauler, also I could use it around the yard moving trailers that I work on.

His Sterling would have to converted over to motorhome status. Plates and insurance would be way cheaper. I would do the project over a few months.

So I went up to that shop in Acton to have a look at that shop. Been trying to call the guy that has it but no answer. It's right around the corner from my seasonal campground, while we were up there my friend George and I went in to check it out.

Sunday Stuff

2009-04-12T05:59:00.000-07:00

Anytime you seen a fish that big, open water and a boat and a guy smiling like the way he is, thats a pretty good day. I caught this one last year, thats my son in law holding the big one, heh I was tired out from reeling it in ha. I catch and release but luckily I had my camera along.

Today my buddy George and I are taking a trip up to where I seasonal camp to check out the campground, he bought a trailer this spring and wants to put it where I am camping. Also there is a small shop up in that area that just became vacant and I might consider moving there along with some other business changes.

Things are slow and I don't expect it to get much better. I heard on the news over the weekend another 200000 jobs are to be lost this year in Canada, alot of them in my area of the country. It already is a bleak situation only to get worse and I am considering this move, for a cost cutting measure. I lost one guy back in January of this year and I might let go another guy this spring, don't want to do it but this might have to happen. If I don't go this route, I feel that I might have to go into debt for the summer months to keep the operation going as it is right now. I would then go into the winter months with approx 50 grand of debt, yea who wants to do that. I am debt free right now, and going into next month if business does not pick up, will put me negative.
Also if I move the shop up to Acton area, alot less driving, the kid goes to school just around the corner too.
So it's up in the air right now, hard to figure out what the economic future holds.

We got a little kitten to scare off the house mouse we got in here. I could put down mouse traps or chemicals, but thats not me, rather scare the crap out the little varmit so he leaves and never comes back.

Update on the water system, it works very well. That little Honda pump is great. I 've been topping up our onboard water tank daily now, takes about a half hour.

Since the shop has been slow, I have been cleaning up the truck, painted the hitch and rear deck, did some wiring for the trailer plug and generally getting it ready to haul the trailer outta here maybe in a week or so.

Big Bill

2009-04-12T05:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Bib Bill and I went down to London to pickup his Mobile Suites fiver, it was in for some warranty work. I call him Big Bill, cause he got one big truck to pull his big trailer. 2001 Volvo 770 with a automatic transmission. Truck was in our shop last year, and we singled out the rear ends, built a custom hitch and platform system. Bill did alot of the work himself and I helped out with the welding and some of the design work, although not that much cause Bill researched the project to the inth degree what needed to be done and how to do it, helps too, that he is a aircraft mechanic and accustomed to working on mechanical items.

I wanted to experience how the Volvo pulled his fiver, which is a heavy unit, somewhere around 3800 pounds on the pin alone.

I was impressed. Truck pulled the trailer effortlessly, flat ground in a headwind or uphills, she was barely working. Truck was converted to motorhome status and is registered that way, plates and insurance are cheap if done this way. Bill used to tow with his Chev Duramax/Allsion combo reworked with anything to make the truck pull and handle the big rig better, but she is one heavy trailer and Bill never did feel comfortable using this combination, especially braking.
His idea with the platform area to to put one of those smart cars on there with a tilting platform to load and unload. Then he can have a set of wheels to go and check out the local scenary where ever he chooses to camp.

Here is the rig hooked up, hitch is behind the rear axle so to unload some weight from the front axle, that area under the rear of the frame, holds about 1000 pounds of ballast weight to also help unload the front axle.

It's a slick unit overall, works very good and setup for a fulltime rving experience which Bill and his wife hope to do one day.

Power System

2009-04-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

me
a

We use the fiver off grid for a few months of the year, usually during the winter here at the shop. When we first moved to this shop Feb 1, we had to park at the rear of the yard where there is no power or water. Cold, very cold. Our power system consists of a Honda Eu 3000 generator, 4 Crown 6 volt batteries, 1000 watt inverter.

I mounted the Honda on the pin box of the fiver. I originally wanted to mount it on the rear of the trailer like I had done on another trailer I had. But when travelling, I don't like the extra weight on the rear of the trailer even though I tied the mount system into the main frame of the trailer. With the Honda on the front of the trailer, I can keep my eye on it. Also, easier to service and to fuel up when standing on rear deck of the truck either while hooked up or not.

I built a aluminum cover, and cutout holes for access to the controls and for exhaust. I only have to remove the cover when refueling and or servicing. I get some vibration through the pin box mount, but if I put in a spreadbar from under the mount to the ground, it eliminates the vibration. This spreadbar could also be a tripod stabilizer, which I like under the pin box when parked to take some of the stress off the frame.

This past winter while off grid, we could run off the batteries for the whole day easily, very close to two days before the batteries were at 60 % discharge. Generally what I did, was fire the Honda up around 400 pm and let it run till about 900 pm. This would recharge the batteries and run the living room entertainment system for the evening hours. Sometimes do the laundry at the same time. So with the Honda shut off, I could still watch tv and or a movie in the bedroom, the bedroom receptacles are wired to the inverter. I usually fall asleep while watching tv and prior to this system, the Honda would end up running all night long.

I bought the Crown 6 volt deep cycle batteries two years ago for just under 600.00. I originally wanted the Trojan T 105 as that seems to be the norm that guys like me usually buy but, the place where I bought the batteries carried both lines of batteries, the owner was a avid off grid rver and he told me that he uses the Crown batteries. That sold me. I use the onboard Iota converters with the Iq Smart Controller Modules, to recharge and maintain the batteries, these units also supply the 12 volt dc power to the fiver.

We don't really use alot of ac power. The system worked very well this past winter. For the most part when the Honda was recharging batteries it was just above idle and getting 15 hours per 13 litres of fuel. At a average of 4 hours per day, we could get very close to 4 days of Honda use on a tank of fuel.

Off grid in the middle of a very cold Ontario winter, the furnace ran almost continuously. Also with daylight savings in effect, it was dark at 500 pm, half the lights on in the trailer. The batteries worked very good, we did deplete them to dangerous levels a few times. I mounted the 1000 watt inverter close to the batteries and wired the bedroom receptacles out of the fiver fuse box right into the inverter. Nice simple system, and the inverter is not a high quality unit either, 150.00 made off shore by Xantrex.

I have been thinking of installing another 1000 watt inverter to power the living room entertainment system. I could then only need to run the Honda for 2-3 hours per day. Just for recharging and microwave or washer dryer duties.

I have room for two more batteries in the battery storage compartment, right now those compartments are empty as I removed the original batteries that came with the trailer. They were the cheap 12 volt deep cycle batteries. I like where the batteries are now, all together and easy to service but I do need to vent this storage area, for the time being I leave the compartment door open a bit.

Acton Campsite

2009-04-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

I got digging around the puter for more pics and found this one of our campsite in Acton with our new trailer, this was taken last summer. I would like to have the deck raised so that it is level with the entrance door and I might do that this spring. Its a old deck and some of the boards need to be replaced. I got a load of gravel delivered last year so that under the trailer there is no dirt or grass, just gravel, really cleaned up the appearance of the site.

Stuff

2009-04-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

I got the internet up last night, it had been down for a couple of days, after phoning Bell we found out that the tower that our signal comes from was having problems. I am on the Wimax system which is basically a modem antenae that gets its signal from a local tower. Something like a cell tower but it is supposed to be better and faster.

What I like about the system is that it is portable. I can move it from here at the shop to another location, plug it in and it finds the signal and I am surfing. It is supposed to work in alot of Canadian cities and I am hoping that it will work up at our seasonal site in Acton.

I position the modem in my bedroom, directed at the window for maximum signal. The modem gets plugged into a router that provides a wireless signal throughout the rv. This means no wires and the kid can surf via his ipod.

The modem and router are plugged into a receptacle that runs off inverter power. Last night the power went out here in the trailer, which did not affect the modem, router or laptop, pretty slick.
I just kept on surfing.

Here is the pic of the coffee table we got from Derek, it looks good and seems to be about the right size for the living room. Not too heavy to move when the sofabed needs to be pulled out. Seems dumb to post about a coffee table, but living in a rv for so long, having a coffee table just makes it seem more like home.

It sure got cold yesterday and snow too. Starting to warm up today and supposed to be warmer for the rest of the week. I left the awning out and got a load of snow on it. It is a electric awning and there was so much snow that the electric motor would not roll it in. This is a good way to wreck your awning, I removed the snow and then it worked. I have wrecked every awning that I have had.

The economy does not seem to be picking up, more and more job losses every month. I think this will be the norm for the rest of the year. Talking to some fleets today and it is getting tougher to find loads. So it is getting worse and not better. Scary.

Here is that beavertail job we are doing in the shop. Cut the beavertail off and build a rear bumper and light panels. It is cutoff already, but I am waiting on steel materials to finish up , post some pics later this week.

I am experimenting with my heating ducts in the rv this afternoon. I have two ducts in the kitchen area, and only one in the living room. The living room is at the back of the trailer and the furnace is at the front of the trailer. So, I don't get a ton of heat out of that duct. I plugged off the two ducts in the kitchen area and this forces more hot air to the living room and also the bedroom area. The thermostat is located close to the entrance door and like most rv's, the entrance door is a heat loss area, usually a slight draft. The other problem I have, is the furnace cycling too often. Caused by the draft from the entrance door, as the thermostat is too close.

When the furnace cycles too much, there is too much heat upstairs.

Although there is a electric fireplace in the living room, I am currently on a 15 amp service and the fireplace consumes pretty much 15 amps. I did put a little ceramic heater in the living room that is rated at 1100 watts and we do use it for extra heating. But we still have to be careful as to what else we are running at the same time. Right now the dryer is going, so the ceramic heater is off. The living room is comfortable cause I have the kitchen ducts off. The furnace comes on, and stays on for a long time cause the kitchen area where the thermostat is, has the ducts blocked. Upstairs in the bedroom is now a sauna, I can't block off those ducts as the heat has to go somewhere and I don't want to overheat the furnace and have it shut down, ie sail switch going off.

In every rv I have had, a mixture of electric and propane furnace heat has provided the best results. The problem this winter, was that we were off grid for two months and could only rely on the furnace for our heat needs. Next year, I will install a 30 or 50 amp service here at the shop, and run two ceramic heaters, one in the living room and one by the entrance door. I need to find heaters that are around 800 watts. Another area that needs attention is the toilet room, no heat in there at all. I got looking under in the basement storage area, it would not be all that difficult to tap into the heating duct tubes. Maybe a project for the summer. In our last trailer, during the winter I put a ceramic heater in the basement. This kept the bathroom floor toasty warm and would help heat the upstairs.

Ideally I would prefer having two furnaces. One to run the upstairs with its own thermostat and one for the rest of the trailer. My buddy George has a furnace out of his trailer and is supposed to drop it off for me. Maybe I will temporarily hook it up and see how that works out???

Spring Cleaning

2009-04-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

So we got the carpets steam cleaned today, they did a nice job. So for the rest of the spring the dogs are not allowed in the trailer at night. They can stay in the shop and I will park the truck inside and they can sleep in the sleeper where they usually sleep anyhow. They get spoiled, thats the problem. It has rained since midnight here, the shop is flooded out and so is the yard. You can imagine what the dogs look like, completely wet and full of dirt.

Threatened the mere existence and future of my 14 year old, tracking mud and dirt off his jeans, into the trailer, you know how they have to have the bottom of thier jeans dragging on the ground. Thats the problem with rving full time, there is never a spot to put your boots and shoes without them being in the way. I seen one fiver that did have a large closet at the entrance door and thought that was a great idea, put all the coats and shoes and boots etc. I have a small closet at the entrance door, enough room for a couple of spring jackets and maybe two pair of running shoes.

Washed down the walls and ceiling in the trailer, cleaned all the wooden blinds and windexed all the windows.

We had a mouse in the trailer last night, sitting in the oven, don't know how he got there, the wife opened the oven door and there he was just sitting there, he was'nt even scared. We lost our cat a month ago, likely to the coyote's and we might get a kitten. Was checking the free cats out on Kijiji and there was alot of adult cats for free and I would prefer to get a adult one cause I know if they don't get adopted they will get put down. Problem is, we have a little trailer dog, Shelby, he is smaller than a cat. He would have a better chance of getting along with a kitten than a adult cat.

We have gone through so many cats, we let them roam free. If they want to go outside we let them. Sometimes they don't come back, I feel bad but I believe in letting pets be as free as possible. Can't keep the cat indoors as they see the dogs running around outside and do whatever they can to get out of the house.

Got a couple of hundred pound tanks of propane dropped off today, just in time too as I was starting to run out. Perfect timing for a change and believe me that does not happen too often

My buddy Derek is bringing me his coffee table, his wife redid thier living room and bought new and the one that he had originally I really liked. It is like new anyhow, and will match pretty good in my living room in the trailer, will post some pics later. Tried getting his new big flat screen tv too, but no luck.

We have been in this trailer since last July, and we really have not put up any pictures or plants flowers that kind of stuff. Once we get up to our seasonal site, I think we will make it homey.

Around the Shop

2009-04-02T13:59:00.001-07:00

Typical day around the shop, a little bit of everything going on. Wash truck for some welding repairs the rv truck and a service and light repairs on the Kw, still have a drop deck beavertail outside to have the beavertail cut off and make a rear bumper nice with all the lights etc.

Still getting the dump trucks ready, one went out yesterday and the Mto nailed the guy for improper tarp, 800.00 in fines. His tarp had so many holes it should have been replaced last year.

A little Hauler

2009-04-02T12:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a truck we built a number of years ago. Little Chev 3 ton with a cat motor, alison auto transmission and air ride with juice brakes. The sleeper is custom built and has a sink and shower, bed and sound system inside. There is also a fifth wheel hitch built into the rear deck for pulling a trailer, when not pulling a trailer, there is a enclosure made out of tent material that mounts on the rear deck. The sidewalls at the rear are removable so a trailer can be hauled.

I repaired the vacuflush toilet system, the 12 motors needed to come out and be taken apart and cleaned up as the brushes inside were stuck with corrosion and dirt. We had to cut a access hole. Beside the access hole is a electric hot water tank and a waste holding tank. We installed these items last year.
Were doing a water test too, I loaded him up with water to his onboard 40 gallon fresh water tank, I transferred the water from my truck tank with the Honda pump, worked very well.

The truck has been a ongoing project for years, customer changes his mind with what he wants to do with the truck. He has a mobile hearing test company and we built some specialized trailers for him a few years back. He hauls this around to companies and checks the hearing of the employees. Kind of a neat little business, he is feeling the economy pinch right now as companies are cutting back.

More Pics

2009-04-01T17:52:00.001-07:00

So here is the downstairs, the living room is separated by the french doors, inside the living room there is alot of room and right this minute we 5 adults and two german shepherds sitting in here watching tv and having coffee. That round kitchen table has been replaced by a square one, the round one just did not work out plus we rarely ever sit at the table for dinner.

I like the layout of the trailer as the kitchen area is wide open, and the living area is separate and one can close the doors and keep the noise separate.

One of the dogs just farted, so the living room has cleared out now.

Electric fireplace in the living room and surround sound system factory installed along with the dvd player and large tv that swings out and tilts.

The two chairs at the rear of the trailer are made by Lazyboy and are real comfortable, leather too, behind those chairs is a big bay window. Lots of windows and indirect lighting, ceiling fans and ducted air conditioning throughout the trailer.

The Homestead

2009-04-01T17:48:00.001-07:00

I figured I would post a couple of pics of the interior of the fiver. Here is the bedroom, king size bed and i got my tv and dvd player there. Lots of storage in the front behind the mirror closet doors, even got a safe in the floor, they think of everything.

Here is the bathroom area, shower stall and sink, also the shitter room and the washer, I have a dryer mounted on top of the washer now.

More Water Pump Stuff

2009-04-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

I was not happy with the flow coming out of the gas powered water pump. Also the supplied pickup tube was difficult to use, I would drop it into the tank to pickup the water but it would float.

So I plumbed the pickup hose right into the fitting at the bottom of the tank on the truck and also installed a valve. The water now flows from the bottom of the tank to the pump and then out through a rv hose to the onboard tank on the trailer. She pumps fast now, if I want more flow I will have to change the output hose to 5/8 or 3/4 id.

I am really impressed with this Honda gas powered pump, especially for 240.00. A real deal. The motor fires up easily and runs smooth, 4 stroke overhead valve design. It being a Honda should last a long time.

I am still using a sump pump that I submerse into the big tank and run the little inverter generator for power.

Even once I get to the seasonal campsite in probably two weeks, I will still use my on board tank to supply water to the trailer. The park water on the weekends loses pressure due to the campground being full, sometimes to the point where there is no water at all.

Steady in the shop this week, getting gravel trucks ready for the season. So rv work tomorrow on my buddie's truck I built for him a few years ago, will post some pics tomorrow. Looking forward to that.

Been reading alot of the blogs on survival and preparedness, seems like there is more and more info every month. I think this coming month we will start with putting some supplies away, I've gotten alot of info off the net the last six months.

I don't think there will be a total collapse, but for me could be a very slow period/bad economy and in my mind that would be the same as a collapse. Implement a more frugal cost effective lifestyle now so that when it does slow down we are better prepared.

Water Pump

2009-03-31T13:33:00.001-07:00

Princess Auto has this Honda Water Ace pump on surplus sale for 230.00, I picked one up and have it hooked to my water transfer system. Works alot better but still need to get larger id water hoses, the usual rv white water hose is only 1/2 inch id which is limiting the flow.

Anyone that needs a pump like this should buy this unit, Honda 4 stroke motor comes complete with the pump, Honda pump and motor the same as this is close to 600.00.

The Shop

2009-03-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

This is how I make a buck. Heavy truck collision repair, welding of steel and aluminum and custom work.

They roll them over and we repair them. We also do alot of gravel truck dump box repairs also garbage trailers too.

Today we are getting a small fleet ready for the upcoming gravel season. General check over for lights, brake adjust, some welding here and there. Grease and fluid levels check, check tires. Paint a frame on one truck a brake job on another. We are fully equipped for the work that we do and have been in business for five years now.

Do alot of truck frame work, trucks with broken frames, trucks that need to lengthened or shortened. We seem to always have work although the last six months I have noticed a overall slowing down in the workload.

Everything is paid for in the shop, I bought everything during the first three years and cause we live in our rv and have very little personal expenses we were able to invest heavily into the shop. Were just a small shop, myself and two other guys so we really don't need alot of work to keep us afloat. We also buddies too and spend time together away from the shop. I often say, dumb dumber and dumbest thats us. We sort of got our own thing going on and not like how other shops are run, pretty laid back here, alot of laughing and joking.

Were well known in the area and have alot of guys drop in to chew the fat or discuss upcoming work for us. We don't charge a big dollar and alot of small jobs we let slide, we don't nickel and dime a guy. We actually work for the money we make and I believe in a honest days work for honest pay.

We like the hard jobs, the jobs that the other shops in the area refer to us. Thats got Coal all written over it, is what I hear. Keeps it interesting.

I want to work another 3 years and then hopefully move to Northern Ontario and either work for a guy in this line of work or open a small one man shop. My immediate plan is to survive the next couple of years and keep out of debt as I am now.

The last 8 months here in the shop has been brutal, I moved the shop four times till we found the location that we are in now that is suitable, very hard to find a suitable shop. We lost our first shop due to a mold problem in the walls, it was the best shop out of the bunch but the landlord had to do major reno work forcing us to leave.

Sheena and Shilo

2009-03-31T07:22:00.000-07:00

Here's the girls, my fulltime companions, where I go they go. Sitting on the back of thier truck. I actually built the truck with the sleeper so the dogs can travel with us with plenty of room. It's pretty much their doghouse, if we park at a mall and the dogs are left in the truck, no one can go near the truck without them freaking out.

They spend their days here in the shop, they are quite social during the day and if I leave them in the shop overnight, at night one cannot get into the shop.

These dogs are very active, all day long they are on the go. Customers play fetch with them and they see up to 50 people a day. So there is always something interesting for them to do.

Living in a trailer with two large dogs can be a bear. Especially during lousy weather, dogs tracking in dirt and mud. My carpets in the trailer right now are so disgusting it is embarrassing. We usually tear out the carpets and put down tile or wood flooring, why they put carpet in a trailer is beyond me.

They are 2 and 3 years old, from different parents but look quite alike. I raised them from 2 months old and they are with me 24/7. Extremely obedient and never tied up. They roam free here on our shop property and even though there is alot of truck traffic, they know to stay out of the way.

At our seasonal campsite, they stay on the site. A dog could be walking by less than 15 feet away and they will not get up and run, they will watch and maybe growl, but they won't move.

This is our seasonal site last year with our old trailer that burnt. The deck is a good size and the dogs can lay about there, but generally they lay on the grass beside the little walkway.

We might move into this site early this year, the campgorund owner phoned the other day and said he might open early. Yee haw looking forward to getting off the shop property.

The campground has 200 plus sites and 90 % of them are seasonal, some people have been there for 30 or more years. Campground is clean and well run. We pay 425.00 per month for this site plus hydro which is metered. The season last 5 months. Inground pool and a rec hall and very close to town for groceries etc. During the week there is maybe 5 campers in the whole park, very quiet, weekends it gets noisy with lots of activity.

I figure campgrounds like this are about the last neighbourhood left, all the people are decent and one does not have to worry about your kids so much. We have a 14 year old at home still and he has a bunch of friends in the park and has about 30 acres to roam free on. Everyone knows everyone and they keep a eye out on the kids.

I could'nt move into a house in Brampton and let the kids play outside like we can in this campground. Too much crime and gangs, crazy drivers and trouble always just around the corner.

Rain

2009-03-29T08:02:00.000-07:00

I actually slept in this morning, that felt good. Supposed to rain till the afternoon and then the sun is coming out. Good day to stay inside and relax, watch some tv and surf the net.

We have been in this shop for two months now and it is starting to feel like home. Customers are starting to come in and the word is getting around that we are here. The workload has been steady but slower than what we are used to. I am thinking that we are going to have a slow year, a year to just survive.

We will move the trailer to our seasonal site in Acton at the end of April, we will stay there till the end of October. We used to travel to Northern Ontario for many weekend getaways, but last year we did not and this year we may go for one week or ten days, depending if friends of ours want to go with us. I am okay with not travelling, we can go boating at Bellwood Lake which is only 20 minutes from our campsite.

Once I have the trailer at the campsite, we go on full hookups, so all this roughing it will come to a end for the summer months. I have to load water again today as the wife is doing laundry. This coming winter I will move the big water tank to inside the shop and mount a proper pump and run the water direct into the trailer.

Roughing it in the middle of the city. Were still only on a 15 amp circuit that I ran out of the shop. Which is kinda good as it is training the family to watch what they use for power.

The water delivery guy was here the other day and I asked him how much the average family uses for water. He said that when they build a new subdivision, they figure on 4 people per family and 1200 gallons per week water use. I was shocked as we get by with around 200 gallons per week. It was concern for me with property up north and a water system. Would I have to dig a well or be close to a body of water.

Alot of the properties that I looked at had power at the lot line, telephone too in alot of cases. After talking with other people, it could be quite a bit of money to bring the power into your land, one guy told me close to 100 grand. He is going with solar, you can buy alot of solar power for that kind of money. I like solar and want to get into it, but I want a hybrid system meaning for my heavy loads I would run the Honda.

As it works now, I have 4 6 volt batteries on board, they are charged by two Iota three stage converter chargers. Total power of charging is 90 amps. I can recharge my batteries in roughly 2 to 3 hours. I have a 1000 watt inverter that is wired into the bedroom receptacles where I have my bedroom tv and dvd player plugged into. Generally at night, I watch a movie or the news and shut down the Honda around 900 pm. We usually run the Honda from about 500 pm to 900 pm, this allows the wife to have full power for cooking, and we can run the living room tv too. That 4 hours gives plenty of time to recharge and float the batteries.

The batteries run the whole rig in the dead of winter no problem for a whole day. The furnace is pretty much running 65 % of the time, and we try to turn off lights when not needed. It is a very simple system and it seems to work very well. I have had more complicated systems, but in reality we did not need all the glitz. If I add solar, I don't want to mount to the roof of the rig, I really don't like the idea on holes drilled plus where ever I park I like to be out of the sun, so am thinking a portable solar array would be the ticket. I could move it as required for taking full advantage of the sun. Thought tow of mounting the panels on the truck.

The temperature extremes has taught me that in the summer, have the trailer positioned under shade, this will help keep the trailer cool and if I run the air conditioning it will not work as hard. In the winter, keep the trailer out of the wind but in the sun. Wind in the winter time, makes a huge difference in whether your comforable or not. Skirting the trailer so that wind does not blow under the trailer is critical.

Fill er Up

2009-03-28T14:45:00.000-07:00

Excellent weather today, was supposed to rain but is holding off till sunday. I ran out of water in the trailer last night so this morning I ran down to crappy tire to get a water pump. Went with a submersible pump that i can drop into the big water tank and then fill the tank on the truck.

This pic shows the generator powering the pump that is sitting in the green tub, the water drains out of the tank on the truck to this green tub where the pump sits and collects pumps the water into the trailer. Not a ideal system and I need to fine tune it a little better. One thing that i could do is cut a larger opening in the tank on the truck and sit the pump inside the tank when i need to transfer the water.
Here is the tank on the truck, the white hose is just draining the water into the green bucket.

It took a fair bit of time to transfer the 65 gallons this way, too long. Even if I use the 12 volt water pump it takes too long.

Here is a shot of the side front of the trailer, all the propane bottles and the white hose going into the 65 gallon water tank in the basement storage.

Really like the trailer parked in this spot, out of the wind and out of the way. This fall when we move the trailer back here for the winter, I might build some sort of deck, maybe enclosed to keep the shoes and snow outside????

Saturday

2009-03-28T06:05:00.000-07:00

I like Saturdays, the guys are out of the shop and i usually have a couple of customers drop by for small little jobs, make a little cash. I am going to fine tune my water system today, i need a submersible pump to drop into the water tank so that i can fill the water tank on the truck and then transfer to the trailer.

i got up this morning and we were out of water on the trailer.

I picked up a 950 watt inverter genset at Can Tire for 250.00, half price as it was on clearence. I fired it up and seems to run pretty good, a little noisy compared to my honda. I will use this on the truck and around the shop for portable power. i will also try it on the trailer for it to run the converter in case the honda has a problem.

Bought a new laptop at Walmart for 500, they are cheap now compared to a few years ago.

I wish the sub pump would fit into the water tank on the back of the truck, that sure would make it easier to transfer the water instead of using that little rv 12 volt pump. Maybe I should cut the tank so that it will drop inside or I could use a open container??

No pics today as i am on the new laptop and i need to transfer over some pics from the shop computer.

Water Day

2009-03-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

I got the 1500 gallon water tank yesterday and spent the afternoon getting the proper fittings and assembling it all together. The water man should be here this morning to fill it up.

There is no water on the property save for the house next door that runs off a well. I don't want to tap into his system cause I can at times use alot of water and don't need the headache.

1500 gallons for the rv, based on my prior consumption would last me well over a month. I still have to truck the water from this tank to my truck tank and then to the trailer tank. So some more figuring to get this system to work well.

I think I will powerwash my trailer this weekend, I can put my pressure washer in the back of the truck along with the Honda genset, the water tank is there already, kinda like a mobile power washing unit.

I moved the trailer from the back of the yard to right behind the shop, there was just enough room to fit the trailer. The Honda mounted back up on the trailer, we are plugged into the shop power now, only 15 amp though.

The Truck

2009-03-25T14:26:00.000-07:00

I built the truck three years ago, it's a 95 Ford E 350 with the Powerstroke Diesel. I bought it with 160 k and it now has 220 k, roughly halfway through its life.
I installed a sleeper on the truck for added room, I have two german shepherds and while we are in our seasonal campsite, they sleep in the truck during the night. Keeps them out of the trailer and the wife happy.

You can see the water tank mounted on the rear deck, there is also a 12 volt water pump and this is how we transfer water to the trailer. It's a little tricky in the cold weather but we manage.

Truck is a older unit, but paid for. I do all my own repairs save for a transmission last year. Nice having my own shop where I can work on my own projects.

Present Day Thoughts

2009-03-25T12:39:00.000-07:00

Survival, preparedness and self sufficiency. I don't think that the world is coming to an end but I do believe we are in for a lifestyle change. I own my own business and I see how the economy is slowing down. Our phones are quiet and if was not for us being established for five years in the same area, we would have no work at all.
All the things that I have done and believed in the last 10 or 12 years has put me into a fairly good position now. I have no personal or business debt, I have mastered trailer living and winter rving is now a breeze. I am in the kind of work where I am always needed and I moved to a shop that has low overhead and in a excellent area. I pay 2500.00 a month for the shop and this also where I live 7 months out of the year. For the other five months we are in our seasonal campground where the cost is 425.00 per month. My overhead for the year is less than 2500.00.
Last year was a very bad year for us and had we a mortgage, car payments, trailer payments and credit cards like the majority of people we know we would have been sunk. Living this way ensured our survival as we did not need alot of money for ourselves to keep us going. We are now getting back on track and even though the economy is crap, I think we will have a so so year.

My truck and trailer is my home but is also my way out. If it all fell apart business wise, my home is still paid for. I have somewhere to sleep. If I need to move to somewhere where there are jobs, I can. Moving all my shop equipment is another thing.

I spent the winter months researching the net on preparenedess and survival topics. There is alot of good info out there and I won't repeat any of it here except what I am going to do. My truck and fiver are complete now, except for a solar system which I am undecided about. The next step is stockpiling supplies. Trying to make a good list from all the excellent info out there. Land up in Northern Ontario is on my radar for later this year. I found a nice little property already, I might start researching it a little more next week.

How bad will things get, this is the big question for me. I think it will be tough, one will have to live a frugal life, work a little harder, make do with a little less. We've had it too good for too long. Getting back to basics.

Present Day

2009-03-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

Our trailer parked at our new shop. We moved Feb 1 2009 into this shop and we had to put the trailer in the rear part of the yard where there is no power or water. We had it here for six weeks.
Cold and windy, wow. 100 pounds of propane would last 4 days. Our onboard freshwater tank froze up so I had to install a 65 gallon tank in the basement storage where it is heated, and one night the lines in there even froze.

The Honda worked well except for one night it would not start. I pulled it into the shop and ended up taking the whole thing apart. I pulled apart the motor and I assume what the problem was, the compression release lever on the camshaft was sticking. Cleaned it all up, assemble it all back together, do a valve lash and now she just purrs along. Of course all this happened at 10 pm, I had it up and running at 300 in the morning.

All I am using for inverted power is the upstairs bedroom receptacles. I rewired them to feed from the inverter so when the Honda is off, I can watch a movie or tv. Also during the six weeks there, two of my Iota converters went for a crap, these provide the 12 volts dc for the interior lighting and appliances and recharging the batteries. I ran my truck charger from the shop for about 4 weeks while I search for replacements at a reasonable price, not the price that one gets at the local rv dealer, which is usually double.

All our grey water here drains off into the field. There is no water on the property so we had to load water at my buddy's house down the road and deliver to the trailer. 65 gallons at a time. I just bought a 1500 gallon tank today and mounted it outside, this will feed my hot pressure washer as sometimes I need to wash a truck to work on it. The water delivered is 80.00 a load and he will be here in the morning.

We use 65 gallons of water every two to three days, the fiver has a washer dryer but we have not been using it. The wife goes to the laundrymat, but 30.00 to the laundry, I told her it would be better to do it in the trailer and save the expense and hassle, easier to truck water.

Here is the water tank mounted in the trailer, I have another one the same mounted on the truck.

In the front storage area are the 4 6 volt Crown batteries, along with a toolbox. The black box is the 1000 watt inverter that runs the bedroom receptacles. I still need to vent this cabinet to allow battery gases to escape, for the time being it is always partially open.

Here is a overall shot of the truck and trailer at our last shop, we moved shops four times in 8 months, real hard.

Moving the Trailer

2009-03-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

Here we are tryig to move the trailer out of the snow and ice, and I mean thick. The trailer had to come out so that the warmer weather could starting melting what was under the trailer. I pulled it out and parked in the rear of the yard, kinda like boondocking, ran the Honda for power and transfer water to the onboard fresh water tank. It worked out well.

We could run a whole day off the inverted power, as long as we conserved a little bit. The Honda would run and the Xantrex would recharge the batteries in a little over two hours.

The onboard fresh water tank held 85 gallons and would last two to three days.

New Trailer

2009-03-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

Fast forward a couple of years and we get a good deal on a large fifth wheel. Here she is sitting next to the shop right smack dab in the middle of one very cold winter.
We got the trailer just before the snow started so never really got it setup proper for winter rving, as you can tell from the makeshift plywood to block the wind.

You can see that I mounted a Honda Inverter generator on the pin box, also in the front storage area is a Xantrex 2500 watt Freedom Inverter Charger along with 4 6 volt golf cart batteries. Finally my own power system.

This trailer was 42 overall feet long, triple slide and triple axle. It was okay for the winter but we did have big problems with condensation. So bad that the carpets were soaked. Single pane windows and walls would sweat where ever there was a aluminum frame upright.

We lost this trailer about 4 months after this pic was taken due to a washing machine front control panel going up in flames. Luckily no one was hurt. I woke that morning and the wife and kid had already gone, as I was leaving the trailer the cat wanted in and for some reason I said, if you can stay outside all night you can stay outside all day.

We lost quite a bit of money on that trailer and the fire. We owned it for 8 months but had redid the whole inside with new leather furniture, stereo equipment, computers and new mattress. I also clearcoated the whole trailer in my shop, as the decals were fading. Insurance would not cover any of that. My Xantrex system got fried as well.

Fine Tuning

2009-03-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

So the last post took me to about the year 2000. Around that time I gave up truck driving and went back to heavy truck collision repair. Got a job in town, actually about three miles from the campground. This was ideal, but the winter was coming and I did not want to travel 40 minutes out to a campground that was open during the winter months. So I parked behind the truck repair shop.

The boss was okay with this too, during the winter is when we do the bulk of the work. Snow and winter conditions create alot of work for our trade. Long hours and alot of 7 day weeks, no problem for me, cause I live 50 feet from my toolbox.

Now living in a small fifth wheel in behind a truck repair facility can be a little weird. The guys at work thought I was nuts but I had a plan.

Because my overhead was nil. I made a decision that one day I would open my own small truck repair shop. I bought every tool that I could think of as well as the shop equipment. I did this for four years. During that time I met the wife I am with now. Try meeting someone when your living in a trailer out behind a truck shop.

So I decided to open my own shop and moved out to Milton Ontario, the other half wanted me to open a shop and I told her that I did not have quite enough money, but threw caution to the wind and now were in business.

That same little 24 foot fifth wheel now holds me and the wife and her 8 year old son, beside the truck shop. Summertime, up to a campground about 15 minutes away.
That first year in business was tough, but we got through it.

Here is the fifth wheel beside our shop the first winter we opened. Tucked in there nicely, I ran the hydro and water from the shop. Our propane furnace gave out so we ran a couple of ceramic block heaters for the winter. Luckily there was a drain close to take in all the grey water. Bathroom in the shop.

Up and Running

2009-03-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

Okay never did a blog before but here goes. I thought I would do a blog so that I could have a record of my daily events, kinda like a diary, mostly for my own use but if others find it interesting than all the better.

My interests are varied. I live fulltime in a 38 foot fifth wheel rv up here in Ontario Canada and have been doing so for 12 years. Started off in a truck camper and decided that I liked this way of living and moved up with bigger and larger units to the one that I have now.

I originally decided to move into the truck camper cause I was tired of paying rent on a apartment where I had no life. Limited to the things that I could do. I moved into the truck camper and lived here and there for the first month. Mostly at the trucking firm that I was working at. I worked alot of hours so camping out in the truck parking lot was ideal. The trucking firm had showers for the drivers.
A buddy told me about a campground that was just up the road, I went up and was dumbfounded that such a thing existed in the city. I moved in and set up camp and immediately felt at home. I stayed there till the end of the season and then found a campground that was open for the winter.

That same winter I found a older fifth wheel unit which was affordable. Still not sure if this lifestyle was going to be fulltime and permanent. I moved into the fifth wheel and although it was only a 24 footer, I had a ton of room compared to the old truck camper. I settled in for the remainder of that winter and every day I learned something new about this lifestyle.

I got into generators and inverters/battery systems. Outfitting the pickup truck properly to haul the trailer. Got familiar with all the onboard items such as water heaters and fridge propane systems, furnaces and electric heaters. How to keep warm through a cold Ontario winter. Keep water lines from freezing up etc.