What could you build in this??

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JD GUMBEE

JD GUMBEE

Well-known member
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Feb 7, 2018
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Location
sitting on a river-bridge playing the banjo...
https://gsaauctions.gov/gsaauctions/aucitsrh/?sl=71QSCI19197001

https://gsaauctions.gov/gsaauctions/aucitsrh/?sl=7EFBPI19632005

Benz engine...good on fuel but gutless for pulling 80,000 pounds around.
Perfect for a light build for nomad life, though.
No one will bid this up. Look at the mileage on it.

Would be perfect to haul that trailer around.

With a swing out staircase that popped out the back, you could have one hell of a nice setup in there.
Windows are eeeeeasy to put in those. A nice wood stove/propane stove, big screen/surround and full shower/potty with 200 gallon black tank...LOL and 200 gallons of fresh on board.
Split heat pump and 3,000 watts on the roof with four or five Tesla batteries wired up....Hmmmm...
Screw the class A.
Mrs G would go for it if we had enough windows/full sized stove/oven and a fire escape up front. Hmmm
Anyone else see it in their head?

They would buy me a ticket to deliver that 550 to ElPaso...hmmm
...and I know where there is a rolled 2017 Reefer with full air ride, fresh virgin rubber/brakes and anti-lock undercarriage for the taking...
 
Those old trailer would be a great platform for tiny houses, My brother bought a few of them for next to nothing off a transport company that was decommisionning them and uses them as storage units for his business,doesn’t have to pay property taxes as they are mobile, unlike a shed. I always thought of parking two of them side by side cutting access holes or opening them up in between adding a few windows and you could have a pretty cheap house if you had a property in the boonies somewhere or could make a good work shop as well
 
If I were wanting to go the tractor trailer route, I would want a furniture moving trailer. With the lower floor in the middle a pop-top could be made to make it a two story operation with a sidewall to fold down for a deck. I don't want one though.
 
Ooohh! ...and looks like an automatic too... I'd build a house on the back like a super C.
 
I'd take 2 trailers buy 32' trusses, steel roof & have a machine shop in one, wood shop in the other & 16'x53' covered work or stage area all for cheap. If in a cold climate put sliding doors on both 16' ends.
 
Gr8ful said:
I'd take 2 trailers buy 32' trusses, steel roof & have a machine shop in one, wood shop in the other & 16'x53' covered work or stage area all for cheap. If in a cold climate put sliding doors on both 16' ends.
Click to expand...

If this wouldn't be portable as I see in your plans, I would save your money and buy two shipping containers that would outlast these and be almost indestructible. Yes there is 53' shipping containers out there too along with 45's and other sizes.
 

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One problem with the tractor-trailer setup that no one has mentioned so far is that you would have to grit your teeth and hope for the best every time you drive by a weigh station because your RV will look enough like a commercial vehicle that you will appear to be illegally bypassing the scales. This will usually cause the highway patrol to come blasting out of the scales to pull you over and inquire as to why you didn't stop and visit like you're supposed to. As Desi used to say to Lucy "You're gonna have some 'splainin' to do!"

You might be tempted to just pull on in there and drive right up on the scales, but that will pretty much guarantee a "Park it in the back and bring in your papers!" from the loudspeaker. At that moment you will become the most fun they've had all day, so best to avoid that.

Of course you are actually a recreational vehicle and not a commercial vehicle, but if you drive a rig like that you're going to get the opportunity to talk about that difference on a regular basis on the side of the road to some dude with a badge and a gun. Also, many states will require or expect you to have a commercial driver's license (CDL) since you are in fact driving a tractor-trailer, so you'll get to have a little visit about that detail as well.

So if one of your goals is to minimize contact with the long arm of the law, this may not be a good idea. Other than that, it sounds great. :)

Johnny
 
From what I have noticed with people using semi's is they have a decal on both doors stating "Private vehicle, not for hire". This gets them past the scrutiny of the weigh stations.
 
B and C said:
If I were wanting to go the tractor trailer route, I would want a furniture moving trailer.  With the lower floor in the middle a pop-top could be made to make it a two story operation with a sidewall to fold down for a deck.  
Click to expand...

Years ago I saw an old bed-bugger trailer (also called a moving van) converted into a mobile clubhouse/living quarters for a small group of bikers at Sturgis. They gave me a brief tour of the rig.

I wish I had taken pictures, it was very cool.

At the front of the trailer, over the apron, with steps leading up, they had a platform with a couch, table, and big-screen TV and sound system. A handrail up the steps and around the platform was a nice touch. 

In the middle was the open/common area, with a high ceiling, several chairs and stools, fridge, wetbar, and being low to the ground, and open on the entire curbside, with ramps for loading the bikes. There was a huge motorcycle themed awning over that open side. 

Towards the rear there was a partition so the back door could be used for loading tools, supplies, etc over the rear apron above the trailer tandems, and then just forward of that partition there were several bunk beds with curtains, and a bathroom facility, including shower. 

The entire inside was painted in Harley colors, black and orange, chrome accents, and lighted with neon bar signs and lights, Harley banners and posters, and huge posters of bikini-clad babes. It was like a biker bar on wheels!

The only thing missing was a brass pole, but maybe they had it stored away during my visit?

It was pulled by an old Kenworth...can't remember the year or any details on that, because I was mainly looking at the trailer.

I was very impressed...but then I was off to enjoy more of the Black Hills and did not go back by the mobile clubhouse again.
 
JohnnyM said:
One problem with the tractor-trailer setup that no one has mentioned so far is that you would have to grit your teeth and hope for the best every time you drive by a weigh station because your RV will look enough like a commercial vehicle that you will appear to be illegally bypassing the scales. This will usually cause the highway patrol to come blasting out of the scales to pull you over and inquire as to why you didn't stop and visit like you're supposed to. As Desi used to say to Lucy "You're gonna have some 'splainin' to do!"

You might be tempted to just pull on in there and drive right up on the scales, but that will pretty much guarantee a "Park it in the back and bring in your papers!" from the loudspeaker. At that moment you will become the most fun they've had all day, so best to avoid that.

Of course you are actually a recreational vehicle and not a commercial vehicle, but if you drive a rig like that you're going to get the opportunity to talk about that difference on a regular basis on the side of the road to some dude with a badge and a gun. Also, many states will require or expect you to have a commercial driver's license (CDL) since you are in fact driving a tractor-trailer, so you'll get to have a little visit about that detail as well.

So if one of your goals is to minimize contact with the long arm of the law, this may not be a good idea. Other than that, it sounds great. :)

Johnny
Click to expand...

I can relate to that when pulling my 5th wheel converted from shipping container through New Mexico headed to Canadian border I bypassed the weigh station and here they come chasing me down. I cringed past each weigh station and Washington state had a field day with me too.
 

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Weldman said:
I can relate to that when pulling my 5th wheel converted from shipping container through New Mexico headed to Canadian border I bypassed the weigh station and here they come chasing me down. I cringed past each weigh station and Washington state had a field day with me too.
Click to expand...

IIRC, that truck had a business sign on the door.  That would make it look commercial and subject to stopping at weigh stations.  A sign like I mentioned above would have helped.
 
B and C said:
IIRC, that truck had a business sign on the door.  That would make it look commercial and subject to stopping at weigh stations.  A sign like I mentioned above would have helped.
Click to expand...

That door got put on after that cross country trip years later.
 
B and C said:
From what I have noticed with people using semi's is they have a decal on both doors stating "Private vehicle, not for hire".  This gets them past the scrutiny of the weigh stations.
Click to expand...
I was told to put the stickers on my one ton 12' flatbed diesel & thhe ambo.
 
Some tractors that I have seen lately have "FOR RV USE ONLY" in a huge font on both doors.
 
MrNoodly said:
What could you build with THIS?

<a href="https://ibb.co/BCp2YDy"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/QKgvxBP/Screen-Shot-2019-02-28-at-1-13-56-PM.png" alt="Screen-Shot-2019-02-28-at-1-13-56-PM" border="0" /></a>

Well, something more practical than this, I would hope.

<a href="https://ibb.co/PFwdfgs"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/NtZMHKg/Screen-Shot-2019-02-28-at-1-19-30-PM.png" alt="Screen-Shot-2019-02-28-at-1-19-30-PM" border="0" /></a>
Click to expand...
That's easy one, I would take a 40 ft shipping container and have a legal amount of overhang off the back (around 4 ft) end on the frame, the 20 ft as you see on the picture would be main living quarters and then take about 8 plus ft and it would be the cab over the cab of the truck. Would redefine a truck camper when done with 40 ft shipping container, thought about doing it with a 20 ft one at one time and still do. Anything left over from the 40 ft I would make it into fold down patio on the back
 
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