what to do with an old motorhome

[rokguy]

Hi everyone,<BR>After reading one of the other posts regarding an off the grid home base I thought I would post what I did with my old boxtruck motorhome.<BR><BR>(Sorry I can only attach these pics. but they should be in order)<BR><BR>I built this motorhome quite a few years ago and it served me well but as the old truck got rustier and rustier I decided to retire it. This is its story.<BR>Original I built POD out of a farmers chicken truck,(it was&nbsp;a swap /&nbsp;buy for a boat I had lived on)&nbsp;&nbsp;being a tray when I started and swapped the tray at the demolition yard for an ex delivery box van body.<BR>Converted from that. (talk about recycling)<BR>The idea was to take the motorhome box section off and turn it into a cabin base.<BR>So with this i set about siting my cabin on my block of land.<BR>First step was removing all the crud, water tanks, eectricals I had setup for 12v running everwhere under the frame.<BR>I built some piers to suit the frame rails to place the body on then decided it was quicker and easier to hire a crane off, then onto the piers.<BR>Sold the old truck to another farmer.<BR>Now the MH body was off I didn't want it looking like a body sitting there so I then set about recladding over the Cargosheet (which I cladded original over the rib alloy) with whats known here as MiniOrb sheeting and timber above. I also decided to lenghten cabin so it would have a nice porch at the front and a proper bedroom at the back. This back area faces the setting sun in summer here so I wanted the wall as a solid mass thermal store to block that hot summer sun. Hence the freestanding granite wall, she's about 2 ft thick and boy does it work.I set about filling in the 7 ft&nbsp;gap with some&nbsp;insulated laminated ply walls.<BR>&nbsp;The flat roof was double layer insulation anyway 6 inches but it looked better after I built a curved colourbond roof on top with a observatory ? &nbsp;book reading room ?<BR><BR>My cabin&nbsp;runs on the original 12v system beefed up some more since, a composting toilet&nbsp;was installed.<BR><BR>The block of land I have is an acre there's more than enough room to store the other self sufficient homes I live in. When I'm not here I live in either truck working around the country. I store my other home here aswell when I'm not using it SV Felix (100mile inland) but thats another story.<BR><BR>What I love about this place it a tiny town&nbsp;and has&nbsp;a railway station out front with 4 passenger services a day.<BR><BR>Geoff&nbsp;

 

[Lostinspace]

That's fair dinkum matey. All that is on an acre. I'm impressed. You've obviously been busy.

Back at the end of te sixties I almost moved to Oz. kinda wished I had now.

Welcome to the group too.

 

[rvwandering]

&nbsp;That is very cool! I love your out-of-the-box designs - on your old motorhome, new house from the old motorhome and your new motorhome/work truck. Very creative ideas!

 

[Ballenxj]

I like the motor home, and the new digs you made from it, but I "really" like the sailboat. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img"> <br>-Bruce

 

[Seraphim]

+1 on the sailboat lol.&nbsp; But that was a neat design on the tiny 'home'.

 

[AltTransBikes]

That is some clever re-purposing of materials, good on ya! It must be great I'm guessing to not be bothered with zoning and municipal land use restrictions.

 

[rokguy]

<EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Thanks for the comments.<BR>Yeh, they are a pretty laid back common sense council where I am. There's alot of smart alternate houses in the area and no mcmansions.<BR></SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">If anyones interested.....Here's some pics of "Felix" </SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">She a 1989. 30ft steel, (silver image) raised deck, sloop from the designer, Richard Hartley of New Zealand.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">The hull is 5mm plate with 4mm topsides it has twin lead ballasted bilge keels afixed vertically to track better at sea, fixed skeg where the out board rudder is hung from. This allows it to take to intended groundings. aux powered by a 2 cylinder Nanni diesel.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">The mast is set in a SS tabernacle which allows it to fold down for upriver lower bridges and&nbsp;truck transportation.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">What I like about this yacht is its 10ft wide (3m) (allows road transport without an escort)&nbsp;and its&nbsp;flush decker meaning it has a full width cabin below. Lots of space for a 30 footer. She also attracks a lower berthing fee in the marinas being under 10mtrs (pen rates)</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Geoff</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

 

[Ballenxj]

Geoff, Your Boat is GORGEOUS! Hard Dodger, and a nice interior layout. I'm DROOLING.&nbsp; <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img"><br>How do you like those twin keels? <br>-Bruce

 

[pawsaroundoz]

Hi Rokguy<br><br>I like your idea, that appeals to me to find a patch in some bush town where I could retire my motorhome and use as a home base for when I get really old....not quite reached that status yet....or at least I don't consider I have!<br><br>As long as I had a fenced yard for my dogs and maybe a nice covered and sheltered area to stretch out a bit I would like very much to be off grid too....<br><br>You have given me some food for thought...<br><br>Ta Muchly<br><br>annie (also in oz)

 

[rokguy]

<EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Hi Bruce,</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">&nbsp;Thanks. Yeh,&nbsp;It does take sometime to get use to its handling compare with a single keel,&nbsp; the ol bilge keel yachts got a bad wrap in their day until Hartley started experimenting with them, he found the key to it sucess was to build them veritcally not canted like on some of the originals. I find when under full sail she tracks beautifully without touching the tiller, it seems he might have been onto something cause the toe d in canted keels I've sailed were slow and tend to round up or wander off. I think there keels are trying to fight each other due to drag. </SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Felix was originally a race yacht, is quite fast too, though I'm not into speed.<BR>Here's a link to hartleys website..&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<A href="http://hartley-boats.com/30.html" rel=nofollow target=_blank>http://hartley-boats.com/30.html</A> <BR><BR></SPAN></STRONG></EM><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">The 30ft centreboard version looks interesting.<BR>Geoff</SPAN></STRONG></EM>

 

[rokguy]

<EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Hi Annie, good on you.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Its always a good idea to have a base where you can disappear to especially during the high seasons.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">There's some good cheap land around in nice little towns.</SPAN></STRONG></EM><BR><EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">Geoff</SPAN></STRONG></EM>