New Hunting/Camping Trailer Day: It's About Time

All the way back in 1987 my Dad along with his friend John W. bought a 1966 17 ft. Shasta trailer.  It was worn, smelled like dog, and needed a ton of work.  But it only cost $500.  So, it was kind of a fair trade off.  Over the years we've repaired and added things like new refrigerators, A/C units, and a bunk bed.

But it's now been 30 years since it was bought and 51 years since the trailer was manufactured.  When we took it hunting earlier in November we discovered rotted wood, holes, metal that was crumpling.  Not to mention it's always been a bit small for three full sized men.  Basically, it was time to buy a new camper.

I had been looking at different types of campers for months.  Craigslist is a great place to look for them since it covers a wide area, and I could put in what I was looking for.  Namely, manufactured year and price.  I had seen a number of trailers that were great buys, but they sold before I could even call or see them in person.

The hard part in trying to buy a trailer was buying one that the three of us could agree on.  I wanted a longer one (27-29 feet long,) but Dad wanted a shorter one (20 feet long.)  One thing we had to be careful of was the weight.  Neither one of us could haul a heavy trailer.  The perfect trailer also had to have a layout in which the three of us wouldn't be tripping over each other.

So when I saw a 1996, 20 ft. long Mallard by Fleetwood trailer I knew I had to give it a look.  The pictures on it looked great.  I loved the layout in that, the three of us could easily sleep in it, and wouldn't be stepping on each other all the time.

Basically we drove to Zephyrhills, and looked at the trailer.  The seller had multiple people looking at it.  We looked it over, huddled, and agreed to make an offer.  We agreed to a price with the seller, and drove to our bank.  We ran into horrific traffic due to an accident, so it took a while to make it back, but we bought the trailer, and drove it home.

Let's go to the photos!!!

Here's the side view.

I like the number of windows.  Not too many, not too few.

Here's the side by side with the old trailer.

Here's the corner/side view.

When you walk through the door, the couch/bed is directly to the right.

As you sit on the couch you can see the table on the left (turns into a bed,) and kitchen on the right.  In the back left is the bathroom.  On the right are dual bunks.

Another nice thing about the trailer is how tall it is.  I was close to brushing my head on the top of the old Shasta trailer all the time.  I don't feel so cramped all the time in the Mallard by Fleetwood.

Here are the dual bunks in the back.  It will be perfect for our hunting buddy John W.  He can sleep in the bottom, and put all his stuff in the top.  He usually keeps his things in black garbage bags so that setup really works for him.

Now, the trailer will need some work.  The lights need repaired.  And we need to add tie-downs to the propane tanks and the propane cover.  There are always going to be "surprise" things that will be discovered, and need to be repaired.  But overall, there doesn't seem to be that much that needs repaired.  (Famous last words.)  If there is you can be sure that I will write a blog about it.

Go Truck Myself! Part 3, Urban Warfare

Here's a little light reading before you read this blog.  Since this is part three, I will post the previous chapters.

Go Truck Myself!

Go Truck Myself! Part 2

When I bought my truck I knew I was going to have to upgrade it.  The first thing I did was add a trailer hitch.  That wasn't hard since Dad had an extra one he bought at a yard sale.  I just needed to buy the hitch pin.

The second thing I did was buy and install new tires.  Even though the existing tires only had 33,000 miles on them, they looked like they would only run for another 5,000 miles tops.  So new tires were bought and installed.

The third thing I did was purchase a toolbox.  Since my truck is a single cab I didn't have a backseat to hold things.  So I really needed a toolbox.  I managed to find a great Husky brand toolbox on Craigslist.

Now comes my final addition, a brush guard.  I had been searching Craigslist for a while for the perfect brush guard.  Ford F-150 trucks from 2009 to 2014 could use the same model of brush guard.  While I had seen a fair amount of brush guards for sale, I hadn't seen one that would exactly fit my truck.

I had checked Craigslist, again with no luck.  I kept scrolling down to the (nearby items) section.  I couldn't believe what I saw.  In Arcadia, Fl., roughly 100 miles from me, a seller had the perfect brush guard.  It was Chrome, and made by "Go Industries."  When I looked them up, I found out that the guard normally cost $650 plus tax.  The seller was selling it for $250.

Long story short, I gave him a call and told him I'd meet him the next day.  I drove to Arcadia, and made it to his house fifteen minutes early.  He had a small cow farm on lots of land.  His wife was the Ford truck driver.  She had sold her truck, and aimed to install the brush guard on her new truck.  However, since her new truck was a 2017 the guard wouldn't fit.

Since I didn't try to argue or dick him over on price he offered to install the brush guard on my truck.  He said he had power (air) tools, and I told him,  "I was no glutton for punishment.  I would gladly accept the help."  I'm glad I did.  It took him, his wife, and me to install that thing.  I'll tell you this though, I'm really happy with the air powered drill.

When you tighten metal bolts, you have to do it bit by bit.  You tighten one, then the next, and do it all over again.  So we went around a few times tightening all the bolts with the air gun.  Once everything was repeatedly tightened down it was completely locked down.

So onto the photos!

You can see just how thick the metal bars of the brush guard are.  They are heavy duty.

Honestly, it looks like my truck is wearing glasses.

Down at the bottom it has tow hooks for towing someone, or someone towing me out the mud or sugar sand.

I feel better having the brush guard on my truck.  Not for country driving, but for city driving.  They drive like crazy here in Tampa.  So if they want to hit me from behind they have to go through my trailer hitch.  If they want to go through the front of my truck, they have to go through my brush guard.

I never felt safe on the roads when driving my Saturn or Ford Focus.  I've noticed folks tend to take you a little more serious when you are driving a truck.  Seriously, it's like urban warfare out there on the roads.  But now I feel pretty good.  I've managed to upgrade my truck how I wanted, and keep the price very reasonable.  Now, the good part.  I get to drive it the next twelve years.

Turning Back The Clock: Adrian Photo Edition

Back in 1993 my parents bought me a 1985 Ford Ranger.  It was the best truck in the world to me.  It was fun, easy to drive, and most of all, I had a truck!  Everyone at school even knew my truck.

One Sunday I realized I didn't have a picture of my truck.  So I had Dad take a picture of me in my suit in front of my Ford Ranger.  The original photo was taken on 9MM film.  So it looks a little fuzzy when scanned to a gif.

So now, in 2017, I wanted to recreate that photo now that I have the first truck since that Ford Ranger.  So here I am in a suit, in front of my 2014 Ford F-150.

Pretty awesome, right?  Maybe I'll have another picture taken in 15 years or so?  Who knows?  But I'm sure it will be an awesome photo.

Woodworking: Wax Ecstatic

Dad recently found a shortcut when processing wood.  When the wood is rough cut, it is still wet and prone to cracking.  For this reason woodworkers put a seal on the ends.  There are a few products on the market, but Anchor Seal always worked well for the woodworkers I knew.  The only problem was that it was so sloppy to put on.

Dad was checking some woodworking forums, and they told of an ingenious way of sealing wood and not spilling sealing wax everywhere.  Basically, you take an old fashioned crock pot, fill it with water and wax, then heat it up.  The wax will float on top, and the water will keep the temperature down low enough so the wax doesn't catch fire.

Here's a photo of what I'm talking about.

A lot of woodworkers like using a mixture of mostly paraffin wax mixed with a little bit of honeybee's wax.  However, I was lucky enough to find a box of red sealing wax free on Craigslist.  What I didn't know was that it was about 50 pounds of wax.  Great find, huh?

It came in small pencil sized pieces.

Due to the sealing wax being so hard, you can put mineral oil in the mix so the wax will be softer when it hardens on the wood.  We haven't had this problem since we mixed paraffin wax with the red sealing wax.

Once the wax is soft and in a liquid state, you can then dip the ends of the wood in the wax.

As you see it makes it easy to dip the wood in, and looks professional.  It also keeps the wax from spilling everywhere.  It's a win/win!

So, if you ever need to seal the ends of your wood/lumber, remember this way of sealing it.  Oh, and for those who didn't get the title reference.  Take a peek at this.