Twisting in the wind

[Samandothers]

We optioned for the camper. We can not build now and did not know exactly where to build on the land. We were making day trips which was 6 to 7 hours on the road or staying with a brother which was an hour from the land!
We bought a camper and used for vacations which saved money. We keep it on the land. I do not have power so I tapped a spring for water and tote it to the camper in a container on the tractor. I purchased a 3500 W generator for power.
This works good but is a bit of a pain when we visit in the winter. We have to drain the RV antifreeze from the water lines and then when we leave refill. We use the gas heat on the camper and the generator to run the blower. We try to limit the winter visits to times when the weather will not be near 20 degrees for fear the water tanks will freeze. I had thought about trying to do something around the bottom of the camper to help keep wind and cold out from under it, but want it to be easy to move when we pull the camper for vacation.
Any way we really enjoy the camper and allows us to visit for long period of time. One of these years we will build there but anytime soon.

 

[wushaw]

The camper would also be close by the well and power pole, I would have to dig a trench to run those services down to the other spot. I hadn't thought about taxes so that also makes a camper attractive.

If you have power and water the camper just got a lot cheaper. A lot of campers have generators, which you don't need. Ones with no generator, or a broken generator are much less expensive.

DW and I lived in a parked motorhome on our property for about 18 months before and during the build of our house. At first we lived off the generator, trucked in water in a 65 gallon poly tank in the bed of my pickup, trucked out sewage in a second tank, and only stayed weekends.

When we got the well in, we bought an external generator to power the pump, and I learned how to pump the sewage away with a macerator and 100' of 3/4" hose. Went into a small gravel pit and disappeared with no odor or flies. No exactly legal, but when I think of what the bears, deer and other critters do, no harm. We stayed 4 or 5 days at a time.

When we got power, I retired and moved into the parked motorhome permanently, while DW kept working (she is younger and her sentence isn't up yet). She came up 5 or 6 days every 2 weeks.

Then we got the septic in, and I deliberately put the tank in a place where there was gravity flow from both the house and the camper. I could have lived in the camper forever, but DW wanted a house.

I still live in the camper....6.5 years so far...oh and no wife.

 

[schmism]

how is access to property?

Used single wides can be had for what your talking about spending for a RV.

Otherwise i would go for a 50' cargo container or 2.

secure, waterproof, and be the "base" for a larger shed. (there have been a number of other container based sheds/garages documented on the forums)

The reality is, a camper only gets you a sink, perhaps a shower (Depending on size) you still need an outhouse either way.

Id go cargo container with local craigslist items to put in it. (cabinets, etc)

 

[rox]

We had a camper and had one modification which made all the difference int he world. Now I imagine in Missouri you get mosquitos, ditto in Wisconsin. I bought a screen hose and awning. The screen house zipped onto the awning and then I bought carpet that was fake grass, real cheap stuff. That screened in screen house directly attached to the camper was great, really great. The awning was rolled down in May and the screen house attached and the awning stayed down until September. The awning never flipped off in a wind because it had the structure of the screen house attached. IIRC I used cement blocks o the inside of the screenhouse to keep everythign weighed down. he setup was screenhouse wall pulled in then on top of that idoor outdoor carpet extra wide. I jsut folded over the carpet on top of the cement blocks. No mosquitos and it really cut down on bugs. The camper place had installed rivet snaps and the screen house came with panels that covered the tires and bottom of the camper as well so it was really nice. If you do go for a camper this might be something for you to consider. I liked it much better than a detached screenhouse.

 

[EddieWalker]

Add me to the list of those suggesting an trailer. Don't forget the RV's either. There are some great deals on older models that get terrible mileage that are still in good shape. For whatever reason, there were allot of them built too big for the motors put into them. They are gutless wonders that just suck up the gasoline. After a few trips, people just sort of park them.

I have a client who wants me to re-roof his motorhome. He just bought it and only paid $2,000 for it. It's huge with some ugly carpet and dark wood cabinets, but it's nice and roomy. He wants to park it at his deer lease and use it throughout the year for getaways and a longer stays during deer season.

He's also thinking about buying a really good tarp and putting that over his RV. I'm not sure which way he's going to go, but from what I told him what it would cost me to rebuild the roof for him and make it water tight compared to that heavy duty tarp, I think he's going with the tarp.

Eddie

 

[denmansoft]

We got the RV in 2002 (23' fifth wheel). we've been to SoCal, Az, Vegas, Alberta, and around BC with it. It stays on the island property average 9 months of the year. We bring it home most winters for easier servicing and annual maint.

Having it up on our site allows us to drive up after work and have a comfortable evening before getting up to play for the weekend. If we didn't have a comfortable place for Marcelle I wouldn't get as good meals and as much done as I do.

So far I've put about $15K into the garage. Tax man saw it and with our Govt's creative accounting backdated a $24K increase in our assesment to 01July 2007! (We poured first concrete on 08Aug2008.
First a Garage

We have spent enough time up there now that we feel really comfortable with the plans and siting for the house.

I think from this you can guess my suggestion is some kind of RV first. Actually we built an outhouse first, then the RV, now the garage, hopefully we'll get started on the house this year.

Eddie:
No goals for 2009 ?

 

[schmism]

Eddie:
No goals for 2009 ?

oh ya, how did the goals of 08 do? (hard to think that an entire year has gone by already