Now that I’d determined I wanted to have a Tiny House on Wheels, the next step was finding my “foundation” or the trailer on which I would build.
And what I though would be simple task, actually turned out to be quite a fiasco.
Fiasko?
My thought process first started with just researching and shopping around on Craigslist and any business that sold utility trailers. I slowly discovered that new utility trailers were way above my budget, and used trailers were ridiculously close to the price of a brand new trailer. So would it be worth the money to invest in a new trailer?
…Not necessarily. Once I broke out of the Tumbleweed mold, I discovered that the majority of tiny home builders were constructing on used utility trailers. It seemed like they really didn’t have any major issues with a used trailer, other than maybe some rust. But other tiny home builders got through any issues with some elbow grease and a friend, and if they could do it, so could I.
So my next step was finding a trailer, purely based on how much money it would cost me. I scoured craigslist for at least 3 months before I came upon my foundation. Within that time I was searching for any and every trailer I could think of. Whether it was a landscape trailer, car towing trailer, flat bed, with and without a dove tail, gooseneck, 5th wheel, and even boat trailers. I misspelled words on purpose, and just searched any and every term possible.
A Yard Utility Trailer
Two months had yielded nothing. By this time, I was becoming a bit desperate. One thing I had noticed, was that there were tons of campers and RV’s on craigslist. A lot of them were very junky, and therefore very cheap. This is where some googling and determination paid off.
I discovered a YouTube video about harvesting from an old RV by Kevin Coy. Basically he went around and showed how different parts of the RV could be used by your own Tiny Home and how the investment into the RV would usually be more than worth it.
Next I found a post on Tiny House Talk about Steve and Wendy, who were building a tiny house from an old RV. How cool!
I also found this short post by Abel Zyl Zimmerman on the Tiny House Blog.
So of course my focus changed. I started searching for campers, RV’s and mobile homes. Really anything with a metal frame I was considering. Low and behold, I found the perfect camper almost immediately.
(Not my perfect camper.)
On Craigslist I found the following listing: “26 ft 5th wheel camper – $200.”
Wait. WHAT?!
Suddenly this dream looked possible. $200 was definitely in my price range and would mean I could start this project immediately, instead of waiting around for more money.
I first emailed the owner on November 13th. This was just the beginning of the emotional roller coaster.
And I don’t like even regular roller coasters.
After some vague emails, and a bit of heckling via email on my part, I finally got to see the Camper on November 24th.
It wasn’t until December 16th that I finally got the dang thing to my construction area.
But that’s enough info for now. More on seeing my dream home for the first time and moving it in the next post!
The Reclaimed Roost 