New to this forum. We are in the hunt for a new 5th wheel. Last April I upgraded from a 22' boat to a 26' so I can fish salmon and tuna out of Westport WA a bit safer. I figured I make my living on the water so I don't want to kill myself having fun on the water. I have a slide in truck camper so I can tow the boat at the same time but my wife doesn't like living in it when I'm on my fishing trips so wants to upgrade to something a lot nicer. I'll end up making two trips. One to move the 5th wheel and then another to tow the boat. I'll continue to use the camper for some of the trips that she doens't tag along.
We aren't going to be full timing it for the next few years but I'm thinking full time quality is a good thing to have regardless.
Currently I'm on my two month rotation as a Captain of a factory trawler fishing in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Island areas. When I rotate home the 1st part of September we plan on purchasing a 5th wheel so I'm trying to gather as much information as possible.
Learning a lot already looking at other forums but it is getting quite confusing of what is good, bad, inbetween and what is needed. Just before I left for this rotation we looked at a few Heartland and Montana Rv's but only spent a day at it. With the Heartlands the dealer had the Big Horns but not the Landmarks. To put it bluntly I wasn't overly impressed with what we saw of the Big Horns. Little things like no shelves by the bed to put your Kindle down or a sliding door coming out of the head (bathroom) that didn't make sense and was off its track...seemed cheap. The galley and living room were very nice though. The Montana's???? The dealer for those in our area has a good rep but I'm not so sure about the trailer itself.
I do have a 2013 Chevy Silverado 3500 HD Dually with a Duramax so hopefully I'll have a decent foundation to pull some of the trailers on the market.
Anyway I'll probably be hitting anyone who is willing to answer with all kinds of questions.
Hope everyone is having a good summer. Wish I could be home instead of floating around in the Bering Sea.
Kim
Terry and Jo said
01:57 PM Jul 14, 2013
Kim,
First of all, welcome to the RV Dreams forums. You will find this to be a good source of information for just about any kind of RV and any kind of aspect of the full time living of the RV lifestyle. There are folks here that are very knowledgeable, friendly, helpful, and downright encouraging, so you sound like you'll fit right into the "family."
With regards to an RV for full-timing, I always suggest that one look at the very foundation of the RV's, and that would be the frame, suspension, axles, wheels and tires. Since those are the foundation of the "new home," be sure that they are of good quality. This is not the place to scrimp, unless one is going to park them and hardly move them.
While looking at the different models at showrooms and RV shows, go in with an idea of what you insist on having, what would be nice to have, and what would not be suitable at all. Spend some time in each with an eye towards "how would this work for ......" That would be like looking at the kitchen with storage, and working space in consideration, stand in the shower and see if it is "inconvenient" by being too narrow or too short.
Fifth wheels have their hallways on both sides and in the middle, so consider whether it is important to you to be able to access the bedroom and bathroom, even with the slides pulled in during travel. Some folks insist on that and others don't. We have a side bathroom and it is inaccessible when towing unless we stop and put out slides. However, we figure we spend more time "living" in ours and less time "traveling," so we are fine with facilities in rest areas and truck stops.
With some models, if one gets a queen bed instead of a king, one might find that both sides have a "nightstand" for glasses, books, and the dreaded alarm clock. We have a DRV Suites Mobile Suites and it has the queen-sized Select Comfort bed, so we have two nightstands with storage within. (Go to my Photobucket account link in my signature and look for "Our New Home" for pictures of what I am describing.)
If you think you will always be somewhere that 50 amp electric is available, look at the possibility of getting something with a residential refrigerator. Ours came with a regular RV style fridge but it started giving us trouble after less than two years of living in it. So, we modified ours and put in a Samsung refrigerator with two doors and a freezer drawer below.
Your truck is a good one for "almost" any of the different fifth wheels. The DRV Suites models like ours are some of the heaviest, but a number of those owners have the same truck you do.
Good luck with your research and planning, and feel free to ask any questions that come to mind. We all tend to learn from each other, so every questioner brings the potential of a different perspective to old topics.
Terry
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Sunday 14th of July 2013 01:59:18 PM
WestWardHo said
08:28 PM Jul 15, 2013
Hi Kim,
Welcome to this great forum. What an interesting addition you will be with your work and recreation lifestyle. We are not far from your home base 41.2 mikes here in Elma and we'll be here thru September. We have a 38.5 ft. Trilogy (a newer fifth wheel made by Dynamax which is owned by Forest River) and we absolutely love it.
With whatever brands and models you might be looking at check out their brand forums where you'll find the good, the bad and the ugly about them all.
Also ask for opinions of folks on here who may have the same model. You'll get lots of help here.
Sherry
LeO said
11:16 PM Jul 15, 2013
Yeah Sherry, so glad to know your still loving Trilogy as that remains our lead contender; but house sale activity in our price range remains excruciatingly slow and very discouraging!
My inner rambling woman cries out to be doing "Going to the Sun highway" with Terry & Jo or better yet on to Bryce and Zion; since I've done Glacier three times and Waterton once. Both could use a more leisurely visit in our future. I'm sure my DH Montana "boy" will always be up for that; as you can take the man out of Montana but never the Montana out of the man! Even after 40 years as an Oregonian we still have to pull Montana license's aside in campgrounds or rest stops to say "howdy"! So howdy you all! LeO
Kimbrey said
11:44 PM Jul 15, 2013
Thanks for the replies everyone.
Sherry,
Elma...they were a dreaded rival to us as I grew up in Grayland/Westport area. Dad was a school teach in Aberdeen and a cranberry farmer in Grayland. My high school was Ocosta so Elma was one of our rivals. Ron Sheets and Rod the Rifle Derline were the guys we competed against in basketball. My senior year (Graduated 1970) I think Elma got 1st in state, Raymond 2nd and we were 7th, all from the same league. Derline actually played for the Sonics for a bit.
Eddie Wood an old deckhand and eventually a mate for me up in AK was a local Elma guy.
I have a spot reserved very close to you in Brady (Country RV) where I'll store my sport boat. Maybe if he has a spot open I'll store the 5th wheel when we purchase it.
I'm trying to do as much research as possilbe but the sat internet connection is painfully slow here on the boat. The company may upgrade next year I hope. I'm not going to even think about full timing for a few years so right at the minute I'm kind of leaning fairly hard to look at an Arctic Fox which seems to get fairly good structural reviews. The model that has my eye is the 29-5T which is a bit smaller @ 33'11". I like the style of shower for one thing versus the corner style. We will see I guess. My wife doesn't seem to want to go out shopping without me around so it's hurry up and wait till September when I rotate back home for a couple of months.
WestWardHo said
03:27 AM Jul 16, 2013
Kim,
Sorry about the rivalries but we're only temporary here so no allegiances 😒. I can warn you as I have others that for all your research that the wife will be your major decision maker! 😄 Suggest she go to a few shows to get an idea of what's available today and to discover what she likes. It's overwhelming at first but becomes an adventure!
Again, you're doing the right thing in spite of your very slow connection. Keep askin'!
Hello,
New to this forum. We are in the hunt for a new 5th wheel. Last April I upgraded from a 22' boat to a 26' so I can fish salmon and tuna out of Westport WA a bit safer. I figured I make my living on the water so I don't want to kill myself having fun on the water. I have a slide in truck camper so I can tow the boat at the same time but my wife doesn't like living in it when I'm on my fishing trips so wants to upgrade to something a lot nicer. I'll end up making two trips. One to move the 5th wheel and then another to tow the boat. I'll continue to use the camper for some of the trips that she doens't tag along.
We aren't going to be full timing it for the next few years but I'm thinking full time quality is a good thing to have regardless.
Currently I'm on my two month rotation as a Captain of a factory trawler fishing in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Island areas. When I rotate home the 1st part of September we plan on purchasing a 5th wheel so I'm trying to gather as much information as possible.
Learning a lot already looking at other forums but it is getting quite confusing of what is good, bad, inbetween and what is needed. Just before I left for this rotation we looked at a few Heartland and Montana Rv's but only spent a day at it. With the Heartlands the dealer had the Big Horns but not the Landmarks. To put it bluntly I wasn't overly impressed with what we saw of the Big Horns. Little things like no shelves by the bed to put your Kindle down or a sliding door coming out of the head (bathroom) that didn't make sense and was off its track...seemed cheap. The galley and living room were very nice though. The Montana's???? The dealer for those in our area has a good rep but I'm not so sure about the trailer itself.
I do have a 2013 Chevy Silverado 3500 HD Dually with a Duramax so hopefully I'll have a decent foundation to pull some of the trailers on the market.
Anyway I'll probably be hitting anyone who is willing to answer with all kinds of questions.
Hope everyone is having a good summer. Wish I could be home instead of floating around in the Bering Sea.
Kim
Kim,
First of all, welcome to the RV Dreams forums. You will find this to be a good source of information for just about any kind of RV and any kind of aspect of the full time living of the RV lifestyle. There are folks here that are very knowledgeable, friendly, helpful, and downright encouraging, so you sound like you'll fit right into the "family."
With regards to an RV for full-timing, I always suggest that one look at the very foundation of the RV's, and that would be the frame, suspension, axles, wheels and tires. Since those are the foundation of the "new home," be sure that they are of good quality. This is not the place to scrimp, unless one is going to park them and hardly move them.
While looking at the different models at showrooms and RV shows, go in with an idea of what you insist on having, what would be nice to have, and what would not be suitable at all. Spend some time in each with an eye towards "how would this work for ......" That would be like looking at the kitchen with storage, and working space in consideration, stand in the shower and see if it is "inconvenient" by being too narrow or too short.
Fifth wheels have their hallways on both sides and in the middle, so consider whether it is important to you to be able to access the bedroom and bathroom, even with the slides pulled in during travel. Some folks insist on that and others don't. We have a side bathroom and it is inaccessible when towing unless we stop and put out slides. However, we figure we spend more time "living" in ours and less time "traveling," so we are fine with facilities in rest areas and truck stops.
With some models, if one gets a queen bed instead of a king, one might find that both sides have a "nightstand" for glasses, books, and the dreaded alarm clock. We have a DRV Suites Mobile Suites and it has the queen-sized Select Comfort bed, so we have two nightstands with storage within. (Go to my Photobucket account link in my signature and look for "Our New Home" for pictures of what I am describing.)
If you think you will always be somewhere that 50 amp electric is available, look at the possibility of getting something with a residential refrigerator. Ours came with a regular RV style fridge but it started giving us trouble after less than two years of living in it. So, we modified ours and put in a Samsung refrigerator with two doors and a freezer drawer below.
Your truck is a good one for "almost" any of the different fifth wheels. The DRV Suites models like ours are some of the heaviest, but a number of those owners have the same truck you do.
Good luck with your research and planning, and feel free to ask any questions that come to mind. We all tend to learn from each other, so every questioner brings the potential of a different perspective to old topics.
Terry
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Sunday 14th of July 2013 01:59:18 PM
Welcome to this great forum. What an interesting addition you will be with your work and recreation lifestyle. We are not far from your home base 41.2 mikes here in Elma and we'll be here thru September. We have a 38.5 ft. Trilogy (a newer fifth wheel made by Dynamax which is owned by Forest River) and we absolutely love it.
With whatever brands and models you might be looking at check out their brand forums where you'll find the good, the bad and the ugly about them all.
Also ask for opinions of folks on here who may have the same model. You'll get lots of help here.
Sherry
My inner rambling woman cries out to be doing "Going to the Sun highway" with Terry & Jo or better yet on to Bryce and Zion; since I've done Glacier three times and Waterton once. Both could use a more leisurely visit in our future. I'm sure my DH Montana "boy" will always be up for that; as you can take the man out of Montana but never the Montana out of the man! Even after 40 years as an Oregonian we still have to pull Montana license's aside in campgrounds or rest stops to say "howdy"! So howdy you all! LeO
Sherry,
Elma...they were a dreaded rival to us as I grew up in Grayland/Westport area. Dad was a school teach in Aberdeen and a cranberry farmer in Grayland. My high school was Ocosta so Elma was one of our rivals. Ron Sheets and Rod the Rifle Derline were the guys we competed against in basketball. My senior year (Graduated 1970) I think Elma got 1st in state, Raymond 2nd and we were 7th, all from the same league. Derline actually played for the Sonics for a bit.
Eddie Wood an old deckhand and eventually a mate for me up in AK was a local Elma guy.
I have a spot reserved very close to you in Brady (Country RV) where I'll store my sport boat. Maybe if he has a spot open I'll store the 5th wheel when we purchase it.
I'm trying to do as much research as possilbe but the sat internet connection is painfully slow here on the boat. The company may upgrade next year I hope. I'm not going to even think about full timing for a few years so right at the minute I'm kind of leaning fairly hard to look at an Arctic Fox which seems to get fairly good structural reviews. The model that has my eye is the 29-5T which is a bit smaller @ 33'11". I like the style of shower for one thing versus the corner style. We will see I guess. My wife doesn't seem to want to go out shopping without me around so it's hurry up and wait till September when I rotate back home for a couple of months.
Sorry about the rivalries but we're only temporary here so no allegiances 😒. I can warn you as I have others that for all your research that the wife will be your major decision maker! 😄 Suggest she go to a few shows to get an idea of what's available today and to discover what she likes. It's overwhelming at first but becomes an adventure!
Again, you're doing the right thing in spite of your very slow connection. Keep askin'!
Sherry