We've been living in our Foretravel MH for a year now, and have been full-timing (for all practical purposes) since October. December was....interesting. We started out spending a week back at the S&B because the air compressor died. Headed out again and got about two hours down the road when we lost a hydraulic fan motor. We were towed the next two hours to a place that could fix the problem - next week. About a week later they finally had most of the parts to fix the problem, but there was one final problem. The hydraulic pump that runs the two cooling fans is a special model, and another one wouldn't be available until March. A friend of ours was able to rebuild the pump between Christmas and New Year's, so we finally got on our way last Friday.
We work part of the year with Laborers For Christ, which is a group of retirees who help congregations with their building/remodeling projects. The first project had four couples working. Two were in motor homes and two in 5'ers. This project has five couples, four of whom are in 5'ers. When we decided on our Foretravel working for Laborers wasn't even considered, but we're really enjoying it. Unfortunately, this requires a fair amount of tools. We have the storage space in the Foretravel, but I suspect that we're a bit overweight. Most towables don't have the space that the Foretravel has, which means that the truck has to carry it. No problem with weight or space (just get a somewhat bigger truck), but that means that when we're not on a job all of the tools are riding around on the truck.
The exception might be a toy hauler. There is plenty of space at the rear, and the trailer is balanced for a fair amount of weight back there. The space can be kept as secure as any other RV, and the tools won't be rattling around in the truck as we run around. The question, then, becomes what brands to consider. We will be buying used for both the coach and truck, and we definitely want a high quality coach. What brands should we be looking at? We do want a coach with good insulation, and slides are not greatly needed, although I know we will get some. -
NorCal Dan said
12:29 PM Jan 6, 2015
If you like the Foretravel and want to keep it, and, if it has towing capability, there are enclosed trailers that will hold your toad and tools. Just something to consider...
Dan
KJ6RGX
Barbaraok said
02:20 PM Jan 6, 2015
get your rig Weighed, then you can make a decision. Until then you don't know if you need to look for a new rig or not.
Barb
kb0zke said
05:35 PM Jan 6, 2015
Dan, the coach can tow 6,000 pounds when at gross coach weight. I can probably put 1500 pounds in the Jeep and be okay for towing. Not sure if that is enough to get the coach under gross.
Barb, weighing will tell me HOW MUCH I'm overweight. I already know that I'm overweight. We are working on another round of purging, now that we have more experience and a better idea of what we need and don't need. I'm hoping that we can get rid of at least 1000 pounds there. Putting some of the weight in the Jeep and traveling with empty tanks ought to help some, too.
We've been living in our Foretravel MH for a year now, and have been full-timing (for all practical purposes) since October. December was....interesting. We started out spending a week back at the S&B because the air compressor died. Headed out again and got about two hours down the road when we lost a hydraulic fan motor. We were towed the next two hours to a place that could fix the problem - next week. About a week later they finally had most of the parts to fix the problem, but there was one final problem. The hydraulic pump that runs the two cooling fans is a special model, and another one wouldn't be available until March. A friend of ours was able to rebuild the pump between Christmas and New Year's, so we finally got on our way last Friday.
We work part of the year with Laborers For Christ, which is a group of retirees who help congregations with their building/remodeling projects. The first project had four couples working. Two were in motor homes and two in 5'ers. This project has five couples, four of whom are in 5'ers. When we decided on our Foretravel working for Laborers wasn't even considered, but we're really enjoying it. Unfortunately, this requires a fair amount of tools. We have the storage space in the Foretravel, but I suspect that we're a bit overweight. Most towables don't have the space that the Foretravel has, which means that the truck has to carry it. No problem with weight or space (just get a somewhat bigger truck), but that means that when we're not on a job all of the tools are riding around on the truck.
The exception might be a toy hauler. There is plenty of space at the rear, and the trailer is balanced for a fair amount of weight back there. The space can be kept as secure as any other RV, and the tools won't be rattling around in the truck as we run around. The question, then, becomes what brands to consider. We will be buying used for both the coach and truck, and we definitely want a high quality coach. What brands should we be looking at? We do want a coach with good insulation, and slides are not greatly needed, although I know we will get some. -
Dan
KJ6RGX
Barb
Barb, weighing will tell me HOW MUCH I'm overweight. I already know that I'm overweight. We are working on another round of purging, now that we have more experience and a better idea of what we need and don't need. I'm hoping that we can get rid of at least 1000 pounds there. Putting some of the weight in the Jeep and traveling with empty tanks ought to help some, too.