New house

[01zr800]

Well not being able to build a house this year my buddy and I have decided to buy a old camper that I have found and use it for a hunting and ice fishing. Has anyone ever done this before? I have been looking at campers for a while now and this one is only maybe 12" off the ground. I am going to pick it up in the morning and start gutting it wha tshould I look for (or out for)? It is a nice size 12 footer the only bad thing is it has no heater. Ideas and suggestions welcome. Thanks

[01zr800]

forgot to ask how do I license this? Perm. or as a camper?

[BD110]

01zr800,
From what I understand if you cut holes in the bottom to fish out of it doesn't matter if it is portable or perm. you need a shelter take on it when you are fishing out of it. Along with your name d.l. or address
Good luck, BD110

[01zr800]

hmmmm....I wonder if I have to keep current registration on the camper or not? Could any one give me an idea of what this thing might weigh? 1972 12' camper, no bath, or furnace. Wonder if a 4 wheeler could pull it.

[JRS]

I can answer some of your questions as my cousin and I have just finished the type of project you mention.

We purchased a camper that is 7 X 10 a couple of years ago. When you consider your hole placement, look at the underside to determine where your support beams will allow the holes--you may not be able to put holes exactly where you like.

Heat--this thing had a cabinet with a space that fit a 20,000 BTU heater. We lined the whole with fire/heat resistant insulation--you can put your hand on the opposite side of the cabinet and it's cool to the touch. We ran the vent out using one of the insulated stove pipes that keeps heat from the outside pipe (these connectors are actually 2 pipes with space or insulation in between).

Next--we built foldable skirting for around the outide of the house--I won't dwell on this because you will find that you're going to want to get this lowered as soon as possible. More on that later.

We then lifted the house up and sprayed the undeside with bed liner. If your camper is of the same construction, you will find the underside is not something that would stand up real well to a lot of moistuure.

After 2 seasons of being 16 inches off the ice, we took our camper to a welder. He cut the wheels off and built us a nice retractable wheel system for $450 + parts. I definately recommend doing this asap. NOTE--we are over the legal limit for width by about 6 inches due to our new wheel system. We pull this thing up and back from Mille Lacs one time each year and have not had any problems.

Things I would do different.

1. Insulate the floor--our floor was a little cool last weekend. It's fine in most weather.

2. Look hard at gutting the entire inside and reconfiguring. Ours works well, but if I had to do it over, we could have set it up better.

Weight--not sure, but I have a compact utility tractor with a bucket. The lift capacity is about 900 lbs and my tractor can lift one end about 4 feet in the air. It's heavy, but we use my brothers 400 Artic Cat to pull it no problem.

Sorry this is so long. If you have other questions--just let me know.

We bought the camper for $400 and have about $550 additinal in it so it's a relatively inexpensive way to go.

Bob

[Animal]

Make sure you get a up-to-date heating system and test it to see how noisy it is. Also, get a carbon monoxide sensor.

[01zr800]

how big of a ruff opening do I cut for the covers? I will be ordering in the near future but want to start cutting this weekend.

[skinnylee]

Do you have pictures of the wheel system looking for ideas