Convert a camper

[oldbird]

Anybody done this before? I have access to an older camper my sister wants to get rid of. It is a hard sided pop up style.The brand is Apache. Is it worth the work and expense involved? Any help will be greatly appreciated

[cold one sd]

I guess it depends on what whape the camper is in and how fancy you want to make it. If it is in good shape you could put some catch covers in the floor and fish through large PVC pipe or five gallonn buckets with the bottoms cut out. I just helped a friend build one from an old popup that had canvas sides. We used 2x4 studs, plywood on the outside, foam board with the foil on the outside for insulation, paneling and carpet. We also wired it for 12v, 110v and put two windows in it. I don't think he has $1,000 in it including the $250 he paid for the camper.

[Thump'n em big]

i had bought one earlier for that was already converted (barely)... i kind of redid the whole thing i was mainly after a cheap frame...we kept just the frame and the bottom foot or so of the plastic camper then put up 2x3 studs on the inside of the camper plastic, put plywood on the outside, painted it, put insulation and panneling inside and tore out everything on the inside and rebuilt a dinette to sit/sleep... depending on the wheels... we lifted and lowered ours to the ice with a handy-man jack... a very good way to go for a first, cheap wheel house that will get the job done... and about the catch covers... if you decide to put them in.. buy the corresponding sleeves for them... pails and pvc still let in a TON of draft and its just a hastle...

and it's just that much sweeter when you upgrade

[muc33]

I have a converted. Making the wheel system was the biggest task, which I did not do, but one of my buddies did. It has so much room it is unbelievable. ours I believe is a full 19 foot inside. I will have pictures up next week of it. You surely cannot miss it on the ice. Biggest Lady Bug you have ever seen!!!!

[SSSTaxidermy]

I too have an old 1970's camper, that I want to convert into a fish-house...Muc33, Whatever details you have on the design of the wheel system would be appreciative to me. I'd rather not do the PVC or bucket thing, as I want it lowered down onto the lake...This is the biggest challenge and my delay for not pursing the conversion.

Not trying to rain on your topic ob_wan, but I would also appreciate if anyone else has details on how to go about this wheel system...your more than welcome to send me an email if you would like. [email protected]

Thanks

[muc33]

I will attest, that I am NOT mechanically enclined. My hands are soft as a babies tush, my mouth makes me money!! I hire smart handy people! One of my partners in the house built the wheel system. I will be posting pictures of it after this weekend. I will update this post when I get the pics up.

[doughnut03]

AMAZING post as Im pretty sure people ae going to come out of the walls on this one- My parents have an old pop-up and the canvas (and interior) is junk so they basically gave it to my brother and I to do what we want. It got bounced around to chop the top for a trailer, but I want a fish-house! Im looking for what I believe is the same thing as the rest of ya'll- a drop wheel configuration to put the house on the ground. If anyone has info, if you wouldn't mind CC'ing me in 24-7s e-mail with a breakdown my e-mail is [email protected] Thanks guys!!

[mustangt69]

i made an old camper into a fish house last year. I ripped it down to the frame but that would no be necessary. If i had realy wanted to i could have got it so that the top of the floor is only about 9 inches off the ice. Right now it sits at about 11" which isnt bad because i have 14x14 hole openings. I just bank the house and i am good to go. I recently cut 5 gallon pains to fit to the ice and that works wonders. If you go that way just cut round holes in the floor to begin with though. If you search for camper conversion you should be able to find lots of pics of my custom drop setup. Said and done i believe it cost me around $100 to do it this way. Some cutting and welding and drilling and voila. Very sturdy setup but no suspension. BUt still pulls good down the road.

[federline]

 Originally Posted By: ob_wan

Anybody done this before?

Oh yeah. And so have plenty of other people - they will indeed come out of the woodwork, I think.

 Originally Posted By: ob_wan

Is it worth the work and expense involved?

Depends on if you are comparing it to a skid house or a drop down.

If you are looking to have it on its own wheels for transportation, I think it is worth it if you can't afford $thousands$ all at once for a decent used drop down, like a 12' King Crow or comparable. You can put money and work into a camper conversion as you can afford it over a couple seasons, and still have something to fish out of while building it.

We have been fishing out of and working on a 12' camper conversion for two years now, and have less than $2000 into it, here's what we have done: gutted it completely, built a new insulated floor with the shell lifted off, insulated the walls, installed 3 flip-up bunks and 6 holes with hole sleeves, 6 rattle reels, 2 of the bunks are storage bunks, shelves, new insulated steel door, a new heater, its got 110v generator-ready and 12v with LED's, power sockets, and computer fans to keep holes open, it is carpeted and paneled with oak trim, it is convertible between axle and skids, has an exterior fresh paint job, and is road legal.

If you are thinking a skid house would work for you, you would probably be better off searching for a used skid house, there's some really good deals to be had in outstate MN.

There's no way we could buy what we built - and thats the tradeoff, we've put a lot of enjoyable time into it. We're planning a drop-down wheel system for next year with some frame enhancements.

If you have time, and a reasonable trickle of money to spend, its a winner - the savings comes from not having to sink money into a weather-resistant box on wheels, but you will find 1001 things you want to do to it!