Check out this House Truck

Frank...he lives in Covington, WA....he don't have to go far to be in awesome camping country....ocean or mountains just a handful of miles away!:):)

Neat camping rig...probably outlast any of the commercial units being build...and not a Festool in sight!

Doug
 
If I didn't KNOW, (not think KNOW) That I'd a) go broke in a hurry, and b) give the DW grounds for immediate divorce, I would Love to convert a Skoolie. (school bus into camper) and c) have to finish the shop....
I'd do something similar. IF and when the LOML and I migrate to warmer climates, I'll be looking for a good solid chassis somewhere and doing just that.
 
Yeah Ned, this is really something for a retired guy like me, but where can I find my workshop. Saw something like this before, but than with a workshop in the back, even with two bikes stored somewhere below the floor level.
What is a Dutchman without a bike? Well completely helpless.
Ad :D
 
If I didn't KNOW, (not think KNOW) That I'd a) go broke in a hurry, and b) give the DW grounds for immediate divorce, I would Love to convert a Skoolie. (school bus into camper) ...

Ned, I seem to remember you mentioning that you were pretty tall?

I used to live in Edmonton, and there was a fellow there in my church who had converted a school bus into a camper. However, he was also pretty tall, about 6'5" if I recall correctly. So he had sold off that bus and instead bought a surplus/used Military bus. It looked just like a school bus, but the roof was a good 10-12" taller, so he could now stand up inside the thing without banging his head. It was also a bit longer than his older bus (which had been a shorter school bus) so it'd fit his family better.

I left Edmonton 9 years ago, and sometimes I wonder how that project of his turned out. (It was about half to 3/4 done when we left. )

Oh, and I agree with the other guys on weight. I love working wood, but this is one situation where I think aluminum and stuff like that would make more sense. I also would worry about safety. Just how solid is something like this?

...art
 
Ned, I seem to remember you mentioning that you were pretty tall?

I used to live in Edmonton, and there was a fellow there in my church who had converted a school bus into a camper. However, he was also pretty tall, about 6'5" if I recall correctly. So he had sold off that bus and instead bought a surplus/used Military bus. It looked just like a school bus, but the roof was a good 10-12" taller, so he could now stand up inside the thing without banging his head. It was also a bit longer than his older bus (which had been a shorter school bus) so it'd fit his family better.

I left Edmonton 9 years ago, and sometimes I wonder how that project of his turned out. (It was about half to 3/4 done when we left. )

Oh, and I agree with the other guys on weight. I love working wood, but this is one situation where I think aluminum and stuff like that would make more sense. I also would worry about safety. Just how solid is something like this?

...art


Military bus, cool idea, if I can find one. However, there are loads of skoolies with lifted roofs. I'll just have to take a course in welding, buy a few hi-lift jacks and a little square stock and a standard bus can get taller wtih some effort, but not unreasonable effort.
 
a standard bus can get taller with some effort, but not unreasonable effort.


hah!

After posting, I spent my "veg" time googling for "bus camper conversion" and read 3 or 4 stories that people posted about their experiences converting a bus to an RV.

Not one took less than a year. Heck, most were 2+ years.

That's quite a lot of effort!

I like this guys work: http://www.vonslatt.com/ He is a scrounger among scroungers. And the end result was a very nice fit and finish. Classy old colour scheme (interior) at the end as well.

This one was cool also: http://homepage.mac.com/rbumann/eagle/Alotta.htm It was what I'd call a "greyhound-style" bus, though. And they raised the roof on it. What was interesting about this is that this couple included a small workshop in the back of the bus for their scrollsawing. They don't talk about it much at all in the story, but it is there in the plans and photos.

And this one: http://seanf.smugmug.com/Bus%20Conversion It's another flat-nosed school bus conversion, and this one really drove home to me the huge amount of work involved. The Vonslatt guy above was very can-do in his blog, and made it look easy. This guy shows all the effort -- 2 years and it doesn't look like he's done yet.

oh well. On the upside, as the scrollsawing couple illustrated, by doing it yourself you get to build it the way YOU want it. Also I note that all of these involve a full-size shower, instead of those tiny tiny things that you see in commercial RVs. So another thing that DIY gives you is some comfort tweaks.

Not to worry, it's nothing I'll ever be attempting - I live on a city lot, and there just ain't no room for something like that!
 
Frank...he lives in Covington, WA....he don't have to go far to be in awesome camping country....ocean or mountains just a handful of miles away!:):)

Neat camping rig...probably outlast any of the commercial units being build...and not a Festool in sight!

Doug

Yep, I was stationed at Larson AFB (near Moses Lake) for 13 months. Used to go hiking and camping in them thar mountains to the west of us.
 
hah!

After posting, I spent my "veg" time googling for "bus camper conversion" and read 3 or 4 stories that people posted about their experiences converting a bus to an RV.

Not one took less than a year. Heck, most were 2+ years.

That's quite a lot of effort!

I like this guys work: http://www.vonslatt.com/ He is a scrounger among scroungers. And the end result was a very nice fit and finish. Classy old colour scheme (interior) at the end as well.

This one was cool also: http://homepage.mac.com/rbumann/eagle/Alotta.htm It was what I'd call a "greyhound-style" bus, though. And they raised the roof on it. What was interesting about this is that this couple included a small workshop in the back of the bus for their scrollsawing. They don't talk about it much at all in the story, but it is there in the plans and photos.

And this one: http://seanf.smugmug.com/Bus%20Conversion It's another flat-nosed school bus conversion, and this one really drove home to me the huge amount of work involved. The Vonslatt guy above was very can-do in his blog, and made it look easy. This guy shows all the effort -- 2 years and it doesn't look like he's done yet.

oh well. On the upside, as the scrollsawing couple illustrated, by doing it yourself you get to build it the way YOU want it. Also I note that all of these involve a full-size shower, instead of those tiny tiny things that you see in commercial RVs. So another thing that DIY gives you is some comfort tweaks.

Not to worry, it's nothing I'll ever be attempting - I live on a city lot, and there just ain't no room for something like that!


Art,
I lived full time in a 5th wheel camper for 3 years, so I'm very familiar with that lifestyle, but I also Know that I can't afford a New camper which will hold my family and have the features I would like. A skoolie would be a reasonable priced chassis, though I'd love to do a Coach Conversion, I'd probably start on a Skoolie to learn the metalworking etc... Either way, it would take awhile. You landed on a couple of my favorite example busses, I've been in contact with Von Slatt, whose bus is a very clean and relatively straight forward conversion, one of the nicer skoolies out there. Alotta is another which I'm familiar with, Theirs is a Coach conversion on an older Eagle chassis.

Both styles of bus are built for the long haul, ie, theyre' not a light duty truck chassis overloaded with a flimsy stick built box on them. When I finally get mine, I'll aim for as young a chassis as I can locate for a reasonable price. I'll do a ton of planning on sketchup, then it is merely build as you go. Gutting the bus is the worst part of the project, removing and disposing of the seats can be a real bear. Painting the skoolie is another tough nut to crack, but there's an entire forum like ours (even runs Vbulletin)

http://www.skoolie.net/forum/

which has loads of projects going. Most of them are long drawn out projects, sure, but that's part of the fun. Once you have the seats out, and the upper lights removed/covered over you have a blank canvas, At that point you've got a mobile experiment you can work on at your leisure. In my case I would need three bunks for my kids, a queen sized bed in the back for the LOML and myself and a bathroom. The kitchen can be as simple or elaborate as you want. I'd go pretty basic initially, since we'd just be camping, not living aboard.

I spotted the bus in the attached image the other day. LOML said NO firmly... but only because I have to finish the shop first. ;)
 

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... I'd probably start on a Skoolie to learn the metalworking etc... Either way, it would take awhile. You landed on a couple of my favorite example busses, I've been in contact with Von Slatt, whose bus is a very clean and relatively straight forward conversion, one of the nicer skoolies out there.

...
In my case I would need three bunks for my kids, a queen sized bed in the back for the LOML and myself and a bathroom. The kitchen can be as simple or elaborate as you want. I'd go pretty basic initially, since we'd just be camping, not living aboard.

So what is the pro and con of a flat nosed vs long nose school bus? I guess that is more a front engine vs back engine question, isn't it?

And I'd need four bunks, so I'm even in tougher straits than you. :eek:

But I wonder... if you're always staying in a campground, then there should always be a bathroom available. So if you really wanted to cheap things out, you could even just skip the on-board facilities. :huh:

oh well.
...art
 
So what is the pro and con of a flat nosed vs long nose school bus? I guess that is more a front engine vs back engine question, isn't it?

And I'd need four bunks, so I'm even in tougher straits than you. :eek:

But I wonder... if you're always staying in a campground, then there should always be a bathroom available. So if you really wanted to cheap things out, you could even just skip the on-board facilities. :huh:

oh well.
...art

Flat nosed, can be harder to find, but give you more 'room' interior wise, depends though if it is a pusher (rear engine) or a conventional drivetrain with the doghouse up front.

In NY at least, the facilities are required to register it as an RV, and if NY doesn't require it, the LOML certainly would. Besides, sometimes the facilities at the campground leave a little to be desired, OR you're boondocking (dry camping) where there aren't any facilities, then what?

Bunks... 4 would be simple to build, just build them opposite each other across the aisle. I'd lean towards a pullman car style of setup, where the bottom bunks act as futons until bedtime, at least with my boys. Loads of design options for that, just a matter of how you lay things out.

All a moot point really, until I get the shop done, and the house renovation mostly done.
 
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