I saw a show on a young couple that bought an old school bus and turned it into a tiny house/RV. They called it a tiny house, but it still had the engine/running gear so I would call it an RV. They did it pretty well. Wood floors, granite countertops, etc. But, the only people I have ever seen living in the tiny houses are very young couples or a young person. I can't imagine being married for 15 (or more) years and then living in 600 sq. ft. I would be claustrophobic. But, I guess if one is 25 years old and doesn't have a lot of stuff, it could be fun. Most of the people I have seen that like are exceptionally organized. I think you would have to be.
My wife's dad bought an old school bus and turned it into an RV. He didn't bother with a toilet or shower. But, it did have a small sink and beds and some sort of generator to run everything. Don Snook -----Original Message----- From: Rich Thomas [mailto:richthomas79td...@constructivity.net] Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2017 11:59 AM To: Mercedes Discussion List <mercedes@okiebenz.com> Subject: [MBZ] OT Tractor/trailer trailer size I have been sorta intrigued by these tiny houses that are becoming popular. Most of them seem to be built on like a 16ft utility trailer so they can be moved around to a semi-permanent location. While some of them are pretty nice, it kinda makes me wonder why not just buy a travel trailer or something for cheap and live in that. But whatever, I kinda like them as they look more like a real house. I got to thinking about the size issue and it seemed that building one on a larger trailer, like a 3-car hauler or something, would work better. I see these things that will haul 19k lb, they sit kinda low, 3 axles, gooseneck, so that seems like a better kind of deal, instead of a 8X16ft house you could have say a 8X32ft house on a trailer, pretty much like a narrower single-wide. This morning I saw this big bus motor home RV thing, it was HUGE! I'm guessing 12ft tall anyway, probably has 8ft headroom inside and storage bins underneath, big pusher dizzel engine. But those are quite spendy, even used ones are like $100k or more. I'm guessing those things are like 40ft long, so a lot of room. I rode in one once that bands used for touring, it was really nice, granite kitchen and marble bathroom etc. So then I was driving home and was sitting next to a semi with a trailer that said "53ft" on the side, that is pretty big. I'm guessing the trailer is 8ft wide, and maybe 8ft headroom inside, which is kinda like a shipping container, and people use containers to build houses now. Containers I think are up to 40ft for a double? So either a trailer or a container would make a nice "tiny" house too. So then I was thinking one of those low-floor moving van trailers would be even better, more headroom, loft space. Either buy an old trailer and fix it up, or buy a low-frame (or an equipment hauler low trailer) with the axles and tars and breaks and what not already in place, then build a "tiny" house on that -- more size, more headroom, etc. And even if you had to buy an old tractor to pull it around, or hire that job out, you could have a larger, nicer "tiny" house than a single-wide. And some of those equipment trailers have wings that fold out to give maybe 12ft wide for a wide load, so that would allow a larger "tiny" house, I guess moving it would require some permit or something but still... So that got me thinking about how tall a trailer can be, I'm thinking maybe 12ft max to clear bridges and stuff on the road, or can they go a bit higher? I see those big trailers driving with a pace car with a pole to hit something before the truck would, and warn it off the bridge or whatever. I guess if you weren't hauling a taller "tiny" house too far you could get by with something taller? My lunch-time musings, but ideas accepted. I'm wondering if there would be a market for larger "tiny" houses built to a spec that was much better than your average single-wide. Make a good lake house, or cabin in the woods, or even a starter home that would be less than buying from a developer or used, esp if someone had a lot? They could even be designed to gang up to get a bigger house, like a double-wide or even with wings that went off the sides. --R _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
