March 26, 2012 · 3:40 am

The Fastest Shasta Around…

Having lived in the shadows of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the past 10 years,  it’s not been too difficult to get absorbed into the world of IndyCar racing. After all, the famed 2 1/2 mile oval has been around for over 100 years and is arguably the most iconic race track in the world.

I follow a few of the drivers (past & present) on Twitter, one of them being the legendary Mario Andretti. Retired from active racing since 1994, Mario still finds time to get behind the wheel of an IndyCar. A two-seat IndyCar, that is. A few days ago I was intrigued by one of his Tweets that showed him in front of a campground sign:

Then on Saturday, Mario quipped about arriving in St. Petersburg, FL in this, for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg:

Unfortunately I’ve not been able to find anything regarding the story behind the picture. However, the sign in the background is the same as the one Mario was standing next to in the picture above. The trailer “in tow” appears to be that of a 1950’s era Shasta.

If anyone reading this happens to know the story behind it, please leave a comment. We’d love to hear about it!

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March 23, 2012 · 3:25 am

The Small Trailer Enthusiast Now Offering Advertising Space

In just over the 6 month existence of The Small Trailer Enthusiast, we’ve grown a nice following of readers. We currently have 56 followers via our “Subscribe” feature, we have 44 people who have “Liked” us on our Facebook page, and we have 73 followers on our Twitter feed. The visits to the site have been steadily increasing as well. Over the past 30 days, we’ve compiled nearly 12,000 page loads (nearly 400/day), and nearly 7,400 unique visits (about 240/day).  These are pretty good numbers for a relatively young, niche blog.

After moving the blog to WordPress.org earlier this year, it allowed me to offer advertising to RV dealers, manufacturers, and camping related companies interested in getting their company or products up on a unique blog dedicated to serving those interested in the small travel trailer segment of the RV industry.

Ads are created by those buying the ad space. By clicking on the “Advertise Here” banner on the right side of the page, ad buyers can create their ad using Komoona, the ad service I’m using. You can also upload your own artwork for the ad if you prefer. Here’s a 3 minute video showing how simple it is:

Rates vary depending on the length of the ad purchased, starting as low as $10.00 and conveniently payable via PayPal through Komoona. Currently I’m using just one ad size, 175 X 250 pixels, but that may change in the future depending on interest. The size of your ad would be the same size as the “Advertise Here” banner. Right now there’s space set aside for four ads, but that too can be increased based on interest.

So if you’re interested in getting your brand exposed to an audience focused on small trailer camping, this is the place to do it. As always, thanks for reading.

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March 20, 2012 · 12:30 am

Camp Lite Fuels Livin Lite’s Sales Increase

Wakarusa, Indiana based Livin Lite RV is quickly making its way to the top of the lightweight travel trailer segment of the RV industry. The proof is in the numbers. A look at various Google searches will find that Camp Lite is #1 within several search terms, covering everything that includes the words “aluminum camper”, “ultra lightweight”, “lightweight aluminum trailer”, and any combination of those words you could come up with. Nearly 20 combinations of those words will bring up Livin Lite as the first search result. And all this has been done without paying for the top spot on Google as many companies are known to do.

Livin Lite president Scott Tuttle credits the Camp Lite travel trailer line with increased sales of late. “Consumers are loving our new round front end and wood “look” interiors. Our exterior colors are so hot right now – especially since we have been fine tuning our “black-out” package with all black trim and diamond plate, black exterior appliance doors and grills, and  black air conditioning on the roof”.

 

As well as Livin Lite’s travel trailer division is doing, an up & coming part of their business is in their truck camper line, a segment which is making a comeback throughout the recreational vehicle industry. Based on the same features as the Camp Lite trailers, their truck camper division has done so well they’ve created a separate production line for them. Says Tuttle, “We have traditional RV dealers who have NEVER sold a truck camper now selling Livin Lite truck campers to a whole new generation of truck owners who want to take their families camping.”

For more info on Livin Lite, visit their web site at http://livinlite.com.

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March 15, 2012 · 5:41 pm

Serro Scotty Worldwide Loses Third HiLander Manufacturer

What appears to be a familiar situation Serro Scotty Worldwide president Bill Kerola would rather not be in, he faces the task of lining up a new manufacturer for the popular Serro Scotty HiLander. When one is acquired, this will make the fourth manufacturer of the HiLander since Serro Scotty Worldwide was formed in 2006.

A few weeks ago, current manufacturer Cozy Travler, the HiLander’s manufacturer for less than a year, ceased production of their units, and along with it the HiLander.  Kerola had an order over the winter for 20 HiLanders to be built to create a solid inventory at his Transfer, Pennsylvania dealership. However, that order wasn’t fulfilled and currently there are just a couple of 2012 HiLanders available between Kerola’s Camper Store and Randy’s Trailer Town in Collinsville, Illinois.

In a phone conversation today, Kerola had just received word from a potential manufacturer in Indiana that they would not pursue building the HiLander due to the investment it would’ve taken to start building. His next step in the process is to approach the manufacturer of his Serro Scotty Sportsman model, which is currently building the first prototype of the new design. It’s under construction in a section of the old FCTA plant in Somerset, PA, which is where Coleman pop-ups were last built before closing in January 2011. The crew is comprised of mostly former Coleman/FTCA employees. Should they choose to stick with building only the Sportsman, Kerola tells me he’ll then “hit the streets” to line up a new manufacturer.

Taking production “in house” doesn’t appear to be an option just yet. Serro Scotty Worldwide general manager Tom Benedek explains, “It would take 150 units a year to make it work financially”. And demand for the retro travel trailers isn’t to that point. Where ever production of the HiLander lands, it will take approximately two months before they hit the market, due to engineering and getting familiar with them by the new manufacturer. The third unit in the Serro Scotty line, the Scotty Lite, continues to be built in central Florida by Trekker Trailers.

We’ll have more on the story as it develops over the coming months.

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March 13, 2012 · 5:09 pm

Little Guy Brings Back Two T@B Floor Plans

Starting April 1, Little Guy Worldwide will be taking orders for two new floor plans for their highly popular T@B. The floor plans aren’t actually new, per se. They’re two floor plans previous T@B builder Dutchmen used. Both will utilize the “L” shaped front kitchen galley. The difference among the two will be the dinette. One will have vertical floor to ceiling cabinets on the back wall with a smaller dinette, which measures 70″ X 58″ when in bed format.

The queen bed “L” kitchen format will feature a “U” shaped dinette that converts to a 70″ X 73″ queen bed. As a former owner of a Dutchmen T@B with this floor plan, and having seen them all, I can honestly say this floor plan is the best one of them all. You get a nice sized kitchen counter and the comforts of a queen sized bed.

An option on the L and Q models will be the Stargazer front window, like those optional on Little Guy’s teardrop line. This is a slight difference from Dutchmen in that it’s a stationary window and a little more narrow, but should still give ample daylight to the front counter.

All three floor plans with descriptions can be found by clicking here: floor_plans[1]

For more info, contact Little Guy Worldwide at http://tab-rv.com.

 

 

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· 3:03 am

ParkLiner Hiring Production Workers

As posted on their Facebook page, upstart fiberglass trailer company ParkLiner is hiring production workers for the assembly line in their Gibsonville, North Carolina facility. The ad on ziprecruiter.com describes the positions as follows:

 

Full-time ssembly workers needed for travel trailer manufacturing business in Gibsonville, NC.  We manufacture small all-fiberglass travel trailers and need help immediately on the assembly front.

The job entails assembly, and perhaps oversight of others helping with assembly.  We need multi-trade multi-skilled individuals with good ethics and motivation as assembly includes everything from cabinets to plumbing; leadership skills are a plus, communication skills and a willingness to learn are a must.   We will provide training.

Starting pay is between $12 and $15/hour; summer hours begin earlier than winter due to heat.  If you have the qualifications, please submit the online questionnaire and your resume.

As we discussed in February, ParkLiner has plans of increasing their production numbers dramatically in 2012, and this hiring phase is a positive step in that direction.

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March 3, 2012 · 3:28 am

Gadget Review: The Grill Gauge

Periodically I may let you know about some camping & RV gadgets that I’ve come across that I use & like. First up on the list is The Grill Gauge.

I’ve had a few devices that claim to measure the propane in your tank, including an inline gauge….

and a magnet you slap on the side of your tank that changes color according to the amount of propane in the tank.

Both gauges technically worked, but the readings were unreliable at best. When I first had an inline gauge, it read that I was on the line between red & yellow. I decided to have the tank topped off at Camping World in Indianapolis while on our way to a weekend camping trip. After the tech filled it, the bill was just $9 & change. Expecting the bill to be in the $15 range, I asked him if he filled it, and he told me that it was already half full. So, that’s when started looking for something else. I picked up the magnet thinking maybe this would do the trick. Well, I’m not sure if it did or not. The magnet is a series of bars that change color as the propane level drops. But figuring out which column of bars you’re supposed to read was a little confusing and made for a lot of guesswork.

I then continued to look for the perfect gauge and I think I’ve found it in The Grill Gauge. It’s really simple to use. After loosening the strap that secures the tank  to your trailer, attach the hook on bottom of The Grill Gauge to the tank handle:

Then, while holding The Grill Gauge handle, pull up on the tank about 3 inches…just enough to free it from the trailer tongue. You don’t even need to pull it out of the loosened strap. This will give you your reading on the gauge.

I know this is an accurate reading, as this was a full tank I picked up last fall, with minimal use. So now my search for a reliable propane gauge appears to be over. And as an added benefit, it has a handy 40″ tape measure built in to the bottom of the gauge. I picked up mine for about $10 through Amazon.com, but you should be able to buy it locally at hardware stores and propane dealers. Highly recommended!

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February 23, 2012 · 5:55 am

Little Guy Continues Upward Trend

Massillon, Ohio based Little Guy Worldwide continues to see sales of their teardrop trailers increase by leaps & bounds. As crude oil and gasoline prices continue to climb, consumers are obviously looking for alternatives to keep their camping budgets tolerable.  According to Little Guy Director of New Business Development, Dylan DeHoff, these are the main factors fueling Little Guy’s growth. “Camping for the most part is an inexpensive activity and even in some cases can be free depending on how you do it, so it is an activity that people are going to continue to do. But now they are trying to find cost and fuel efficient trailers, which leads them right to us.”

And lead them to Little Guy it has. Their 2011 production numbers were up a whopping 50% compared to 2010, and January 2012 numbers were better than any January in the company’s history. Part of that increase can also be attributed to an aggressive marketing campaign, which includes Little Guy being featured twice a month on TV game shows “The Price is Right” and “Let’s Make a Deal”.

Another coup for Little Guy was adding the nation’s largest single site RV dealer, Lazydays RV in Seffner, Florida. “The things that make the Little Guy great for Lazydays are that it’s light enough to tow with just about anything, it fits in a standard garage to eliminate storage issues, and it is affordable for anyone looking for a hard-sided RV option in which to camp,” said Marc Taylor, Lazydays new inventory sales manager. Lazydays currently has eight various Little Guys in their inventory.

Probably the most interesting news Dylan had to share was in regards to a possible new T@B floor plan coming online later in 2012. Actually it’s not a new floor plan to long time T@B enthusiasts: The Clamshell. Dutchmen offered the Clamshell as well as a handful of other T@B floor plans. However, the Clam was unique from the other standard T@Bs. It was more of a traditional teardrop trailer with the kitchen area in the rear that was accessible via a rear hatch. But unlike a traditional teardrop, it had the same interior height inside as a regular T@B. It gave teardrop and T@B fans the best of both worlds.

DeHoff tells us that they’re working on a way to put a bathroom in the Clam as well. “We have had a great response to the return of the T@B and the most popular question is “where is the bathroom”. We hope that with a bathroom added to our Clamshell we will reach out to even more customers.” Another upgrade from the Dutchmen version is in regards to the trim. The first generation Clamshell had no distinctive T@B trim around the edges, where the roof and sidewalls meet. Dylan says that too will change. “The regular T@B’s had trim on the top and all around the trailer but the clamshells only had trim around the fenders. Both of our T@B’s will have trim on the whole trailer and the only difference should be one has a back hatch and the other does not. The overall look should stay the same, that is our goal.”

Even though Dylan tells us the Clamshell talk is just a rumor, I’m confident it’s past the rumor stage and planning is likely well underway. Once…errr….”if” the Clamshell comes to fruition, we’ll pass on the details as they develop.

 

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February 16, 2012 · 6:26 am

An Airstream with a Sweet Smile

Back in October 2009, a couple of rookie campers had just bought a new T@B and were ready for their first weekend of camping in it. They had joined a T@B online forum to get more info on their new trailer and learn from other experienced T@B owners. Two of those owners were Tom & Ella Brown of Van Wert, Ohio. The Browns had been camping for decades and were definitely two of the more experienced T@B owners, as their 2004 model was the 91st of nearly 5,000 total built in a seven year span, buying it new in 2003.

From the time Tom & Ella met in 1978, their  list of campers included a Coleman pop-up, an 18′ Scotty, and a 22′ Wilderness. Once their boys had grown and gone off to college, Tom & Ella decided to go smaller and  bought their T@B in 2003. Into the 2011 camping season, the Browns decided it was time for a change, and they would set their sights on their next trailer: an Airstream.

They had narrowed their choice down to either a 16′ or 19′ unit, and came across a dealer in Tennessee that carried both for them to compare. After deciding the extra length of the 19′ was mainly in the bathroom, they decided on a 16′ Bambi.

However this wasn’t just any Bambi, they found out. This one has a “sweet” story to it. This particular Airstream was a grand prize in a 2011 contest snack maker Little Debbie had called the “Million Smiles Mission”. The Bambi was dressed up with graphics and hauled all over the U.S. in 2011 while making appearances and being used to pass out sweet treats along the way. And one lucky winner of the contest from northeast Ohio got to claim her.

(image courtesy vindy.com)

Ella hasn’t completely pieced together how it ended up on a dealer’s lot in Tennessee. “Somehow, (we haven’t pieced together all of her ramblings  yet!) she ended up on Chilhowee RV lot in Alcoa, TN – just a few months old and looking for a forever home”, she says.  I would venture to say the grand prize winner probably sold it for cash and the dealer ended up with it in that fashion.

Despite the hoopla surrounding the first few months of excitement their Bambi encountered in its life, it’s now settling into its new life as a weekend warrior in campgrounds around the midwest. But if you do see Tom & Ella and their Bambi (affectionately named “The Silvermine…and His”) at a campground, Ella may just have a nutty bar waiting for you…as well as a smile.

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February 13, 2012 · 6:11 am

A Look at the ParkLiner…

Once upon a time, Chandler Palethorpe bought a brand new, fiberglass “egg” travel trailer. It served its purpose for Chandler and his family: it got them camping. However, he found that his trailer was still lacking in quality and in headroom. He also felt it was designed with a floor plan that wasted space. For a few years, Palethorpe kept thinking how to make a better trailer. In 2010, he finally put his ideas into a business plan: The ParkLiner

The mission of ParkLiner is simple: Build a better fiberglass trailer than the competition. Christopher Neve of ParkLiner tells us, “We have designed and created a hassle free and well thought out product.  The light weight fiberglass body of the camper allows it to be towed by smaller fuel-efficient vehicles.  The folding table and the bunk option are a couple of ways that a ParkLiner may be customized in order to meet each individuals’ specific needs.  Whether you are a family of four looking for a convenient way to camp or a couple looking for a comfortable way to travel, a ParkLiner will exceed your needs.” As we’ve seen with other smaller trailer companies, they tend to offer flexibility to design a trailer to a customer’s specifications.

ParkLiner started in January 2010 with designing plugs & body molds, as well as cabinets, throughout the first year.  The first unit rolled off the line in the spring of 2011. In less than a year of production, they’ve now completed a modest four trailers. However, with just 3 full-time employees and a part-time accountant and web guru, these things take time. The plan for 2012 is to produce one unit per week by the month of May. Says Neve, “From there we will continue to build and establish our business.  Six months after reaching that goal, we plan to double our production.”

The clean look of the ParkLiner is accented by the lack of a roof top air conditioning unit. The optional air conditioner is a typical window unit mounted below the side dinette, thus keeping it off the roof and aiding in reduced wind resistance. Other options include a bunk bed, flush-mounted toilet with 30 gallon black tank, dual batteries, and other goodies that will make one’s camping experience a comfortable one.

Standard features include the use of the well-regarded Optima Blue Top battery, microwave, propane furnace, 6 gallon water heater, 12 gallon fresh water tank, shower, 2-burner stove, screen door, electric water pump, bike rack receiver, and a lengthy list of much more.

One nice feature of the ParkLiner is an abundance of overhead storage. 21 feet of linear storage to be exact, as well as more storage underneath the dinettes.

While Chandler was still camping in his “other” fiberglass camper (long since sold), he designed what ParkLiner uses in their trailers today as an option: The Magic Table. The Magic Table is the rear dinette table that’s multifunctional. It serves as the table for the dinette:

It folds in half for roomier rear seating:

It folds away completely:

And finally it drops to create additional bench seating:

 ParkLiner is based in Gibsonville, NC, and uses part of an old textile mill as their manufacturing facility. They currently operate on a factory direct basis and have no plans to create a dealer network.

The base weight of the ParkLiner checks in right at 2100 lbs sitting on a 3500 lbs axle with 14″ tires, allowing excellent cargo capacity for a trailer of this size. A 6’4″ interior height allows for plenty of headroom for most, and the 6’7″ interior width should result in a good amount of leg room when in bed configuration. The 2-piece fiberglass trailer shell has an  interior length of 12′ while hitch to tail is 15′ long. Depending on options, one can fetch a ParkLiner for somewhere between $14,500-$17,500.

ParkLiner is using its highly detailed website as a springboard for prospective buyers. Their active presence on Facebook is also being used to complement their website by giving up-to-date changes as well as a source for more photos and discussion with those interested in learning more about the ParkLiner. It’s going to be fun to see this company grow in the future. They seem to have all their ducks in a row by starting off small and working their way up. It doesn’t hurt having a similar product to other manufacturers like Casita or Scamp, yet still offer upgrades they don’t. This opens the door for the many fans of “egg” campers to have a fresh alternative.

For more info on the Parkliner, contact them at:

Park Liner, Inc.
106 Railroad Ave Suite G
Gibsonville, NC 27249

1-800-418-2120

Web: http://www.parkliner.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ParkLiner/164971296894584

(Photos courtesy of ParkLiner)

 

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