Liberty, North Carolina based GFM Industries, parent company of fiberglass trailer manufacturer ParkLiner, issued a release today regarding a new partnership with Uniontown, Ohio based Little Guy Worldwide. According to the release, ParkLiner, always a factory direct manufacturer, will team up with Little Guy to market and distribute their fiberglass trailers in a traditional dealer network, something not often…if ever…seen with this type of trailer.
I first told you about ParkLiner way back in 2012, when the then 2 year old company was trying to find its legs. Since then, they’ve changed ownership in GFM Industries and have really started to make some progress. Now with today’s announcement of teaming up with Little Guy, the future looks pretty bright. According to the press release, “This partnership ensures customers are able to receive the highest quality products, outstanding service, simplified parts ordering, and a comprehensive store of accessories to meet your needs as a result of the companies’ combined 20 years of experience serving the RV industry.”
Known for years for their marketing and distribution expertise, Little Guy will undoubtedly give the same energy to the ParkLiner as they have distributing their teardrops, as well as the current Serro Scotty. I hope to be speaking with representatives of both ParkLiner and Little Guy in the near future to get some more insight on this partnership. Stay tuned…
The Small Trailer Enthusiast last week welcomed not one, but two new partners on the web site. Little Guy Worldwide and their online store, The Teardrop Shop, now can be found along the right side of each page you visit on this web site.
Little Guy needs no introduction to the vast majority of you reading this. They’ve been the preeminent teardrop trailer company in the U.S. for several years, and continue to expand. Formed in 2002 in North Canton, Ohio, Little Guy markets and distributes the more than 2,000 trailers a year built by Pleasant Valley Teardrop Trailers in a 65,000 square foot facility in Sugarcreek, Ohio.
(photo courtesy rvbusiness.com)
Those 2,000-some units built in the past year include the original Little Guy 4-Wide, 5-Wide, and 6-Wide Platform…
The 5 Wide and 6 Wide off road Rough Rider…
The 5’x8′, 5’x10′, and 6’x10′ Silver Shadow…
The lightweight, fiberglass molded myPod…
The aluminum framed T@G…
And the ever popular T@B…
Little Guy is quickly becoming known throughout the RV ownership community as a company that works closely with the owners of their trailers. One example is with the owners of T@Bs built by its previous builder, Dutchmen. When Dutchmen ceased production of the T@B in 2009, Little Guy picked up the torch in 2011 and has continued production of the T@B, all while welcoming the Dutchmen T@B owners within the Little Guy family. Many of the parts on the Little Guy built T@B have parts that can be used on the Dutchmen versions. And compared to the Dutchmen T@Bs, Little Guy has appeared to have dialed in and raised the bar in overall quality of the units produced.
And if a fine array of small trailers weren’t enough, Little Guy has recently released a line of truck campers called the Cirrus.
You’ll also find a link to Little Guy’s online store, The Teardrop Shop, on each page on The Small Trailer Enthusiast. I’ve spent a good amount of time on their website, http://teardropshop.com, and I’ve been very impressed with the wide range of trailer parts, camping gear, and other camping accessories from well respected brands such as Paha Que, Coleman, Yakima, and Zamp Solar. There are many accessories specific to Little Guy products, such as T@B awnings and tent rooms, but the majority of their products and accessories are suitable for RVers from the smallest teardrop to the largest motorhome. The Teardrop Shop web site is laid out very well among several categories and is incredibly easy to navigate.
And finally, special thanks go to Little Guy Worldwide owner and president Joe Kicos for helping support The Small Trailer Enthusiast, and I’d ask each of you to visit both web sites and give them your support as well!
Little Guy Worldwide gave a sneak peak of its latest addition to its lineup on its Facebook page today. The yet to be named trailer will check in at around 500 lbs and will be a sleeping trailer only. It’s light enough to be hauled by a trike or sub-compact car, but will be void of any kitchen or cooking area. It can come in any color and can be available with a roof rack, air conditioning, and 19″ TV/DVD AM/FM stereo combo. No pricing info was given, but the unit should be formally introduced sometime this summer.
Little Guy Worldwide plans to debut the reintroduction of the T@B Clamshell model at next weeks 50th Annual National RV Trade Show in Louisville, KY. The first images of the Little Guy version of the Clamshell were released in an article Friday on rv-pro.
Comparing the Little Guy version (above) to the the previous version built by Dutchmen (below) there are a few cosmetic changes. On the Dutchmen, the bottom of the trailer has a slight upward angle near the rear, where the Little Guy version is straight all the way across from the wheel well to the rear hatch. The LG version incorporates new LED strip tail/brake lights below the hatch on a diamond plate base, where the Dutchmen version used standard travel trailer tail lights afixed to the hatch. Much cleaner look on the LG model.
But overall, the concept remains the same with the kitchen area enclosed in the rear hatch of the unit.
The kitchen will house ample cabinet space, a sink , stove, refrigerator, and an optional flat screen TV with remote and external speakers. Aside from the Clamshell model, a new model called the “S” floorplan is also being introduced as well. It will be a T@B with a wet-bath, and will also be available as an option in the Clamshell.
The Clamshell gives the best of both worlds, for those who like a tradtional teardrop trailer where the kitchen is in the rear yet gives one room to stand up in the interior of the trailer. It’ll be interesting to monitor the message boards over the next few years to see how well these Little Guy hatches hold up against water intrusion. Dutchmen Clamshells had a troubled history of leakage resulting in damaged or rotted wood.
I’ll be attending the Louisville show next Tuesday on opening day, so I’ll be giving my first hand impressions of the Clamshell (as well as other smallish trailers) later next week. I’ll be Tweeting throughout the day from Louisville, so be sure to give us a “Follow” via the link on the right side of this page. For those of you who don’t Tweet but are on Facebook, you can give us a “Like” via the link on the right and view my Tweets there. As always, thanks for reading!
Little Guy Worldwide has launched the new web site for T@B, http://tab-rv.com. The URL for the site is the same one Dutchmen used when they were manufacturing T@Bs from 2003-2009. As we discussed with Little Guy’s Scott Hubble in October, rights to the URL were part of the deal negotiated with Dutchmen to acquire all properties relating to T@B. It was a smart move on Little Guy’s part to use the same URL, as Dutchmen put that web site on over 4,000 T@Bs they manufactured over a seven year span. Easy advertising.
While the new website offers a good amount of specs and photos, they state it’s still under construction and will be expanding in the near future. It was good of them to include photos of the assembly line as well as construction photos of a model in the early stages, which show the aluminum frame.
Although there is currently just one floor plan, there are several interior shots, highlighting the various fabrics available as well as the layout of the interior.
Exterior photos highlight some of the various color schemes available, as well as the T@B awning manufactured by Paha Que.
Overall, a lot of good info and pics for prospective T@B buyers. I’ve seen a lot less put into other manufacturers’ websites, so if this their “under construction” website, the real deal should be something to see.
When Dutchmen ceased production of its T@B teardrop trailer in the summer of 2009, it left the existing owners of the unique lightweight trailer concerned. After all, many of its parts weren’t your typical RV parts that could be found on just about every make & model. Many of the parts came from various parts of Europe and came with a hefty price tag. We got a quote on a replacement door when we were T@B owners at the tune of over $1,000. Just one example of the cost of owning a Dutchmen T@B. It’s not publicly known why Dutchmen put the T@B on the chopping block, but speculation had been it just wasn’t a profitable line, mainly due to the cost of putting them together.
However, T@B owners are a resilient group. With over 3,000 members on a Yahoo Group dedicated to the T@B, and its big brother the T@DA, owners forged on and found ways of keeping their extinct trailers together by sharing ideas and finding resources for replacement parts. Rallies were still formed that drew a good number of T@Bs and T@DAs, with the campfire talk often times centering around whether Dutchmen would start building the T@B again. That question was answered in 2010 when Dutchmen answered with a simple “No”. So that would be the end of that, right? Well….no. Enter a teardrop trailer manufacturer from Ohio.
Little Guy Worldwide was formed in 2002 and has quickly become the big guy on the teardrop manufacturing scene, fueled by their popular 5-wide and Silver Shadow line. When Dutchmen discontinued the T@B line, Little Guy seized the opportunity to negotiate with Dutchmen to acquire the rights to build T@Bs, which added a new dimension to their lineup. Little Guy has their trailers built by Pleasant Valley Teardrop Trailers, but both companies are essentially joined at the hip. Recently I was in touch with Little Guy Senior Vice President and CEO of Pleasant Valley Teardrop Trailers, Scott Hubble. When asked when Little guy first decided to pursue the T@B, he tells us, “Following Little Guy moving the production of its trailers from Elkhart, Indiana to Sugarcreek, Ohio, the focus turned to developing a stand-up teardrop model. Expanding the product lines distributed by Little Guy has always been a goal of ours. A stand-up teardrop was the most logical fit. The manufacturing side of our operation – Pleasant Valley Trailers – was poised to begin development and offer something in the same vein as the T@B; however, when it was discovered that Dutchmen’s new executive group decided to drop production of the T@B, Pleasant Valley Trailers seized the opportunity to acquire an established product with a large following and have Little Guy sell it to the masses. Once we knew that T@B was available, we knew it was a perfect fit and an absolute no-brainer, from a sales and marketing standpoint.” The deal with Dutchmen, completed last winter, included drawings, schematics, marketing material, web site…essentially all the rights Dutchmen previously held relating to the T@B.
2012 Little Guy T@B (photo courtesy Alan McDowell)
Following the building of the initial prototypes in the first half of 2011, production models are currently in full swing with another 100 to be produced by the end of the year. Hubble is projecting production numbers up to 600 units in 2012. “Since this isn’t a new product and sweeping changes haven’t been made to it, the barrier to sales is pretty low and we can be choosey about what dealers we bring on board. By the same token, the public has been deprived for the past 2 years and are eagerly anticipating the revival of the T@B.” However, their goals don’t stop there. “In our current facility, we could probably produce about 1200 units annually. This would be where we project being in approximately 18-24 months.” Combined, Dutchmen produced over 4500 T@Bs and T@DAs over a 7 year period.
During their development of the T@B, Little Guy has made strides to correct weaknesses that plagued the Dutchmen version, as well as making standard what were optional features with the Dutchmen T@B:
The door handle, door thickness, wheel wells and black trim pieces on the original T@Bs all had failings to one degree or the other. To address that issue, they moved to a new handle, more substantially weighted door, solid aluminum vs. mesh wheel wells and have employed automotive adhesive to keep the trim adhering to the roof of the camper.
In addition to the sink/stove and spare tire, they have made several other features standard, that were formerly optional. Those items include: Norcold Fridge, CoolCat 110 AC/Heater, LP Furnace, TV/DVD player, Screen Door, Alloy Rims, Port-a-potty and a 3-Way/Dual Directional Fantastic Fan.
In addition, there were a couple of other things that were overhauled – there is a new E-coated, U-channel frame with hydraulic coupler, a diamond plated gravel guard, Amish built interior cabinetry and extra 110 and 12v outlets. Axle weight was also increased to 3500 lbs, creating nearly 2000 lbs of hauling capacity compared to Dutchmen’s axle, which barely gave you 300 lbs. The weight of the trailer tops off just under 1500 lbs.
Most of the expensive European parts on the Dutchmen T@Bs will be produced locally, which in turn keeps the cost of the trailer down.
Once the initial wave of production takes hold, there may be additional models of the T@Bs coming back that Dutchmen produced, most notably the T@B Clamshell model. Chris Baum, Little Guy Chief Operating Officer, believes they can overcome the notorious leak problems that plagued the Dutchmen T@B Clamshell, due to Little Guy’s experience in building reliable hatches in their regular line of teardrops over the years.
The return of the T@B to the lightweight travel trailer market should be interesting to watch. Little Guy has been known in recent years as a company that is continually making improvements in their trailers and not sitting still. With that kind of company behind it, the T@B is definitely in good…if not better….hands since being sent out to pasture by Dutchmen.
The Small Trailer Enthusiast is a home for news on small travel trailers, typically 20' or less. Here you will find info on new models, industry news relating to small trailers, and any other stories I think you might find interesting. Have some small trailer news you'd like to pass along?
Known for years for their marketing and distribution expertise, Little Guy will undoubtedly give the same energy to the ParkLiner as they have distributing their teardrops, as well as the current Serro Scotty. I hope to be speaking with representatives of both ParkLiner and Little Guy in the near future to get some more insight on this partnership. Stay tuned…
