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Sunday Snapshot: The Kodiak Cub 175BH

When I first saw the Kodiak Cub 175BH by Dutchmen RV a few months ago, I immediately started making comparisons to my Shasta Oasis 18BH since it is essentially the same floor plan. What I found is that I wouldn’t mind a bit swapping out my Shasta for it.

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Kodiak has done a lot right with this. One, they left in the 3 cubic foot fridge below the counter instead of raiding the pantry space by putting in a 6 cubic foot fridge in an 18′ trailer. Storage is more important when you’re dealing with this size of a trailer. Next thing they did is that they didn’t go crazy with a double basin sink like some do, leaving you with no counter space. The single sink with flush mounted stove gives you a ton of prep space that frankly I believe to be the best of this floor plan.

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By the queen bed, they’ve given you a wardrobe AND  storage over the bed. Typically manufacturers with this floor plan give you one or the other, but not both. The interior is really clean with glass fronts on the overhead cabinets. There’s also a handy exterior door outside the bottom bunk which also serves as a “garage” when the bunk is flipped up for storing some larger items while in transit.

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Construction appears to be really well done here as well with a six sided aluminum cage with heated and enclosed underbelly with an optional off road package giving you some axle lift. For what it’s worth to some, Dutchmen doesn’t actually build these units. They’re put together by Keystone RV as the manufacturer and badged as Kodiaks, which are all part of the Thor Industries conglomerate. cub-2

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Some quick specs, the 175BH Cub weighs right at 3400 lbs, 21’5″ in length, and has some impressive tank capacities for a trailer of this size: 52 gallon fresh, 28 gallon black, and 39 gallon gray, with a black tank flush. Cargo capacity is right at 1200 lbs and hitch weight is 400 lbs. Depending on where you live, prices are in the mid-upper teens.

If I were looking at this floor plan today, I’d really have this one high on my list.  My 2 year old grandson, however, didn’t seem too impressed. He just had that “Here we go, another trailer” expression on his face, which, coincidentally is the same expression I usually get from my wife when I find a trailer I get a crush on. 🙂

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To learn more about the Kodiak Cub and its two sibling models, the 175RD and the 185MB couples trailers, visit their website at Kodiak Cub floor plans.

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A few updates…

Greetings! Yes, it’s been a while since I posted, but there’s not been a whole lot of small trailer news to report on. However, that’s fixin’ to change! Fingers crossed, but I’ll be heading to a couple of factories over the next couple of months, and one hopefully next week. That one should be big, as this is a trailer that’s not been seen by the public yet, but one that the small trailer community has been waiting for months to get their eyes on. How’s that for a teaser?

Keystone RV has entered the micro trailer market with the introduction of the Passport ROV and the Bullet Colt.

colt_exterior_apr17 rov_exterior_mar17Currently both have just two floorplans which are both the same for each model. But the similarities don’t end there. Every aspect of each trailer is identical, except for the names on the outside and their interior colors and upholstery. Take your pick!

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Indianapolis, Indiana based Greenlight Collectibles continues to provide small trailer lovers with a bevvy of vintage and now current small trailer diecasts. They initially started with their Hitch & Tow series and continue it with various combinations of trailers and tow vehicles.

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But now Greenlight has introduced a new line of strictly trailer diecasts called the Hitched Homes series. Currently there have been two installments of the Hitched Homes series released, totaling twelve trailers ranging from a 1958 Siesta to a 2017 Winnebago Winnie Drop. I picked up a Winnie Drop and a Siesta at my local Meijer store, and I have to say kudos to Greenlight for continuing to honor small trailers the way they have AND building an excellent product at a good price, as I paid less than $10 each.

greenlight1 greenlight2I’ve learned that Greenlight actually measures the real trailers to get specs for production. Jim Gratner, sales pro at Braun’s Fun Time Campers in Indianapolis, told me that Greenlight paid a visit to their lot in 2016 to look over a Winnie Drop they had in their inventory. They took pics and did some measuring for their production of the Hitched Homes 1:64 scale Winnie Drop. So these are detailed about as close to the real thing as you can get.

I’ve yet to see this one, but they’re also coming out with a bigger 1:24 scale teardrop trailer that you’ll also want to put on your shelf.

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So there are a few updates for you all. I’m really excited about these factory visits I’ll be making soon, as there are some trailers you’ve been waiting to finally see, and I’ve been told there are some we’re going to be introduced to that aren’t known yet.

Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

 

 

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