Nice job, Dave!  Really clean install.  I like how the Maxxair is low and streamlined.

Electric résistance heat off of a battery ain't never going to be a good idea !  

A Battery running some LED lights , the fuel pump and blower fan for the Diesel Heater , a micro wave to make pop corn , a TV or a computer and a router or even a small frid. kicking on 30 times a day shouldn't be no problem.

https://www.temu.com/high-quality--12v-100ah-lifepo4-battery-with-100a-bms--r...

only 21 pounds !      get two of them !!   two HF-100 watt solar collectors' ($220).  , one HF500W- charge controller ($75). , and some size 10 wire($30).  but electric heat ain't never going to work ... a little heat pump might on a really sunny day run - a 5000 BTU unit .   .... maybe Three 100 watt collectors ?

MM:  I wanted to be sure folks understand that solar panels and batteries are not going to give you unlimited power - you will not be running AC in the trailer off a battery and a couple of solar cells.  A search showed a 100 watt solar cell can provide about 30 amp/hours in a day.  That is with direct sunlight.

So 2 solar panels will provide about 60 amp/hours a day - far short of what you can store in a pair of 100 amp/hour batteries.

So with good sunny days you have 60/amp hours to use daily.  A few calculations show the power will:

The little Chinese diesel heater take 1-2 amps.  Run time = 30 hours.
A camper style fridge takes around 2 amps.  Run time = 30 hours.
A ceiling vent fan takes around 0.5 amps on low.  Run time 120 hours.

Running a microwave is not as easy as you might expect.  This guy showes it takes 91 amps to run a 700 watt microwave though an inverter!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjnqK_NviqY




Paul:  Keep looking - that trailer is a disaster!  It says he has removed the back doors.  The tires are probably old and will have to be replaced and that is expensive.

Paul:

The cost of camping in a tent, camper or RV can vary greatly - however I would not classify it as "cheap" in most areas.

You can get by with cheap or free in some places - some of it requires you to be a bit discreet.

Walmart, Cracker Barrel, most casinos, public rest areas, truck stops can all be had for free overnight while traveling to your destination.  We parked at Cracker Barrel both nights on the way to Texas and both nights on the way back - Cracker Barrel restaurants are generally very close to the exit ramps and you get a lot of traffic noise from the highway.   Parking lot camping pretty much just allows you to sleep for a single night, and you must not set up your outdoor chairs, extend your awning, grill outdoors, etc. (the exception being rest areas that have picnic tables and outdoor grills for you to use).  With a trailer you must park with the semi trucks in most rest areas - although I have seen a few rest areas where they are now separating trucks from recreational trailers/campers.  Where you park with semi trucks you should expect a lot of noise as they come and go continually, and sometimes you get parked beside the truck with a freezer or refrigerator and you get to listen to the compressor kick on and off all night.  I have also been unfortunate enough to have parked in a place where the urine smell is bad - as the truckers would pee at the curb rather than walk to the restroom.  If you don't have some form of bathroom facilities in your trailer you do have to have a pretty good bladder to park in places like Walmart and Cracker Barrel - unless you can find one with a nearby all night convenient store.  When I know when I am going to be in a specific area I have called ahead to a church and gotten permission to park overnight in their parking lot.  Parking in Police Stations and City Building parking lots may also be available - when I worked for Highland Heights we would allow people to park overnight.  I have also heard that many campgrounds that have camping areas for the people who are staying at the fair - but often they have those facilities available for use when the fair is not active.

Private campgrounds have become pretty expensive - it is not unusual for them to charge $80 a night for an RV spot with a full hookup.  You can usually find a vacancy for an overnight trip during the week - weekends are not always available without advance planning.

State Parks are far more reasonable and full hookups are often $25 or less.  The spots are much harder to get during peak season without reservations far in advance.  However - each state requires you to obtain a State Park Pass and it is $70 annually for Texas...and similar costs for each state.  If you are only going to spend a day or two in that state it makes the daily cost much higher.

Some western states have free camping on Public Lands, and the Corps of Engineers also has many free campsites available in the west.

For a pickup truck and a trailer in the motorcycle areas of TN/NC/GA I have found a very reasonable way to use my camping trailer.  Most of the motorcycle campgrounds have parking lots that provide room for your truck and trailer to park while you are there with a tent or renting their cabin.  Most of them let me pay for a tent site and park my truck/trailer in their parking lot - but I don't set up a tent and I just sleep in my trailer.

Let's go tent camping!  Maybe getting blown away on hot thunderstorm night in Texas isn't so bad.

Quote:

Or you could be like my x-wife’s uncle…. He would double trailer with about a 20’ trailer and a 14’ jon boat behind his diesel pickup truck.  It was impressive to watch him weave that monstrosity through the piney woods of the East Texas campground at Toledo Bend.  How he ever managed to back that Jon boat down the boat ramp behind the trailer was beyond me.  I have enough problems launching a boat without a trailer.

The tear drop trailers are too small for me, and a main reason for a trailer is to be able to put a bike inside it and unload it myself.  I’ve carried smaller bikes in the bed of the truck and it’s no fun, and I always need help with it, with or without a makeshift ramp or using the pitch of the driveway to reduce the height.

Good to know about the Natchez Trace if I ever roll your way!

Yea Dave ... Just in case we need to bring Marcia's Jeep I need to be able to put the bike in the trailer.    

I've got a three trail wide ramp to ride my bike up into the truck !   It ain't no problem at all .    It's as easy to get the bike in the truck as it is to ride up a trailer ramp .  Remember my Colorado gets 27-30 mpg running empty and is only 200HP. 

With the bike in the trailer I'd have to unload it and park it in a safe place while I sleep ?    Or sleep beside it ... the trailer is 6 foot wide .  

I need to call the folks that are building it tomorrow and see how it coming along ?

Cabinets , Sink , and Stove eye up in the "V-Section" and up high on both side seem like a good idea to me.   A place for a small frid., AC and a commode is good too and an open alley-way up the middle for one bike or two 28" beds.    Or some thing simular

I've got an idea to build a HF 4'x8'x60" sleeper with a ramp back door and a tear drop side door , that would be a lot like the little trailer you had for so many years .  Then see which one I get more use out of and sell the other one .   If I make them perty enough I might even break even on fixing both of them by selling one. ?