Trailmanor update

[davlin]

Originally Posted by ArkyDoodle

I spoke with Sonya (my latest customer rep) and she said, "it should be done on Saturday." I told her that wasn't good enough, I'll be driving over 800 miles to get there (and 800 miles home) so a "should" wasn't acceptable. She quickly changed her response to "it WILL be done to your satisfaction and Bob will meet you at the factory this Saturday"................so that's better.......I am keeping my fingers crossed, hoping the repairs will be completed on time and in a satisfactory manner.

The Silver Trail delam situation (they tell me) stems from the fact that early models were not properly prepared and primed before the siding went on. The street side where there's quite a few "cut outs" is where is situation is most likely to occur. If you get the lighting just right, the surface appears to have slight, vertical groove-like indentations 6"-8" long....I'll see if I can find any old pics....

I'm really hoping for a positive ending to this. Please let us know how it works out.

[aslag54]

Originally Posted by ArkyDoodle

I spoke with Sonya (my latest customer rep) and she said, "it should be done on Saturday." I told her that wasn't good enough, I'll be driving over 800 miles to get there (and 800 miles home) so a "should" wasn't acceptable. She quickly changed her response to "it WILL be done to your satisfaction and Bob will meet you at the factory this Saturday"................so that's better.......I am keeping my fingers crossed, hoping the repairs will be completed on time and in a satisfactory manner.

I hope Bob allows you to tour the factory, I'd be very interested in hearing what it looks like. I wonder if you'll see the 2922KD I ordered and my dealer returned. I never did heard from Bob, Cleo or any Trailmanor representative.

[Padgett]

Is really too bad, I would think the 2922KD would be near to the ideal TM.

[stormpeakco]

Originally Posted by ArkyDoodle

I spoke with Sonya (my latest customer rep) and she said, "it should be done on Saturday." I told her that wasn't good enough, I'll be driving over 800 miles to get there (and 800 miles home) so a "should" wasn't acceptable. She quickly changed her response to "it WILL be done to your satisfaction and Bob will meet you at the factory this Saturday"................so that's better.......I am keeping my fingers crossed, hoping the repairs will be completed on time and in a satisfactory manner.

The Silver Trail delam situation (they tell me) stems from the fact that early models were not properly prepared and primed before the siding went on. The street side where there's quite a few "cut outs" is where is situation is most likely to occur. If you get the lighting just right, the surface appears to have slight, vertical groove-like indentations 6"-8" long....I'll see if I can find any old pics....

Thank you. Any updates/resolution to report on?

[ArkyDoodle]

From my recent trip to Hartington, NEB, here's my observations:

Bob was waiting for me in the parking lot when I arrived on Saturday morning. He proudly wanted to show me the new Rise prototype unit that he was working on (They're numbered differently, like 190,210,230?? so the one I was looking at may have been comparable to a 2720 or 2922? it had no interior, it was basically just a shell). It really was cool, it opened in about 20 seconds and he told me he was working on a "basement" that would be accessible when the unit was closed. It would allow for additional storage and to relocate the A/C off of the roof.....And then he quickly took me thru the factory (it was hard to keep up with Bob!).....There were three or four guys working on the line, building new units (on a Saturday). There was 1 unit that was sitting at the door that looked like it was ready to be shipped(?), 2-3 that were almost done, 2-3 that were basically shells, and 2 or 3 that were basic frames (so, say 10-15 trailers overall in various stages).....He also showed me 3-4 "prototypes" where they were testing different building materials (one of them was a fiberglass composite and two or three "Rise" units in various sizes)..........As we were walking thru the facility (well, he was walking, I was almost jogging) he told me of his troubles: financial, labor, dealers, the move from TN and setting things up......He said that he had "hundreds" of units on order and he knew he needed "hundreds" more in dealers' inventory, so they're workin' hard, trying to catch up.....

They still have a way to go --- the "line" is still being worked out and parts are not very organized --- but I think they're coming along....If they can continue to work on the small details of the "production" units, not get side-tracked on the "fun" prototypical creations and hope the funding/labor/dealers issues get resolved......

[ArkyDoodle]

My recent warranty work:

First, some history....We bought our TM new in 2014, picked it up in TN. It always seemed "heavy" to open and the slide jiggled side-to-side as it expanded and retracted. So after that first summer we arranged to have these issues "fixed" by the factory folks. (TM was in the process of moving to Neb but they left a small satellite repair group in TN). I was surprised when I when back for these "adjustments" that the factory was gone and there were three guys working out of an old gas station. They adjusted everything (as best they could with no tools or parts) and told me that my torsion bars were adjusted all the way out (or in) leaving no room for further/future adjustments and that the real resolution would be to replace the bars with the next larger size and the slide would probably need to be de-contructed and rebuilt (street side was a full inch longer than the curb side).....And both of these issues would now have to be performed.....In Nebraska....So in March I drove the 750 mile journey to Hartington, dropped the unit off with the Plant Manager, Jon, and explained my issues (replace front torsion bars, rework the slide, rebuild the box where it was delam).....

A month with no communication.....On TH I got confirmation that it "should" be ready on Saturday, they were to call me on FR to confirm.....At noon on FR I called them since I needed to be rolling by 4:00pm. When I got there, I spoke briefly w/Bob and did the factory 2K.....When I went to get my unit, I was shown that they'd replaced the side that had delam......I asked about the other two issues. The guy that had been assigned my unit gave me the deer in headlights look, (YEP!), he hadn't been told about anything else.....So he and the other guys promptly went to work "adjusting" the slide and torsion bars.......I can't see any difference in the slide and the open/close may even be a bit heavier than it was.....sigh.....But I had to roll......When I got home, I opened it up and started cleaning out all of their construction/factory dirt/metal shaving/sawdust --- took almost four hours!!

Bottom line, I was glad to see the factory and their progress but......had I know in March what I know today, I would NOT have driven over THREE THOUSAND miles (not to mention the original THOUSAND miles to go to TN the first time!) to get these minor issues addressed...To me the slide and open/close are sooo much more important than how it looks (the sidewall rippling is really only noticeable when it's open and the lighting is just right)........At this point, it woulda been better for me to simply assume (two years ago!) that if I own a TM, I will have to learn to do everything that's unique to the TM myself (the only "assistance" will be from posts on this site)......and if something bigger than me comes up..........sell/trade it....??

[Redtail Cruiser]

Sorry to say, but that report is not very encouraging for those that are hoping to get a new unit, anytime soon.

[TM Pilot]

Thanks for the update on the status of the factory in Nebraska. Very much needed info. Your description is exactly what I was expecting. Your tour sounded very rushed. Did you get any pictures with your cellphone?
As for that one supposedly finished TM sitting at the door - did it look like it was in sellable condition or was it more like the unit shipped to Aslag54's dealer that had to be returned for poor quality?


Just if anyone's curious: The TM factory operated by William J. Hulsey at 135 Hulsey Ln in Lake City, TN is now owned by a propane company. The factory that Bob Eickhoff relocated to after he bought the company in 2011 at 1202 McGhee in Jacksboro, TN looks vacant (parking lot full of abandoned trash). The Trailmanor Service Center (mentioned in TM's press release Jan 2015 about consolidating all operations to NE) at 160 Lake LN in Caryville, TN looks like an abandoned gas station.

[Padgett]

Sounds like a story I have heard before just with a new twist, the passion for the Rise.

Years ago while working for GM I had an assignment to determine why a particular line of relays was being unprofitable despite a very good sales volume (got that kind of assignment a lot). Turned out that relay line was the only profitable thing in the whole plant but being the only one of many with significant volume it was being loaded with the burden (fixed and variable costs) for the entire plant and that made it look like it was losing money.

In the end, GM closed the whole plant, terminated many of management, & moved the relay line elsewhere.

[davlin]

Originally Posted by ArkyDoodle

My recent warranty work:

First, some history....We bought our TM new in 2014, picked it up in TN. It always seemed "heavy" to open and the slide jiggled side-to-side as it expanded and retracted. So after that first summer we arranged to have these issues "fixed" by the factory folks. (TM was in the process of moving to Neb but they left a small satellite repair group in TN). I was surprised when I when back for these "adjustments" that the factory was gone and there were three guys working out of an old gas station. They adjusted everything (as best they could with no tools or parts) and told me that my torsion bars were adjusted all the way out (or in) leaving no room for further/future adjustments and that the real resolution would be to replace the bars with the next larger size and the slide would probably need to be de-contructed and rebuilt (street side was a full inch longer than the curb side).....And both of these issues would now have to be performed.....In Nebraska....So in March I drove the 750 mile journey to Hartington, dropped the unit off with the Plant Manager, Jon, and explained my issues (replace front torsion bars, rework the slide, rebuild the box where it was delam).....

A month with no communication.....On TH I got confirmation that it "should" be ready on Saturday, they were to call me on FR to confirm.....At noon on FR I called them since I needed to be rolling by 4:00pm. When I got there, I spoke briefly w/Bob and did the factory 2K.....When I went to get my unit, I was shown that they'd replaced the side that had delam......I asked about the other two issues. The guy that had been assigned my unit gave me the deer in headlights look, (YEP!), he hadn't been told about anything else.....So he and the other guys promptly went to work "adjusting" the slide and torsion bars.......I can't see any difference in the slide and the open/close may even be a bit heavier than it was.....sigh.....But I had to roll......When I got home, I opened it up and started cleaning out all of their construction/factory dirt/metal shaving/sawdust --- took almost four hours!!

Bottom line, I was glad to see the factory and their progress but......had I know in March what I know today, I would NOT have driven over THREE THOUSAND miles (not to mention the original THOUSAND miles to go to TN the first time!) to get these minor issues addressed...To me the slide and open/close are sooo much more important than how it looks (the sidewall rippling is really only noticeable when it's open and the lighting is just right)........At this point, it woulda been better for me to simply assume (two years ago!) that if I own a TM, I will have to learn to do everything that's unique to the TM myself (the only "assistance" will be from posts on this site)......and if something bigger than me comes up..........sell/trade it....??

Sounds bad, but I for one am glad that at least you got your TM back. I had visions of you getting there to find the place closed up and your trailer nowhere to be found.

When you took the tour, how many units did you see in production?