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Old 11-07-2002, 04:34 AM   #1
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Default TrailManor refrigerator concern

Looking at 3023 TrailManor - and I'm impressed. However, wife says that the refrig is "inadequate." She says it won't hold enough and to load or unload you have to kneel on the floor. How do you owners out there contend with the small refrig at floor level. Is it a problem?

She won't let me look any further until I have an answer to her refrig concern.

Thanks for your help!
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Old 11-07-2002, 06:57 AM   #2
camperboy
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Default Re: TrailManor refrigerator concern

The refrig in our TM (3023) has proven to be large enough to hold food for two of us during a 3 week trip. Stopped for food every 5-7 days, depending where we were. We were able to freeze some meat in the freezer portion. For us it works fine. Loading/unloading hasn't been a problem for us. If we are going to be away from food stores for longer we will use a cooler in addition to the TM refer.

Camperboy
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Old 11-07-2002, 06:59 AM   #3
Bill
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Default Re: TrailManor refrigerator concern

When we were in northern California last June, my wife caught a 25-pound Chinook salmon in the Klamath River. After the excitement passed, and we cut and wrapped all the salmon, we found that we needed A LOT of refrig space, and the TM refrig alone wasn't going to do it. Fortunately, we had a 40-quart Coleman thermoelectric cooler ($79 at Wal-Mart including an AC power adapter). We put most of the day-to-day food in the Coleman, and stuffed all the salmon in the TM refrig. We found that if we turned the TM refrig to max, the whole thing became a freezer. What a great thing! We loaded the salmon in, and all the other frozen foods, too, and used it as our freezer, while the Coleman served as our refrigerator.

Since then, whenever we are out for several days, we use the Coleman for most day-to-day stuff, and load the TM refrig with the overflow or things we don't need very often - frozen or not, as the need dictates. The Coleman travels on the floor, and when we reach a campsite and set up, I lift it onto a countertop. This has been a great solution, nearly doubling our refrig capacity, and eliminating a lot of the bending.

Bill
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Old 11-07-2002, 10:51 AM   #4
tipper
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Default Re: TrailManor refrigerator concern

What you see is what you get.  The refer is small compared to conventional RVs and if mama ain't happy ain't nobody happy.  

If you're coming from tent camping the refer is really appreciated.  But some of the TM advantages do come with compromises.

The thermoelectric powered cooler is good if you can afford the space for it and have AC power available.
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Old 11-07-2002, 11:50 AM   #5
BOB_STRONG
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Default Re: TrailManor refrigerator concern

POSSIBLE 3023 TM OWNER

In April of this year, we left our home in northern Pa  and left for Fort Wilderness in Orlando Florida. We were on the road 2 days, and we stayed there from Monday thru Friday. We fixed a lot of meals at home, and then stored the meals in bowls in the refrig. We ate out one night during the week, and at this time we replenished some food for the return trip home on Friday. We also have a Coleman cooler to store other items in. Taking things out and putting them back is no problem. In this day and age, it's not like you can't find a store easy enough. If you are a bargain hunter when it comes to shopping, most stores run sales every week.

After all, you are out camping. Who needs to take their side by side refrig along with them. As our old Coleman camper brochure said," KEEP IT SIMPLE AND HAVE FUN!"

The refrig may look small, but if you know how to pack things, you will be surprised at  what you can pack in there!! All you need is the right size bowls and containers for the food to pack in there.

Most people forget that you sure can get a lot of things in the door. We put milk, juice, and a bottle of water on the lower shelf. The other two are used for soda and butter and other small items.

Having owned 3 Trailmanors since 1992, we CANNOT find any problems with the low refrig!

BOB STRONG
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Old 11-07-2002, 12:09 PM   #6
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Default Re: TrailManor refrigerator concern

we plan to take a 1st trip of 2003 is at Yosemite National park in April. we have some concerns about park rules about storage of foods. can we just leave our foods in refrigator instead in "metal bin" of camp site?..anybody have any experienced about this situation?any advises?  
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Old 11-08-2002, 12:00 AM   #7
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Default Re: TrailManor refrigerator concern

A year ago my wife an I started looking at something bigger and more secure than our Starcraft pop-up.

We found a nice full size 25' Palamino trailer that was exactly what we wanted.  The cost was slightly less than a new TM, but the weight was considerably more...

What sticks out in my mind was the nearly full size fridge and freezer.  We were really excited about the full use of space above the counters (such as wall cabinets, big fridge, range hood, etc.).

Unfortunately in the end, I decided my tow vehicle would quickly wear out from the strain of pulling such a big trailer.

I don't regret buying the TM, because it tows like no other trailer on the market.  The compact size when closed and the generous space when open is what sold us on the TM.  The big compromise was the lack of any permanent fixtures on the upper halves, which means a slightly smaller fridge.

However when we are camping, we rarely have any problems with refrigerator capacity.  We've been very happy with the layout and function of the trailer.
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Old 11-08-2002, 12:06 AM   #8
Bill
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Default Re: TrailManor refrigerator concern

2619er -

Last June, we stayed about 5 days in Sequoia/King's Canyon NP, and then about 5 days in Yosemite NP. In Sequoia, they were VERY serious about bears and bear boxes. The rangers gave us the bear-box speech as we checked in, also gave us a pamphlet, and then came by later to remind us. They insisted that not only food, but also soap, hair spray, deodorant, and anything with a smell, should go into the bear box at night. And beyond this, they asked us to throw a blanket over anything rectangular in the car. Apparently, the bears peek in the car window and think that a rectangular box is a cooler (even if it is really a cardboard box of books), and rip open the car to get it. We heeded the warnings and had no problems, but there were three bear break-ins in our campground (about 300 sites) during our 5-day stay. I presume that these involved people who didn't pay attention to the warnings. There were no injuries - the bears want food and are basically afraid of people. For what it is worth, about 200 of the 300 sites were occupied by canvas pop-ups or tents, but we were glad to be in a hard-sided TM. So yes, I would take the bear-boxes seriously.

By contrast, Yosemite also had bear boxes, but the rangers didn't mention them and few people seemed to use them. We did, having just come from Sequoia, but we didn't hear about any bear problems.

If you are going to use a bear box, the thermoelectric cooler is really handy. At the end of the day, you put all your pre-chilled perishables into the T-E cooler, and slide it into the bear box. In the morning, you pull the cooler out of the bear box and simply plug it in - no need to transfer the food back and forth to the TM refrig. Incidentally, the basic T-E cooler uses 12 VDC. You don't need AC power to run it, as was suggested in an earlier post. This is a good thing, since none of the sites in Sequoia or Yosemite had AC power available. IF you have AC power, and IF you have an AC adapter (comes with the Coleman), THEN you can run the cooler from AC - but that is not its native mode.

Hope this helps

Bill
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Old 11-08-2002, 11:31 AM   #9
PAUL_R
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Default Re: TrailManor refrigerator concern

3 week trip to grand canyon using as much of route 66, 5day stay at albuquerque balloon festival, 7days at cape cod. numerous fishing trips along louisiana and mississippi gulf cost. the tm refrigerator was outstanding. we also use a coleman ice chest for soft drinks, beer, wine etc. no problems with bending or removing items. one cool night at cape code we were watching old movies and eating ice cream while it was raining out side.

this year we have done over 10,000 miles of camping with the"manor" and only one case of the refrigerator not cooling and the reason for that failure was because i didn't have the "manor" level.
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Old 11-08-2002, 11:41 AM   #10
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Default Re: TrailManor refrigerator concern

Bill,

How long did you run your thermo electric cooler on the battery without having AC power?
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