ShariW
10-19-2009, 12:43 PM
We bought a 2006 2720SD last May ’09. We had to go 1,000 miles to northern CA to find a used one within our $15,000 budget. Why in the world Trail Manor hasn’t done a better job marketing these in Arizona (the RV camping capital of the world, I can’t figure out.) Snowbirds come here for 6 months a year! We love our unit! But there are always +’s and –‘s, so we thought we would share. Everywhere we have gone (5 trips all around Arizona and California,) we have been the talk of the campground. Everyone loves the idea of a popup hardside trailer. Because we have the swing away hitch, it fits in our garage which we had to have because of our militant HOA(home owner’s association.)
There are a couple designs items which we have issues with. The recycling toilet!! Terrible idea! No matter how much blue water you put in that thing, it stinks! We gave up after the first couple trips, completely flushed the tank several times and now we use it as a dry toilet. We line the toilet with a quality trash bag and use a wonderful product called feline pine(Safeway carries it in the cat litter section.) These are just Pine sawdust pellets that expand and absorb moisture. If someone deposits a dootie, you simply cover it with a layer of feline pine pellets, when the expanding material starts to approach the top, you pull the bag out, close it, toss it in the trash, and set it up to go again. No mess, no stink… all better. Okay, another flaw, filling the fresh water tank. We always opt to fill our fresh water tank upon arriving to the campgrounds that do not have water on the sites. The water tank cap is behind the window of the front lifting section. You either have to lift the front section (which you can’t do if it is attached to your tow vehicle,) or remove the window screen, remember to leave the window unlatched, and snake a hose in there to fill your tank, or, fill it before you leave home by opening the unit, and waste the gas to tow the extra weight of 30 gallons of water (approx. 250lbs.) We are considering removing the window and flipping it 180 degrees and reinstalling, as then, we have a straight shot with a hose into the water tank when sliding the window open. This way, we can fill the fresh water tank with the unit closed up with ease. Per Trailmanor technicians (we will need to drill some small holes in the bottom of the window frame to the outside because the condensation vents would now be on the top of the window.) And the last thing I discovered, (no fault of trailmanor, but of the previous owner.) Drain your hot water tank and fresh water system if not after every trip, at the end of every season. Our entire fresh water system was full of hard water deposits, I had to unclog all of the faucet taps and flush the whole system several times with a decalcifier to get things working again. Other than these things, we were comfortable and really enjoyed the unit.
There are a couple designs items which we have issues with. The recycling toilet!! Terrible idea! No matter how much blue water you put in that thing, it stinks! We gave up after the first couple trips, completely flushed the tank several times and now we use it as a dry toilet. We line the toilet with a quality trash bag and use a wonderful product called feline pine(Safeway carries it in the cat litter section.) These are just Pine sawdust pellets that expand and absorb moisture. If someone deposits a dootie, you simply cover it with a layer of feline pine pellets, when the expanding material starts to approach the top, you pull the bag out, close it, toss it in the trash, and set it up to go again. No mess, no stink… all better. Okay, another flaw, filling the fresh water tank. We always opt to fill our fresh water tank upon arriving to the campgrounds that do not have water on the sites. The water tank cap is behind the window of the front lifting section. You either have to lift the front section (which you can’t do if it is attached to your tow vehicle,) or remove the window screen, remember to leave the window unlatched, and snake a hose in there to fill your tank, or, fill it before you leave home by opening the unit, and waste the gas to tow the extra weight of 30 gallons of water (approx. 250lbs.) We are considering removing the window and flipping it 180 degrees and reinstalling, as then, we have a straight shot with a hose into the water tank when sliding the window open. This way, we can fill the fresh water tank with the unit closed up with ease. Per Trailmanor technicians (we will need to drill some small holes in the bottom of the window frame to the outside because the condensation vents would now be on the top of the window.) And the last thing I discovered, (no fault of trailmanor, but of the previous owner.) Drain your hot water tank and fresh water system if not after every trip, at the end of every season. Our entire fresh water system was full of hard water deposits, I had to unclog all of the faucet taps and flush the whole system several times with a decalcifier to get things working again. Other than these things, we were comfortable and really enjoyed the unit.