How hard is it to open and close?

DR

Drews60

Guest
Hi, I'm 65 and thinking of buying a travel trailer. I love pop up tent trailers, I've owned 3 over the years. However, I'm looking at Trail Manors. I like the solid walls, full set of features. They look great. I have yet to step foot in one.

My question is this, I'm 65, how physically demanding is it to set up by myself? I saw a video. It looks toooooo easy.

It certainly looks far less complicated than my big Jayco, crank forever, then so many other tasks to get it set up.
 
I'm not 65 but I can tell you when I had 3 cracked ribs I was still able to set up our TM & only trouble I had was a stuck leveling jack before we left. Our TM is set up all the time so we have to take it down before travel.
 
I'm 65 and find it quite easy with my 2619. It takes me about 45 min. for a complete set up by myself. But it would certainly depend on one's health and physical capabilities.
 
I've sometimes cracked wise with my wife about getting too old for this but the difficulty is in the number of steps involved but not strength, necessarily.

If it is adjusted well, none of the movements are anything more than a person of average strength and height could handle.

Things that make it harder include:

Moving cabinets being too full of heavy items (fixable)
Hot days (or possibly rainy days)
Stabilizing jacks - use a lithium-based drill - too many cranks in an awkward position!
Tongue jack - I keep telling myself I will get an electric one.

At risk of sacrilege, since you are in buying mode, have you also considered the A frames? Chalet, Forest River, Aliner. If it were for a single person (or two), those are a great consideration but the TM definitely has more stretch room.
 
I am 69 and can easily do it with one arm, but that has absolutely nothing to do with you. This is the sort of question that can be answered only by you trying it yourself. Everything else is a serious upgrade from a tent trailer, in fact many of us have made that move. Closing the TM IS easier and faster than a tent trailer.
 
I am 67 with bad back and do it by myself. I do cheat, I have an 18 volt drill with a rod that hooks to my stabilizer jacks, no cranking, just hit the trigger. It is not hard if properly level, you can even cheat and lower the tongue to pull the front section, then raise it high for the back section, letting gravity help a little, then level your trailer front to back. Closing is the easiest, no problems at all. The secret is having the roof properly adjusted, and there is a terrific section that walks you through that, once you are a sponsor.

Dave
 
hillbillyhotel said:
lol really , i do not get my aarp till aug,
i also have had popups over the yrs, the tm is a breeze next to them, most of time from unhooking from tv to first beer is less then 30 min. faster if dw does it
Click to expand...

You will be better off than me since I figure by the time I get old enough nothing will be available including my money I am forced to give the KGB:new_argue to supplement my old age.
 
My husband turns 65 in June and I am 61. We bought a new 2007 TM in June of 2007. In November hia aortic valve spazzed and he had open heart surgery. The next month I found out I had breast cancer. I had surgery and by March we were camping again. We camped during (between) chemo treatments and also the radiation treatments. When we set up I do the tire chocking we pull out the ends and then and he does the jacks and hook ups and I do the inside; bathroom and kitchen cabinets etc. We sometimes think about a convential light weight TT but due to the price of fuel we do nothing but look and admire. TMs are really very nice but i sometimes miss all the overhead storage so to fix that I bought the used, over the sink cabinet advertized on here...and Tom pics that up on Saturday while I am working along with all the curtains. (YEAH)

I love all the windows in the Trail Manors. I am now predujusticed against campers with tiny windows and wood framing.

We love the Chalet campers and sometimes think of going smaller. If they ever build one about 3 feet longer we will get one. We have been in every model of the Chalet XL and when one of us dies...the other will difinitely get a Chalet.
 
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Thanks for all of your replies. I certainly will try to find a unit nearby to experiment on. The trick being these babies are scarce as hens teeth.

Finding one within my budget will be even harder. I started out looking for used pop ups at $4-5K. Now I could easily triple that amount.

I fiddled around thinking about a 2004 2619 at $7950. It's now gone. :eek:
 
We have several friends with large TTs and everytime they are in our TM, they always have the same comment " I wish ours had half as many large bright windows. Make a setup / takedown checklist and run thru it the first few times. If the TM is close to level and the torsion bars are adjusted properly, you should be able to open / close with one hand.
 
We first saw a TM at a show. My wife would not buy it until they allowed her to pop the shells open and close them. She was 55 at the time and had very bad knees.

I am right handed. I can open and close the shells with just my left hand.

It is a bit difficult to close one side of the upper front shell. The torsion bars are adjusted a little too tight. I'm too lazy to readjust them.

My daughter (32) at 140 pounds can not bounce hard enough to close that side. But she can close the other size. Closing a TM is one of the few situations in life where weight is an advantage.
 
countrygirl said:
We have been in every model of the Chalet XL and when one of us dies...the other will difinitely get a Chalet.
Click to expand...

Well, girlfriend, we want you both to be around for a very very long time so just forget that little Chalet!!

Glad you both are going strong and camping TM style!!

Karen
 
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