New Trailmanor Owners

[Guest]

My husband and I just negotiated the purchase of a new trailmanor 3023 yesterday. We are due to pick it up in early October. We are starting to plan our first trip which will be semi-close. Does anyone have any tips and tricks for us to equip our trailmanor, our first time camp site setup, all that fun stuff? I have been reading the discussion groups it looks like everyone who owns one of these things is very happy with it. Any advice would be great.

 

[chris-TMO]

The best tip that we recieved, we continue to do. Stock your trailer well. Create a setup that you will leave in the trailer, and then make a checklist that you follow each time. We have done that with great success. The only time we forget anything is when we weren't religious about our checklist. As far as setup and teardown, practice it until you can do it in the dark when it's raining. That's what may end up happening. I was glad that I had practiced.
Ct..

 

[Guest]

My first suggestion would be,,,, Take Your Time.


Take your time stocking you trailer like Chris suggested. Take your time hooking up to your truck, in setting up, in taking down. People get in a hurry, they forget things, they break things, they get mad. When they get mad, they can say things they can't take back. Take your time. Keep your cool.


Suggestion number two,,, before you fold your trailer up, stick your head in there, and look around,,, one last time.


Suggestion number three,,,, Even if things don't go right,,, so what? Laugh it off, kick back, and have a good time anyway.


Enjoy

Mack

 

[Guest]

The morning you are to break camp, turn off the water heater early so that it will have some time to cool.
Don't forget to switch the refer over to 12V.
Turn off the gas.
Lower the TV antenna.
Walk around before closing anything. I have learned to drag my feet so that the obvious will become obvious, power cable, water hose, sewer pipe.
If you are to dump at a dump station, don't forget to open the valve on the toilet.

I agree with Chris on stocking and the checklist. I once forgot the pillows   :'(
My checklist is on a spreadsheet so that it will calculate how much of things I will need for the whole trip by entering the number of days I am to camp.

Learn to back up the TM before you need to back it up. Mack's first and third suggestion come to mind here.

Buy some stick on levels. Set the TM up at home and level via the refer. Close the TM and latch. Apply stick on levels. Now when you level at your camp site you can get it right before you open anything.

If you have the scissors stabilizing jacks, use a cordless drill with an allen wrench to do the cranking for you.

If you are not used to it, you will quickly learn to conserve water. If you act like you are at home, chances are you will use up your fresh water and fill up your gray tank in the first day.

If you are opening and/or closing and something doesn't look or feel right, investigate before you break or bend something.

Close the side wall curtains before folding, they will stay cleaner.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. The folks here have learned alot and are great about sharing.

Most of all, ENJOY.

 

[Guest]

welcome. i love mind. suggestions: if you are picking up at factory, camp near by in case of a problem. buy extra fuses, and in closing down, the old adage if it don't fit...don't force it should apply.

please drive safely and i believe that means around 60mph to 65mph max.

p.s. test your brake controller being getting on the highway. have fun!

 

[Guest]

love mind. suggestions: if picking up at factory, camp near by in case of problems. purchase extra fuses. when closing down don't forget the old adage "if it don't fit, don't force it".
test your brake controller before getting on the highways. and lastly drive safely and for me that means no more than 60mph to 65mph.

have fun!

 

[Guest]

Susan, congraulations!  We have much in common with you as we brought our 2001 TM3023 home just  last week and are preparing it for a (delayed) camping trip to Michigan.  Like you, we are thrilled with our choice, and have much to learn.  As I write this, the TM is set up in the lane by our house and I am, as Chris, Mack, and the others wisely advised, making lists and double-checking each item, and am allowing lots of time for each step of preparation.  And thanks, Paul, for the mention of the extra fuses--nothing worse than blowing one and not having a spare!

 

[hal]

Susan, my simplest recommendation is to set a strict routine of things to do when setting up or taking down. Follow this routine by the numbers and don't let someone talk you into doing something out of order.

Our TM dealer has a pamphlet that he/she hands to new owners. One side of this pamphlet tells you, step by step how to set up the trailer. The other side tells you, step by step how to take it down. This dealer can be reached at [email protected]. If you have difficulty, you can contact me a [email protected] and I will give you an address and a request for an SASE. I will send you a copy.

Hal

 

[Guest]

wow you guys are great thanks for all the information this is a great site with a lot of really nice people. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[Guest]

Congratulations on your new Trailmanor. All the messages I read here are great, and very informative. I am in the market for a Trailmanor 3023 myself. I'm going to an RV show in PA soon to look at them. Any suggestions on what I should ask the dealer about? May I ask what you paid for your new 3023? If I'm out of line asking, please accept my apology.

 

[Guest]

We picked a campsite for the weekend after we pickup our new trailmanor. We are going about an hour away from home, so if all goes wrong home is not too far away. We have gone down to the trailmanor dealer about 4 times to open/close and setup, and we are studying the full setup for the pickup walk through. We read that people advise video taping the initial walk thru. When you get to a site how long is it to setup, including setting up water, refridge, all that? How about break down?

 

[Guest]

susanspark,

A lot of good suggestions, especially the checklist. You'll find a lot of things you can just leave in the trailer. If you have kids, the checklist is doubly important as all the distraction of packing with kids should be obvious.

We still don't have it down, yet. Though we've only taken about four or five weekends out.

So while this is fresh in my mind...

1) Study all the gadgets. Knowing how they work will help when something doesn't seem right. Fuses are important. So would be a basic tool kit. If you blow two fuses on the same appliance, you really need to figure out what is wrong before you proceed. We bought our trailer used, and the front left lamp kept blew two fuses. Turns out these lights take a different bulb than the rest of the overhead lights. (1076 vs 1176? if memory serves me, and it usually doesn't).

2) Don't forget basic things, like charging the battery, filling the propane tanks (they seem to last forever), and checking tire pressures.

3) You didn't say where you were heading, but I'd suggest you take your first trip to a site with hookups. This lets you get used to the "space" and not have to worry about water conservation, battery power, or holding tank capacity. Personally, I much prefer boondocking after spending a short weekend in an RV park, but I was happy to just figure things out without having to deal with conservation.

4) If you're new to trailering, practice backing up. Find a parking lot and take a good, tolerant friend, then back into empty spaces with plenty of room. Towing mirrors will help. ;Some folks may not like this, but I think you might want to try a panic stop or two (with plenty of space). If your brakes are set properly, you should have no surprises and stopping distances should be what you expect without the trailer!


Oh, to answer your setup / take down time, I think about 15 to 30 minutes for setup, depending on the level of the site. ;It takes longer to crack the jacks than to set up the walls.

Have fun! We'll look forward to hearing about your first outing!

 

[arknoah]

Susan,

First of all, be smug -- we have great trailers and we ought to flaunt them! To echo some other thoughts, having a checklist, while it may make you feel amateurish, is good because all of us can forget things. ;Brian gave the example of the water heater, which can be really easy to forget to do. The same goes for watching as you close the trailer, as it is possible for the corner latches to flip up and get bent/ smashed as the two halves of the body close.

We also leveled our trailer in the driveway then attached levels on the hitch and body so we can level without opening the trailer. We might also suggest getting out of the trailer and surveying your site before deciding on a spot to look out for low lying branches, select the most level area of the site, etc.

If you are new to RVs, we also suggest going over backing up the trailer and the instructions you are going to use (we still haven’t mastered that one!)

Do purchase extra fuses and light bulbs for the inside lights, as well as a water filter, a pressure regulator for the hose, extra filter screens and rubber gaskets for the hose and normal tools -- we bought one of those ready made sets of 40 tools in a plastic carrying case.

One of my suggestions one or two discussion boards ago was to videotape the entire walk through with the dealer. That way, you are not relying on your memory alone. Our dealer also suggested that we were going to make mistakes and forget stuff -- like failing to close a window or curtains, or pulling out the toilet valve, etc -- and to just take them in stride.

Good luck and enjoy!

F. J. and Ellen

 

[Chris_Bauer]

Congrats on your new TM.  No doubt you will love it as much as the rest of us.

Everyone has their own system for setting up and you will learn to develop your own as you gain experience.  We use the buddy system and we each have our own things to do during setup.  First, we open the TM like in the video, one on each end.  Then, one begins setting up the inside (flaps, bathroom walls, curtains, etc) while the other works on the outside, cranking jacks (w/ cordless drill, this is a must if you don't have electric jacks), connecting the water, electric, sewage hose, etc.  In just a few minutes the TM is set up and cooling down (hot Texas weather).  Set up is as quick as with any other trailer as they all need their connections and gadgets. Don't get stuck in a rut. Trade off once in a while as you never know when you may have to set up alone.

Be sure to carry lots of brochures as everyone watches in amazement as we setup.  No one needs to tell you what a great purchase you have made but there is nothing else like it on the market, easy towing, light weight, great fuel economy, no big rig for towing, etc.  I think it is really a great way to enjoy the outdoors in comfort without taking such a big toll on the environment.   Enjoy what you see and leave it that way for the next person.

 

[Guest]

congratulations on your new TM. we have had ours since Feb. of this year. we took two week ends of camping. to learn all about the set up. We can do it fairly fast now. Our big trip was to Myrtle beach. We did just fine. I printed out a checklist off of the weblsite : http://www.rvbasics.com/techtips/checklist.html This checklist was a tremendous help to us. Also to keep it cool in the TM I did all the cooking outside in an electric skillet and crock pot and we have a small portable grill that I wrap food in foil or use aluminum pie plates to cook in. (even soup). The Tm stays cool, you save gas, and when the park is full, you dont have to worry about the AC kicking a breaker from being over worked. we spent 5 days at the site but left early after hearing of the disaster in N.Y. We wanted to be at home if anything else was to come of this. I am taking time each day to say a prayer for everyone. God love and Bless each and everyone . Betty

 

[Guest]

We picked up our trail manor in July (2720). Absolutely outstanding! We have been making adjustments and equipping it ever since.

So far we have had pretty good luck in finding a place for everything. We like to cook outdoors and have a two burner gas stove (coleman) and a coleman griddle for steaks and pancakes etc. works great!

You will find the drawers (plastic) will droop when you open them. I took care of that this weekend by replacing them with oak drawers and full extension ball bearing slides. Now when we open the drawer we don't have to hold it up to take utensils out.

If you have not camped before you will find a lot of stuff comes in very helpful. For example Camping World has 10&" square blocks that help in leveling your trailer. They come in their own bag and are a lot lighter that carrying 2X4s or 2X6s. they also interlock and make leveling really easy.

Camping chairs increase comfort when sitting in front of the nightly fire. We found aluminum framed Coleman chairs at Sams Club they are very light and they fit perfectly in the rear storage compartment. We have also added a small table aluminum table (REI) that also folds and fits in the rear compartment.

One hint as well, start your fridge up at least 24 hours before filling it. Even longer if possible. It takes a long time to cool down. There have been suggestions on this site to put some Blue Ice in to help, but still takes a while. LP setting works the best, AC then DC. We set ours up in our garage a couple of days before leaving. We switch to DC. turn on the ref fan on the monitor panel and fold it down. (If you are going to camp when you leave the dealer, ask them to turn the fridge on for you a couple of days before yo pick it up.

The list goes on, I know you will love your TM!

 

[Guest]

Susan (and others) you should join the Trailblazers organization if you have not done so already. We just got back from our first rally and had a great time! We also learned a lot from other TM owners. Folks were more than willing to share tips and tricks, also warnings about how to avoid trouble. Plus, the pot luck and friendly atmosphere were wonderful! Dues are cheap. Check out the link on the TM website.