Commercial RV hauling

[greenenvy1]

Back home after 2 weeks on the road. Had a pedal position sensor fail on me in South Beloit, Illinois and had the privilege of spending 36 hours waiting at the truck stop for my part lol.
Took this 2014 Heartland Prowler P289 to Brandon Manitoba. Unloaded weight approx. 8500 Lbs, 30'0" in length. This "smaller" 5er actually towed really well. Got decent mileage for the length of the trip......around 12 mpg.

And now for the worse trailer I have ever moved. 2014 Keystone Retreat 39FKSS. Not sure if the front kitchen made the rear so light or what but I fought this thing most of the 19 hour drive home. The last section of the trip was approx. 20 miles and I barely broke 40mph. There was some nasty weather coming through the area and it was all I could do to keep it on the road. My wife met me the night before as I delivered this about 2 hours from my home and she was behind me in her car. She said she saw the sides of the trailer more than the rear of it. Was certainly my most stressful experience to date.
Shipping Weight 10733 lbs
Hitch 955 lbs
Length 40' 11"
Height 12' 7"

[OnTheGo]

1st of all, welcome home.

Some blues singer has a song about his van breaking down in a small town between gigs and how he had to spend two weeks there. There was one restaurant.

That Retreat doesn't have a very wind resistant front end, so, of course, that's the one you get in bad weather.

As always, good to hear from you.

[Doug]

Yep,
Always interesting to read your post.
That Retreat just doesn't look like it would be a good experience. Really boxy.

Glad you made it home safely.

Doug

[greenenvy1]

Happy Thanksgiving to all from Fargo, North Dakota! I think the truck stop is even serving turkey dinner today.
having a case of deja vu here. This is the third identical unit to the same dealer. He told me they can move 20-30 of these per year at approx. 50k Cdn$$$
2014 Coachman Chapparal 345 BHS.
And I will say it again...these large 5ers ride the best and deliver the best mileage. Well except for the stretch between Grand Forks and Minot, North Dakota on Monday. Holy side wind batman! Glad it was a 5er and not a bumper pull as I find they behave much worse in a side wind.
And it looks like I am headed to Goshen, IN again to pick up yet another awesome Puma park model tomorrow night. Stopped in Estevan, SK and took a neat pic at the Mining museum along the highway (no trailer on though)
Hitch Weight 1,900 lbs. (862 kg)
Base Weight 10,640 lbs. (4,826 kg)
Exterior Length 38' 0" (11.6 m)
Exterior Height 12' 6" (3.8 m)


thought about hooking on to it but pretty sure it was beyond the tow capabilities of the Dodge!

[Doug]

Happy Thanksgiving
Safe travels my friend.

Doug

[Derek700]

My daughter lives in a small town north of Fargo. Looks like snow is flying out there travel safe.

[greenenvy1]

Well as I suspected yet another park model. Wish us east coasters had more money and could buy trailers to travel with instead of just parking them lol!
2014 Crossroads Hampton 400FL. Hauled 2 or 3 of these IIRC. They actually tow ok just horrible mileage. This delivery was 75 km from my house and I got home Sunday evening so I just brought the trailer home for the night. I measured the combo sitting in my driveway....64' 6". The gooseneck trailer you see parked beside it is 23' hitch to bumper and it's just about square with the rear of the RV in this pic.
Dry Weight: 10750
Hitch Weight: 1182
Exterior Length: 43'1"
Exterior Height (with A/C): 12'8"

[stjohneyre]

Wow, only one AC unit on that rig. I'm always facinated with the Prevost motorhomes that have 5 AC units on them.

[exjay1]

X2 ..that would not cut it down here lol

[Jrmay25]

Enjoy reading about all your adventures. Safe travels and keep the updates coming...

[Crabman]

That`s one LONG trailer!

[Morkable]

Great thread. Couple of questions if I may.

What are the black pop outs in your back windows?

Is there different rates per mile with different companies?

I was just talking to a friend of a friend who is doing what you are doing, and he has well over a million miles on his 07 dodge, and not planning on stopping soon.

Just a confirmation regarding towing the larger trailers, cant agree more. We have a Pinacle just like the one you had towed, love it to pieces. Tows like a dream.

[greenenvy1]

responses below in red

Originally Posted by Morkable

Great thread. Couple of questions if I may.

What are the black pop outs in your back windows? It's a bed...I'll snap a few pics and post them up.

Is there different rates per mile with different companies? Yup, and for us we receive diff rates fro diff dealerships.

I was just talking to a friend of a friend who is doing what you are doing, and he has well over a million miles on his 07 dodge, and not planning on stopping soon.

Just a confirmation regarding towing the larger trailers, cant agree more. We have a Pinacle just like the one you had towed, love it to pieces. Tows like a dream.

[greenenvy1]

For the member that inquired on the black pop outs on my rear windows see pics below. I'm honestly surprised no one else has commented on them lol! Not a common TV accessory. Pics show my bed not made so my apologies for that.....this set up gives you a sleeping area of approx. 24 x 24 x 75 which in SOME jurisdictions qualifies as a legal sleeper.

[stjohneyre]

Its a mans world in that truck.....getting a better idea why your wife have a great descriptor of what it smelled like in there......women and guys live in two different worlds many times. Stay safe.

[Crabman]

And here we always assumed the delivery guys slept in the new trailer beds! That setup gives a new meaning to the word mancave.

Just curious, but what do you do for heat on those brutally cold northern nights when sleeping, keep the engine running, or just use an extreme sleeping bag?

[greenenvy1]

Truck is clean in those pics. You should see it after 14 days on the road!
1600 watt generator and a 750 watt space heater. It does a decent job of keeping the interior quite warm. There was a few nights last winter that I woke up part way through the night and fired the truck up as well. SUmmer time I have a 12v fan and crack the window. Like I've said it's not a glorious lifestyle.

[Crabman]

I completely understand about the non glamorous lifestyle. Heck, my boat has NO beds, heat, fans or AC.

[Morkable]

Thank you for the pics! What are the popouts made out of?

Does the generator use that much less fuel than the truck to keep you warm? How much fuel would your truck use to idle?

[greenenvy1]

Originally Posted by Morkable

Thank you for the pics! What are the popouts made out of?

Does the generator use that much less fuel than the truck to keep you warm? How much fuel would your truck use to idle?

WIndow inserts were commercially made by a now defunct company. Some kind of plastic / or something, not sure the exact material. I can run my generator for 8-9 hours for approx. $4.00. The Cummins does not appreciate sitting and idling for extended periods of time and I can only guess it would cost more than $4.00 to run it all night.