Yellowstone

A 34-day adventure by Matthew Read more

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Trip start
March 12, 2016
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Day 1
Saturday, March 12, 2016 at 7:30 AM
☀️ 0 °C
Altitude: 285 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.94637, -71.513242°56’47” N 71°30’48” W
Trailer stripped
March 12, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 0 °C
Here is the trailer stripped down in order to check its condition. Its fantastic to have a heated garage to work in.
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Day 1
Saturday, March 12, 2016 at 4:10 PM
☀️ 15 °C
Altitude: 285 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.94637, -71.513242°56’47” N 71°30’48” W
Trailer reconditioning
March 12, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
Uh oh. The trailer is +20 yrs old and the frame is no longer straight. Its back end is sagging. Well, I know how it feels. To fix this I will build the wooden camper frame on the (flat and level) garage floor, then put the frame on the trailer, then shim as needed.

The white thing is a fluorescent light bulb, the kind that's 5 feet long and in your school. I thought it was clever of me to realize it was a long, straight object. I also found an inch of black soot on it from the wood stove. After I washed them the garage was a lot brighter.Read more
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Day 1
Saturday, March 12, 2016 at 6:00 PM
🌙 13 °C
Altitude: 285 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.94637, -71.513242°56’47” N 71°30’48” W
Trailer grinding
March 12, 2016 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 13 °C
Here is how one sands the rust off a small trailer. When your trailer is light enough to throw around life is much easier! The sanding made so much dust that the floor around it was fully coated. The dust mask I was wearing was dirty-mud-rust colored when I finished.Read more
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Day 2
Sunday, March 13, 2016 at 5:00 PM
☀️ 15 °C
Altitude: 285 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.94637, -71.513242°56’47” N 71°30’48” W
Trailer repair
March 13, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
This used to be a folding trailer. There is a large hand knob at the front which does two things: keeps the trailer from folding, which is nice when you're towing, and distributes some of the towing forces onto the trailer frame. I found that this knob would not tighten down far enough, which meant all towing forces were ending up on one bolt. Where is the large knob? I sheared it off trying to get it to turn. Two intelligently placed welds later and the trailer's structure is now much more rigid with little change to the trailer's engineering.

The welding cost $0. This is the third time in my life I've had someone say, "Ehhh... no charge" when what they actually meant was "I don't want anything on record that says I was responsible for this."Read more
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Day 6
Thursday, March 17, 2016 at 2:00 PM
⛅ 15 °C
Altitude: 285 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.94637, -71.513242°56’47” N 71°30’48” W
Camper floor
March 17, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
This will be the foundation and floor of the camper. Does it look like I know what I'm doing? Ha. I'm faking it while making it. Right, Sarah?

The black stuff is roofing tar. Interesting stuff, that. Looks like chocolate frosting, smells like gasoline, spreads like bubble gum.Read more
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Day 8
Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 2:00 PM
☀️ 4 °C
Altitude: 285 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.94637, -71.513242°56’47” N 71°30’48” W
Go with the flo(or)
March 19, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 4 °C
What I was SUPPOSED to do with the floor was glue the insulation to the plywood, then glue a thin plywood over it all, and put the tar on that. This is the less involved method: stick the insulation in the tar and leave it exposed (it is the underside of the trailer.) UNfortunately for me, I didn't install the insulation when the tar was fresh and sticky.Read more
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Day 8
Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 3:30 PM
☀️ 5 °C
Altitude: 285 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.946434, -71.51334442°56’47” N 71°30’48” W
DIY spray booth
March 19, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 5 °C
Today was too cold outside to finish spray painting the trailer so I had to make a gas chamber / redneck spray booth. By the time I finished my respirator filters were bright red and my clothes were pink. As seen in the second picture, the finished trailer is "good from afar but far from good." I painted right over some of the rust I didn't get, and it bugged me.Read more
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Day 8
Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 5:42 PM
☀️ 4 °C
Altitude: 282 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.946058, -71.51334342°56’46” N 71°30’48” W
First mistake
March 19, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 4 °C
Yesterday it dawned on me I had done the floor wrong. Damnit! Well, too late now - the floor is now following a different build method.

The stripped trailer weighs roughly 165 lbs and 15 is on the tongue.Read more
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Day 8
Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 5:50 PM
☀️ 4 °C
Altitude: 285 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.94637, -71.513242°56’47” N 71°30’48” W
Marriage
March 19, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 4 °C
The parts were married today. Much hilarity ensued. The carriage bolts weren't long enough (not anticipated) and when tightening its locknut the bolt just spun on the plywood (anticipated, but no one seems to carry torque washers.) I then tried to measure how much the frame was sagging (no good.) I went with an estimate, conveniently the thickness of a 2x4, but then found some scrap wood that was an even better fit. But in putting it to use I made quite a mess of things. Oh well.

That's why I'm taking on a project like this: the experience. I know this is my first attempt at anything like this. I didn't set a goal to make a large, beautiful, valuable item. I'm doing it for the challenge and making mistakes is no big deal.Read more
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Day 9
Sunday, March 20, 2016 at 12:30 PM
☀️ 2 °C
Altitude: 279 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.946644, -71.51272642°56’48” N 71°30’46” W
Learning the hard way
March 20, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 2 °C
I learned that some jobs simply cannot be done without special tools and experience. Well, got one less rim to worry about now.
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Day 9
Sunday, March 20, 2016 at 6:30 PM
⛅ 0 °C
Altitude: 285 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.94637, -71.513242°56’47” N 71°30’48” W
Hows the marriage going
March 20, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C
For better or for worse this is how I shimmed the bed.
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Day 12
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 at 3:15 PM
☁️ 14 °C
Altitude: 276 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.946263, -71.51281242°56’47” N 71°30’46” W
Coincident Measurement
March 23, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
My camper has rounded corners. The radius of the corner is 2 feet. How long a piece of rubber do I need to go around the corner? 3.14159 feet. Science!
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Day 14
Friday, March 25, 2016 at 7:10 PM
☁️ 4 °C
Altitude: 285 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.94637, -71.513242°56’47” N 71°30’48” W
campare släpvagn, miniatyr
March 25, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C
Pieces for the walls and roof all cut. Som assemblie rekvired.
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Day 19
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 9:05 PM
🌙 9 °C
Altitude: 285 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.94637, -71.513242°56’47” N 71°30’48” W
Framing
March 30, 2016 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 9 °C
Framing has begun. Mistakes are ongoing.

2nd picture: when your construction adhesive is so thick that your caulking gun folds, do you give up, throw away a full tube, and not finish the day's work? Never! Never! (50 year old clamp works like the day it was new.)

3rd picture: gluing something to plywood is a silly idea. The glue used to hold the layers of plywood together is of minimal strength and minimally applied.Read more
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Day 21
Friday, April 1, 2016 at 6:19 PM
🌧 18 °C
Altitude: 285 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.94637, -71.513242°56’47” N 71°30’48” W
Quick insulation
April 1, 2016 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 18 °C
Real quick couple of insulation panels done
Stephen JuhlinLooking better all the time.
4/1/16Reply
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Day 22
Saturday, April 2, 2016 at 6:04 PM
☁️ 9 °C
Altitude: 285 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.94637, -71.513242°56’47” N 71°30’48” W
Second milestone reached
April 2, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
The walls went up today. The trailer is now too big to get a clear picture of it indoors. It's nice to be making visible progress.
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Day 25
Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at 7:40 PM
🌙 0 °C
Altitude: 285 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.946329, -71.51320142°56’47” N 71°30’48” W
Radiii cut
April 5, 2016 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 0 °C
When you need to cut some curves you get creative. In the first picture there is a coathanger with tape marking off the different lengths I need to cut. In the second picture you can see I am staying with the theme "good from afar but far from good."Read more
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Day 25
Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at 7:50 PM
🌙 0 °C
Altitude: 285 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.946329, -71.51320142°56’47” N 71°30’48” W
Roofing the easy way
April 5, 2016 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 0 °C
Putting the roof on a (curved) trailer is an unusual challenge. You have to use wood thin enough to bend but still thick enough to have some strength. People use a plywood that is 1/8" thick commonly known as "luan." How do you attach it to the frame? Nails? Screws? That would look awful. Not to mention this is a roof and needs to become waterproof. You glue it to the structure. Next problem: how do you hold in place a flexible piece of plywood over the outside of a curved surface? If you're like me you leave those nasty old stake pockets on the trailer and make use of them (picture 1.) Most people use ratcheting straps to hold pressure where you've laid down glue (picture 4.)

Next problem: when you put pressure on one side of the wood it bows the other way. How do you keep from having a wall shaped like a saddle? (Picture 2 + 3)Read more
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Day 30
Sunday, April 10, 2016 at 8:20 PM
🌙 3 °C
Altitude: 285 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.946329, -71.51320142°56’47” N 71°30’48” W
Starting the rear hatch
April 10, 2016 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 3 °C
Making the rear hatch is also an unusual process - you don't really do anything like this on a house, for example. It has to be curved, movable, waterproof, and must seal against the trailer on all four edges. I think I'm going to dive in headfirst and see what happens. Here are some 2 foot radius curves (pic 1 and 2) and some ribs (pic 3.)Read more
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Day 34
Thursday, April 14, 2016 at 9:54 AM
☀️ 7 °C
Altitude: 285 ft
United States Bells Hill 42.946329, -71.51320142°56’47” N 71°30’48” W
End of project
April 14, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C
My employer has changed policies on vacations. I am not going cross-country. There doesn't seem to be any reason to finish the trailer when it is mostly a learning process that won't stand up to the elements.

Postscript. The trailer, with the bed on and the walls sliced off, sold for $300.Read more
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Trip end
April 14, 2016