Power needs?

[ExtraMile]

My uncle had a school bus that he converted to a camper. If I recall he had to paint it a color other then yellow but that was about it for the outside. Inside was never really finished, the seats were taken out and some beds added as well as storage areas etc. Left the windows in but painted the ones in the sleeping area. Cooking was done outside. Anyway when I was 12 years old we went to visit him and spent the summer in the bus, our home away from home. So I lived in a bus for 10 weeks, quite the experience, got plenty warm inside in the afternoon, that was the worst.

If I do this, my experience will likely be 20 weeks.

Duration: from the beginning of November to the first of April.

Reasons: With age creeping in and my wet and snowy climate it is affecting my joints to the point that I am seeing slow to no progress in my wood shop.

Sure I could insulate and heat it, but at what cost?

Plus, this is sort of a 'bucket list' ideal. I have done so very little traveling in my life span and I want to see some of the rest of the states, before I can no longer do it!

Furthermore, I may truly find myself out on the open road! As of late, I have found myself yearning to EXPAND my horizons. I may find peace and happiness, in another state. Buy a piece of land, build a small cabin and a BIG SHOP and be as happy as a bug in a rug, till death do I part!

And yes, a bus must be something other than yellow, when one converts them from a school bus, to any other type of vehicle.

Not sure what color or colors I will choose, maybe paint it a camo combo!

[ExtraMile]

On the power aspects of this thread, I guess there is no way for y'all to break all of this down, in lay mans terms. I guess I will ask my friend who is a registered PE in electrical/heating & cooling. Have him spec it out, so that I can get what I will need!!!

All of this lingo, is simply jibberish to me... lol!

[ExtraMile]

Instead of a bus, I may opt into getting a living quarters horse trailer. Gut the back, for my mobile wood/leather shop!

This idea, makes more sense. Since I already have a truck that will pull it!

[reible]

As we use to say up in WI "Nice Truck".

I like the horse trailer idea. For one thing you can disconnect it and have it parked somewhere and use the truck. When my uncle had his set up it was the only vehicle he had on trips so if you needed milk and bread your whole camp site moved to the store... not unlike today's RVs.

I had thought about a similar project some years back. A "have shopsmith will travel" for sure. I ended up buying another shopsmith and leaving it up north which was a lot cheaper idea for me. (I have to go retrieve in the spring as we no longer have a house in the UP.)

Ed

[GeorgeM]

As we use to say up in WI "Nice Truck".

I like the horse trailer idea. For one thing you can disconnect it and have it parked somewhere and use the truck. When my uncle had his set up it was the only vehicle he had on trips so if you needed milk and bread your whole camp site moved to the store... not unlike today's RVs.

I had thought about a similar project some years back. A "have shopsmith will travel" for sure. I ended up buying another shopsmith and leaving it up north which was a lot cheaper idea for me. (I have to go retrieve in the spring as we no longer have a house in the UP.)

Ed

Hi

Have you looked at a custom made "Toy Hauler" or even an off the shelf one?

GeorgeM

[ExtraMile]

As we use to say up in WI "Nice Truck".

I like the horse trailer idea. For one thing you can disconnect it and have it parked somewhere and use the truck. When my uncle had his set up it was the only vehicle he had on trips so if you needed milk and bread your whole camp site moved to the store... not unlike today's RVs.

I had thought about a similar project some years back. A "have shopsmith will travel" for sure. I ended up buying another shopsmith and leaving it up north which was a lot cheaper idea for me. (I have to go retrieve in the spring as we no longer have a house in the UP.)

Ed

Hi

Have you looked at a custom made "Toy Hauler" or even an off the shelf one?

GeorgeM

Thanks for the truck compliment

I don't have deep pockets. Must be an older trailer. I am a starving woodworker!

[Ed in Tampa]

On the power aspects of this thread, I guess there is no way for y'all to break all of this down, in lay mans terms. I guess I will ask my friend who is a registered PE in electrical/heating & cooling. Have him spec it out, so that I can get what I will need!!!

All of this lingo, is simply jibberish to me... lol!

Normal Shopsmith run requirement is less that 2000 watts. So depending on what you want to have on along with the Shopsmith you need a generator that supplies at least 2000 watts.
Guessing you will probably want a light or two and a dust collection system.

A very common generator is 4000 watts with almost double that for initial surges would more that do the job. Here in Florida Home Depot stocks these generators as does Lowes.

While I don't recommend Harbor Feight their latest flyer lists a number of generators that would do the job.

[everettdavis]

Not knowing your kind of budget, I am shooting in the dark. If the horse trailer makes sense to you, that is doable, and your reliable tow vehicle shouldn’t leave you stranded somewhere like an old bus might.

Had a buddy 15 years ago modify one that he needed to insulate. He did a lot of bartering and trading services for material to keep his costs down.

He chose to use steel framing studs to wrap the inside of the trailer and roof with, which positioned him to have a base for his electrical wiring which he did with conduit, making it both upgradeable and serviceable.

He put in a small electrical panel, and hook-up for RV which allowed him to set up a KOA camps and RV Parks, as well as having a generator hookup.

After it was all wired, he had spray foam insulation done and then covered it all with light metal roofing material he bought surplus.

He was very happy with his setup. It may not be exactly what you are looking for, but it may give you some ideas on finishing out yours.

Please post some photos of your project as you build it out, as well as some on the roads less travelled that you encounter in your journeys. I am sure we would all want to see those!

An example but not his setup though

framing with steel.jpg (32.91 KiB) Viewed 1780 times

[ExtraMile]

Not knowing your kind of budget, I am shooting in the dark. If the horse trailer makes sense to you, that is doable, and your reliable tow vehicle shouldn’t leave you stranded somewhere like an old bus might.

Had a buddy 15 years ago modify one that he needed to insulate. He did a lot of bartering and trading services for material to keep his costs down.

He chose to use steel framing studs to wrap the inside of the trailer and roof with, which positioned him to have a base for his electrical wiring which he did with conduit, making it both upgradeable and serviceable.

He put in a small electrical panel, and hook-up for RV which allowed him to set up a KOA camps and RV Parks, as well as having a generator hookup.

After it was all wired, he had spray foam insulation done and then covered it all with light metal roofing material he bought surplus.

He was very happy with his setup. It may not be exactly what you are looking for, but it may give you some ideas on finishing out yours.

Please post some photos of your project as you build it out, as well as some on the roads less travelled that you encounter in your journeys. I am sure we would all want to see those!

framing with steel.jpg

Very cool suggestions!!!