Question:
We have a Starcraft Astolite tent trailer that has been a dream, but it is not
for winter camping in ski areas, not self-contained (very small, with one queen
and one single bed) and tent trailers are not very private in most typical
parks with close spaces and no separating vegetation. Alternatives include the
Chalet and Aline pop up, but they are very small in interior room (we love our
tent trailer over a Terry 13.5 footer travel trailer we had). But the option
that appears to afford the towing ease and low wind resistance and lack of bulk
is the hard sided pop up like the Hi Lo and especially the TrailManor (rated
better by RV Consumers Group). They have some pretty roomy units, with all
the advantages of a pop up with hard sides.
How about some feedback from any TrailManor owners out there? These are spendy
units, but appear to offer unique advantages for vacation and weekender use.
Answer:
We purchased a TrailManor 3023 this past Feb at an RV show. Our first real
maiden voyage with it will be this coming weekend (camping on the side of the
house doesn't count in my book ;^). FWIW: we were Palimino Pop-Up owners
before, and made the huge leap (in both money and size). Here are some of our
reasons, so hopefully this will help you in making a decision.
First off, we really were looking at a large Coleman or Jayco pop-up when we
first went to the RV show. I had seen the TrailManor's the year before and
really liked them, but just didn't think we could justify it. Well, I really
liked the new slide-out pop-ups (Coleman GrandView), but it kept coming back
to being a tent trailer. Part of me loves tent trailers as its more"roughing"
it in my book (and thats what camping is about, right? ;^) but offers some
protection and comforts. But as I looked at $10K I kept thinking about how
cold and short our camping season was with our Palimino (I prefer to camp at
high altitudes here in Colorado, so even in the summer the nights are down in
the mid to upper 30's.
Well, next I went to look at HiLo's and TowLites. I was turned off
immediately with these as there are no permenant beds. The wife and I have 2
small children (ages 3 & 5 currently) so naps can still be part of the routine
(especially for us rather than the kids ;^), and without permenent beds, you
have to deal with working around someone sleeping in the dining/main seating
area.
Now, a regular Travel Trailer was just out of the question for us due to
Homeowner's restrictions on RV parking in our area, and I refuse to park it in
an RV lot and pay some high monthly parking fee...
So now it was back to either a pop-up or over to the TrailManor. Well, the
TrailManor (like a pop-up) offers permenant beds. The TM also has a shower
(small) and toilet built in (like some pop-ups). The "hard" walls around the
bath area is (to us) more attractive. The biggest selling point (after the
bed situation) was the hardsided walls and naturally better insulation over a
pop-up tent trailer. We also had a chance to talk to a couple of TM owners at
the show (not part of the sales staff, they were looking at upgrading) and
really liked hearing that they have used their TM's in very cold conditions
and have stayed very comfortable in it. So now we could see the advantage of
extending our camping. Also, the hardwalls (as opposed to tent material)
offered more security and privacy, and now my wife would consider more cross
country trips, where she was always uncomfortable with our Palimino in some
strange parks where you park right on top of your neigbors.
Yes, the TM is about double the price of your large pop-ups (if you buy new
that is), but for us, we now see ourselves using it more, and taking it on
longer journeys than we would have done with a pop-up tent trailer. Don't get
me wrong, I still love the pop-up tent trailers, but with our familiy
considerations and quirks, the TM seemed to be the better way to go for us.
We of course plan to keep this unit until our children are done with high
school, where I couldn't say that for the pop-up tent trailer.
Now that I painted a rosy picture for the TM, let me tell you a couple of
things to think about with these. Yes, they are "light" but thats a relative
term. Light in this case means, lighter than a regular Travel Trailer and
your HiLo (and depending on which TM, lighter than some large tent trailers).
But understand, moving these around by hand is no longer like pushing around
our little Palimino. Heck, I'd get close to where we wanted with the
Palimino, unhook, then wheel the thing around by myself to get the perfect
setup. A TM 3023 is much more difficult to hand manuever, and if the ground
is not very level, then forget trying to do it by hand. The little wheel on
the front-end tends to turn into a nice plow if the ground is very soft due to
the tongue weight ;^). Also remember these things are LONG. When measuring
the side of our house for placement, there was no problem. I didn't take into
account the swing involved when this thing pivots, and am now having to redo
our gate and have a tree taken out so that storing this beast can be an easy
task, and not a chore as it is right now.
Overall, we are VERY pleased with our decision and purchase, and don't regret
giving up on tent-trailers. We are excited about the prospects of this coming
Spring & Summer camping, and very excited about the Fall camping we can now
consider comfortably.
FWIW: If Coleman still made the Hardsided pop-up that they used to make, the
decision on the TM would have been tougher...
The best thing is sit down and list out how you camp and what you like to do.
Then factor in how each type of trailer fits into your lifestyle. From there,
you can start making decisions on how much you want to put into which type of
trailer.
Oh yea, one last thing. A minor point that added icing on the cake for us was
the fact the TM can be considered a "second home" so the interest on your loan
can be written off on taxes (this is true for most Travel Trailers, HiLo's,
and TowLites, but not for most pop-ups.).
