Tidbits on building

I am working hard to publish the June issue of Cool Tears so not a lot of extra time. It's going to be a GREAT issue with lots of informative stories, recipes, stunning pics, etc...so stay tuned!

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In the mean time...I have been following for a while now a great YouTube feed and thought it time to share with you guys. Zach Manring - also known as @_SouthernGinger - is a woodworker down south who posts some helpful videos from his workshop. I began to take notice last year when Zach decided to build a teardrop camper.

He took a foldable Harbor Freight 4x8, tore it down and welded it back together. One thing I have enjoyed is the level a craftsmanship Zach shows each step of the way. Not only have I learned a lot of what to do in my own build, but I've also enjoyed watching each updated video posts of his build.

He is almost complete and just recently added this video about fenders, but you can go back and watch all 16 of his videos here!

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I certainly followed this saying over the start of this teardrop build of mine. During the past holiday weekend, we came to realize that old trailer of my Dad's just didn't work for the teardrop build. The time and money we would have sunk into it, did not justify the end result needed. So we scrapped that idea (sold it in less than 2 hours on Craigslist) and headed to our local Tractor Supply Store.

In their flyer, I noticed they had a 5x8 Carry On trailer for $150 OFF over the Memorial Day weekend. Our particular store had quite a few of this specific trailer on hand so we were able to be picky and choose one that was straight, level, not scratched up and clean. The store was busy but we finally made the purchase only to realize the hitch needed a 1 7/8" ball and the one on my vehicle was a 2"...so that was annoying. (Maybe I should have researched that a bit before jumping to purchase HA!)

But we finally pulled it home and right away whacked off that huge gate. It was my first time to seriously use a metal grinder and it definitely took longer and was harder than my patience would have enjoyed. But I won. It's gone.

Now on to decide if we want to keep the side and bottom or get rid of that too. My idea prevailed (because my hubby sees life in black and white and I am definitely more creative and every one in a while he caves to my crazy schemes) and we are leaving the sides. I'm going to build storage in the bottom as we plan to camp with our family and will need to haul extra stuff for the kid's tent. Our tow vehicle won't allow a ton of storage when the girls are with us, so by having the storage in the teardrop, we will be ahead of the game. It took some figuring on the weight and actual build plans to make sure it will work but I think I've got it all planned out. NOW TO MAKE IT HAPPEN! I'm headed for wood, screws and insulation later today so who knows how this will go.

I am so excited to begin the actual build after months of talking and planning!