Family of 5 in Hallmark

[grindmonkey]

I have posted a little bit of information on our setup on the portal in various spots, but want to consolidate some of our experiences into one spot. There isn't a lot of info out there for how to make it all work or first hand experience with this arrangement.

When we first started looking for a travel setup it was with the intention to also be a my 'daily driver'. I have an average commute of 4 miles round to drop off and pick up kids during bad weather. Other than that I do not have a commute. As I put in the title we are a family of 5. This puts us into travel trailer and 5th wheel territory but many peoples standards. However, we wanted the ability to take it to through the mountains in the winter and I did not want to have to pull a trailer over some of the passes. I wanted an all-in-one solution that I didn't have to white knuckle over Hoosier pass during a snow storm.

We looked at many campers but needing a spot for 3 children to sleep in a climate controlled space left us looking at campers with a bunk bed solution. My lovely wife opened the budget for a new F350 with the stipulation that she did not want a dually because it was too big and she would not drive it. (Well, she still hasn't driven the SRW truck) With that criteria I went with the just about the biggest payload I could could get in a SRW. We wound up about 400-500 under the max because I optioned to go with the 3.73 rear end instead of the 4.30 because there were a few issues at that time with some of the 4.30 rear ends. We then decided that a hard side camper may limit where we go and how comfortable it is driving with winds and snow/ice roads, so the 3.73 seemed up to the task. With 4 season use it generally limited us to Hallmark and Outfitter. There are some amazing newer campers out (supertramp, OEV, etc) that just didn't fit the bill due to sleeping arrangements, bath setup, etc. We finally sourced a used Hallmark Cuchara XL about an hour and a half from us. It had the bunk bed setup and a newer one piece roof and canvas.

 

[grindmonkey]

So we've done quite a bit of camping in the winter time in Colorado. We mostly dry camps using bottled water and RV antifreeze for the toilet. We have stayed in parking lots of ski resorts, Harvest host locations, and BLM land. Managing moisture inside the camper has always been something to keep in mind on a daily basis. The propane heater has never had an issue keeping up and keeping us warm. The few times we've stayed at Campground we used a 110 volt electric heater which worked fine.

Thankfully the flat floor of the F-350 can store all the kids skis and are ski boots and keep them warm during the travel. My skis and our ice fishing gear has always gone in the camper to be removed once we got to camp. I needed to find an additional storage solution. The overhang of the Hallmark camper limited storage on the back.

The most integrated front hitch that I could find was from torklift. With just the license plate on there you can't tell that there is a hitch. I picked up the front hitch and used a Harbor Freight Cargo Carrier to carry my ice fishing gear on the front of the truck. The front hitch is rated for a 1000lbs carrying and the Harbor Freight carrier is rated at 750. As the ice fishing gear probably weighs in at about 100 lb it was well within the rating. I wrapped all the gear in a tarp to keep the road grime off of it. While it extended the length of the truck another 2.5 ft it wasn't a big deal because I generally can't fit into normal parking spot to begin with. This addition turned out to simplify our trips and make it easier to pack and unpack without bringing a bunch of stuff into the camper.