Shachagra- Family of 5 traveles Europe and Turkey, International 7500
- Thread starter shachagra
- Start date
Its a possibility- I have always wanted to build boats and still plan to do that, but I do have fun with RVs. I get frustrated with conversions, to limited by the existing shell. I would rather do more custom work on van chassis or toppers for pick-ups.
After I finish this van I have a few months of house projects for the wife and then I am going to build a 21 foot inboard utility boat. My ultimate goal is a 70 foot river cruiser I have been designing but have to save for.
We have 1 boy he is the oldest at 12, then 3 girls, ages 11, 8, 6. They are all pretty close and have shared rooms before. I wondered about the design, wondering if maybe like a step down into 2 berths would work, one forward and one aft. sharing a sink and common dressing place for like maybe the 2 younger ones. They are close the the same size anyway and share alot of the same clothes too. We have been looking at Toyhaulers, a 43 foot one so we can have the whole back end for the kids, it also had a 1/2 bath back there too. But when it came to a truck, we would have to spend tons of money to customize it to fit the 6 of us, or we would be having to take a second vehicle. Either way its more money. Buses or class "A', just do not have enough space for us without having to pull out couches and drop tables every day and every time we stop. I would love to hear about anything you would like to share, you can even email me directly at mrbs9271@aol.com if you like. Looking forward to hearing from you again and would love to see the layout you were talking about for 4 kids
MIcah
MIcah
This was an idea I had for two rear stateroom each with bunk beds. With the sliders in the rooms are useless for anything other than crawling into bed and going to sleep. With the slides out there is enough room for dressing etc. I went with the rooms below because I didn't like slide outs and the rooms below better use the space below the floor.
Four rooms is tough. The beds on Shachagra are twin sized and two small girls could easily share one.
Four rooms is tough. The beds on Shachagra are twin sized and two small girls could easily share one.
Plus from an outsiders view it seems like the kids would probably love having their hideaway. Honestly its one of my favorite parts of the build.
Your fuel comment the other day was haunting me, do you get shachagra out and about locally at all at least? Future plans? That's a hell of a rig and a lot of nice components it would be saddening to think it doesn't get out and about (I realize diesel local verse a haul to AZ is two different things).
We use her a lot. I spend two nights every week or so in her while I am building what I hope will be a boat shop along the St Johns river. We travel all summer in her with the family and she gets most of her use as the High School wrestling tournament bus. Just so happens the colors are just right for the team.. I am driving a van I am finishing up to the expo, so the diesel comment was a bit "tongue and cheek" Here are some shots of the Fleming Island Eagles Wrestling Team Limo. The boys love relaxing in her between matches.
Water and heat
An leg injury is keeping me out of the shop so I am on the computer more and thought I could give a better describe the heating system we used on the trip.
The system is much less complicated than the picture makes it look.
At its heart is an Isotemp Stainless steel 20 gallon Marine water heater with dual heating coils. The water is heated from either an internal 110V element or a Webasto diesel coolant heater. The top coil depicted in the picture provides heat to the water heater and I could have also used the trucks coolant system if I had gotten around to making the connections. Someday…..
The water heater gets domestic water from a 180-gallon main tank. There are two additional 90-gallon tanks that gravity feed the main when opened. The domestic water system is fairly standard, a Shurflo “Smart Sensor” water and two cartridge filters.
The second coil in the water tank heats the soaking tub and when selected, the entire RV. Water grabs heat while passing through the water heater and heads directly to the hot tub. That water is really hot. The tub water, 104-110 degrees is then pulled through another cartridge filter by a much smaller pump and pushed through pex tubing laid in the bottom of the main water tank. Tank water absorbs heat, bringing the 104 degree water down to about 80 degrees. The water tanks are well insulated on the lower 5 sides but releases radiant heat into the cabin for a good long time. This arrangement allows me to run the boiler for short periods of time (evening bath time), which will heat the RV throughout a cold night in the Scottish Highlands. We also have a Dickinson diesel fireplace in the dinette that I would light in the mornings when needed. We loved the warmth, both physically and visually that little fireplace gave us. If I didn't need to heat the entire RV I would open one valve, close another, and the water went directly from the hot tub back to the water heater.
I loved sitting in the tub, piping hot water flowing over my right leg as I listened to the soft click of the boiler below the floor providing me that heat. I consumed many glasses of wine in the many hours I spent soaking in that tub.
An leg injury is keeping me out of the shop so I am on the computer more and thought I could give a better describe the heating system we used on the trip.
The system is much less complicated than the picture makes it look.
At its heart is an Isotemp Stainless steel 20 gallon Marine water heater with dual heating coils. The water is heated from either an internal 110V element or a Webasto diesel coolant heater. The top coil depicted in the picture provides heat to the water heater and I could have also used the trucks coolant system if I had gotten around to making the connections. Someday…..
The water heater gets domestic water from a 180-gallon main tank. There are two additional 90-gallon tanks that gravity feed the main when opened. The domestic water system is fairly standard, a Shurflo “Smart Sensor” water and two cartridge filters.
The second coil in the water tank heats the soaking tub and when selected, the entire RV. Water grabs heat while passing through the water heater and heads directly to the hot tub. That water is really hot. The tub water, 104-110 degrees is then pulled through another cartridge filter by a much smaller pump and pushed through pex tubing laid in the bottom of the main water tank. Tank water absorbs heat, bringing the 104 degree water down to about 80 degrees. The water tanks are well insulated on the lower 5 sides but releases radiant heat into the cabin for a good long time. This arrangement allows me to run the boiler for short periods of time (evening bath time), which will heat the RV throughout a cold night in the Scottish Highlands. We also have a Dickinson diesel fireplace in the dinette that I would light in the mornings when needed. We loved the warmth, both physically and visually that little fireplace gave us. If I didn't need to heat the entire RV I would open one valve, close another, and the water went directly from the hot tub back to the water heater.
I loved sitting in the tub, piping hot water flowing over my right leg as I listened to the soft click of the boiler below the floor providing me that heat. I consumed many glasses of wine in the many hours I spent soaking in that tub.
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I saw your truck a couple of weeks ago on the Travel Channel and of course promptly forgot the name! Then today I follow a link from another thread and here it is. Truly an interesting that has given me bad thoughts about dismembering my Class C and building a custom body better suited to fit my needs as a full timer! I really appreciated the discussion on how you built the freezer, as you may know standard RV refrigerators are dang expensive, and the idea of building one had never entered my head till now. I will have to cogitate on this for a while.
Thank you
Charlie
Thank you
Charlie
Thanks for the answers, Doug - it took me a while to notice it.
Well, apparently there are lots of people happy with their composting toilets. Seems to be something worthy of considering!
May I ask you a few more questions about your trip?
1. Your truck seems to be way more powerful than your rig demands. I guess the cargo capacity is way above you were carrying, right? Did it make any difference? Did you really need so much power? Or maybe it wouldn't make a big difference if it were a more light weight truck?
2. Talking about engine, how many miles per gallon did you guys get out of Shachagra?
3. You mentioned a living cost of $4k per month. I thought it would be less, specially considering what you said about not eating out neither staying in hotels. Did you spend much money on touristic atractions? What about diesel, was it significant? What were the main contributors for your budget?
Thank you
Yard period
I have some upgrades that I have been thinking about for a while and plan to get to this week. Most are cosmetic.
1. Finish all utility spaces. I epoxied all wood surfaces, but in the utility areas I never painted them. I plan to pull as much stuff out as I can, sand paint and reinstall what I had to pull. Closets are easy, but some are tough;
Water box- this is the area that all the plumbing runs into and to the max extent all fitting are within this area under the floor. It holds the filters and pumps. It is built with a drain so if there is ever a leak chances are the water will just run out
To do this right I pulled out all the plumbing- I shutter to think what I did, cut and pulled all the PEX plumbing. The initial work was fine but rushed, and though it worked, it didn't look very organized. I will reinstall everything once the painting is done.
2. Reconfigure the vacuflush toilet. We liked the toilet, but found it to be temperamental and while on the road I never wanted to do a major fix of some problems that came up so I jury rigged a couple fixes. I am going to move the vacuum pump away from the living spaces and near the holding tank so it is less noisy, and I had to pull all the components apart and clean them. Seems our plan to run with minimal water has a downside. The toilet needs more than air to run the crap through. There was amazing build-up though out.
3. Add a DC solenoid that will energize the electric element of the water heater when the batteries are charged and there is still plenty of sun. The solar controller has this capability, but you need add a dc triggered ac relay to turn on the load when needed. This will turn energy that would have been wasted into hot water.
4. Paint about everything
5. Finish misc trim.
6. Update the heating system with two PID thermostats that will control heat to the main water tanks (radiant heat) and hot tub.
Its nice to take my time working on her. She ail be in a travel Channel show so I have motivation to add some final touches.
I have some upgrades that I have been thinking about for a while and plan to get to this week. Most are cosmetic.
1. Finish all utility spaces. I epoxied all wood surfaces, but in the utility areas I never painted them. I plan to pull as much stuff out as I can, sand paint and reinstall what I had to pull. Closets are easy, but some are tough;
Water box- this is the area that all the plumbing runs into and to the max extent all fitting are within this area under the floor. It holds the filters and pumps. It is built with a drain so if there is ever a leak chances are the water will just run out
To do this right I pulled out all the plumbing- I shutter to think what I did, cut and pulled all the PEX plumbing. The initial work was fine but rushed, and though it worked, it didn't look very organized. I will reinstall everything once the painting is done.
2. Reconfigure the vacuflush toilet. We liked the toilet, but found it to be temperamental and while on the road I never wanted to do a major fix of some problems that came up so I jury rigged a couple fixes. I am going to move the vacuum pump away from the living spaces and near the holding tank so it is less noisy, and I had to pull all the components apart and clean them. Seems our plan to run with minimal water has a downside. The toilet needs more than air to run the crap through. There was amazing build-up though out.
3. Add a DC solenoid that will energize the electric element of the water heater when the batteries are charged and there is still plenty of sun. The solar controller has this capability, but you need add a dc triggered ac relay to turn on the load when needed. This will turn energy that would have been wasted into hot water.
4. Paint about everything
5. Finish misc trim.
6. Update the heating system with two PID thermostats that will control heat to the main water tanks (radiant heat) and hot tub.
Its nice to take my time working on her. She ail be in a travel Channel show so I have motivation to add some final touches.
Titanpat57
Expedition Leader
That was without a doubt the most enjoyable 18 pages I went through in a looooong time!!
Thank you for your Service, and thank you for sharing the build. Informative and entertaining for sure...happy and safe travels.
Thank you for your Service, and thank you for sharing the build. Informative and entertaining for sure...happy and safe travels.
Did you ever consider having a system for collecting and purifying rain water? This water filter seems to be *very* robust.
http://www.aqua-sun-intl.com/portable-water-purification-systems/fresh-water-systems/responder-a
Something like this would probably be enough for this task, I guess. It also seems suited for treating water from rivers, lakes etc.
I was also wondering how viable it would be to have some kind of grey water evaporation system, preferably boosted with solar heat somehow.
Now that would be cool: composting toilet, getting fresh water from the rain or rivers and evaporating grey water.