Yeah, there's nothing up top but walls and windows, really, plus some overhead cabinets at each end. It's basically just a lid that slips down over the sides. Glad you like it!
You've made a wonderful DIY recreation of the old timey hi-lo we used to camp in the 1970s. You are very creative and a remarkable craftsman. Well done. 👏
I actually looked at a bunch of old Hi-Lo catalogs and brochures when designing this. Back in the 50's they had manual hand crank lifts, but went to electric later. So that gave me the idea. Thanks for the kind comments!
Thats the first time i ever saw that!!! How incredible!!! Now I'm very curious to see how the door is made. What? will it be like a Dutch door (made in two swinging sections???) Guess I'll have to wait and see. curious, Me southern AZ.
Great build. I've actually designed something very similar and I'm glad someone already built a lift system with electromechanical actuators to prove the concept. I'm wondering what gap you left around the two sections and how rigid the top is. Like, does the top ever scrape the lower section when raising or lowering? I was going to specify actuators with rigid end connections rather than pins to help with that. Thanks
Sorry I somehow missed this comment! I left 1/2" gap front and back, and 3/4" on the sides due to the doors and water hookup stuff. Only had a small scrape on the back hatch door where I didn't account for the extra bit of trim I added on around the hatch, but otherwise, it's smooth as silk and solid as can be. Cheers!
@@WanderingScot Thanks for replying. I left 1/2" gap all around as well. For my hookups, I countersunk them into the wall to eliminate the protrusion. Fun project, I have a little more fiberglass work to do and then I can connect the top and bottom sections.
Very very nice set up and build young man. I remember many years ago my buddy had a original little Alaskan camper on his pickup truck and you would pump a hydraulic thingy inside to have It go up simple old school keep up the great work blessings from Southern Oregon. And when I heard you say you're gonna put a porthole in the door You sure got my vote being the old boater that I am
Ahoy matey! I got both doors installed today, and the porthole is the last step remaining for those to be done. Just waiting for some trim paint to dry (always waiting for paint to dry! Did 6 coats of maroon red marine boat paint on the doors, so they look pretty sharp! Thanks for the kind comments. I lived in Ashland for a while, and love it over there, so will be heading that way at some point in my travels.
@@WanderingScot Thank you dear Scott for your reply you spent some time in Ashland well I'm only 28 miles North of Ashland as I speak. Give a mile or 2.... And as you probably know Southern Oregon largely is very very Freedom loving and I believe parts of Southern Oregon want to leave Oregon And become politically the state is just East of Southern Oregon Oregon blessings to you and your family when your family again great craftsmanship.. You stay out of trouble now blessings to you and yours
Very nice and thoughtful work! You are the first I have seen on UA-cam doing this lift system. I have been researching on how to do a similar lift system on my truck bed canopy, but got difficulty on how to let 4 lifting legs to work together. Is that possible you can explain little bit more on your lifting system setting up maybe even including some parts purchase links? Highly appreicate. Again outstanding job done.
Thank you for the compliments! I have put some parts info and a link to where I purchased the lift system in the notes for the video above. To make 4 lifts move together at the same speed regardless of weight distribution on each leg, you need the system with the Hall Effect sensor, which is a feedback system that allows the control unit to adjust the speed and force of each lift independently in order to keep them all synchronized at the same level. So if you have a lot of weight on one corner, and very little on the opposite corner, it will still go up and down smoothly and evenly. Also, you can buy the lifts in any length you need, so in my case I wanted 30" of lift, but you may not need that much, so the shorter lifts will be cheaper. Hope that helps!
It's 6.5' x 9' (78" x 108") at the base (the top walls are 4-1/2" wider to fit over the bottom, but the floor plan is what matters). It sits on a 4x8 trailer frame, with a 15" overhang on each side, and 12" off the back. The front wall is flush with the frame to maximize use of the tongue area. The interior width is 73.5", which makes it wide enough to fit a spacious bed and sleep comfortably side to side.
That is a very good question. I bought it from Home Depot, and the product description says that it's designed as an underlayment for flooring, and that it's lightweight, yet extremely hard and strong. It also says it's "moisture controlled," whatever that means. But ultimately it doesn't really matter, because it's completely sealed from the elements, and will never come in contact with water (see Part 9 in this series for the painted version of the top section). The underside of the floor is coated both with water seal and Flex Seal liquid rubber undercoating. The walls are covered in "PMF" (poor man's fiberglass) on the outside, and the whole thing is painted with multiple coats of marine boat paint for maximum water resistance. The lower interior walls are sealed with polyurethane, but the upper interior is also painted with marine boat paint, since it will be exposed to some road spray in the crack between the walls when it's in the down position for traveling. I could have just painted the plywood with boat paint, but I also chose to cover it in PMF, which is a glue-saturated layer of medium-weight muslin canvas, which is also then coated with a "gripper" primer paint before laying on the top coat. Assuming my window seals are good, no moisture should ever get to the interior of the walls. So the short answer is that I don't really know, but given the construction method I'm hoping it will last a really long time!
thanks for your idea
I like it! The actuator idea is great! Everything is down below and it’s just the windows and roof coming up!
Yeah, there's nothing up top but walls and windows, really, plus some overhead cabinets at each end. It's basically just a lid that slips down over the sides. Glad you like it!
Nice! I like it! First video I've seen of it. Was on my recommended list from UA-cam's algorithm. Good job!
Awesome! Thank you!
Super project ,great job 😊👍🏻
Thank you so much 😀
You've made a wonderful DIY recreation of the old timey hi-lo we used to camp in the 1970s. You are very creative and a remarkable craftsman. Well done. 👏
I actually looked at a bunch of old Hi-Lo catalogs and brochures when designing this. Back in the 50's they had manual hand crank lifts, but went to electric later. So that gave me the idea. Thanks for the kind comments!
Thats the first time i ever saw that!!! How incredible!!! Now I'm very curious to see how the door is made. What? will it be like a Dutch
door (made in two swinging sections???) Guess I'll have to wait and see. curious, Me southern AZ.
Check out Part 11 for the finished Dutch doors. Thanks for the compliment!
Very cool. I like the interior head space.
Yeah, I like to keep my head in a good space! 😎
Great build. I've actually designed something very similar and I'm glad someone already built a lift system with electromechanical actuators to prove the concept. I'm wondering what gap you left around the two sections and how rigid the top is. Like, does the top ever scrape the lower section when raising or lowering? I was going to specify actuators with rigid end connections rather than pins to help with that. Thanks
Sorry I somehow missed this comment! I left 1/2" gap front and back, and 3/4" on the sides due to the doors and water hookup stuff. Only had a small scrape on the back hatch door where I didn't account for the extra bit of trim I added on around the hatch, but otherwise, it's smooth as silk and solid as can be. Cheers!
@@WanderingScot Thanks for replying. I left 1/2" gap all around as well. For my hookups, I countersunk them into the wall to eliminate the protrusion. Fun project, I have a little more fiberglass work to do and then I can connect the top and bottom sections.
Very very nice set up and build young man. I remember many years ago my buddy had a original little Alaskan camper on his pickup truck and you would pump a hydraulic thingy inside to have It go up simple old school keep up the great work blessings from Southern Oregon. And when I heard you say you're gonna put a porthole in the door You sure got my vote being the old boater that I am
Ahoy matey! I got both doors installed today, and the porthole is the last step remaining for those to be done. Just waiting for some trim paint to dry (always waiting for paint to dry! Did 6 coats of maroon red marine boat paint on the doors, so they look pretty sharp! Thanks for the kind comments. I lived in Ashland for a while, and love it over there, so will be heading that way at some point in my travels.
@@WanderingScot Thank you dear Scott for your reply you spent some time in Ashland well I'm only 28 miles North of Ashland as I speak. Give a mile or 2.... And as you probably know Southern Oregon largely is very very Freedom loving and I believe parts of Southern Oregon want to leave Oregon And become politically the state is just East of Southern Oregon Oregon blessings to you and your family when your family again great craftsmanship.. You stay out of trouble now blessings to you and yours
Very nice build series, just wanted to say thank you for sharing!
You're welcome. Thank you for the compliment!
This is a very impressive build!!
Thanks! Glad you like it.
Do you remember how much space you allowed on each side of the top to pass by the bottom, ie 1/2", 1" per side?
I think my square drop project my have just gotten a lot more expensive.....
Sorry! 😬
Fantastic job .
Great work , love it .
Thank you!
Very nice.
Very nice and thoughtful work! You are the first I have seen on UA-cam doing this lift system. I have been researching on how to do a similar lift system on my truck bed canopy, but got difficulty on how to let 4 lifting legs to work together. Is that possible you can explain little bit more on your lifting system setting up maybe even including some parts purchase links? Highly appreicate. Again outstanding job done.
Thank you for the compliments! I have put some parts info and a link to where I purchased the lift system in the notes for the video above. To make 4 lifts move together at the same speed regardless of weight distribution on each leg, you need the system with the Hall Effect sensor, which is a feedback system that allows the control unit to adjust the speed and force of each lift independently in order to keep them all synchronized at the same level. So if you have a lot of weight on one corner, and very little on the opposite corner, it will still go up and down smoothly and evenly. Also, you can buy the lifts in any length you need, so in my case I wanted 30" of lift, but you may not need that much, so the shorter lifts will be cheaper. Hope that helps!
Wow thanks!
What are the dimensions pretty awsome man
It's 6.5' x 9' (78" x 108") at the base (the top walls are 4-1/2" wider to fit over the bottom, but the floor plan is what matters). It sits on a 4x8 trailer frame, with a 15" overhang on each side, and 12" off the back. The front wall is flush with the frame to maximize use of the tongue area. The interior width is 73.5", which makes it wide enough to fit a spacious bed and sleep comfortably side to side.
Hi
Can I question
How long is the durability of this plywood?
Thanks you.
That is a very good question. I bought it from Home Depot, and the product description says that it's designed as an underlayment for flooring, and that it's lightweight, yet extremely hard and strong. It also says it's "moisture controlled," whatever that means.
But ultimately it doesn't really matter, because it's completely sealed from the elements, and will never come in contact with water (see Part 9 in this series for the painted version of the top section). The underside of the floor is coated both with water seal and Flex Seal liquid rubber undercoating. The walls are covered in "PMF" (poor man's fiberglass) on the outside, and the whole thing is painted with multiple coats of marine boat paint for maximum water resistance.
The lower interior walls are sealed with polyurethane, but the upper interior is also painted with marine boat paint, since it will be exposed to some road spray in the crack between the walls when it's in the down position for traveling. I could have just painted the plywood with boat paint, but I also chose to cover it in PMF, which is a glue-saturated layer of medium-weight muslin canvas, which is also then coated with a "gripper" primer paint before laying on the top coat. Assuming my window seals are good, no moisture should ever get to the interior of the walls.
So the short answer is that I don't really know, but given the construction method I'm hoping it will last a really long time!
@@WanderingScot thanks for a very detailed and complete answer