why I like this site

[travcojim]

A friend of mine was looking to build a small cabin and he was going to buy a set of plans from the Town and Country site, one of their sets called the Skagway,  it is basically a 14 x 26 with a small upstairs bedroom, but I told him to check out the plans here, which he has done and likes, but he wants a upstairs area like the Skagway has,  Anyway, he contacted the site and asked if their plans would be okay for someone with no prior building experience, they actually wrote him back and said that he should not buy their plans, he should build something smaller.  That was when I told him that I had never seen a comment like that anywhere on Countryplans site.  No matter what the question, someone was going to provide some sort of help, I think he has seen the light and is now looking at the little house plans.
  I have lurked here for a few years and have gained much knowledge from the forums, although I have not started building anything yet,  I feel that when I start I will be able to get something built with all the support from everyone on here.  And I have gained the site a new member I believe.
 

[MountainDon]

Thanks travcojim. 

I'm going to hijack your brand new topic    , do you have a Travco? And that's why you're travcojim? I have a Mountain....   

[travcojim]

Yes I do have a Travco, a 67 thats in top shape.  Right now she is on my land along with a 1954 GM 4104,  both are serving as weekend living areas until further notice.  I have to admit the Bus has much more room than the Travco.  So the Travco is the guest house....

[MountainDon]

  I wanted a Travco back quite a ways but never found one nice enough or priced right; nice = priced too high, right price = junk. 

Does the PD-4104 run? I somehow love the sound of those 6-71's winding up. 

[travcojim]

Yes the 4104 runs, It only has about 28,000 on the rebuild, so its not even broken in yet.  I start it up about once every two months just to keep the fluids moving and charge the battery bank up.  I like the sound of it idling also. I would take the 4104 over a new Prevost any day.  Wait, let me think about that a little more..

[MountainDon]

You could get a few 4104's for the price of a Prevost. 

I have a friend who has 4 or maybe 5 Flxible Buses, the older 50's - 60's style. They are kinda cool too.

[John_C]

I had to look up what a 4104 was.

Y'all can put one of those in my Christmas stocking 

[MountainDon]

if anyone likes old GM buses, or wants to know more about them and other old buses, go to...

http://www.coachinfo.com/index.html



This is why I like this site. We have fun while doing the cabin building thing.

Maybe we'll make a bus and old RV thread....?

[NM_Shooter]

With a good set of plans, and advice from this site, I think pretty much anybody could build their own.

After all, this ain't rocket surgery. 

-f-

[travcojim]

a few at the land and safe at home in the city..

[travcojim]

 And sometimes I think why build a cabin right away, I almost have more room in the bus than a small cabin. 

[MountainDon]

Very nice Jim. Thanks. I can hear the blower whine right now.     Nice trees too.


Oh that's just tinnitus.  

[MountainDon]

And sometimes I think why build a cabin right away, I almost have more room in the bus than a small cabin. 

...and they're movable. Ya just have to replace the rubber foundation every few years.

[travcojim]

Movable when Diesel was above 4 a gallon was not a good thing..   I had land at one time in your neck of the woods, up in the San Luis Valley on Wild Horse Mesa.  I loved it out there, but with the drive from Arkansas to Colorado being so far I didn't have time to get anything done when I was out there.  I still miss that area,  I was about 40 minutes north or Taos and about 40 minutes from Alamosa.  So basically in the middle of nowhere..

[glenn kangiser]

Nice to hear from you again, Jim.

I don't see anything in the Skagway that can't be done with John's plans, modifications and help from our members.

[travcojim]

I think he will be buying the little house plans after Christmas, 

[glenn kangiser]

That's cool.  Get him on the forum and we'll give him a hand.

[travcojim]

I will do that, I am sure he will have plenty of questions, but he has been reading a lot of the older posts about shed roofs and other things, so he is doing his research.

[considerations]

Funny, the Skagway model is one of the ideas that got me started on this adventure as well.  The main deciding factors for me were the idea that John's plans gave me flexibility with interior design, and that I could buy materials as I needed them, not all in one big lump. One big pile of material is hard to shield from the weather, and takes a lot of ground space (and tarps and dunnage) if I did not want to dig through it for the next things needed. 

What I didn't know then, but have learned since, is that the value of John's plans lay not in the papers he sent nearly so much as in this forum, that helps me puzzle through the confusing stuff, and inspires me to take chances and really "put my stamp" on the final product. 

"Final", of course at this point is still in the future, but I'm a lot happier with what has happened so far just because I know it isn't going to fall down, partly because the forum had enough information, for example, to convince me I shouldn't put it togther with screws....which i probably would have, because it's easier than nailing with a hammer, I didn't know squat about nail guns..... the list is endless.   

Sort of saved me from myself, this forum did....

[Bishopknight]

Do you have a link to this 'skagway' model website?

I want to see what all the hype is about

P.S:  if its pictured on this page, I apologize, my work blocks photobucket

[travcojim]

I couldn't agree with Considerations more.  The value of the info on the boards is priceless, No other site has the information that can be found on here.  And for us first time builders, that is worth more than anything.

[travcojim]

http://www.townandcountryplans.com/skagway.html

  I hate to post another sites plans but here is the link for the Skagway,  But I warn you from the way they spoke to my friend I would never give them any business. 

[CREATIVE1]

I looked at ALL the plan sites, being one who usually over-researches everything.  Even bought a couple of plan sets on Ebay. Ended up with John's Victoria Cottage. 

[BassLakeBuda]

What a funny coincidence. My cottage is pretty much the Mackenzie II on the Town and County plans site ..... except that my dad and grandfather built it in 1960 and a little bit larger (15 feet deep because dad had a 14 foot fishing boat and wanted to put it inside for the winter). It was built from materials taken from demolished houses and is still going strong today. My grandfather was an early recycler as he was the one who brought home bent nails from the furniture factory, straightened and re-used them. The cabin has always been known as the "buda" in our family which is roughly "cabin" in Latvian.

My hope is to remodel and expand what we have into John's 1 ½ story cabin someday, but the basic birdhouse design has served us well for nearly 50 years.

[Pritch]

Thanks for the link to the Skagway plan.  I too wanted to see what all the buzz was about.  One word:

BUGLY! 

Okay, I feel much better now. 

-- Pritch