Buy a Winter-proof Class A, use as office

There are plenty of RV's that have the dining table that you can seat people around the table. It just depends on how large of a table that you need. Perhaps something like this or have something fabricated by a local upholstery shop.

Has anyone added a boardroom (or meeting room) table at the center of the motorhome?
Is that doable (how do you fold it?), or it just takes up too much space?

I'm thinking about buying used, remove a set of couches and put a boardroom table there (preferably foldable) so to have a better office space available...

For what I can see, if the coach is well insulated (the Prevost & Newmar I am checking out), I can buy one with slides, and they will stay in during winter.
I don't need them that much, as it will most likely be me and my colleague in the motorhome in the winter. The two of us can live well in that square footage.

In the summer some vacation trips will happen, so most likely slides will be out.

If I get something in the 200$k and spend 30k$ per year on the MH (for diesel and services), with an amortization period of 10 years, that means a 50k$ per year that I spend on the MH.
Very doable since I will backcharge most of these expenses to my clients (in exchange to the service I provide as an engineer literally with an office on the field)...

Still have to get more documentation about full-timing, to check for potential deal-breakers, but this seems to be something feasible.

Just a note: For those of who say your slide walls are the same as the main walls, I'm assuming that's the case for the main wall, but the shorter side walls (perpendicular to the main wall), may or may not be. If they're not, then that's the rational for keeping the slide in during extreme cold. That, and better sealing of the slide against the rig and less interior volume to have to keep heated.

~Rick

Hi,

Strange and wonderful things happen to mechanical items at -40. Slides may refuse to retract.

Seals may not work too well in extreme cold.

Mr.Mark wrote:
Ragtijnet1, somehow I missed your Prevost post.

On our Monaco Dynasty, the slide was not made like the sides of the coach. I had to removed a small window in the driver's side slide to fix a water leak. The material was a solid composite material. It was not a foam insulation that I could tell.

MM.

When I installed an external vent for our microwave, I had to cut through the side wall. It had the same foam as the other walls. Obviously different years means different construction techniques. I know that Monaco stopped using aluminum sidewalls in 2004 and a few years later they did away with the aluminum roofs.
I also know that in some coaches, the sidewalls are insulated with fiberglass instead of foam. In any case, with the different coaches that we have owned, I've never seen a problem with a slide in the Winter. Obviously you are increasing the floor square footage/volume with a slide which means more heat will be required but to us the extra space more than offset the additional heating required.

My Newmar slides are just as well built as the rest of the coach. I have been in freezing weather (accidentally) and did not notice any cold leaks at the slides. I have been in Pembroke for winters and know what your weather is like. Yoy will spend more time working on the MH than is the summer but should be doable. I also have dual pane windows that I could not be without.

Ragtijnet1, somehow I missed your Prevost post.

On our Monaco Dynasty, the slide was not made like the sides of the coach. I had to removed a small window in the driver's side slide to fix a water leak. The material was a solid composite material. It was not a foam insulation that I could tell.

MM.

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

Welcome to the forums.

There is a great thread on winter camping in the Full Time Forum.

I have modified my class C to allow it to be used at -40.

So far as I am aware no one makes a "winter proof" RV.

You will want to avoid any unit that has slide outs.

Why avoid an RV with slides? We travel in the Winter and the slides on my Monaco are well insulated and pose no problem at all. The slide walls are built exactly the same as the fixed walls with the same foam insulation. If you are concerned about snow on the topper, it is not a problem, especially if he is going to be sitting for a period of time. If there is snow on the topper and you want to retract the slides, no problem. Just retracting them slowly a few inches at a time and the snow will just drop off has been my experience.
I had recommended a used Prevost chassis coach for him and the slides on a Prevost will not cause him any problems at all. Obviously they will allow the coach to open up and make it much more comfortable for a semi full time place to live.

robinbreak wrote:
Hi,
I am doing preliminary search to buy a Class A Motorhome to use as an office on business trips.
Since I live in Canada, winter proofing is mandatory.

Does anyone knows good dealers I can talk to for this project?

My budget is about 300k$.

Thanks

Regards

You might want to consider a non-slide Prevost coach. These coaches are top-of-the-line and are insulated quite well.

A 1998-2003 coach would run about $119-$350 (non slide). You really should take a look at the 'coaches for sale' on the 'www.prevostcommunity.com' website.

You have to sign up but it's free. They have 3 pages of coaches for sale that include the price range you mentioned. These coaches are built solid (shell made in Canada).

Good luck,
MM.