Advantages:
Price
weight
length and ability to expand areas of camping
Disadvantages
Size/space
lack of redundancy in case of a flat
Carrying capacity (in some cases)
I just bought an Aspen Trail 1700BH. It's 21.5 feet in length and has all the basic amenities. The first thing I did was have the dealer flip the axle gaining about 6 inches in height. This is important in this unit as the black/gray tank drains are only about six inches off the ground in the factory configuration. The layout in this unit is a rear set of bunks with a queen bed across the front sideways.
This appears to be a somewhat common layout with many brands having it. In fact Dutchmen has three separately branded units with this layout. There is the Aspen Trail and the Coleman 17FQ/17FQWE and there is the Kodiak 175 "cub.'
The primary difference I see between the Dutchmen units in this layout is that the Dutchmen units are eight feet wide vs seven feet wide in other brands like Jayco, Minnie and others. AND Dutchmen dedicates the space to the bunk area vs the restroom area. This allows for a 41 inch wide bottom bunk in the back. Most of the others are under 36 inches and down to 30 inches in some cases limiting your bunk area to kids. so, if you like a sink in your bathroom, go with the small bunk units. The other advantage of the Dutchmen (8 ft wide) units is that you get a full size dinette big enough for four people instead of the tiny dinettes.
Question: What is so important about a sink in the bathroom or just outside separate from the kitchen sink often sometimes only a few feet apart? Not wishing to be sexist, but noting that women seem to have a strong preference for a bathroom sink AND a kitchen sink.
I purchased my unit for under 13K (Aspen Trail). In looking online, I noticed that the Coleman units "tend" to run about a thousand K more than the Aspen Trail units even though they are identical. My thought on that is that Dutchmen has to pay a licensing fee for the Coleman name and so you as a customer pay for it. I would like to note that the range for the two brands does over lap quite a bit. The biggest weakness of these two is probably the carrying capacity of only 650 lbs. Price range on these units is as low as 10,400 up to 21,000. Most in the 14K to 15K range.
Now, the Kodiak (175 cub) version of this layout is quite an upgrade over the Aspen Trail/Coleman versions, however, the price reflects it also with some exceptions at the lower end of the range. (range - just under 15K to up to 26K)wit the average running 19 to 21K.
The Kodiak is a fiberglass shell vs Aluminum, but the most significant difference is likely in the suspension. The Kodiak has a torsion axle and 15 inch wheels vs the Aspen Trail/Coleman spring system. This susspension raises the Kodiak up nicely AND it has a substantially higher carrying capacity (1200 lb range) over the 650 lbs on the less expensive units.
Other amenities in the Kodiak include upgraded interior, upgraded sound system, rooftop air conditioner, bathtub and shower enclosure, black tank flush, camera ready set up on back and small door in the bunk area where you fold the bunks up and put things like bikes back there for travel.
IMHO, the Kodiak if you can get it at the lowest end of the range may be one of the best "new" deals out there on small travel trailers. If you have to pay the higher range of prices, there are lots of other units that compete and beat it. The Aspen Trail/Coleman units at the lowest end of pricing range with an axle flip and two step change out are excellent choices for getting out into the national forests on dirt roads and dry camping for a few days at a time. As many of you know, larger TT's often limit you to parking lots and a distinct lack of trees.
Hard sides are nice in Montana since there are night time visitors here that are quite large, furry with big teeth, claws and occasioinally nasty/hungry dispositions. For example, in the Cooke City area, they have closed all the campgrounds to anything but hard sided units because the Grizzlies decided to eat the tenters.
All in all, for small trailers, this layout is a very efficient use of space and new families with rugrats can camp in relative comfort for not a lot of dollar bills (affordable hardside experience).
I feel the 8 foot wide Dutchmen units are one of the better choices for this type of layout (unless you want a sink in the bathroom) with an under 15K Kodiak being one of the better deals out there.
Thoughts?
