Trailmanor Adding New Type Units!

[brookside]

Today I wondered into the Trailmanor website and when I clicked on "Models" I discovered they are working on "Rise" travel trailers and truck campers and also a "TrailView" which looks to be like a standard TT. I hadn't come across this information previously so was surprised. The "Rise" travel trailer is interesting because it appears to be very similar in profile to Hi-Lo (terminated operations in 2010)so instead of unfolding, it has a hydraulic system. We are searching for #9 RV and just haven't found "it" so maybe this is "it".
They have also added a "SilverTrail" which is their standard but a beautiful color with an upgraded (more home-like) interior. Wishing the company great success since there really is a demand for lighter weight quality units.

[brookside]

Here is the latest newsletter for an update on the Rise: http://trailmanor.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/trailmanorjunenewsletter.pdf

[brulaz]

brookside wrote:

...
The Hi Lo is SO heavy and am hoping the that Rise will be lighter and not use OSB. Yeah, I really dislike OSB.
...

My Elkmont had no OSB that I can recall. Even the countertops and bed panels used the Al/Foam/Al laminate because it was so much lighter and very strong. They put a lot of thought into making a light-weight trailer.

[brookside]

I belong to the Hi Lo owner's forum and there still seems to be a demand for units like that. We were sort of looking for a Hi-Lo but noted delam problems and use of OSB unless going older with "stick and tin". For us, the advantage to such a trailer is the convenience of stopping at the rest stop and rising the trailer to use the facilities and would also work for boondocking where as the Trailmanor regular would be more challenging to raise as we will both be 60 this year and are looking for something to last us........... The Hi Lo is SO heavy and am hoping the that Rise will be lighter and not use OSB. Yeah, I really dislike OSB. I know they brag it up but our experiences have not been positive. I'm watching and seeing lighter trailers with a better use of space but not many. If you look at what is produced in Europe, the units use space so efficiently and they keep them smaller.

[brulaz]

Thanks for the link. Interesting pdf. Good to see Ed Lytle is still working there through the restructuring. He was a great help to us when we had all the warranty problems with ours. The new company certainly seems to be doing well.

We loved the folding Trailmanors: they are very airy and spacious inside. But that was primarily because they lacked upper cabinets, which was not good for me with the lower back problems.

I do wonder why they are adding the RISE version though. Just don't see the advantage over their folding trailers.

By the way, there's an excellent Trailmanor Owners forum available Trailmanor. They were very helpful.

[brookside]

Adding a link: http://www.trailmanor.com/WebDocs/Newsletters/PDFs/current.pdf For us, we really want something lighter weight and easy to handle so we don't have to buy such a heavy duty tow vehicle. I can remember when pop-ups, most of them, weighed in at around 1,000 lbs and now most weigh 2,000. We also won't purchase something with OSB as we have been there, done that and learned. Choices are good.

[Campfire_Time]

Interesting. Glad to see that they are working new things. Says something about how well they are doing.

[brulaz]

That is interesting. The picture of the upright trailer looks like the old Elkmont 26, which was made from ~2009-2011, until the company went bankrupt.

We had an Elkmont 24 upright which was a well-designed, single axle 24' trailer w/o a slide. Fully loaded for Florida, it only weighed 4000#, empty it was closer to 3000#.

They are definitely just summer trailers though. Their lightweight design comes from only 1" Al laminate foam walls and roof. No wood except in the floors which were 2" Al foam laminate with a layer of 1/4" plywood. You could actually kneel on the roof, the laminate was that strong.

We really enjoyed ours after getting the initial problems fixed. The death of the founder and subsequent bankruptcy during the post-2008 mini-depression didn't help quality control.

Just sold ours a month ago.