The Porta-Hut Tiny House Project Begins
Every fall, during hunting seasons, they come rolling through town here in western Colorado. Joe redneck can’t afford a motor home, but he’s got a flatbed trailer he uses for gathering firewood or hauling his bomber to the dirt track. Add a few 2x4s, nail up some plywood, staple a poly tarp on top. Result: Instant RV for hunting camp with the boys. Yeah, redneck intelligence (no, not always an oxymoron) results in the “porta-hut” tiny house.
It doesn't look like much now, but this funky used 16 foot car hauler will hopefully become WildSnow Field HQ, an off-the-grid wheeled hut parked near some of Colorado's best backcountry skiing.
Here at WildSnow.com we like a bit more luxury than a plywood box. We’ve been enjoying our slide-in pickup truck camper for road trips. Beyond that, we’ve also gained access to a few parcels of backcountry land where we’re either borrowing the location from the owner, or in our case, planning on eventually building a permanent structure but need something temporary that we mostly use as a day lodge, with occasional camp nights. Basically, we want to park a wheeled RV tiny house for the winter. and we don’t want to use our camper for that (it’s small, can’t take a high altitude snow load, and we like it on the truck). We could buy and park a used travel-trailer but those are ugly and the roof won’t hold the snow either.
Solution, do like those redneck hunters only with some pizazz — build a porta-hut RV camp trailer!
So yesterday I raged all over Western Slope Colorado looking for a trailer chassis to modify as the “rolling foundation” for a portahut tiny house. I ended up with a 16 foot car hauler. We’ll mod this to be about 9 x 16 foot (give or take) base for a rolling portable structure. Presently, we’re planning on a one-story rectangle with a gable roof and sleeping loft. Enough room to be luxurious for 4 people, comfortable for 6, or squeeze in 8 in a pinch. It won’t be the type of RV you’re going to tour North America with. More something you’d move periodically from one parcel of land to another, within, say, 50 miles.
So, this is the first of what we hope will be a fun series of posts about the do-it-yourself building process.
All the portahut RV posts are available via this link.
Amazing Small House Plans. 65-874 square feet – Visit Tumbleweed Tiny House to find out more.
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Comments
33 Responses to “The Porta-Hut Tiny House Project Begins”
Nice find ! Have hut, will travel.
Lawd, I can’t wait to see this come together. Lou, your neck is red, but so is mine. Love it.
Looks like that trailer has enough room for a hut and an snowmachine garage :silly:
Will the Porta-Hut be rentable like a “Bed and SKI”?
If we were true to the faith, we’d park the snowmachine in there and use it for a couch. But Lisa probably has other ideas :angel:
Chuck, interesting you should ask. I guess great minds think alike, eh? If the location doesn’t create issues, we are planning on several contests with the prize being hut nights and me to show you around. Stay tuned for that, it’ll have to be carefully orchestrated. The locations we have in mind probably won’t lend themselves to rentals, though we might be able to figure somthing out.
Somewhat related is this short series on setting up a mobile workshop: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/05/make_it_anywhere_with_a_mobile_lab.html
HTH,
Mark
I’m with El Jefe. This is going to be fun to watch. Don’t forget the mini-bar!
Probably have some sort of propane fridge in there, but main focus this fall will be to get the heating and lighting working right. Timing is tight, as we have to get this in place before the roads get slick with the fall mud and snow layers.
Lou for your communications (if you have 3G coverage up there) I would recommend a CradlePoint router which can interface with a long list of phones and USB modems. External antenna adapter on a USB 3G modem can be connected to an amp from Wilson Electronics + Directional Ant.
This setup worked really well for me in Canada. This was you can have multiple people/devices online at the same time :biggrin:
just re-watch “Grumpy Old Men” and model it after one of their fishin shacks. gotta have some wiskey or beer thrown in there somewhere.
Lou, this is an exceedingly cool idea. Looking forward to watching it develop.
This is beyond cool….what an idea!
Three Sisters Backcountry did a similar thing with 2 yurts and a sauna on a flatbed. Set it up in the winter at a camping site with an outhouse. They break down the yurts and store them in the sauna, truck it out in the spring and the area is ready for summer camping.
Too funny I was just surfing the web and came across this site the other day, the winter ideas started flowing.
http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/
Very cool — can’t wait to see the development.
Anything else coming from OR?
Lou, be sure to keep the video camera rolling while you are hauling it up into the hills – just in case the whole thing collapses when you hit some water bar a little too fast. Hopefully that dosen’t happen, but this will be interesting to watch. I’ve often thought it would be cool to establish some well constructed igloos to use for BC skiing over the course of a winter, but your project is a whole other level.
Marcus, speaking of OR, among other things still comingI got set up with Wilson Electronics and will be doing hands-on install reviews of their cell phone booster products. Really useful stuff for those of us who drive to remote trailheads and that sort of thing.
Way, way cool.
Solar eh? What next – a vegan diet?
I just saw a nice looking 60w solar system in Costco for about $250. A few years ago I bought a 45w version from Harbor Freight for $200 and it is still going strong.
These two websites show huts on wheels. http://www.tinyhousedesign.com/2010/04/23/dans-tiny-house-project-update/
http://www.tinyhouseliving.com/
I concur that adding a simple solar panel (60w), controller and battery with 12v LEDs can take care of your lighting and fans. You can apply the information from http://www.fiberglassrv.com to your project for solar, winterizing, etc. A small vented propane heater is probably your best option. RV appliances will make your hut comfy.
Consider a Yurt yet? It’s “free-standing” and temp and does a great job with snow…
http://www.coloradoyurt.com/yurts
Njord
Sounds like an awesome project. Don’t know what you have in mind for the walls, but you may want to look into making/using some sort of stress-skin panels based around several inches of insulation board. Doing that allows you to use thinner wood on each side of the foam and you end up with a very strong, light panel which will insulate quite well. After you frame in the structure you just install pre-cut panels (you can even build all your windows into them) and then seal it all up with expando foam. The trick is to use a glue that doesn’t dissolve the foam-board :pinch: . Wood glue actually works very well for that.
Can’t wait to see this come together.
Kept flashing on Kem Nunn’s Pomona Queen. I believe this trailer falls into the serial killer school of architecture. Remote, primitive, good strong locks. No one will be back till Spring…..
And how come the anti-spam quiz kicked back on p-tex?
Jonathan, I’m feeling like Road Warrior as I hack this thing apart with a cutting torch… fun!
I added some words to the quiz per your suggestion, try it.
Thanks, Lou
Lou,
Check it out:
http://turnbulltinyhouse.blogspot.com/
Built by a great friend of mine and she would be a wealth of info for you.
have fun,
Simon
Simon, thanks, that looks fantastic! I’ll add to the contact for info list.
I’ve been very happy with the Utility Trailer I modified for winter use, my Toad Hall
1. Purchase tight, dry, light trailer.
2. Insulate, wire, panel. Windows are optional(RV).
3. Install Dickenson propane(non-condensing) or diesel marine heater, stove/oven,
4. Rugs, cots, shelves built for the road.
Could even be used at the Shows you do. Parks descretely and is great for summer storage of stufff too.
way cool……..this is the finest “afterlife” we can imagine for the old dear!!!! 🙂
Mark, more coming, stay tuned!
Sounds like you folks need a “MN ICE FISHING SHACK ” they make them pretty comfortable, fairly light so they can be towed onto a lake and moved around…I’d say a 6-hole’r ? ….let me know if i should bring one down!!! Brad
Lou/ All,
Folks seem to have run into a brick wall with regards to staying with a roof over their heads in Calgary by building a Tiny House. Here is an example of the hassles the City of Calgary is giving one guy trying to make a go on the edge of town:
http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/tiny-house-builder-gets-told-to-pack-up
Is there ANYONE out there who knows of a way to help this guy? It seems in Calgary even if you “own” the house and lot, secondary laneway homes for example (a la the Fonze) (am I dating myself?) are a no-go and now this. Good thing Outdoor Research Tiny House ski hut didn’t make it into Alberta but stayed on the Powder Highway in British Columbia! All this during a massive recession in Calgary with 10%+ unemployment (a faux number as the actual rate is probably much much higher). Help!
Ed, the problems arise when you want to live in a tinyhouse as a permanent residence. Used like we do on our backcountry land, as a “camping shelter,” it’s not a problem around here. Essentially the same thing as parking an RV on your own land. But would be illegal to live in due to minimum house size requirements, not to mention zoning re mobile homes, which is all a tiny house on wheels or parked RV is, just a mobile home in the eyes of the law.
I have sympathy for the guy in Calgary. But for starters one has to wonder how he deals with sanitation, etc., and if they way he’s doing that stuff is legal. Laws governing sewage are strict, and often rightfully so, especially in populous areas. Too bad the journalist reporting couldn’t have given us a bit more detail.
In reality, the OR tiny house is just a pull-behind RV.
Lou