Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 11-03-2009, 10:04 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
llamaSteve's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Van Horne, Iowa
Posts: 17
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: All American
Engine: 8.3 Cummins "C"
Rated Cap: 89
The LlamaZine

OK fellow skoolies, here comes your newest member with our latest attempt at a conversion. We previously converted a 1989 Ford E350 29 passenger StarCraft for use to haul our show llamas to various events around the region. Well it wasn't quite big enough for two livestock stalls and then the 4 of us to bunk in overnight at the shows, so we decided to go BIGGER! And yes, the llamas ride INSIDE the bus.

So here it begins, this afternoon we committed to purchase a 1988 Blue Bird 89 passenger school bus. It has a Cummins C 8.3 Diesel with 134K miles, only 10K on a rebuilt transmission and underneath storage.




We will be relying on the information we can gather from this site and all of you experts to get us through this conversion. Stay tuned for updates and PLEASE watch for my many posts to come for assistance.

Our first challenge will be to repaint it as we live in Iowa. I have given my kids and wife templates of the bus for design ideas. I am the doer and not the designer.

We hope to hear from many of you with comments, tips and tricks to help us along the way. Next llama show... April 24/25 2010. While it doesn't need to be 100% complete by then, we do have our work cut out for us.

Attached Thumbnails
LlimoFinalLeftSide.JPG  
Attached Images
   

__________________
(Llama) Steve A.
Van Horne, IA
https://www.llamasrus.net
llamaSteve is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-04-2009, 01:03 PM   #2
Mini-Skoolie
 
llamaSteve's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Van Horne, Iowa
Posts: 17
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: All American
Engine: 8.3 Cummins "C"
Rated Cap: 89
Re: The LlamaZine

Smitty,

Thanks for the welcome!

Our llamas go through lots of performance training and are quite adept at walking up the front stairs of the bus. Our current bus has no back door, so we had no other options. We are debating the merits of some sort of stow-able ramp system for the back door on the new bus, but haven't gotten very far on the engineering of one yet.

As for the modifications affecting the paint, I suppose it is an issue to consider as we will be doing much more significant remodeling on the inside of the new bus vs the old. Not to mention, cold weather has already taken up residence here in eastern Iowa and weather warm enough for painting my not return until next April.

Steve
__________________
(Llama) Steve A.
Van Horne, IA
https://www.llamasrus.net
llamaSteve is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-04-2009, 01:40 PM   #3
Skoolie
 
Kirbystud's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Spencer IA
Posts: 104
Year: 1987
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: Chevy
Engine: 366 Gas
Re: The LlamaZine

I to live in Iowa....I was stopped 3 times before I got my bus painted....The frist time they told me that there could not be any yellow on my bus or lights.....The 2nd time I had started priming and removing lights. They told me again no yellow no lights. I said can't you see that I am working on it...so they let me go....3rd time again no yellow but didn't say anything about the lights..They let me go.....So out of all of this I would make it look like you are going to paint it soon......
__________________
What happens on the trail stays on the trail
Kirbystud is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-04-2009, 02:34 PM   #4
Bus Nut
 
TygerCub's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 784
Year: 1995
Coachwork: Genesis
Engine: Detroit
Rated Cap: 14
Re: The LlamaZine

Quote:
Originally Posted by llamaSteve
We are debating the merits of some sort of stow-able ramp system for the back door on the new bus, but haven't gotten very far on the engineering of one yet.
If you take a look at my bus (see links in the signature below), you'll see United Rental installed a very nice pull-out ramp. Looks like it would be very simple to install one yourself. I'll try to take a couple of better photos later this week (probably on Saturday) and post them for you to examine.

Great to see yet another amazing use for an old school bus (llama transport). Do you raise Alpaca as well as Llamas?
TygerCub is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-04-2009, 08:53 PM   #5
Skoolie
 
cheezypsnookle's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: amarillo texas
Posts: 158
Year: 1989
Coachwork: Bluebird tc2000
Chassis: 3401-3502 ???
Engine: cummins 5.9
Rated Cap: 72
Re: The LlamaZine

the llamazine ...i love it
i work with a llama on the ranch i work at he is antisocial because of his stint in the petting zoo we bought him from
and yes i do work on a ranch smitty "preemptive strike "
cheezypsnookle is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-04-2009, 09:08 PM   #6
Skoolie
 
cheezypsnookle's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: amarillo texas
Posts: 158
Year: 1989
Coachwork: Bluebird tc2000
Chassis: 3401-3502 ???
Engine: cummins 5.9
Rated Cap: 72
Re: The LlamaZine

yeah tony the llama guards our mini horses and mini donkeys
cheezypsnookle is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-04-2009, 10:37 PM   #7
Mini-Skoolie
 
llamaSteve's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Van Horne, Iowa
Posts: 17
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: All American
Engine: 8.3 Cummins "C"
Rated Cap: 89
Re: The LlamaZine

Kirbystud,

I have initiated an email thread with the Iowa Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division to provide me with the stone cold facts on the bus requirements (paint, lights, etc.). We'll see what they come up with.

Tygercub and Smitty,

The slide in ramp was my first thought but there is a nice trailer hitch on the back of the bus I do not want to lose use of. Once I get her home I will have to investigate that idea further.

And... I am impressed you are so well versed in one of the llamas many uses... as a guard. That's how most llama owners get started is by bringing a llama in to guard their sheep, goats, fowl, etc. And please don't judge any llamas by the petting zoo variety. They often spread the bad "spitting" impression that all other llamas get labeled with.

Thanks for all your interest!
Steve
__________________
(Llama) Steve A.
Van Horne, IA
https://www.llamasrus.net
llamaSteve is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-23-2009, 04:01 PM   #8
Mini-Skoolie
 
llamaSteve's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Van Horne, Iowa
Posts: 17
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: All American
Engine: 8.3 Cummins "C"
Rated Cap: 89
Re: The LlamaZine

Two big milestones over the last 7 days.
  • First... I sold the old bus! Woo Hoo! One less thing to worry about. And I made a few bucks on the deal.
  • Second... we brought the new bus home on Saturday. Now the real work begins! And thanks to the previous item, it covered almost all the cost of the new bus. And the new bus got much better gas mileage than the old one. BIG plus!

More pictures coming soon!
__________________
(Llama) Steve A.
Van Horne, IA
https://www.llamasrus.net
llamaSteve is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-22-2010, 01:50 PM   #9
Mini-Skoolie
 
llamaSteve's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Van Horne, Iowa
Posts: 17
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: All American
Engine: 8.3 Cummins "C"
Rated Cap: 89
Re: The LlamaZine

I did finally get a pointer to the Iowa State code on school bus conversions and it basically comes down to this:
  • No national school bus yellow may be visible.
  • No warning lights or strobes allowed.
__________________
(Llama) Steve A.
Van Horne, IA
https://www.llamasrus.net
llamaSteve is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2010, 11:18 AM   #10
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Portland OR area
Posts: 180
Year: 1983
Coachwork: International
Chassis: Carpenter
Engine: 8.3
Re: The LlamaZine

Welcome!
Nice bus!
It sounds like you have been planning for a while. I cannot wait to see your build!
__________________
seth
"grease buddy" and all around nice guy
madpsalmer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2010, 07:18 PM   #11
Mini-Skoolie
 
llamaSteve's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Van Horne, Iowa
Posts: 17
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: All American
Engine: 8.3 Cummins "C"
Rated Cap: 89
Re: The LlamaZine

Smitty,

I live in Iowa and you know what the weather has been like. All I've managed to do so far is get all the seats out. The bus barely fits into my corn crib (with front mirrors removed). As soon as it gets warm enough in there to work I'll get pictures up.

I AM NOT A TEASE!
__________________
(Llama) Steve A.
Van Horne, IA
https://www.llamasrus.net
llamaSteve is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2010, 09:51 PM   #12
Mini-Skoolie
 
llamaSteve's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Van Horne, Iowa
Posts: 17
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: All American
Engine: 8.3 Cummins "C"
Rated Cap: 89
Re: The LlamaZine

OK! Now that it has FINALLY warmed up here in east central Iowa, I have finally been able to get some work done on the LlamaZine. Instead of posting the pictures here, I have put up a page on our web site devoted to the project that you can see here: http://www.llamasrus.net/llamazine.aspx

Please take a look and let me know what you think. Still a long way to go and our first show of 2010 is in 3.5 weeks.
__________________
(Llama) Steve A.
Van Horne, IA
https://www.llamasrus.net
llamaSteve is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-2010, 03:17 PM   #13
Bus Nut
 
jkindt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Lethbridge, AB, Canada
Posts: 637
Year: 1981
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Ford B-600
Engine: Ford 370 Propane
Rated Cap: 48
Re: The LlamaZine

Quote:
Originally Posted by Smitty
Reminds me of Noah's Ark

Smitty
What a perfect name for it... "Noah's Ark"
jkindt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-24-2010, 09:07 PM   #14
Mini-Skoolie
 
llamaSteve's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Van Horne, Iowa
Posts: 17
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: All American
Engine: 8.3 Cummins "C"
Rated Cap: 89
Re: The LlamaZine

Well, it's 95% done, and it made it's first shakedown cruise on May 14th. We took the LlamaZine, complete with 9 llamas, to a show in Faribault, MN. The bus performed as well on the road as our llamas did in the show ring. We are happy with how it has turned out so far and just have some small tweaks left to work on.

I am almost embarrassed to post pictures as it is nowhere near the quality of many of the buses on this board, but it is simply meant to be little more than a rolling livestock trailer/hard-sided tent. So, be nice guys!



You can see the rest of the pictures atour llama web site below my signature.
Attached Thumbnails
LlamaZine1.JPG   LlamaZine2.JPG   LlamaZine3.JPG  
__________________
(Llama) Steve A.
Van Horne, IA
https://www.llamasrus.net
llamaSteve is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-24-2010, 09:17 PM   #15
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 446
Year: 89
Coachwork: thomas
Engine: 7.3 diesel
Re: The LlamaZine

what did the seats come out of, please
__________________
see my conversion at https://www.skoolie.net/gallery/v/Skoolies/Putters+Bus/
putterspitt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-24-2010, 11:27 PM   #16
Moderator
 
crazycal's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NUNYA
Posts: 4,236
Year: 1995
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: 3800
Engine: DT408, AT545
Rated Cap: 23 500 gvw
Re: The LlamaZine

Yea, inquiring minds what to know.
__________________
I'm hungry!

You Gotta Let Me Fly
crazycal is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-2010, 04:23 PM   #17
Bus Nut
 
Seeria's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 575
Coachwork: Thomas
Re: The LlamaZine

Love the bus!! I read here and there of people wanting to do that for their horses but never seen it done. First llama bus I've seen Fascinating creatures.
Seeria is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-2010, 08:35 PM   #18
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Adirondack Mountains NY
Posts: 1,101
Re: The LlamaZine

I LIKE the paint & striping job on the outside. It gives it a real . . . I guess I'd call it an "executive" look.
__________________
Someone said "Making good decisions comes from experience, experience comes from bad decisions." I say there are three kinds of people: those who learn from their mistakes, those who learn from the mistakes of others, and those who never learn.
Redbear is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-2010, 11:00 PM   #19
Bus Nut
 
M1031's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Texas
Posts: 471
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Ward
Chassis: Ford B600
Engine: 6.6L Turbo Diesel
Rated Cap: 26
Re: The LlamaZine

Quote:
Originally Posted by Smitty
Looks great! But how do you get the llamas into the upper bunks?

Smitty
Carefully of course.......
__________________
We few, we Band of Brothers. For he who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.
- William Shakespeare ("King Henry V")
M1031 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-2010, 11:01 PM   #20
Moderator
 
crazycal's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NUNYA
Posts: 4,236
Year: 1995
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: 3800
Engine: DT408, AT545
Rated Cap: 23 500 gvw
Re: The LlamaZine



What kind of dogs are those?
__________________
I'm hungry!

You Gotta Let Me Fly
crazycal is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

« BOW FRAMES | Gustav »
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:15 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.