Skoolie Conversion Collaboration?

[ourmefa]

Greetings everyone!

Would anyone be interested in discussing skoolie conversion collaboration?

It would be great to find someone that is in the process of doing their conversion and needs assistance. I would be interested in contributing my skills as a finish carpenter (with a broad range of mechanical skills, including welding and fabrication) in exchange for sharing a parking location for our own initial basic conversion tasks.

We expect that it will take 4-6 weeks for what we want to accomplish with our first pass on the conversion (interior tearout, insulation, bed frame buildout, shower and sink install (plumbing) and basic electrical. We plan to only build out what is considered essential, and then do additional work in the months to come while we are on the road.

I am envisioning a situation where I would work 2-3 days a week on someone else's project and 2-3 days a week on our project. We could also contribute in other ways like homestead maintenance, farm work, tech work (web / marketing) or other labor.

I will have many major tools including table saw, hand tools, welder, plasma cutter and a truck and trailer to contribute.

Feel free to contact me directly at 615-440-1915 or jamie "at" tmgstudio "dot" com. I am also a Top Pro on thumbtack - you will need to login to see my profile or click on the screenshot below this text. https://www.thumbtack.com/profile/se...BxFTCVnPe61aA/

Here is my LinkedIn profile as well - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlmeredith - References available upon request.

If anyone is interested or knows of someone that has done this in the past, I would love to hear thoughts and comments.

[tobeamiss]

sounds like a great idea....too bad I'm in NY! I would love to help someone else in exchange for getting help on mine.

[ourmefa]

Originally Posted by tobeamiss

sounds like a great idea....too bad I'm in NY! I would love to help someone else in exchange for getting help on mine.

Do you have facilities for a bus to park? We will be almost 100% self sufficient with solar and water filtration by July so we will be able to boondock as well for short periods. Depending on location in NY, it can be pretty mild still in June/July. We are definitely interested in visiting different areas based on the average daily temp being between 65-75, with nighttime lows 45-60.

Feel free to shoot me an PM and we can discuss if there is a possible way to collaborate. Maybe we can find a few folks who are working the same issues and get them together all at once. Kind of a "Skoolie Barn Raising", lol.

[superdave]

I'm about 4 hours to the east, ill give ya a call .

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by superdave

I'm about 4 hours to the east, ill give ya a call .

I've talked to him- he's a heck of a NICE guy.

[somewhereinusa]

I could be interested, not sure exactly what I would need help with. I'm at the figuring out how I want to finish things stage. I'm pretty good at electrical and figuring out how to build things. Twenty acres for kiddos to run, place in driveway to park. Not sure about those temperatures, northern Indiana. About 6 hours north of you.

[EastCoastCB]

Indiana would make a great place to build other than the temps in the winter.
There are a TON of RV parts up there.

[somewhereinusa]

Yes, we're only about 70 miles from them.

[ourmefa]

Originally Posted by superdave

I'm about 4 hours to the east, ill give ya a call .

Sounds great! Look forward to speaking with you!

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by ourmefa

Greetings everyone!

Would anyone be interested in discussing skoolie conversion collaboration?

It would be great to find someone that is in the process of doing their conversion and needs assistance. I would be interested in contributing my skills as a finish carpenter (with a broad range of mechanical skills, including welding and fabrication) in exchange for sharing a parking location for our own initial basic conversion tasks.

We expect that it will take 4-6 weeks for what we want to accomplish with our first pass on the conversion (interior tearout, insulation, bed frame buildout, shower and sink install (plumbing) and basic electrical. We plan to only build out what is considered essential, and then do additional work in the months to come while we are on the road.

I am envisioning a situation where I would work 2-3 days a week on someone else's project and 2-3 days a week on our project. We could also contribute in other ways like homestead maintenance, farm work, tech work (web / marketing) or other labor.

I will have many major tools including table saw, hand tools, welder, plasma cutter and a truck and trailer to contribute.

Feel free to contact me directly at 615-440-1915 or jamie "at" tmgstudio "dot" com. I am also a Top Pro on thumbtack - you will need to login to see my profile or click on the screenshot below this text. https://www.thumbtack.com/profile/se...BxFTCVnPe61aA/

Here is my LinkedIn profile as well - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlmeredith - References available upon request.

If anyone is interested or knows of someone that has done this in the past, I would love to hear thoughts and comments.

Attachment 12070

You guys are gonna have a great time, I can tell. IF I owned any property you would be more than welcome to it.
Its great to see the response from the community.
Gimme a call any time, man, and I wish you happy travels and the best of times!

[ourmefa]

Originally Posted by somewhereinusa

I could be interested, not sure exactly what I would need help with. I'm at the figuring out how I want to finish things stage. I'm pretty good at electrical and figuring out how to build things. Twenty acres for kiddos to run, place in driveway to park. Not sure about those temperatures, northern Indiana. About 6 hours north of you.

somewhereinusa - I would love to talk with you! I checked out your website and that sceniccruiser looks like an awesome project! Please shoot me a text message at 615-440-1915 or a message here on the forum, and we can setup a time to chat! As for temps, by late march, early April when we plan to have our bus, the temps will be pretty mild up that way and I think we can probably make something work. I love the idea of being in the heart of RV country and the availability of parts being so great!

[ourmefa]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

You guys are gonna have a great time, I can tell. IF I owned any property you would be more than welcome to it.
Its great to see the response from the community.
Gimme a call any time, man, and I wish you happy travels and the best of times!

Thanks EastCoastCB for the kuddos and the encouragement! We are really looking forward to being on the road! I will be hitting you up soon for sure! Your help with weeding through the buses out there has been invaluable!

[somewhereinusa]

ourmefa,

The scenicruiser is my son's project, I'm just a work grunt on that one. Hope he gets it going while I'm still above ground. I'll shoot you a text.

[tobeamiss]

So what are we talking about here? Anyone who needs or wants help to meet up in IN? Nice! Got a date in mind?

[tobeamiss]

Originally Posted by ourmefa

Do you have facilities for a bus to park? We will be almost 100% self sufficient with solar and water filtration by July so we will be able to boondock as well for short periods. Depending on location in NY, it can be pretty mild still in June/July. We are definitely interested in visiting different areas based on the average daily temp being between 65-75, with nighttime lows 45-60.

Feel free to shoot me an PM and we can discuss if there is a possible way to collaborate. Maybe we can find a few folks who are working the same issues and get them together all at once. Kind of a "Skoolie Barn Raising", lol.

Right now I'm parked behind my daughter's house. It's been a good place to gut it out but I'm gonna need a more permanent place when I get down to the nitty gritty. My brother said he could probably help me out by letting me park in his small field next to his house...but I'm not really against traveling and boondocking either!...isn't that what this is all about ? I was hoping I'd be a little further on my progress before I pulled out though. Right now I'm discovering and tackling rust...then on to insulation....

[somewhereinusa]

Originally Posted by tobeamiss

So what are we talking about here? Anyone who needs or wants help to meet up in IN? Nice! Got a date in mind?

I suggested one last year, even had a date, no one committed so I let it drop. It's cheaper for me to just drive the Rover rather than spend the money at a campground. Another group I belong to has an annual rally there. I'd be willing to try again. Elkhart camp ground is reasonable, don't mind buses or skoolies and is central to most of the surplus places in the area.

If you want to come to my place, depending on time of year (very soft ground in the spring), I can park a few. No facilities available but, I could probably supply 15A electric with fresh water available.

[ourmefa]

I personally am looking for someone to collaborate with who would allow us to park for several weeks while we perform conversion tasks. In exchange we are willing to work camp or provide services in exchange. Specifically looking for someone that has a skoolie and would like an extra set of hands, and possibly provide the same in a limited capacity. We will be fully funded to do all of the conversion tasks at whatever phase we are attacking of the conversion.

I would love to find a farm or piece of property that someone is homesteading on and contribute to their efforts while we are converting the bus.

####

Having said that, I would be completely open to a collaborative effort, much like they are doing in FL in Feb. If anyone has ideas for this, please let me know and I would be happy to help coordinate any efforts to make it happen.

I think a big part of the initial stages could be attacked by multiple people in one or two days on multiple buses. Almost assembly line style. If I can find the land to do the tear out - maybe a salvage yard or scrap yard - and arrange a date that fits multiple peoples schedules, I will make it happen! I have actually contacted several salvage yards in a couple of states in this effort. They often have open land nearby, would take all the scrap steel, and likely have dumping abilities for hazardous waste. One guy said he needs to talk to his son, but he was interested in helping. In exchange, we could pay the yard for their resources, or they may have work we can do to offset our usage.

[ourmefa]

Hey there everyone!!

I just wanted to let you all know that we have found a place to park the bus for our initial conversion efforts. It is in FL, which is what we were shooting for and we will have as many weeks as needed to get the first phases conversion completed!

The cool part is that while working on our conversion, the wonderful person who has offered space, has also offered their tiny home - and guess what, it is a bus!! So stoked right now!!

Having said this, we will still be looking for other people to collaborate with as we travel. If you are interested in having someone handy around for a period of time this year to help with your conversion, please reach out and let me know!!

[EastCoastCB]

I'll give you any help I can.
Maybe after dave helps me with my roof raise I'll be able to help others!?!

[ourmefa]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I'll give you any help I can.
Maybe after dave helps me with my roof raise I'll be able to help others!?!

Thanks so much EastCoastCB! We look forward to meeting you and working with you!