We are Haylee and Duncan and we are just a month or so into the process of converting Buster into a Boondocking tiny house to live in full time!
We made the decision as it’s something we have both dreamt about before we met and with the cost of living in BC so expensive we thought what better way to start saving for our future than this!
Our Instagram is @buster_the_boondocker if you would like to follow closer
I swear I will take more photos in landscape in future ��
BUSTER is a 28’ Freightliner custom bus with a 24v Cummins with 200k kms (��) He cost us $9k which we managed to bring down from 14k.
He has 22’ of living space and 6 1/2’ interior headroom
Our plan for Buster is to go fully off grid with 800w of 24v solar, full amenities and warm enough to take on life up in the mountains where we live following our outdoor adventures dreams
Here’s a couple of pictures of the day we got him...
So. we realized shortly after buying the bus that the loooovely green paint job was actually a wrap.
We were already planning on painting the bus so this gave us an issue as I have tried to peel a full wrap off a previous van and I almost pushed it off a cliff...
This time we seemed to be lucky and with the help of a heat gun we got her off!
Well expect for the roof. The sun had really got to that and was almost unpeelable. But we had plans to cover that in a rubberized coating anyway
Oh and he’s white underneath! ...almost acceptable 😏
We had deliberated over colour for a while. We love a flat earthy colour and have seen a lot of lovely green busses but we as a couple like to do things a little different when we can and so we decided to go for a flat Tan colour.
We used 1 coat of primer and 2 coats of paint and rolled and brushed on. We are super stoked on the finish!
We still have to go over the black in fresh but we wait for more predictable weather
As soon as we had decided on a bus conversion there was 2 things that we we romanticized about straight away: an outside picnic table, and a wood stove.
We figured that we needed to start drilling any holes in the outside before we start thinking about interior and insulation, so the table was our first proper test. Baring in mind that neither of us are trades people in any way!
We studied a few tutorials on YouTube and went at it only to change our design mid way due to building our table to wide... first lesson I guess... anyway, we persevered and went from using a beam on the top to latch to, to using 2 on the sides
This was built out of 2 pieces of $4 cull wood from Rona and free pallets from the local brewery. We love it!
So the wood stove isn’t necessarily needed right now but we have been keeping our ears close to the ground for something suitable and unique and we came across this!
It’s a Little Wenlock from the 1980s and it has never been burnt! The elderly gentleman who owned and loved it had it set up in his retirement condo as an ornamental piece until he unfortunately died recently
We are super excited to give this beautiful thing it’s new home. We were even gifted some cedar kindling by our neighbours for her fire burn
!HELP! Does anyone know where I can get a roof mounting kit for a 6” stove pipe? The largest I can find is 5”. We live in whistler BC but happy to buy online
We are in Victoria and converting for a ski bus for my family of 5... among other ocean / mountain adventures up and down North America.
A friends bus has a stove in it that goes out the side window. They have to take the flu on and off when they drive and close up the window. They only use it when stationary for longer peries of time.
We are in Victoria and converting for a ski bus for my family of 5... among other ocean / mountain adventures up and down North America.
A friends bus has a stove in it that goes out the side window. They have to take the flu on and off when they drive and close up the window. They only use it when stationary for longer peries of time.
Looking forward to seeing your progress.
We picked it up from Vancouver. It’s an old West Coast Sightseeing bus. So a little different but we like different.
Your plans sound awesome! I’ll have to search up your progressive thread.
Nice bus! I really like the color you chose. For the stove pipe you will need a #6 roof jack on the outside. They make ones out of flexible silicone that would work best with the bus roof. For the inside you will need a ceiling support box. It will have to be trimmed to match the curved roof or the ceiling will have to be framed flat above the stove.
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