Tow vehicle?

[Davecop]

Hello all. I'm new to all this. I have a question. Am looking to double down possibly. I'm interested in school bus conversions but also in Tiny houses on wheels. My big question is, Would a school bus be a good tow vehicle for something like this. I know there are probably many factors to consider as far as weight of what I'm towing etc. Just wondering if anyone knows of anybody doing something similar?

[Robin97396]

Personally, I've never heard of that. So basically you're looking for a rolling duplex?

People are towing vehicles and even box trailers. I wouldn't be afraid to move a small house using a bus for short distances, however I'd have concerns about overheating the transmission in an extended use situation on the road. A lot of that caution is based on not knowing what type of transmission you have. These vehicles are so heavy already that I think a small towable home would be to heavy.

You're not actually talking about traveling with a small towable home are you? Those things aren't normally very aerodynamic.

[Davecop]

No not for travel just to move it with when needed. The bus would be used alone for travel but I want to have a semi permanent home. Since it would be on a trailer I could avoid higher property taxes and get around zoning restrictions here and there. I figured I'd have to install a transmission cooler anyway. Was just wondering if those big diesel engines would have enough power to pull the house along with the weight of the bus as well. Haven't actually gotten the bus yet or the tiny house , still in the planning stages.

[Robin97396]

Well, probably not when the grass is wet.

Unless you've gotten a bus with a large engine, most of these buses feel pretty weak just pulling themselves around. Some people seem to have stronger engines and pull trailers easily, so it can be done. If you're on flat ground and just want to move your house for better shade I'd say no problem.
This is highly subjective speculation when you don't have a bus yet. If the trailer weighs more than the bus I don't think I'd try to pull it on the hardtop at normal speeds, unless I was very desperate like the flooding problem some people are experiencing. Just my opinion.

[TAOLIK]

Maybe this is relevant, maybe this isn't relevant. But Nat made a tow truck out of a schoolbus. which you can find here

Since commercial vehicles can weigh 26,000lbs, my ignorant self would weigh the bus and if it was under 16,000lbs and the trailer weighed less than 10,000lbs. I'd probably tow up to 100 miles if necessity arose. However I would probably do this before making the bus awesome. My halfassed logic doesn't factor in any actual mechanics though, which is probably far more important than rules and laws.

[Docsgsxr]

This is my toad.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by TAOLIK

Maybe this is relevant, maybe this isn't relevant. But Nat made a tow truck out of a schoolbus. which you can find here

Since commercial vehicles can weigh 26,000lbs, my ignorant self would weigh the bus and if it was under 16,000lbs and the trailer weighed less than 10,000lbs. I'd probably tow up to 100 miles if necessity arose. However I would probably do this before making the bus awesome. My halfassed logic doesn't factor in any actual mechanics though, which is probably far more important than rules and laws.

Post #220 on that thread says it all.

[Docsgsxr]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Post #220 on that thread says it all.

Yeah, post 208 is way better after pic #1....... lmao