Hello from Northern Canada

northof60girl · 09-13-2015, 06:50 PM

Hi everyone!
I'm hoping to convert over the next couple years. I still work full time but hope to work on my bus (yet to be purchased) starting next summer. I wrote on my blog about it as well.
http://northof60girl.com/2015/09/13/tiny-home-living/

My first question would be, has anyone imported a bus from the U.S. To Canada?

Thanks
Laurie 🚌

gbstewart · 09-13-2015, 08:18 PM

welcome glad to see another Canadian , can't help you about importing not sure why you would with the dollar being so low. where are you located? we travel northern Ontario a lot.
gbstewart

Hank's P-O-S · 09-13-2015, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by northof60girl

My first question would be, has anyone imported a bus from the U.S. To Canada?

Thanks
Laurie ��

Great to see another canadian!

Importing a bus into Canada would be no different that any other vehicles. Before you import be sure to look up weather or not it's importable, look for the chassis not the body.
You also need to remember to give the Americans 2 days notice before exporting a vehicle from their country.

Depending on where you are at, quite a few nice busses come out of B.C.
Unless you are looking for a rear engine bus, (I have never even seen one in person), a few rust free busses will be found.
I am surprised how my bus wich came out of rural M.B. Only has rust around the rear wheel arches.

Seriously though....north of the 60th! Where in this frozen hell do you live?! I live around Winnipeg and I HATE my life 7 months the year.

wunderhut · 09-13-2015, 08:25 PM

Stay tuned for the new "Ice Road Skoolies" on the History Channel...

northof60girl · 09-13-2015, 08:29 PM

I'm currently in Whitehorse but lived most of my adult life in the greater Vancouver area. Will be back there eventually!! I have imported vehicles before so I have a general idea but wasn't sure how a bus would work. I'll call Canadian customs and see what they say. I'll certainly check BC first as this would be closer but even with the exchange (hopefully it levels out soon) where there tends to be more of an item, the cheaper it usually is and more selection in the lower 48.

It would be cheaper from a materials and labor standpoint to do this down south in BC but I'll need to keep my good government job while converting as I can afford it. Once it's done though I'm out of here!!!
Thanks for your replies!
Laurie

northof60girl · 09-13-2015, 08:33 PM

Lol. For a second I thought...really haha. No driving for me in icy roads especially in a bus. Hope to eventually be in the lower 48 every winter with my skoolie of course!'

nat_ster · 09-14-2015, 12:56 PM

Welcome.

At work we import buses from the USA to Canada all the time. We have our sales and leasing department. We bring buses up, fix the mechanical issues, then send them into our fleet of 400 buses, or sell / lease them.

Many times the buses we bring will even have blown engines. We take the engines from our rusted out units and swap them into the rust free units from state side.

What you will need is insulation. Good insulation and enough of it.

I'm also from the north, just a few hours south of you. My future is heading to the Great Bear Lake to the north of you.

My bus is just about done the metal work stage. Then comes the insulation. Mine should be almost done by the time you start yours.

Here is my thread for idea's and reference.

http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f11/th...ime-10138.html

Just a side note. You will not be able to add enough insulation to live in a bus without doing a roof raise. Just no way around it in this climate.

Nat

northof60girl · 09-14-2015, 08:49 PM

Hi Nat...
Thanks for the info and I will be checking out your link. You don't think a propane heater and in floor heating will be enough and good insulation? I will be in Vancouver living (or outside city limits) eventually but hope to spend a couple more years up here after it's done.

Thanks
Laurie

northof60girl · 09-14-2015, 08:53 PM

PS: The city here is selling a few buses at the end of the month. Only one is working and I'm going to take a look at it next week. It's a "submit a tender" thing so they are all sealed bids. It's a 2003 Thomas and that's all the info I have right now!

northof60girl · 09-14-2015, 09:05 PM

Northern Ontario is beautiful from what I remember as a kid. I have family in Kap and Timmons. You should make the journey to the Yukon sometime!!

nat_ster · 09-15-2015, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by northof60girl

Hi Nat...
Thanks for the info and I will be checking out your link. You don't think a propane heater and in floor heating will be enough and good insulation? I will be in Vancouver living (or outside city limits) eventually but hope to spend a couple more years up here after it's done.

Thanks
Laurie

In floor hot water radiant heating works extremely well. With a properly built system, there would be no need for a propane heater also.

The most important part is the insulation. Without proper insulation, no amount of heat will keep you warm in a bus at -40 C.

I also have a thread covering the beginnings of my hot water radiant heating system. In that link it talks about a simple system I built using a cheap $400 propane hot water tank as the boiler. It is installed in a 26 by 16 cabin with good insulation. It's going on it's 4th winter and still going strong, with a average heating bill of $50 a month at .80 cents a liter for heating propane.

For me I hate having to buy propane. It's expensive and makes me dependent on having to refill, and dependent on availability, and having to stay near humans for that refill.

I will only be using propane on my bus as a backup for when I'm working lots and can't tend to my Coal / Wood stove.

In Vancouver, heating needs for you will be minimal. However up north, the needs will be much higher.

For me my bus takes me away from the human footprint. I'm tired of the general public, and want my life and the life of my new son to get back to the basics. Living off the land, VS living to pay the government large amounts of taxes, and hardly seeing my family.

Hydronic Radiant Heating in a Bus

http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f13/hy...-bus-9024.html

The cabin that is heated by in floor hot water heating.

Cabin Build for the Old Timer.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/gener...old-timer.html
Nat

Earthgirl · 03-10-2019, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by northof60girl

I'm currently in Whitehorse but lived most of my adult life in the greater Vancouver area. Will be back there eventually!! I have imported vehicles before so I have a general idea but wasn't sure how a bus would work. I'll call Canadian customs and see what they say. I'll certainly check BC first as this would be closer but even with the exchange (hopefully it levels out soon) where there tends to be more of an item, the cheaper it usually is and more selection in the lower 48.

It would be cheaper from a materials and labor standpoint to do this down south in BC but I'll need to keep my good government job while converting as I can afford it. Once it's done though I'm out of here!!!
Thanks for your replies!
Laurie

I am new on here and just moved to Whitehorse this fall! I am seriously looking at making my own skoolie, but only in the ideas and research stage. Would love to see or even help with your build

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