Hello! New to this and have some questions.

[taylor]

So I'm getting ready to graduate college with no debt (thanks to the Marines) and have always wanted to build my own home. Having it be small and mobile is a huge plus since I can never really stay in one place for too long.

The biggest concerns I've had are for those who live in theirs or who have traveled a lot, where do you park them? Do police pester you if you park in an otherwise normally legal parking area on say a street?

Do I need a CDL license to drive one?

What is the normal means of powering electronics without running the engine? Or if engine is required can I store that energy for awhile? How feasible are solar panels?

I understand gas mileage will be pretty awful but where can I look to get on the high end of some of the ranges I've read? (8-15mpg)

Where I live in New Hampshire there seems to be some nice "fleet maintained" buses available. Is there really a huge difference in buying newer versus something a few decades old as far as the engine is concerned? I have about $9,000 saved up but ideally I would like to have as tight a budget as possible in order to make it as homey as possible.

Oh also, how much would a new set of tires cost?

Here's a couple I've found

http://worcester.craigslist.org/bfs/4968566151.html

http://burlington.craigslist.org/cto/4989300237.html

[taylor]

Here's a couple that I've found

2002 International school bus dt466 power, good runner! price reduced

2000 International School Bus71 Passenger

[EastCoastCB]

I've given a few responses to this thread and they never showed up.

[proconsul100]

i hope you find the bus thats right for you. as far as solar panels to keep your batteries charged, that would be yes. i have 2 on top of my bus right now. if you look through some of the build threads you can get an idea what is possible. i don't know about the parking on the street thing as my bus isn't finished yet. to give you an idea of price, i paid $1800 for mine at the Washington state surplus auction. you can pick states other than Washington. look and see what is in your area: Public Surplus: Government Surplus Auctions

[EastCoastCB]

Six new tires will run you about 1800+/-

[taylor]

Yeah the thread disappeared for a bit too. Don't know if that's normal or not

[bansil]

when it was edited with hot links it went into moderated area, I approved it and it said 9 responses???

[taylor]

Originally Posted by proconsul100

i hope you find the bus thats right for you. as far as solar panels to keep your batteries charged, that would be yes. i have 2 on top of my bus right now. if you look through some of the build threads you can get an idea what is possible. i don't know about the parking on the street thing as my bus isn't finished yet. to give you an idea of price, i paid $1800 for mine at the Washington state surplus auction. you can pick states other than Washington. look and see what is in your area: Public Surplus: Government Surplus Auctions

That looks like a great resource! How was the condition of yours? Did you have to put a lot of time/money into it to get it up to par with something that may be slightly more expensive from a site like craigslist?

[proconsul100]

Originally Posted by taylor

That looks like a great resource! How was the condition of yours? Did you have to put a lot of time/money into it to get it up to par with something that may be slightly more expensive from a site like craigslist?

condition was great, came with a recently replaced engine installed, no rust, and a full tank for diesel. as far as time i have only been able to work on it on weekends, but i have made progress. I haven't kept track of money spent, but i have been stuff from used RV`s and the re store. i figure i do a little at a time, plus its fun getting something and modifying it and making it work in the bus.

[bansil]

keeping track of bus money is scary

[proconsul100]

i agree, its best to just set some aside, use it, and not think about how much of it is gone.