Howdy from River in Santa Fe, NM

[MrRiver]

I've often had thoughts of life in a "tiny home" or perhaps a converted school bus -- a "skoolie". The bus option is becoming more interesting, as I think I'd like, on occasion, to be a bit more mobile than I'd likely be in a "tiny house". But I'm a very "green" sort of fella, in the sense that I prefer not to have a really big harmful environmental impact by burning a lot of fossil fuels, so this concern is part of my inquiry in here.

I do want mobility. And I don't want to be extreme in any sense. And being on the road all the time would be a bit extreme. My rig would be parked most of the time. It's just right that way.

I love the look of really old buses, but I'm not a mechanic and am ignorant about those sort of matters. I imagine it would be very expensive to maintain a very old bus, and that finding replacement parts for it would be both expensive and ... let's call it "challenging". If I were rich (I'm certainly not!) I'd definitely get myself a really cool old or antique bus. But price is a huge factor, and I would require a very inexpensive bus, most likely. And a smaller one, since I don't want the huge fuel factor.

That's enough by way of introduction for now. Thanks for setting up a place for us to connect, ask questions, and learn!

River

[MrRiver]

I gather from the pace around here that there are relatively few active participants in this forum.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by MrRiver

I gather from the pace around here that there are relatively few active participants in this forum.

Why? this isn't a mega-forum, thankfully, but its pretty active.

[MrRiver]

All things are relative. I just thought there would have been more activity than there is. I guess this is just because I so love the idea of bus-to-RV conversions.

I'm involved in other internet fora which are more active. It surprised me that my intro post was left unanswered for a couple of days.

Did you create this forum, EastCoastCB? I want to express my gratitude to whomever did create it. It's a great place -- and deserves even more participants, I think.

[2kool4skool]

Perhaps folks are busy working on their conversions or even using them.

Was gone last week ourselves.

Welcome River!

[PigPen]

Greetings! One of the main ways that people find threads is the recently active section on the right side of the site. If your post happens to get buried, it greatly increases the chances that people don't answer...but generally speaking you'll find that this forum has tons of activity and many people willing to help.

You are right that older buses tend to be more expensive due to part availability and upkeep, but there are certainly exceptions and some engines/drivetrains/models that need less work and are easier than others.

If expense is a factor, you'll likely find that late 90s to early 2000s are a great place to look. Schools often have forced retirement ages regardless of the condition of the bus, so you can find great options between 15 and 20 years old. The market will likely see a surge during the next month as schools end for the year. I just saw one go up in my area that I went to inspect. Great condition, very little rust, good engine, good tires...$1200 final bid!

Another thing you may want to consider if you are worried about fossil fuels is a veggie oil conversion. There's an entire section devoted to that topic on this forum, and the gist is you make an engine capable of turning old cooking oil into power. Seems like something you may want to explore to offset the footprint of driving a bus.

[MrRiver]

Thanks, all, for your welcomes and your suggestions!

[Canned Ham]

Originally Posted by MrRiver

I gather from the pace around here that there are relatively few active participants in this forum.

Welcome to the Skoolies forum!

Too many great bus builds, and too much good information to miss here.
I'm still studying up on what bus to plan for.

[TheRainbowBoxer]

There is a decent amount of activity here... If you don't keep your build thread current, it rapidly winds up on on page 4... ask me how I know LOL!

[Robin97396]

Welcome. I'm here basically every day and I never saw your thread before this morning. It is surprising that you've gone a couple days without a response.
This is a great place for build ideas and for learning about the mechanical issues of your particular bus. Eventually you'll pare up with someone that has the same bus for build ideas.

[Docsgsxr]

I for one like the amount of "active participants" on here. I don't want to have to read 100+ responses to a question only to have 85 people agree with 1 comment.

Welcome to the gang!

-Doc

[Robin97396]

I like that here too. Once there's been several confirmations on information people don't keep adding responses. I'd say this is a fairly awake bunch of people.

[sky nighthawk]

Hey good to have another NM bus nut I'm just down the road in Dixon. I have 2 vintage bus's a 1959 Chevy and a 1941 GMC I need to decided what to do with the 41 (two many toys)
Sky

[Robin97396]

Well throw some pictures up here and you'll get about 40 opinions in two days.

[Robin97396]

Actually you should list them in the "Non-affiliated Buses for Sale" thread. It's our quick shopping bus mart.

[Tango]

Roger the pix. Would love to see the old Jimmy. Whose body is on it?

[MrRiver]

Originally Posted by sky nighthawk

Hey good to have another NM bus nut I'm just down the road in Dixon. I have 2 vintage bus's a 1959 Chevy and a 1941 GMC I need to decided what to do with the 41 (two many toys)
Sky

Hello Sky. Glad to run into another living in the Land of Enchantment (NM) in here. I'd also like to see photos of your buses.