Newbie

[Ourvanlives]

Just wanted to introduce ourselves. We're retired/disabled couple and been wanting to get started into the Skoolie life for a couple of years now. Another 18 months and we'll have our house paid for. Then we can start saving up for our Skoolie. Been window shopping for things on Amazon along the way and saving them in lists of what we want/need for the conversion of the bus. We're thinking about either a mid sized bus or a shuttle bus. We like the wheelchair lift to be near the front door. But not many of them out there like that. Did they only make them for a certain period of time or a certain company make it there?

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Ourvanlives

Just wanted to introduce ourselves. We're retired/disabled couple and been wanting to get started into the Skoolie life for a couple of years now. Another 18 months and we'll have our house paid for. Then we can start saving up for our Skoolie. Been window shopping for things on Amazon along the way and saving them in lists of what we want/need for the conversion of the bus. We're thinking about either a mid sized bus or a shuttle bus. We like the wheelchair lift to be near the front door. But not many of them out there like that. Did they only make them for a certain period of time or a certain company make it there?

it was often up to the school Spec.. I do know quite a few of the mitchell built carpenter body busses had them in the front.. (mine did).. but finding a mitchell capenter in good shape is likely going to be tough as I think 1995 or 96 was their last year..



the rear was the most common as it meant the wheelchairs could be loaded into the back with the tie downs.. and the bus could have regular full width seats up front.. in my bus the bus seats are narrow so that the chairs could roll to the back where some of the tie-downs are.. so the capacity was greatly reduced..



some schools asked for up front lifts so the busses are out there.. just not as easy to find ..


the other thinbg to think about is if you both require being lifted into the bus, that you may need to have a bus modified so that the lift can be used from the outside.. mosrt of them require that you deploy the lift from inside the bus.. manually open the door and then bring out the lift.. unlike an actual handicap van thats designed for you to be lifted into from the outside...

[Ourvanlives]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

it was often up to the school Spec.. I do know quite a few of the mitchell built carpenter body busses had them in the front.. (mine did).. but finding a mitchell capenter in good shape is likely going to be tough as I think 1995 or 96 was their last year..



the rear was the most common as it meant the wheelchairs could be loaded into the back with the tie downs.. and the bus could have regular full width seats up front.. in my bus the bus seats are narrow so that the chairs could roll to the back where some of the tie-downs are.. so the capacity was greatly reduced..



some schools asked for up front lifts so the busses are out there.. just not as easy to find ..


the other thinbg to think about is if you both require being lifted into the bus, that you may need to have a bus modified so that the lift can be used from the outside.. mosrt of them require that you deploy the lift from inside the bus.. manually open the door and then bring out the lift.. unlike an actual handicap van thats designed for you to be lifted into from the outside...

Only one of us would use the lift. She's got a mobility scooter she uses occasionally.

We do have a bus with a wheelchair lift near the front door here in the local school district but it's a new one. So probably not a good candidate because of the EPA junk. I am looking for a bus that has a mechanical 466 or 7.3l powerstroke.

Also there is a 1997 Ford E450 shuttle bus V10 with only 46,000 miles on it. That's a nice one for a candidate but no lift on it. Need to get a folding ramp for the stairs.

[nikitis]

You can probably put a Trailer hitch on the back of any bus, and purchase one of those chair lifts you ride onto, and push a switch to lift up and carry on the tow hitch.

Might be a simpler solution for you and give you more room on the bus as well.

[Halfmoon1938]

Also a newbie to the group. After hunting hi and lo for a suitable ramp solution to load a scooter into a van (there’s not one for me) i found a low floor ex-transit bus. Has a simple ramp in front, 191” usable space driver side, 171” passenger side and 7’5” across, Duramax diesel, 2015. Being converted now, not by me but I’d love to be.
GM chassis converted by Arboc in Indiana. Seen lots of used newer ones for sale so there must be older ones somewhere.

[ermracing]

It took me about 6 months searching for the right bus for my build. I wanted the DT466E and a lift at the rear. I did see a few with the lift just behind the entry door while I was looking so they are out there. Of course, this was 5 years ago, but it just takes time. Also, don't narrow your search to a small geographic area.

Dave