Single Mom ready to find a shortie!

[Crozz]

Just my 2 cents.

When looking at size and costs the difference between a short bus and a mid size 30 foot bus probably is within a few hundred bucks however the space difference is huge.

Do not buy from Craigs list and do not buy from churches. Craigs list is someone elses problem and Churches dont have the facilities to maintain like a school district and they have different reasons for selling their buses.

Government auctions direct from schools or simply directly from a school is how you want to go. I paid 3k or so for my 30 ft bus.

As for drivability, my wife drives our Ford Excursion which is a big truck granted but its 18ft bumper to bumper and the bus is only a bit longer and definately shorter than a truck and trailer. The wheel base however is damn near the same meaning it drives easy.

You cant add more room to a bus in the future and with it more of a tiny home space is the biggest comodity you have. Being able to save future money by using a full size fridge and not needing to make multiple grocery runs etc will easily recoup the extra few bucks you spend stepping up to a 30ft unit.

When I was looking at buses for our RV idea I spent a long time deciding. You never know if you will spend more time in it than expected. For the reasons stated above I went for a 30ft flat nose bus.

For a tiny home I would be more focused on size and how often I will drive it. Buses are not like semi trucks where buses are driven across the country in all sorts of towns and roads. They are meant to get around town so the hardship is learning to drive something a bit bigger but I have confidence you can tackle it since I see grannies driving school buses all the time.

[BagelBus]

[QUOTE=Like I said, I LOVE the Fern the Bus build on Instagram (they're also on Facebook). I'm planning on doing something very similar, but with a bathroom. They have what looks like a floating deck on their roof. What is the best way to secure it (I'm concerned about leaks)? They also have hammock poles that look to be welded on to the window frames. Is that a bad idea because of the weight, or am I overthinking it?[/QUOTE]

I'm also inspired by Fern and her "sister" bus Birdie or the AlwaysHome folks. I know this is an old thread, but wanted to reply in case anyone else was looking: the Fern the Bus folks have a tutorial on their website www.ferntravels.com explaining how they attached the roof deck. Looks pretty doable, and I plan on adding one to our short bus.