KenB

I’ve been out to the Black Hills area several times with an RV and a tent. The closer you get to Mount Rushmore, the more valuable campsites become. If you’re planning on staying in the Hill CIty or Keystone area and want an electric site, it’s going to be in a privately owned park with sites shoulder to shoulder. It’s going to be expensive and its going to be crowded. Just accept that given. If you don’t want electricity, or you’re willing to drive from further away, things open up. Angostura Reservoir is a BIG campground to the south. We practically had the whole place to ourselves one time. Unfortunately its a long drive to everywhere. Not much shade, but you can get an electric site. Pactola Reservoir had some nice sites, but most were in the trees and would be tough if you were expecting to run solar. I don’t think there were electric sites. Spearfish Campground is at the north end of the Hills and is run by the city. A trout stream runs through it along with a historic trout hatchery. Walking distance to restaurants. If I’m going to camp near others, this campground was a good compromise for me. No input on Custer State Park other than plan ahead. I wasn’t able to ever snag a reservation. The Black Hills in July is a busy area. Highly consider a reservation. Take your time, there is lots to see. And everything is spread out. Twice I’ve made the mistake of putting too much drive time into the trip. The roads are twisty and herds of buffalo take their time blocking roads. HTH, Ken

I can confirm that the state park north of Ouray has daily site fees, vehicle fees, and coin operated showers. We stayed there for a week during the summer of 2019 while attending a Land Cruiser event based out of Ouray. This is a photo of the view out of our Oliver door.

When I picked up our new trailer we had to go back to Oliver the next day for refrigerator service. There were hours of idle time just waiting around for service. While chatting with the employee who did the walk through the previous day, I was asked if I’d lowered the tire pressure yet. I told him I had. He nodded, smiled, and said “Good”. Don’t worry about lowering your tire pressure at pickup. I believe it’s expected that the new owner will do this as their very first trailer personalization.

Welcome from another Minnesota Oliver. I’m in the Stillwater area. Looks like you were on the North Shore. I’m going to guess Tettegouche State Park since it looks like Palisade Head in the background. Nice job scoring a North Shore campsite at the peak of leaf watching! Hope to see you around. Off the top of my head we’ve had our Oliver to Tettegouche, Temperance River, Interstate, Flandrau, Blue Mound, and Bear Head Lake State Parks since buying in 2018. The avatar picture of my wife and I was taken standing on the lake shore at Temperance River. During the summers of 2005-2009 I took our two boys to all 70 (at the time) State Parks in MN. It was a fun challenge. You’ve put up some really nice posts today. Well done! Ken

Easily. Even in 90 degree temps I think you could hang meat inside. The issue is the noise from the AC. Kicking in an out during the night isn’t very restful. We shut it off whenever possible. The ability to control humidity is what we enjoy the most.

Here are a couple of field-trails-wanabees that love to travel in our Elite II. They’re English Setters for the non-bird dog audience. We hunt ruffed grouse together.

I use mine all the time. With two dogs, something always needs cleaning or rinsing off outside. Sometimes when the weather is nice and we’re boondocking in a private spot, I’ll take a shower or wash up outside so I don’t have to prep or wipe down the bathroom or dry the shower curtain. I found a suction cup shower head holder on-line. I stick the holder on the outside of the camper so I can have two free hands. Works great. The one improvement I’d like is to add a longer hose. The stock hose is too short. Also wish I could close the basement door once the outside shower is set up. I’ve gone to bed several nights with the basement door still open. Someone posted a how-to on adding an outside shower privacy curtain to an Oliver, so others are showering outside too. I use the outside shower often.

I agree with this. All the other bits and pieces are just nice to have. Everything you might have forgot or didn’t know you wanted can be purchased at Tractor Supply or Walmart just a minute or two drive from your pickup. All you absolutely need is payment and proof of insurance if you paid for the trailer via a secured loan. If you’re paying with cash, I don’t know if proof of insurance is required by law in TN or not.

Yes, A B50 MX would be a good find. I haven’t run across any for sale at a reasonable price, so I scratched the itch with a ‘69 Triumph 250 single. It was sold by Triumph dealers, but is just a rebadged BSA. I bought it more than 25 years ago and it’s been sitting in the back of the garage. This spring when I was stuck home in isolation I brought it to the front and got it road worthy. My intention was to sell it off and roll the money into upgrades for everything else, but it’s been so fun to ride around town I might keep it. It turns head where ever it goes, it’s easy to push around, and sounds great. (Yes, I see the oil drip under it, I missed parking it over a piece of cardboard) If I could only figure out how to bring this along with the Oliver when it’s being towed by the Land Cruiser. Every option I’ve come up with is too risky, or too heavy. Can’t bring everything.

Never owned an Eldorado, but did own a brand new Moto Guzzi V65 for awhile in the 90’s. Bought it from a Honda dealer when they absorbed another Honda dealership that also carried Moto Guzzi. The new Honda dealer just wanted it gone. I heard they had a Guzzi on the floor and went in hoping for a LeMans or an SP. Salesman begged me give them an offer. I didn’t really want a 650, so I offered about 30% of what I thought it was worth, and they took it! Ran that bike for several years before selling it on consignment at the local Moto Guzzi dealer. Made ALL my money back on that one including parts, tires, insurance, and gas. It was free transportation for at least 10k miles. Rode it to a few State and National Moto Guzzi rallies. Even after I sold it I continued to be the ‘Guy on the Norton’ at the Moto Guzzi rallies. The Moto Guzzi people are a nice crowd.

My ‘75 Norton Commando 850 Roadster that I’ve owned since 1990 is pictured below. It often pains me to drive the Land Cruiser and tow the Oliver over some of the many great motorcycle riding roads we’ve been on, especially out West. Often makes me want to trade off the Land Cruiser for a pickup so I can bring along one of the bikes. Haven’t been down the Dragon yet, but have put lots of miles on many other nice roads. Current stable. ‘75 Norton Commando, ‘75 Triumph T160 Trident, ‘74 Triumph T150 Trident, ‘69 BSA Rocket III, ‘77 Triumph Bonneville, ‘69 Triumph Trail Trophy 250.

Open the back flow prevention valve, the handle on the wall next to the toilet. Hth. Ken

Dug around tonight and found a set of 2018 printed brochures. Not in there. Must have been on line in 2017 or earlier where I saw the alternate Elite I layout. Ken

I’d need to dig deep, but I remember this too and might even have a brochure. We didn’t start looking at Olivers until 2017. I suspect 2017 was the last year, or maybe 2018, of getting that floor plan on an Elite I. It looked like a nice setup for a single person. I’ve never seen it in person.

Yes! You must be a Scout too. I’m actually typing this from the dinette in our Oliver while parked for a few days in a Scout camp. They called for alumni who were willing to bring a tent or a camper and be self-sufficient to come to camp to help train staff, cut grass, and generally help out before the campers arrive next week. The physical distancing aspect is being taken very seriously. Camp is going to be a different experience for everyone this year. The talk of Lakehead Boat Basin has me thinking that my wife and I should head up for a few days. Did you go or make reservations yet? How difficult was it to get a spot? Thanks, Ken

Absolutely! We were in the area, so I stopped with my wife to show her where our boys and I had been backpacking. I went once as a youth years ago, and once as an adult with my oldest son a few years back. Youngest son went with his troop. Hope you were able to get out on the trail yourself. The property is quite an asset in many ways for the Scouting program.

I haven’t stayed there in an RV, but used to spend a bunch of time at the property +30 years ago when I was a student at the University of Mn-Duluth. I got to know enough of the guys with sailboats in the marina that I’d be part of race crews, help deliver boats around Lake Superior, and help with boat maintenance. I’ve walked by it several times in the last few years and it looks like they’ve added a hotel and cleaned up most of the boatyard junk. The location is great, but don’t expect much for on site beauty. The view in the distance of the working harbor and Duluth hills will be nice, but the immediate view will be of an asphalt parking lot and chain link fence. It’s just a parking lot for secure winter boat storage repurposed for summer RV’s. From memory, it’s not far off from a Walmart parking lot, but with hookups. It’s going to be awning to awning tight. People and cars will be coming and going at all hours as they access their boats. The good news is that it’s at a great location on Park Point and walking distance to the Park Point beach, Canal park, the Lake walk, at least three breweries, one distillery, a whole bunch of restaurants, and down town Duluth. My wife and I met at the University. We still go up to visit almost annually. My parents honeymooned in Duluth. If you’re going to visit Duluth and need a central spot to park before heading out on the town, it’s a GREAT location. If you’re looking to just hang out at the marina campground, there are other choices in all directions from Duluth that I’d rather spend time. HTH, Ken

Fair at best, even when powered on. I listen to over the air radio at home, work, and in the shop. The camper has the worst reception of all of the antenna/receiver combinations that I use. The shop radio has a coat hanger for an antenna, the radio at work has a piece of welding wire, so that’s not saying much. hth, Ken KE0VTG

None on ours either. Most vinyl is guaranteed for seven years colorfast in full sun. I agree that reds are the first to fade. Any Scout recognize the land feature in the background? Ken

I put the saw on the bench with a bright light and set up the jig according to the video. No issues other than while I was getting used to the feel of the carbide as it cuts, I removed too much metal from one side or set of teeth. The saw cuts a crooked kerf if both sets of teeth aren’t even. Now that I know what to look for I can sharpen both sets of teeth evenly and the saw always cuts straight. I threw one chain away as I was learning because I couldn’t get it to cut straight again. Watch the instruction/promotion videos, read the FAQ, read the directions, and get in a little bit of practice. That’s pretty much it. It does what it says it will. No real tricks other than paying attention to how the taper on the carbide enters the tooth. Keep it’s engagement point with the dull teeth consistent and the sharpened teeth will come out consistent. Ken

I think if you held down the trigger, put the chain to wood, and never let up, you’d probably get 10-15 minutes. If you’re cutting, repositioning, moving, it seems more like 30-40 minutes. The battery that comes with the chainsaw is 80V peak, 72V nominal, 2 Ah. Charge time is 30-40 minutes depending on how hard you worked the battery and how much it needs to cool down before accepting a charge. There are battery sizes ranging from 2.0 Ah for $129 to 6.0 Ah for $359. Not inexpensive, but powerful. I’ve been sharpening the chain on the bar without flipping it. When I replace the chain I’ll flip the bar. This is the sharpener I’ve been using. Very nice. https://www.timberlinesharpener.com/ Wood cutting is something I only do when wood falls in my lap. It’s good exercise. Though there are several pieces of property in the family where I could cut as much as I want, I don’t go out of my way looking for it. It just appears. People hear you burn wood and they call to get rid of a yard tree that is already cut up or to get rid of a stack of split wood because they converted their fireplace to gas. It’s nice to have friends. Ken

Once the wood was on the ground, it was all me. With being stuck at home like nearly everyone else, it was nice to have a mindless project to work on right outside the door when I needed a short break from my home bound day job. I had a tree service come in and drop two oak trees in my yard that had died of wilt. They brought in a big crane and lowered each section to the ground as they pieced up the tree from the top down. When they were done, they hauled away the brush and left all the major limb wood and the trunk logs behind for me to saw and split. We have a wood stove and a hydraulic wood splitter. In the end it looks like it’ll be just short of two full cords of wood split and stacked 15 feet from where the trees grew. The 80 volt saw works at about the same pace as I do. I’d saw up logs until the battery was dead and then put it on the charger. While the battery was charging I’d split and stack what I’d just sawn. By time I was done stacking, the battery was charged again. If it wasn’t charged yet, I’d touch up the chain while I waited. I don’t work all that fast, so if you are quick, you might need a second or a larger capacity battery in order to keep working steady. Ken

Two weeks ago I bought a Kobalt 80 volt chainsaw. In the background of the photo is the wood I’ve cut and split so far. In the foreground are a few pieces with a 40” diameter red oak I cut with the saw, but hadn’t split yet. It took many battery charges and a few sharpened chains to get through all of it. Run time is fine. Not bad for a plastic battery operated saw. I’m happy with it. It’d break down into a pretty small package if you took off the bar and chain. When I’m in the back country and need to clear a path for our Land Cruiser, I’ve found that my Kobalt 24v battery powered Sawsall with a long, coarse toothed blade has been plenty the two times I’ve needed it. It takes up less space than a chain saw and can be used for other things too with an assortment of blades.

Depends on if you run it 24/7, where you set the thermostat, and how windy it’s outside. No wind, mid 60’s on the thermostat, and 24/7 with it turned down to 60 at night, I plan on four-five pounds per day. I’m glad I got the 30# tanks for fall hunting in Minnesota.

Potassium permanganate? Overdose and it’ll stain everything pink. A dry chemical found in the big box hardware store someplace near the water softeners and water filters. The smallest amount they sell will last a lifetime. I was using it years ago to sanitize tropical fish tanks instead of bleach because it breaks down faster after it’s intended use and I couldn’t risk residual bleach in my tanks. It’s used in many water treatment plants as an initial treatment. Very reactive. Not something to mess with casually, but easily found. I think I used it a few times around 2004-5 to sanitize the tanks in our old camping trailer. I don’t remember the dosage, but you’ll probably have to mix up a stock solution of the crystals before diluting it further. Ill mention the part again where it’ll turn everything pink if overdosed, it’s very reactive, and not for casual use.