Ollie-Haus

Best buds I can tell. Great pic!😊

I did some searching for a thread of this type and didn't really find anything, so I thought I would start one. The idea is just a place to share photos and stories of your favorite traveling companions, Dogs, and stories that tell about your traveling pet experiences and methods. There's a thread like this on another forum I've been a member of for a few years and it's been continuously popular over the years. So, post up your pooch pics and tell us what you love about them, how you acquired them and what it's like traveling with them. We currently have two registered Border Terriers. The each weigh between 15 and 20 pounds and pretty much go everywhere with us. Cohen is a six year old male and Hallie is a seven year old female. Each came to us as nearly grown pups and have been through the whole obedience training thing. They're great travelers, and know no strangers. They love kids and love to explore. Unlike many terriers, they really don't bark very much and are quite pleasant to be around for most people. Cohen on the left, Hallie right. Independence Day attire Come on dad let's hit the road

Beautiful pooches. We have two Border Terriers and even though they are much smaller, they are known for their endless energy and unstoppable prey drive. After much research we made the decision to switch our dogs to a raw fresh meat diet. There are numerous benefits to the dogs' health, but it also has a calming effect on them. After their morning and evening feedings, they seem to prefer to sleep off their diner, sort of like the post Thanksgiving coma we experience. They still do zoomies in the back yard a couple times a day but they are generally much more calm and less reactive.

From my time researching the forum, there are numerous people towing the LE2 with the Ford, Chevy and Dodge 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. I would say they are actually optimum tow vehicles for the LE2. On the other hand you would be running the Ranger at its full capacity all the time and would simply wear it out quickly. You would also be at the trucks limit as far as braking and controlling the trailer in less than optimal conditions. I would chose the Super Duty hands down. It's always better to have a significant margin of safety if at all possible. The F350 will not even know the Ollie is back their. PS - You won't need the weight distribution hitch with the 350 and hitching and unhitching will be a breeze.

We've had a number of garage sales over the years in the interest of getting rid of extra "stuff" we really don't need. I'd say we average $400-$500 intake for what amounts to clutter to us. Still seems like there's a lot of extra stuff around here.

The black wire that supplies power to the 7pin plug on the tow vehicle is too small of gauge to supply enough current to charge the lithium batteries fast enough. For the amount of amperage to charge the batteries at an optimal rate, you need to run a 4ga wire, both positive and negative, to an Anderson plug on the rear of the truck. You then have to run that same gauge wire from the DC/DC charger to the tongue of the trailer and the other half of the Anderson plug. When hitched up you will have the full amperage needed through the heavy gauge Anderson connection. Image from Craig's blog:

I looked at the full bed slides when we got our truck and decided against. I know it would be really handy in a lot of situations but just felt I didn't want to lose any vertical space. Now having got the cooler it's obvious that we at least need a slide for it. They aren't cheap either but I will bight the bullet and get one. I hadn't thought of the grocery store application so that will be a bonus. I know we will make good use of it. I'm looking forward to getting my solar and lithium battery set up in the truck as the cooler will just stay on 24/7 mostly running off solar.

That's interesting as I just checked on their web site and the footprint of the C73 is only 2" wider and 3" longer than the C36. The primary difference is in height of about 6 inches. The hourly amp draw is listed as .6 and .5 respectively. Obviously there's no need to buy more capacity than you will ever need, but for us this looks like it worked out pretty good for our needs and the price. I'm going to get a slide tray to mount it to so we can access it more easily from the back of the truck.

To be honest half that space is designated for our dogs' food. They are fed a raw meat diet that has to be frozen. I only got that size because at the time I was shopping the price for the C73 was about the same as the C30, which it is right now again. If we do extended boondocking as we are planning, it should come in very handy.

Including sales tax the cover directly from Truma was $195 with free shipping.

It's a confusing world these days with mergers, buy-outs and contract manufacturing. I'll muddy the water a little more with my first hand knowledge. My wife used to work for Federal Mogul as a buyer. Federal Mogul used to be National Seal. Even though Federal Mogul manufactures seals today, they can have several names on the packaging. They may be labeled National Seal, or Timken. Federal Mogul was acquired by Tenneco a few years ago and I believe changed the name of the Federal Mogul division to DRiV. For that reason their seals may also have this new name on them. To add to the confusion, Timken also contracts with other manufacturers to produce their products. The point of this is that you likely do have in your possession actual Timken parts. The problem is that it's well documented that Amazon is very unreliable in their sourcing and for that reason everyone has learned to be very cautious when there are discrepancies in packaging. If in doubt you can easily return. The problem is, unlike OEM manufacturers and OEM suppliers, Amazon has zero quality assurance process or supplier verification. Their buyers simply shop price and supply.

Anybody that has been considering a portable cooler to carry in your tow vehicle, Amazon has the Truma C73 marked down 35% currently. They are pretty expensive regular price but this discount makes that model about the same price as the Trumas half that size. It's a very high quality unit, made in Germany, not china, and has real nice features just like the Truma appliances Oliver is putting on the new campers. Bluetooth control, auto voltage monitoring and shutdown, low current draw, temps adjust down to -6f. If you like Truma and have been considering a cooler this price is as good as you will ever find. Link

I've read that the Oliver plays well in our favor when finding camp sites. The larger sites are always gone first, but the smaller ones that the LE2 still fit into are often left available for obvious reasons. Also you can call the campground directly and check for cancellations. It's very common for folks to reserve just in case and cancel at the last minute. I don't remember who said it but they said they never make reservations months in advance and have never been unable to find a spot on short notice. I'm sure the very popular destinations are an exception but otherwise that's reassuring.

I can't imagine

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. My plan is still in a state of flux. With time I'll better know what our needs are and come up with a well thought out method that's sort of in budget I hope.

Agreed, I don't even know if they will be needed for the camper, but what started my thinking was the need for a solar/lithium system on my truck for the portable cooler that will live in the truck. That's the primary reason for the added solar, but while I'm at it, it would prudent to make it compatible with the Ollie's charging system to boost the charging rate under certain situations. Like you say, we'll have to define the needs based on usage.

If you hover over the activity button in the nav bar at the top, you will have a row pop up that has "unread content" in it.

Hey Brian, based on the equipment manual on Oliver University, the 2023 has 200 watt 24v Newpowa Solar panels included. I'm looking into buying 2 more of the same exact panel and installing them on the camper shell Yakima rails and doubling my solar capacity in the combined rig. I'll have to figure out the charging system and connections once I move forward with the project. I like what you are trying to do with the supplemental solar panels and the Ollie.

ready or not

After a long day together with the whole family, we made it home a short time ago feeling good about the time together, and being able to strengthen each other with positive thoughts, funny stories shared, hugs of comfort and just listening as each person felt like expressing how they feel, their fears and doubts and hopes. My sister in law is a roller coaster but she seems to be developing a focus on moving forward. She's not seeming so overwhelmed and expressing plans and ideas going forward to restore continuity and a feeling of security for the kids. Everyone is beginning to recognize they have a role or part to play to help their mom and take the burden off her. The older kids are already planning how they can share the day to day work load with mom. Lots of positive things happening already. Again thank you all for your much needed support and encouraging words. You truly have helped me to better help them. Our faith is strong, but our pain in separation is what we must learn to manage and slowly overcome. In the grand scheme nothing is really wrong, it's just an unexpected change we all will learn to work through. Blessings to you all for your support.

Thank you. The logistics are going to be a little fun now with the new pick up schedule. Now we pick up the Wednesday before the rally. We may be picking up and then heading to the rally. That'll be fun and a steep learning curve. Regardless, baring anything unforeseen, we will come to the rally and celebrate every day we have. Can't wait to meet everyone.

Thanks everyone for your kind words and support. We are all doing the best we can considering. Nobody saw this coming, totally blindsided, and too fast to comprehend. Strange how a moment of joyous anticipation can be quenched by tragedy. My heart truly aches for my sister in law Linda, and her children who have lost their husband and father without warning. The youngest of 7 is only 11, and they were all very close to dad. We will get through this together and life will go on and joy will return. Larry left to join our Lord at about 8:30 pm today, and did so very peacefully with Linda and children by his side. I will spend the next few days helping them cry a little and hopefully laugh a lot at the unforgettable person Larry was. Many wonderful memories will be shared in the days ahead of a life and person whom we all loved. My part as the remaining patriarch of our family will be a source of strength and reassurance to those who are just learning about the hard part of life. I will do my best to be strong for them even though I'm crushed by the loss of my only brother. Our very frail mother will be burying her youngest, I know she struggles to understand why she has lived to endure this. But she is also thankful to be able to console the grandchildren. Larry is also survived by two older sisters that share in our loss and grief. We are a strong family and we will all work through this process together. Sorry for spilling my feelings here on the forum, but I'm truly crushed and leaning on you all for the moment. Again thank you for all your kind thoughts, words and support. God's blessings to you all.

Thanks so much for that Steve. Our anticipation has been building and we are loaded and ready. Unfortunately an unanticipated tragedy has struck the family last week and just last evening we had to take my little brother off of life support. He became gravely ill without any indication early last week. He was experiencing multiple strokes and multiple organ failures within hours of developing a fever. He is only 56 years old and still has three teen girls at home. We had to wait for his four adult children to arrive to make the final decision. Ours is a hiccup in events, Larry's situation is much worse and the family really needs us for a while. We are now rescheduled to pick up the Oliver the week before the rally. To those that have known and been praying for our family, I can't thank you enough. Everyone is holding together considering the shock we are all experiencing right now. We are blessed to have caring friends that make a difference. Here's a toast to my little brother who's bigger than me, God's speed big guy until we meet again!🍻🙏🙏🙏 Oh and give dad a big bear hug for me. 😊

Hello @HDRider from another rider. We leave to pick our Ollie, God willing, in two days. It was a hard decision for us as well as we had to drastically downsize our home and lives to make this commitment possible. But in the realm of RV life, the Oliver is the only way to go that has any level of financial stability. I don't feel like we are throwing money down the drain. Ollie-Haus will be an investment that will get passed on to my son and his wife when we are done using it and the investment will reward them with great times down the road as well. There's much to be said about the recovery process from a lifetime of working, and there's no better way than reconnecting with your wife and the simple but valuable things in life. Traveling in your Oliver will be very simple and will teach you to enjoy the moments together again no matter where your front porch is sitting each day. Congratulation!

This is pretty neat and reminds me of when my dad got me a Crossman air rifle for Christmas when I was 10 years old, and set up a target range in the basement. It was about a 30' range with a plywood backstop against a block wall. I could staple paper targets on the plywood and practice all I wanted. It was pretty much an empty basement besides boxes of Christmas decorations and some exercise equipment. Couldn't hurt much besides a light bulb or window. Dad was an Expert rank rifleman in the Marines in the Korean war, and carried the BAR in combat. He used to tell me the average life span of a BAR rifleman in combat was measured in hours. He come home alive after nearly two years of heavy combat engagements. Needless to say he wanted me to hone my skills at a young age, and learn to respect the weapon. The rules were simple, never load the gun until I was ready to shoot. Safety on and don't touch the trigger until the bullseye was in my sights. Nobody else besides dad or mom in the basement while I was practicing. And last of all, if anything but the plywood got hit directly by a BB, the gun would be gone. I got the message loud and clear, and didn't want to lose my new gun. Thanks for sharing this John, I'm not an airgunner much these days, except for dealing with the occasional vermin in the garden. But I do love practicing with all calibers at the local outdoor range to to stay competent. I'll be following.