Jim and Chris Neuman

As a data point for folks wondering about fuel consumption, we have run half a dozen 20# tanks through our fireplace over the last year and seem to be consuming about a gallon per evenings use ... 4 - 5 nights at 2 - 3 hours per session. You can turn the flame up or down which changes the consumption rate. Our fire pit is one of the smaller ones ... maybe 18" across.

Thanks Mike, We have a 5.5' bed on the F150. Probably go in sideways but not an ideal situation. Otherwise, the Clam seems ideal.

Mike & Carol, How do you store your Clam? The long package will not fit fore & aft in our 5 1/2' pickup bed. Not real excited about hauling it on the roof rack. Everything else about the Clam looks real good.

Kirk, A good excuse to visit Craters of the Moon. One of our favorite spots.

The propane firepits lack the charm and warmth of a traditional wood fire but they are an option as campfire bans become the norm in our dry, Western forests. We set ours up for use either by direct hookup to a tank or by tying a longer hose into the Oliver's external hookups. This requires the purchase of an additional longer hose and adapters to allow for the use of the original short hose supplied for direct tank hookup as well as the second, longer hose. We set up ours to allow for the use of quick disconnect fittings on both hoses. Heat output is not up to the standards of a real campfire, nor is the fire as fun. You don't get the snap and crackle of a real wood fire and there is no point in jabbing the propane flames with a stick ... always a source of amusement with a real fire. On the plus side, smoke is a non-issue and it does provide a focus point for friends to gather around. We were able to increase heat output by adding a bunch of small, pourous lava stones, courtesy of a local volcano. These stones are heavier than the fake rocks that come with the propane firepits and soak up (& radiate) far more heat. Make sure to use appropriate, completely dry stones to avoid the small, nasty explosions that can occur when heating water soaked stones. Speaking of things campfire, we recently purchased a small electric chainsaw for use gathering wood. Boy, what a time and labor saver! I should add we get 5 - 6 long nightime sessions (2 - 3 hours each) out of a 20# cylinder if we don't crank it up too high.

My experience with our 2021 F150 3.5 EB / FX4 / max tow truck mirrors what TexasGuy is experiencing. We have maybe 10K on the F150 while towing our Oliver. Could not be happier with the truck ... a great match for the Legacy II.

Steph & Dud, It is but the Cabin envelopes the battery box except on one side and any heat within the cabin will warm the battery box. This is not total protection but does give you a buffer. Outside temp here in Port Townsend, WA is now 40 degrees (at noon) but the batterys are showing at 54 degrees - this with a small space heater set on it's lowest fan / heat setting. Blocking off air flow from the outside of the battery box and insulating the exterior door will offer additional protection for Lithiums. I would not block off outside air from a wet cell. If one were to mount a permanent heater with ducts into the space between the hulls as well as the interior of the cabin, this would give you a great deal of protection. Just thinking out loud here.

During the winter I have kept a small electric heater running in the cabin of my sailboat for the last 35 years. It tends to get wet and cold on the coast of Washington and a heater kept on low heat will help dry the air and keep the mustiness out of cabin and lockers. It is also important to have some outsinde air venting through the cabin. I have given some thought to permanently installing a very small, wall mounted electric heater in our new Legacy II but have not gone anywhere with that. Anyone explored that option?

Also check out the Overlander. These Garmin units are far more resource rich and user friendly than the GPS that came in my 2021 F150.

The factory weight of our hull 770 was 5020# as it left the factory last May. We went with the Anderson, Lithium package and 30# tanks ... the only things in your build that will really effect weight - the propane tanks and Anderson add weight and the Lithiums will lose you quite a bit of weight over a wet-cell battery setup. Your composting toilet will probably prove out lighter as the "loaded" weight will be less than a full black tank. I suspect the weight of the head itself will be a wash or perhaps a bit lighter than the standard head. I am also guessing the Truma may be a few pounds lighter than the standard water heater / tank combo but do not know this for a fact.

While building boats, I have successfully sealed the edges of fibreglass using a laminating epoxy such as West or System Three. It is tedius but can be done effectively. It helps to seal an edge, let it cure and then give it a light sanding before re-coating. Mask well and remove the masking tape immediately after sealing in order to clean up any uncured epoxy which may have wicked behind the tape. If you fail to do this before the epoxy cures the tape will be epoxied to the glass. You can color the epoxy to match the epoxy resin if you desire. The whole process is time consuming and, as I said, tedious.

Had to laugh when the Tang photo popped up. Years ago, while hiking the John Muir Trail in the Sierra's, we had bears nab the food bags we had hanging from a tree. The only thing the bears did not eat was the Tang and Mountain House freeze dried dinners. Slit the bag the Tang was stored in, tasted it and then set it aside. A bear of taste and refinement!

Successfully painting gelcoat can be extremely difficult and prone to failure. It can be done by those with the experience and equipment to pull it off but for a beginner, the potential for a real mess is very high and reversing the effect may or not be possible. The only sure outcome, as stated by others, is to lessen the resale value of your Oliver.

Recently picked up a 2200i up at the Sportsman's Warehouse in Bend, OR. Likely other branches also stock them.

So long as your rack does not hang below the rack receiver hitch to the point where it gets in the way of pivoting the bumper down to access the waste hose, you will be OK. It would take an odd bike rack to to this but I suppose it could happen.

Geronimo John Had the same issue with our 2021 F150 FX4 crew cab and 2021 Legacy II. As set up by Oliver the gate would hit the hitch were it allowed to drop all the way down - we never let it do that but it was inevitable if I left it alone. We had some minor porposing on some poor roads at speed and fixed that with a set of air bags on the truck. When pumped up to 40# or so, they lifted the back of the truck up about 2" - high enough that I inverted the receiver hitch 180 degrees and reinstalled the ball bracket so that it dropped the hitch down enough to bring the trailer back to level. Adjusting the hitch only took a couple minutes and solved both problems ... porposing issue largely eliminated, gate no longer hits hitch and trailer is back to level.

You can find hardened bolts that are toughter than over the shelf stainless (usually 18-8) but in this instance stainless will be plenty strong and will not corrode. Stainless does have the nasty habit of galling if the alloy of the nut and bolt are similar or identical and can sieze up to the point where the nut cannot be backed off without shearing the bolt. This has become particularly problematical with the imports which are flooding the market in recent years. In installing a new hydraulic ram on my boats autopilot, I recently had some 3/8" stainless bolts / nylock nut combo which siezed up simply threading the nut onto the bolt under no load whatsoever. Taking a moment to smear the threads with lanolin anti sieze solved the problem and will aid in backing off the fasteners in the future should it become necessary. Lanolin is your friend when using bolts to fasten dissimilar metals, particularly in a corrosive environment like around saltwater or in high humidity areas. The brand I use is Lanocote which is readily available in marine supply stores, A 4 oz. plastic jar lasts a very long time. I am sure there are other brands every bit as effective.

If you visit any seaside harbor you will likely see a forest of aluminum masts, booms, tuna towers and all manner of structures made, primarily of 6061 T6 aluminum, much of which is unpainted and unanodized. 6061 alloy holds up extremely well in harsh marine environments. After nearly 40 years of living in saltwater year round, the 6061 aluminum mast, boom, downwind poles and most other major rigging components on my 35' cruising sailboat are virtually unscathed. Yes, you will get an extremely thin dull coat of aluminum oxide built up but that is not a bad thing as it offers a level of protection to the alloy. A freshwater rinse after use on suspect roads is worthwhile but I would not sit up nights worrying about occasional exposure to road chemicals ... I would worry more about the steel axle frame. The aluminum Oliver frame will undoubtably outlast most of us owners.

Here in the Northwest our "cascade concrete" can weigh up to 20# per cubic foot. Wet, dense snow / ice a foot or more in depth can mean the equivalent of a couple of heavy guys standing on your panels. Best to keep it brushed off. Lot's of snow weight computers on the web for the interested.

Any good brake shop can handle this ... probably better than a trailer repair shop. Les Schwab comes to mind.

I would not let snow build up on the solar panels. The panel frame is supported only out on the edges with no center support and the panels themselves are supported only around the perimeter.

A stand alone GPS / mapping unit which does not require an active cell signal is a must in many areas ... particularly in the west. Garmin makes many good units aimed at RV'ers. We use a Garmin Overlander and, as we do a lot of our travel and camping off the beaten track, we feel it is worth the relatively high price. A paper map is always a good backup and will astound your children and grandchildren!

There are foil tapes made just for this - ask you local hardware store. Standard duct tape will age and powder out over time especially in the presence of heat. Some brands, like the Gorilla tape, will last longer.

We have the Norcold in our Oliver 2 (hull 770) with the lithium package. Running the fridge on 12 volt the batteries run down very fast. We recently ran the fridge on 12V on an 80 + degree day and found after about 8 hours the fridge drained the 390 amp hour battery bank to about 65%. I do not believe his rate of power consumption is sustainable in our Northwest climate if you are off the grid as the solar will not keep up. After 8K of travel in the five months we have owned hull 770 we find we use propane to power the fridge all the time unless hooked to 110. There have been no issues so far. The inability to charge the lithium batteries from the tow vehicle is a serious issue for those of us who live in the Northwest and camp off the grid. I went with the lithium package despite my misgivings in the hope Oliver will work with Lithionics and come up with a TV charging option which they both support and which we owners can confidently implement. As I am unaware of any progress being made in that direction, I question whether I made the right choice going with the lithiums. In the defense of the system, we have found that given mild temps and a reasonable amount of solar gain, the panels will keep up with our electricity demands if we stick with propane to power the fridge.

After 43 years building and maintaining a cruising sailboat, I have found Oliver ownership a bargain! There are much more effective ways to squander your childrens inheritance than owning an Oliver 🙂