Trailer Cover for Elite II

[Joey569]

Hi everyone Hull 569 here- took delivery in December and planned to start traveling by this time but staying home for now.  Does anyone have experience with a cover for their Ollie?  Have seen some forum references to CalMark covers, but those posts are very old.  Any experience with another manufacturer?  Any experience or lessons learned through using a cover on you Ollie?  Any pictures?

 

Would be grateful for any information or advice.  Thanks again. 

Edited May 11, 2020 by Joey569

[Overland]

I think CalMark is still the top choice.  Expensive but quality construction and materials.  

 

 

[Patriot]

Based on a very solid recommendation from topgun2 we are purchasing a gently used CalMark from a former Ollie owner.
As Overland said it’s likely your best choice. topgun2 will likely weigh in.

[topgun2]

Just before changing into my workout cloths and going downstairs to the home gym, some guy has to mention "weighing in" - bummer.

However,with reference to the CalMark covers - just type Calmark into the search box at the top right of this page and have fun reading.  And, there are even pics in some of those posts.

I've used both CalMark and Adco covers over the years and firmly believe that the CalMark's are better.  Both are made from the same "Sunbrella" material but the CalMark has three webbing straps that completely go around the Oliver (front, middle and rear) and it has both a cinch rope in the bottom hem and grommets in the bottom hem that the Adco doesn't have.  Both companies have the measurements for the Oliver LEII (they probably have it for the LEI also).  Both have an access door so you can get into the Ollie without taking the cover off.

Bill 

[PapaBiker]

I had a concrete pad poured next to our power pole so I could install a 30 amp and standard 15 amp outlet for our Gracie (Hull 416). The location was close to power and one of the few level spots on the property.  Unfortunately, there are two mature white pine trees nearby and power lines cross over the trailer.  Last week, I washed her and noticed pine needles and bird droppings on the roof.

I reviewed the several threads about covers and decided I should bite the bullet and order the popular favorite.  A price quoted last fall on this forum was @$700, another from this spring quoted @$900.  I swallowed hard and decided to go for it.  I requested a quote on-line for the 2019 OTT Elite II and received a response of just under @$1300 + shipping.  I called to confirm and was told the bid was correct, “We’ve had a price increase”.  No fooling!

i decided to pass, and today I went out to buff and clean Gracie with fiberglass cleaner and then polish with marine polish.  Lo and behold, I find bird doo all down the side of our baby.  So, I have to decide if it’s worth the cost.  How difficult is the cover it install and remove?  How often do I need to connect to shore power to keep the batteries protected, or can I leave the power connected?  Does one need to pad the solar panel corners to protect the cover?

Thoughts and recommendations appreciated.

 

 

Edited May 29, 2020 by PapaBiker
Correction

[topgun2]

"How difficult is the cover it install and remove?  How often do I need to connect to shore power to keep the batteries protected, or can I leave the power connected?  Does one need to pad the solar panel corners to protect the cover?"

Papabiker - 

As with most things the answers to your questions can be summed up with - "It depends".  But I'm sure that this answer doesn't really help you very much.  Keep in mind that these CalMark covers (and ADCO covers) are both made from a canvas-like material and are therefore fairly heavy.  They are even heavier when wet.  In order to cover an RV, they are also fairly large.  So, installing and removing when it is windy can be a challenge and I would not even attempt to install when either the cover or the Ollie is wet.  I have always installed mine all by myself but certainly this project would be bunches easier with two people.  At least one (if not two) ladders are required and to install, the cover must be lifted onto the roof.  If it helps you - I'm six feet tall, 165 pounds and in fairly good physical condition - I exercise 6 days a week.  Interestingly, removing the cover is easier than installation.  If you remove it from front to back, once you clear the solar panels the cover virtually slides over the air conditioner and off the back of the Oliver all by itself due to the weight of the cover pulling it off.

Padding the solar panels and (at least) the rear bumper is a must.  I have also had some wear of the cover in and around the area of the steps that you might want to pad.  I use "pool noodles" for both the solar panels and the bumper.  The bigger the pool noodles the better.  CalMark does include a patch/repair kit with new covers and it is very simple to use in the event of a tear.

Finally, your question regarding batteries.  While both these covers "breathe" the answers depend on which batteries you have, how long you will have your Oliver in storage and the type of weather in your area.  In my case I still have the old fashion lead acid batteries, I leave my Oliver in storage for as long as 6 to 7 months at a time, typically our winters can get down below freezing for a few days in a row, and (of course) I disconnect all power drains from the batteries.  Since the solar panels are covered, they are of no use, so, I connect a small 25 watt solar panel to the batteries and this keeps them at full charge with a very low and slow charge rate thus not causing very much "off-gassing" of the lead acid batteries.  However, during long periods of storage, I do check the batteries every 8 to 10 weeks and add distilled water as necessary.  I have read posts where owners have not touched their Oliver for similar periods of time in worse weather conditions than I ever experience and the batteries were still fine.  But, I'm very conservative with my equipment. 

Hope this helps you.  If you have further questions - either PM me or post them here.

Bill

Edited May 29, 2020 by topgun2

[SeaDawg]

That's a really big price increase! It would make a really good down payment on a permanent carport, or you could buy one of the fabric carports for probably half the price, if your zoning allows you to put up either one.

Sherry

[SeaDawg]

FWIW, an additional safeguard beyond pool noodles is reinforcing material added to the chafing spots. We do this routinely with sail covers, where lines or hardware make contact with the cover. I mark the spots with tailor's chalk, and take the cover to our favorite canvas  shop. They add reinforcement patches on the wear surface (in this case, they'd go on the inside) as a sacrificial lamb. Helps to keep the cover intact.

We do a lot of work with, and refer a number of folks, to our favorite shop, so they charged me about 100 for six reinforcement patches last time. I think I got a little discount. Might be more where you are. I don't know.

Our sail covers are to big for me to use my machine, and doing that work by hand is just too much for me these days. Lynn has a huge table and can deal with the weight of the covers better than I can.

Just a thought. I'd still use the pool noodles, even so, as a trailer cover shifts a lot more than a sail cover in weather. 

Sherry

[PapaBiker]

Thanks, Bill and Sherry for the responses.  I’m going to price carport options but suspect it’s going to be either cover or no cover.  

[Patriot]

We picked up two of these commercial grade extension poles at Lowe’s to assist in draping the Calmark Cover over our Ollie when it comes time to store it. Our intention is start from the front using the poles to lift the cover with one person on each side of the Ollie walking back and slowly draping the cover as we go. I purchased a cheap pack of tennis balls at Wally World to protect the cover from the threaded ends of the extension poles. This is just an idea or lets say a work in progress. The poles extend up to 8’ and are very rigid. We will only need to extend the poles 3’ to clear the 9’7” top of the AC.  So we’ll post up our thoughts on how this idea works when we give this a try at some point in the future.

 

 

Edited June 9, 2020 by Patriot

[Landrover]

2 hours ago, Patriot said:

We picked up two of these commercial grade extension poles at Lowe’s to assist in draping the Calmark Cover over our Ollie when it comes time to store it. Our intention is start from the front using the poles to lift the cover with one person on each side of the Ollie walking back and slowly draping the cover as we go. I purchased a cheap pack of tennis balls at Wally World to protect the cover from the threaded ends of the extension poles. This is just an idea or lets say a work in progress. The poles extend up to 8’ and are very rigid. We will only need to extend the poles 3’ to clear the 9’7” top of the AC.  So we’ll post up our thoughts on how this idea works when we give this a try at some point in the future.

 

 

Patriot  Hope these poles work well for the cover, if not you can always use them for your awning prop rods.

[Geronimo John]

I store my Oliver in a 95% dark barn in Oklahoma.  I wanted a cover that would provide insect and bird protection.   I went with the ADCO cover, but the one received was larger than I needed.  Circumstances required that I use it anyway as my summer flight back to Hawaii was just a day away. 

When my too large cover had a warranty issue, Ichose to go with the next smaller size stock ADCO Cover.   They sent me a replacement at no cost.  The one sent and shown is their 3840 stock number.  I did a quick install of the cover just to test fit it.  I was not trying to make a perfect install, just wanted to make sure it would fit.  Hence the imperfect strapping alignments.  For an off the shelf cover, it is still a bit larger than the Elite II requires, but gets the job done much better than it's bigger brother did.         

I would be interested if any Oliver Elite owner has tried their next smaller size.  Likely to be too small I think.  

Yes I would order the 34840 ADCO again.  If I did not have a barn, I would go with a metal carport with this ADCO cover.

NOTE:  I install my cover and set up the trailer so that the ground points of contact are the tires and three jacks. I do not need to use the ADCO provided wheel covers as it is a 95% dark barn.  The jacks are all on 6" concrete blocks.  This combination makes it harder for ground pests to get into a position to do any damage.  So far, after two winters, no issues.

 

[sakthorp]

We bit the bullet and rented an enclosed garage nearby.  They added an electric outlet so we can keep it connected to shore power to keep the batteries charged.  This worked for us since we can't store RV's in our neighborhood.  Decades ago, we used RV covers.  They are HEAVY, especially when wet.  At the ages we are now, there is no way I want my husband on a ladder to do this task.  In fact, I recently removed the ladder from the front closet for this reason.  Please consider the safety factor when making your decision.  

 

[Trainman]

I think many times about a cover for out trailer, the cedar built type is about the only type that would work where we live, yes that cost is high, but that's the only way to go for our property to look in place with the home and the rest of the area. I do get out the portable scaffolding, set it up once a year, I light buff and wax, yes it's a pain in the you know what, but being a little over picky about stuff (A.D.D.) that's what I do.  Covers are out for me, they rub on the surfaces, collect moisture under them, are a pain to get on an off, plus opening the trailer for access to get in an out for routine whatever and to air it out is also not so easy. Fiberglass is a very durable product, I personally know of 30 year old boats that look new today, yes they are buffed and waxed on a regular bases, it's just what you do if you like your stuff nice. Do note when I say buff and wax I'm also including things like, the A/C cover, window frames, awing cover, air vents, and anything else that needs it. Do what works for you, I do.

trainman