Before Ollies, there was the Burro (double wall fiberglass trailer).

[John E Davies]

 

VIDEO: Burro trailer walk around

Interesting article. Their history shows that most of the battle in building these over a long period of time is financial stability.

”In the early ’70s someone in St. Cloud MN manufactured a trailer called the “Cloud”. The Cloud looked very much like the Burro. In the late ’70s the first Burros were produced in Plymouth MN, less than a hundred miles from St. Cloud. Interestingly, the Burro was double-wall construction while the Cloud was apparently single walled. Burro was manufactured in Plymouth MN until the early 80s. Burro re-appeared in Sac City IA and began production in the mid 80s and had a production run until about 1990. Sac City saw the introduction of the 17′ wide body along with the 13′ standard Burros. Apparently the business was poorly managed and investors seized the molds and production equipment. Burro resurfaced in Escondido CA with new molds that were fabricated in Mexico in 1998 or thereabouts. Again because of a variety of factors, Burro went out of business. According to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, the owners ran into significant legal difficulties and seem to have disappeared, along with the molds and equipment.”

https://tincantourists.com/wiki/burro-rv/

I think one great thing about the Oliver company is that their bathtub manufacturing and mobile home divisions can stabilize the finances in times of “RV drought”. Stand-alone trailer manufacturers do not have that safety net to fall back on, when people stop buying their trailers.

A 17 ft Burro popped up on my local Craigslist, that is what got me started with this topic.

https://spokane.craigslist.org/rvs/d/athol-burro-travel-trailer/7250882363.html

John Davies

Spokane WA

Edited December 22, 2020 by John E Davies

[mjrendon]

John, 

Are you considering this for your winter project?

[SeaDawg]

Burro was around for a good while. You'll also occasionally find uhaul travel trailers from (probably) the same molds. Same design. But, a uhaul logo.

The burro website survived for many years beyond the plant  closing. It was weird to bring it up,  but no one to communicate with. Many called it a "ghost site." 

I,  personally,  never cared for the longitudinal seam, like the egg camper. But, you'll still see vintage burro and uhaul trailers online, and at some rallies. 

Not a project for me, but I've seen some incredible restoration photos over the years. More power to them. 

[SeaDawg]

2 hours ago, John E Davies said:

think one great thing about the Oliver company is that their bathtub manufacturing and mobile home divisions can stabilize the finances in times of “RV drought”. Stand-alone trailer manufacturers do not have that safety net to fall back on, when people stop buying their trailers.

I missed that point. And, it's important.  

Even though we (original 2007/8/9) owners could have felt orphaned, we never did. The factory and family supported us til production resumed.

It is indeed an important note.