Storing an Oliver

[SYoung]

We are considering buying an Oliver, but we only have a pole barn or a horse barn (no horses) for storage. Both have dirt floors. Any thoughts or ideas.

Sherrill 

[ScubaRx]

The main thing would be to keep it out of the weather. Direct sunlight, rain, hail etc. The floor being dirt wouldn't matter too much to me unless it flooded and turned to mud during wet weather. You would ideally want electricity and water available near where it is parked and easy access, maybe even pull thru but backing is not too hard to learn to do. A connection for dumping would be a real plus. Sounds like a great starting point.

[MAX Burner]

@SYoung:

First off... WELCOME!  You'll find an amazing amount of information on this forum to help guide you through your Oliver experience. 

Just some quick thoughts:

1. Depending on construction of your barns, to eliminate either standing or flowing water in the vicinity of the Ollie, it could be a good thing to cover the dirt with landscaping cloth and a few inches of gravel.  This would allow better drainage and entry into the trailer without bringing in muddy feet.

2. A key consideration is keeping it covered and out of the sun to slow down the oxidation of the gelcoat - there are quite a few "chalky" OTT out there because of prolonged sun exposure.  

3. It would be advisable to have at least a 20amp circuit available inside the barn for keeping batteries conditioned, and a potable water bib to allow for filling fresh water tank.

4. More "nice to have" items would be plenty of storage for RV-related accessories, a workbench, and septic tank access for flushing out gray/black water tanks.

Hope this helps.  Good luck with your purchase!

Cheers!

[MAX Burner]

@ScubaRx: HA!  We must have been responding to this thread simultaneously!

[Patriot]

22 hours ago, SYoung said:

We are considering buying an Oliver, but we only have a pole barn or a horse barn (no horses) for storage. Both have dirt floors. Any thoughts or ideas.

Sherrill 

@SYoung
Welcome to the forum! We park our Ollie here at our home. I had a 13X55’ slab poured and then had a metal building constructed to keep our Ollie out of the weather especially the sun. We also keep our Ollie plugged in to a 30amp outlet. I also bird proofed our “Ollie Hangar” to keep the birds from nesting and/or perching and crapping all over the roof of the Oliver. We are a year in and no birds nesting, perching or crapping on our Ollie. I blocked off every area or ledge  they could perch or nest on with 2” thick hard insulation foam. 

My suggestion: add a 4-5” nice level gravel base or crusher run where you plan on parking under that pole barn. Figure out a way to bird proof it as much as possible. Birds will make a real mess on your gelcoat over time. Run a 30 amp power cord and a water line or hose if you can. Figure out how to keep the sun off of it while parked. The suns UV can be pretty rough on gel coat. 
 

We got a little creative and made a place where we can enjoy a campfire, tell a few tales,

and even a few true camping stories. 😎

 

This works well for us and our Ollie is well protected from the elements.
It’s especially nice when I wash the Ollie as it’s always in the shade.

Welcome and I hope this helps!

Patriot🇺🇸

[MAX Burner]

On 7/30/2023 at 6:04 PM, Patriot said:

We got a little creative and made a place where we can enjoy a campfire, tell a few tales,

and even a few true camping stories.

Looks like a nice set-up you have there, @Patriot...  

Nice place for telling "Fairy Tales" and "Sea Stories"  (You know what the difference between the two are, right?)

[rich.dev]

Yes VERY impressive set-up you have there @Patriot Wow, my 2 month old Ollie will be parked out in the elements when stored and camping, from the above suggestions sounds like I'll have to sell it! 😜

[Patriot]

16 hours ago, rich.dev said:

Yes VERY impressive set-up you have there @Patriot Wow, my 2 month old Ollie will be parked out in the elements when stored and camping, from the above suggestions sounds like I'll have to sell it! 😜

Thanks we really like parking our Ollie under cover at home vs paying for a storage lot. It’s  been a work in progress for sure.
Since you don’t keep your Ollie under cover just be ready to address or stay ahead of the slow creep of your gel coat beginning to oxidize a chaulky white on the roof top and corners.  Then there is the degradation of all your caulking from UV.  Fun times! 
 

 

[Katjo]

@Patriot Nice storage!! Love the fire pit set up as well.😍

[Geronimo John]

Sugggest getting three solid concrete blocks and burying them in the floor of the barn so that about an inch extends above the dirt.  Place them where you want the  jacks to be when stored.  This gives you the "perfect" target year after year and keeps mud from rusting out your jack plates.  Also, I suggest covering your OTT with a less expensive cover.  Mostly to help defend against mud dobbers and hornet nests.  Finally install a screen over your heater exhaust.  

GJ

[SeaDawg]

Our 2008 Oliver has been outside its whole life, 24/7/365, never used a cover, other than a cover for the a/c, and wires screens (camco) for intakes and outlets, and tire covers, for uv protection. 

Our Florida sun can be brutal, but we wax with a quality product 2x a year, as we do with our boats. I should have covered the front jack head, as that plastic has yellowed with age and uv, and the uncovered  original dometic a/c shroud deteriorated in the sun after ten years or so (that's why we cover the new Houghton, when parked for a long time.)

Oliver uses a marine grade gelcoat. Take care of your quality stuff, and it takes care of you.

Having a pole barn, or horse barn,  even with a dirt floor, would be awesome, to help keep it clean and protected from leaf and pollen buildup, etc.  We run our tires up on 2x 6 or 2 x 8 planks , and put more pt boards under the jacks, rear and front, to keep them out of the dirt, and many other reasons. 

 

 

 

 

[Patriot]

15 minutes ago, SeaDawg said:

Our 2008 Oliver has been outside its whole life, 24/7/365, never used a cover, other than a cover for the a/c, and wires screens (camco) for intakes and outlets, and tire covers, for uv protection. 

Our Florida sun can be brutal, but we wax with a quality product 2x a year, as we do with our boats. I should have covered the front jack head, as that plastic has yellowed with age and uv, and the uncovered  original dometic a/c shroud deteriorated in the sun after ten years or so (that's why we cover the new Houghton, when parked for a long time.)

Oliver uses a marine grade gelcoat. Take care of your quality stuff, and it takes care of you.

Having a pole barn, or horse barn,  even with a dirt floor, would be awesome, to help keep it clean and protected from leaf and pollen buildup, etc.  We run our tires up on 2x 6 or 2 x 8 planks , and put more pt boards under the jacks, rear and front, to keep them out of the dirt, and many other reasons. 

 

 

 

 

@SeaDawg wow 8 years outside, never covered, and no gelcoat oxidation that’s really impressive.

Please post up a few photos of your OLE1. 😊

Patriot🇺🇸
 

 

[SeaDawg]

Almost 16 years, @Patriot. We brought it home, February,  2008.

I'll look for a few more. You can see my trailer in every update post we do.

These are from 2020, I  think. 

You can see the yellowed jack head. My bad. We should have covered it.

 

 

[Patriot]

20 minutes ago, SeaDawg said:

Almost 16 years, @Patriot. We brought it home, February,  2008.

I'll look for a few more. You can see my trailer in every update post we do.

These are from 2020, I  think. 

You can see the yellowed jack head. My bad. We should have covered it.

 

 

Looking super!! 👍🏻👍🏻 Nothing like a polished Ollie! 😊

[topgun2]

Is that a back in or pull through space next to the house?

Either way - awesome job of getting it that close.

Bill

[SeaDawg]

12 hours ago, topgun2 said:

Is that a back in or pull through space next to the house?

Either way - awesome job of getting it that close.

Bill

It's backin, and it's not really a lot of fun. But, we have it down to a science, manageable with just the two of us.

We often use my Silverado to back the trailer as close to, or into the 8 ft gates to the 12 ft side yard, as possible.  Then, we use a parkit 360 , and plywood, to get it the "rest of the way."

It also means moving lawn gear, and boat trailer, out of the way, before we back in. Driveway has a 6 ft 8" rise, in a short distance, from the street, and a drainage area, maybe 12" deep, at the curb cut.  

It's definitely  a process, but when you've done it a bunch of times, it does get easier. 😀

I've seen worse. And, managed worse.

Ps, the big white vertical drain pipes you see are our rainwater collection system. Our neighbors on that side have no windows on that side, save a 20 x 20 in a half bath, and that window looks out at vegetation, only,  so we elected to install major piping, etc, where no one would see visual clutter.

We love our neighbors,  and would not ever  want to offend them.

 

 

[MAX Burner]

15 hours ago, SeaDawg said:

Almost 16 years, @Patriot. We brought it home, February,  2008.

I'll look for a few more. You can see my trailer in every update post we do.

These are from 2020, I  think. 

You can see the yellowed jack head. My bad. We should have covered it.

 

 

So, @SeaDawg - can y'all still shimmy into the main hatch when there's a need to play inside your Ollie when docked along side the house?  Just curious...

[Wandering Sagebrush]

A Parkit 360… the secret of success.  There’s been many a time I wished I had invested in a trailer mover.

[SeaDawg]

2 hours ago, MAX Burner said:

So, @SeaDawg - can y'all still shimmy into the main hatch when there's a need to play inside your Ollie when docked along side the house?  Just curious...

Yes. We move the front at an angle. We probably parked it really close to the house that time to have better access to the roof or the streetside, for a project.

[SeaDawg]

21 minutes ago, Wandering Sagebrush said:

A Parkit 360… the secret of success.  There’s been many a time I wished I had invested in a trailer mover.

They're really tricky to use, in my opinion, and it barely does the job. Best use is level pavement.  I've discussed it a number of times in various posts. Ours is an older model, and they may have made some improvements,  I think, over the years.

[Wandering Sagebrush]

52 minutes ago, SeaDawg said:

They're really tricky to use, in my opinion, and it barely does the job. Best use is level pavement.  I've discussed it a number of times in various posts. Ours is an older model, and they may have made some improvements,  I think, over the years.

Our previous home had a 12’ wide driveway that had an immediate 90° turn, with a hog wire fence.  Trying to back in our first Airstream, the driver side rock guard caught and ripped the skin, plus the ruined rock guard.  Hence the desire to have a trailer mover.

[MAX Burner]

2 hours ago, SeaDawg said:

Yes. We move the front at an angle.

Thanks.  It's great that you can access inside - even if its just to hang out and have a cold one!

[CRM]

@SeaDawg Did you upgrade to the two step steps, or did yours come that way? Our Hull 45 came with a single step only and was wondering if it's a simple upgrade or if they attach in a different manor requiring fabrication?

[Boudicca908]

23 hours ago, SeaDawg said:

we wax with a quality product 2x a year

Do you mind sharing what product you use? 
Also, what you use for washing? 

[Bryan in NC]

Welcome @SYoung.  We poured a 12x24 concrete pad for our Ollie prior to bringing her home and our plan was to do the same as @SeaDawg and keep her in the elements and apply marine grade wax on a regular basis.  But the pollen and tree debris/sap proved too much this past Spring, so we now use a Calmark cover.  We had also planned to run an electrical line, but decided instead to take advantage of the Ollie's Zamp port and keep her batteries topped off using an inexpensive 100W solar panel.  It's a suitecase style, so we could bring it along for extra capacity when boondocking.  Adapt and overcome 🙂 

@Patriot, very nice setup.  Are you accepting reservations 🙂