How to Weigh a Burro! (by Jim)

Getting the Burro ready for weighing at the truck stop.

When we bought our Honda CR-V a couple of years ago, we never imagined that it would be used to haul a travel trailer! Perhaps a few bicycles now and then, but nothing too heavy. The cargo space inside the vehicle was far more important. But towing capacity? Who cares?

After deciding that we were going to use a camper rather than a tent for 6 months (I'm still debating this point!), we finally got around to checking out how much our little vehicle could tow. We discovered that it could tow 1,500 pounds. Not knowing anything about trailers, that sounded pretty good! But as it turns out, finding any trailer under 1,500 pounds is nearly impossible. Modern 13-foot Scamps, the most well-known lightweight travel trailers, weigh 1,500 pounds completely unloaded.

We debated getting a pop-up camper, but most of them are quite large (more than our weight limit), require significant effort to set up, and shouldn't be put away wet. Might as well use a tent! We also debated ultra lightweight teardrop camper trailers, which, while really cool, aren't high enough to stand in. I know, we're picky, but it is our home for 6 months.

Fortunately, it turns out that some of the small "egg-shaped" fiberglass travel trailers of the past weighed much less. And, as luck would have it, Sunshine's dad happened to have a LARGE variety of old "egg-shaped" trailers that he had collected over the years on his property... almost like a historic trailer RV lot. We borrowed a Burro for some camping trips in fall and found it to be very functional and convenient (a cold, rainy day at Peninsula State Park convinced me in the end). We then borrowed another Burro, which is the one we've been working on all winter long.

But... we didn't know the weight. According to websites, 13-foot Burros typically weigh about 800 to 900 pounds empty. This one had a refrigerator, so we knew that it would be even heavier starting out. So, as we've renovated the trailer, we've had to be ultra conscious of the weight. We debated taking the refrigerator out, but based on Sunshine's fresh food needs, we decided it would be an essential item to keep. When we added the subfloor, we used 1/4-inch plywood instead of 1/2-inch plywood after seeing the weight difference. We decided to use lightweight carpeting instead of heavier vinyl tile (which would have been easier to clean). We chose lower density mattress foam for the bed. All of our choices were to keep the trailer as feather-light as possible. It was either that, or buy a new vehicle for towing!

So after all of our work this winter and renovating the trailer, we still had no idea what our trailer weighed. And as we're now getting to the packing phase, we needed to know how much we could shove into the trailer. So, this past weekend, we packed up the Burro with the essentials (spare tire, full propane tank, battery, mattresses) and took a family adventure to the Kwik Trip truck stop in Plover to use their big truck CAT scales.

We're all ready for weighing!

Sunshine guessed the trailer weighed 1,156 pounds. I guessed it weighed 1,084 pounds. The first challenge we encountered... the button to talk to the people in the station was up so high that we couldn't reach it. It's made for truckers. So, I went into the gas station to discuss this with the operators, and worked out a signal to flash to the camera. We then had to figure out how to get the actual weight of the trailer itself. Fortunately, no truckers were waiting to use the scale, so we were able to unhook it from the vehicle for a true weighing. After pulling off the scales and going back into the gas station... and waiting for the staff to change the special "truck scale" paper in the printer... we finally got our official weight...

1,160 pounds! Yep, Sunshine definitely won that bet... sigh. So, we now know that we have about 350 pounds to play with for packing. Not much, but it's at least something to work with. We'll be packing the trailer like we would prepare for a long backpacking trip: just the essentials, cut down on weight wherever possible, and realize that you can wear the same underwear  for more than one day! (Sunshine says, "Eww.")

Our Route

The Burro in our driveway - 6 weeks before leaving

One of the first questions we get asked when we tell a person about our adventure is, “where are you going?” It was actually one of the later things we planned. We had to be sure all the logistics were in place before we let ourselves dream of what we wanted to see and do. Our route is determined by several factors – the weather, family and friends we want to visit, and natural sites we want to explore. We plan to leave Wisconsin on March 1 so our first goal will be to head south in search of warm weather. Our progress may be hastened after a frigid night or two because the Burro does not have a heater. We plan to utilize state and national forests, parks, BLM land, campgrounds, rest areas, truck stops, and driveways of friends/family as places to stay. We recognize that we will need to be flexible with our travel plans based on weather, unexpected delays (breakdowns, road construction, detours), the needs of an almost three year old, and discoveries of amazing places we want to explore. We’ll feel more confident about all this once we are on the road, develop a routine, and settle into our new way of living on the road.

At this point, we project our journey might look something like this (obviously some states we will only drive through): March = Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma. April = New Mexico, Utah, Arizona. May and June = California coast north to Seattle. July and August = Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and finally back to Wisconsin. 

Some of the places high on our list to visit are Mammoth Cave, KY; Savannah, GA; New Orleans, LA; Santa Fe, NM; Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce, Zion, Capitol Reef National Parks, UT; Petrified Forest National Park, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, AZ; Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite, Redwoods National Parks, Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods, CA; Olympic, Mount Rainier National Park, WA; Glacier National Park, MT; Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Parks, WY; Saint Louis Arch; MO. We also have family and friends who live in Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, California, and Washington that we hope to spend time with.

The Burro

Original interior

Burro camping trailers were made from 1978-2001. The smallest model is 13 feet long, 7 feet wide, and weighs under 1500 pounds. Inside there is sleeping room for three, a sink, refrigerator, two burner stove, closet, and two small cupboards. Used Burros are usually sold rapidly because there are so few lightweight trailers on the market. Luckily Grandpa Dick had an older model that he was willing to loan us if we were willing to put in some time and elbow grease to make it road ready. In the end, we decided to gut it, fully restore it, and make it homey. Unfortunately by the time we brought it home to work on it cold weather had set in and we discovered the camper was too tall to fit in our garage.

Installing new ceiling carpet

Jim did hours of research online to learn about Burros, camper restoration, and where to locate parts and supplies. Thankfully Dick had lots of experience we could draw from and advice on what most needed to be done to prepare the camper. We did as much shopping, preparation of parts, and cleaning as we could while the Burro sat in our driveway. Exterior shell: washed and scrubbed. Interior: stripped and mounds of dead lady bugs vacuumed up. Brake and running lights: re-wired and working. Interior lights: also re-wired and working. Then it snowed and got really cold.

When we realized there was no hope for warmer weather before we left on our trip and we needed to glue, seal, and apply adhesives we contemplated options for continuing our restoration work. Thankfully our friends Sterling and Pat have a wood heated garage with an oversized garage door about 40 minutes from our house. We moved the Burro there for 8 days over Christmas and New Years and worked until we dropped to finish as much as we possibly could.  Several days Walden was a trooper and cozied up to the woodstove playing games and watching movies on an iPad while we worked. Grandma and Grandpa Buchholz also came for three days and played with Walden at home while Mom and Dad worked long hours.

Wiring the battery

We don’t know what model year the Burro we have is but at least the frame and shell were in good condition. So what did our restoration include? Interior: door weather stripped; new subfloor sealed, installed, caulked, carpeted; new carpet on the walls and ceiling; wiring installed for battery, charging station, new lights (LED updates); cupboard lined; closet shelving installed; refrigerator wired, tested, cleaned, insulated. Exterior: holes sealed; shell waxed; top and side seams sealed and painted; vent hood installed; bumper extension replaced; spare tired attached.

There are a few finishing touches waiting to be installed like the awning and divider curtain for Walden’s sleeping area. Thanks to Grandma Kathy’s sewing prowess we’ll also have curtains and covers for the new mattresses we purchased. To give you an idea of what restoration work is like, the mattresses were not something that could be ordered online and set in place. We had to locate the foam, have it shipped, cut it with an electric knife (that we fried in the process), purchase the fabric, create a pattern, and have covers custom sewn. Did we need to do all this? Not really. But to be comfortable, sure we were free of mold, and make the Burro feel like our own we chose to put in the extra effort. As Jim keeps saying, “This is going to be our home for six months. We are not going camping for a weekend. Let’s be sure we are comfortable in there.”

Waxing the shell

Cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning

Walden entertaining himself

Sealing the subfloor

Ready to leave the shop