Buchholzs in a Burro: 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.”