Trailmanor vs. Hybrid

Hello All,

Last year while camping in our Jayco Pop Up I had the opportunity to check out a fellow camper's Trailmanor. I was very impressed. I have since sold our pop up and my wife and I are looking to upgrade to a Trailmanor or Jayco 21M Hybrid with Slide. If I decided on a Trailmanor, it would have to be the 2720SL as I believe it would still fit in my gargage. But the downside is we have 3 dogs and the wife wants to have more room than a pop up.

Do you think the Trailmanor is too small for just the wife, me, and the three dogs? The downside to the Jayco...I would have to park it in a RV storage lot. Towing capacity is not an issue...I have a Ford F150 with 9800 tow capacity.

Can you all help out with advice and let me know what made you decide to get a Trailmanor. Thanks in advance.

Dan

I sold my Jayco Jay King 6 sleeper for a 2720. We have a dog and a teenager that we travel with. I have noticed almost no decrease in mileage with the 2720. We keep are dog in a kennel box in the trailer when we are away. If your dogs are really big then you may have to go to the big trailer.
We decided on the 2820 for the bath and the sofa and easy chair. We had gotten tired of the bench and table of the old Jayco. There is a lot of space and comfort in the 2720, Hope this helps!

Thanks Roger...what made you look to the Trailmanor vs. other light weight hybrids or trailers? I do like the more open floor plan on the Jayco, and it is quite a bit less in price. What do you like about the trailmanor and would you purchase another one?

[Leslie & Nick]

Originally Posted by globemaster66

Hello All,

But the downside is we have 3 dogs and the wife wants to have more room than a pop up.
Do you think the Trailmanor is too small for just the wife, me, and the three dogs? Dan

My wife and I camp with three dogs also. We have a 2619 (full sized beds in front and rear). Dogs sleep in the front bed, and we're in the rear bunk. Also have an F150 TV. No doubt about it, three dogs and two adults makes for a snug fit, but we've been doing it for several years now and it seems to work for us. We take those dogs everywhere!!

Nick

Huskies, Great Danes, or Chihuahuas? There is a big difference.

We no long have dogs, so I can not help with that aspect of your questions.

But I can tell you why we got the TM.

We wanted the largest hard sided (no fabric walls) trailer that would fit in our garage. Must have, stove, oven, fridge, shower, toilet, sleep 6, not longer than 19 feet, short enough to clear the garage door.

We looked at HiLos, but the biggest was 17 feet, and those do not sleep 6.

We have been very happy, since March 2005.

Back to the dogs, if you have a 2720 like mine, the dogs will end up on the front bunk. I would not like that while I was eating dinner. I would get one of the 2720 models that has the living space in the front instead of the bunk, so the dogs are at floor level instead of eye level.

To add to PopBeavers reply,
We have 2 German Shepherds and we first were thinking of the 2720 SL so that we had additional floor space for the 2 (large) dogs. After looking at all of the 27XX variants (we were stuck on 27 as that was the biggest that would fit in our garage, and my tow vehicle is only a Ridgeline, so didn't want to push the tow capacity either) we finally decided on the 2720 exactly so the dogs would always end up on the front bed - keeps them off the floor and not underfoot. There is not much floor space when you are talking about 2 large dogs. Of course the down side (as PB mentioned) to that approach, is that they are at eye level when we are eating - not a problem for us as our dogs are very well behaved, but it is almost impossible to eat a meal without a "side" of dog hair :-). If you look at my avatar, you will get the idea.

Dan - our reasons for getting a TM are a little different, but no less valid for us. We have no dogs so our biggest issue was to have hard sides. After camping in national forests and state parks in Colorado for 5 years in a Starcraft popup, my biggest complaint (aside from the setup) was having to move food to the TV each night - due to bears. I've never had an incident, but the rules are that no food can be in a softsided camper (tents or popups) overnight. The TM provided the best compromise of light weight towing and hard sides.

I never have liked the SL design because I don't like the table folding out from each side. We like the dinette arrangement so we can seat 6 people comfortably for dinner if needed. We have the front bed in our 3124KB, even though it is just the two of us, so it ends up being an additional handy storage area. And if our grandson ever joins us for a campout, we have a place for him (his mom and dad will "rough it" in a tent - they're young! ).

Good luck with your decision.

Alan

Dan, We had a neighbor that had a TM. We didn't want to buy a big tow vehicle or suffer the fuel cost of towing an upright. When I found a nice 2005 2720SL for sale we jumped on it. Sold the Jayco after that. We tow with a Jeep Liberty with the 4 cyl. diesel. 26 highway, 19 towing at 70 MPG. Our neighbor tows with a Dodge minivan and said they have no problems and good fuel efficiency.

We also travel with three dogs (Boston Terriers). We initially were looking at the 2720SL but when the wife saw all the extra storage and counter space of the 3124KS, that's what we had to have. Getting the TM in the garage was not a consideration for us as we can't get it up our driveway because of the steep incline off the main road - we knew we would need to keep it in a storage lot even if we got the 2720. Usually, we have a dog on each end of the sofa with either my wife or myself in the middle, and the third dog will snuggle with whomever is in the recliner. We flip out the sofa at night and the dogs sleep there. Sometimes gets a bit cramped but we wouldn't change anything.

We had also considered hybrids but I didn't relish the thought of towing something with that high of a profile. Fuel mileage was also a consideration because of the extra weight and wind resistance. Our fuel mileage didn't change from the popup to the TM.

Good luck, and enjoy whatever you decide to get.

Bob

Thanks everyone for the insight about Trailmanor and camping with dogs. We just can't seem to leave them at home either. I am still debating...wife has not decided how much room she actually wants in the camper...lol.

I have had a TT previously several years back before I downsized to a popup. I do like the slide option...but honestly, we are not in the camper unless it is pouring down raining or sleeping at night. We spend all our time outside enjoying the surroundings.

If I opt for the extra space beyond the 2720...I will go for the gusto and get the 33 footer. Right now, I am deployed to Iraq and cannot visit a dealer to inspect the trailers. So for right now, I will keep in mind your comments and wait until September to look. We don't usually travel over 300 miles on our camping trips, but I don't want to pull a behemoth either. That's what is so appealing about trailmanor....low profile, low weight.

Thanks again.

Dan