Help with Trailer choices; ORV, Rockwood, Cougar Half ton

[bneukam]

Your comparing very different floor plans. Plus a mini-light versus an ORV?

I can tell you that 2506 will have a very heavy tongue weight once loaded. Front kitchen, front storage, and a slide out up front all adds weight. Seems to be very contradicting with a mini light build.

A Flagstaff Classic, or a Rockwood Heritage would be a better comparison, in build, and interior quality to a ORV.

[dfm]

Have You considered Grand Design as one of the comparables . My sister bought one and they are pleased with it. No problems after 2 years.

[Randy the sly old fox]

Western Edition Cougars are built in Pendelton OR just up the road from Northwoods and ORV. I hear that build quality is better than the IN built units. I also suggest that you consider the ORV Timber Ridge 22FQS - it has a much nicer galley than the RBS lots of counter space. It also has a full fiberglass front cap. I agree that most of the appliances are the same between mfgs. ORV has only been around for 10 years now and IMHO they have come the furtherest along of any MFG when it comes to taking customer inputs seriously. Some of us have added insulation to the pass thru storage - ORV saw it and now it is standard. They also learned from some of Northwood's mistakes when it comes to building their laminated walls and they do them in a fully climate controlled building seperate from the main line. I have only owned one IN built TT and it was faulty from day one - never so glad to be rid of it - I traded it for an Arctic Fox which gave me 12 yrs of good service. Now I have an ORV 25RDS and so far it has lived up to its reputation - no issues, everything works as expected even after 3 seasons. We expect to spend many more nights in it next year as we are camp hosting every other month starting in March - Sept - so roughly 120 nights.

[Dave Pelletier]

Originally Posted by bneukam

Your comparing very different floor plans. Plus a mini-light versus an ORV?

I can tell you that 2506 will have a very heavy tongue weight once loaded. Front kitchen, front storage, and a slide out up front all adds weight. Seems to be very contradicting with a mini light build.

A Flagstaff Classic, or a Rockwood Heritage would be a better comparison, in build, and interior quality to a ORV.

Thanks; yes they are different but they are what's available in our size/price range in our area (they are actually within about $1,600 but we haven't gotten a "bottom line" price on the RW so it may be a bit cheaper yet) . As I said earlier, I don't care how heavy it is - in fact, I suspect that the heavier the better.....we have no tow vehicle limitations in our desired size range.

I looked for a Rockwood Heritage but all I could find was the Heritage Glen Hyper-Lyte? is this the one?

Cheers,
Dave

[Dave Pelletier]

Originally Posted by Randy the sly old fox

Western Edition Cougars are built in Pendelton OR just up the road from Northwoods and ORV. I hear that build quality is better than the IN built units. I also suggest that you consider the ORV Timber Ridge 22FQS - it has a much nicer galley than the RBS lots of counter space. It also has a full fiberglass front cap. I agree that most of the appliances are the same between mfgs. ORV has only been around for 10 years now and IMHO they have come the furtherest along of any MFG when it comes to taking customer inputs seriously. Some of us have added insulation to the pass thru storage - ORV saw it and now it is standard. They also learned from some of Northwood's mistakes when it comes to building their laminated walls and they do them in a fully climate controlled building seperate from the main line. I have only owned one IN built TT and it was faulty from day one - never so glad to be rid of it - I traded it for an Arctic Fox which gave me 12 yrs of good service. Now I have an ORV 25RDS and so far it has lived up to its reputation - no issues, everything works as expected even after 3 seasons. We expect to spend many more nights in it next year as we are camp hosting every other month starting in March - Sept - so roughly 120 nights.

Thanks for the input and glad to hear you like your ORV, especially coming from an AF (which seems to be the gold standard). We looked at the 22FQS and it was our hands down favorite layout.....they had a left over 2019 Titanium series and it was gorgeous....it was also marked down a healthy amount but it was right at the beginning of our seach so by the time we recognized that we should buy it, it was long gone. It may have been a mixed blessing because at 26'9" is was over my 26" max "line in the sand" and was almost 2' longer than the 21RBS.

[Dave Pelletier]

Originally Posted by dfm

Have You considered Grand Design as one of the comparables . My sister bought one and they are pleased with it. No problems after 2 years.

thanks; I'll take a look at them

Dave

[Dave Pelletier]

Originally Posted by Cferguson

I've had a MiniLite and am familiar with ORV. Theres a reason one is priced about twice what the other is.


This is kinda the problem we are currently dealing with(we're in the market for a Toyhauler). Do you go cheap, pay half price, and then buy another new one in a few years, or go Quality with 2x the price and hold it twice as long? We are leaning towards the cheap/throwaway option fwiw.

Unfortunately, I know how my mind works and if I buy something that I think is junk, it will absolutely drive me nuts and ruin the whole experience......just the way I am.

Dave

[tuffr2]

I like nice things - but I do not need a Lexus when a Toyota will do as a nice vehicle though.

Same for the RW trailers - I think they are nice and solid. I heard (true or not) they use a better grade TPO on the roof.

I like all the features in the Rockwood/Flagstaff trailers. They also use a mattress that I would not replace right away. Actually I think they use a very good mattress.

That, plus there is usually a Rockwood or Flagstaff dealer close enough if I need service.

[Dave Pelletier]

I was responding to the "cheap throw-away" comment - that's definitely not me; I don't need fancy but quality is important to me. The gist of what I'm reading so far is that the ORV is better built but the Rockwood is well built considering it's attempt to be "lite". Both will probably hold up fine, I'll be happier with the ORV when the temps dip or I'm camping down a 25 mile gravel road with washboard.

I think the RW sold yesterday so if the ORV is the only one left this all may be a bit moot!

Dave

[Brad Wilf]

Originally Posted by Dave Pelletier

I was responding to the "cheap throw-away" comment - that's definitely not me; I don't need fancy but quality is important to me. The gist of what I'm reading so far is that the ORV is better built but the Rockwood is well built considering it's attempt to be "lite". Both will probably hold up fine, I'll be happier with the ORV when the temps dip or I'm camping down a 25 mile gravel road with washboard.

I think the RW sold yesterday so if the ORV is the only one left this all may be a bit moot!

Dave

If it all matters: When I was ready to pull the trigger,(I already knew the manufacturer was changing the floor plans etc on the model we wanted, so units were getting scarce) local Chilliwack rv dealer had none of my floor plan left, a leftover 2017 was in Kelowna and the sales guy was unwilling to move on price.

I ended going to Rocky Mountain house to Edwards Garage, they met me on the price and treated us well...we did a nice week long shake down trip on the way home. For what this is worth to you..I can give you contact info.

[Dave Pelletier]

Originally Posted by Brad Wilf

If it all matters: When I was ready to pull the trigger,(I already knew the manufacturer was changing the floor plans etc on the model we wanted, so units were getting scarce) local Chilliwack rv dealer had none of my floor plan left, a leftover 2017 was in Kelowna and the sales guy was unwilling to move on price.

I ended going to Rocky Mountain house to Edwards Garage, they met me on the price and treated us well...we did a nice week long shake down trip on the way home. For what this is worth to you..I can give you contact info.

Brad,
Thanks. Funny thing; just yesterday I looked online at to ORV dealers in Alberta and one on the Island to see what they had. Edwards doesn't have a 21RBS but they do have a 22FQS (our first love).......I wasn't even going to tell my wife about that one but I will. If she's interested, I'll take you up on your kind offer. .....not sure I want to go for a 16 hour drive over the passes in the snow towing a trailer but what the heck! LOL

Dave

[Brad Wilf]

Originally Posted by Dave Pelletier

Brad,
Thanks. Funny thing; just yesterday I looked online at to ORV dealers in Alberta and one on the Island to see what they had. Edwards doesn't have a 21RBS but they do have a 22FQS (our first love).......I wasn't even going to tell my wife about that one but I will. If she's interested, I'll take you up on your kind offer. .....not sure I want to go for a 16 hour drive over the passes in the snow towing a trailer but what the heck! LOL

Dave

I hear yah. We went over to pick up mid Sept. Drove into a mini blizzard, 8 inches of snow in Rocky Mountain house during our PDI, got the hell out of there and back down into Revelstoke for the first night...They do tow nice... even in snow. LOL

Anytime you need contact, just pm me.

[Dave Pelletier]

Thanks everyone for thier input; we bought the outdoors RV 21RBS. After watching, reading and researching, the frames, insulation, build quality, huge tanks, solar, twin 6 volt batteries, etc, etc won us over. Hopefully it will prove to be a good rig.
Cheers.

[Reevesfamily]

Originally Posted by Dave Pelletier

Hi guys,

I could use some advice: I recently sold my Bigfoot truck camper and we are looking at travel trailers; no bunks, queen walkaround, 26' max length.

Currently we have looked at:

- Outdoors RV Creekside 21RBS; this one looks like the quality is very high and I love the apparent robustness of it. My wife isn't fussy about the interior colors and the bathroom/shower seem a tad small.

- Rockwood Mini-Lite 2506S; on paper the all aluminum and foam construction looks good but digging a bit deeper, the roof assy seems a bit light duty, it's also only 1" shorter than my absolute max length AND the axles seem situated very far forward (almost the middle of the trailer) which creates a very large overhang. The wife loves the kitchen and separate bedroom and the interior color schemes.

- Cougar Half Ton 22RBS WE; this one has our favorite layout of all. The "king" bed is a welcome upgrade, nice amount of counter space and better bathroom (than the ORV) with glass doors. The only unit I can find is a 7 hour drive away so I haven't been able to see it in person. I'm concerned about the build quality.


Weight is a non-issue, I have a one ton diesel DRW 4x4. Not looking to create any brand wars/bashing but honestly, it is VERY difficult to find out any useful information regarding how they are made. I've watched plant tour video's for the ORV and a short one for the Rockwood.

All comments welcome.

thanks,
Dave

Love our Flagstaff, made on same line as Rockwood. Higher quality than most, no complaints.