Advice on going from a soft floor to hard floor camper

[V8CRSA]

As the title suggests, I am looking for some real world info from people who have made the change from a soft to hard floor camper.

I have in the last week once again done some damage to my back, and have come to the conclusion that it's something that's going to be with me for the rest of my life, so it's time to make things a little easier on the back.
We have a large soft floor camper with lots of very heavy canvas, we where planning on heading away next weekend but now that my back is bad again I don't think I am going to be able to handle the set up and pack up, especially if the canvas gets wet.

So after a little discussion with swmbo we have been thinking about having a look at a few hard floor campers to see just how much easier they are to use.
We have read all the advertising crap about how quick hard floor campers are to set up, our soft floor is also pretty easy to set up, but what I want is advice from people who have gone from a soft floor to a hard floor.
We are not really concerned with the time taken to set up but the ease of set up and pack up. We would defiantly be looking for something with a winch to help open and close the camper.
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.
Any help to make things easier means we will still be able to get away as often as we like.

Cheers Matt and Brooke

[UIZ733]

If ease of setup is an essential criterion AND there are only two of you, consider a crossover. Our Vista is simply the best when it comes to EASE of setup. Expensive, yes, worth it ...you bet.

[Bird]

Some people have fitted hydraulic rams to assist putting their tents up - I think Brett B has fitted a few up at St Andrews..

[evolution]

Hey mate,

I reckon for you two and your little one a hard floor would be a pretty good compromise.
Don't forget the Wodonga camping show is on this month. 14-16. You should get a pretty good idea of whether it would suit you by opening and closing a few.

I'll shout the coffee at the show and some  afterwards if you wanted to stay for a BBQ. 

Cheers
Evo

[Rumpig]

i'm thinking along the same lines as UIZ733, some sort of cross over / small van might be a better solution for you. I own a hardfloor trailer, and whilst it's fairly straight forward to unpack and set up, the closing of it does require some effort your back injury may struggle with doing i'm thinking.

[V8CRSA]

i'm thinking along the same lines as UIZ733, some sort of cross over / small van might be a better solution for you. I own a hardfloor trailer, and whilst it's fairly straight forward to unpack and set up, the closing of it does require some effort your back injury may struggle with doing i'm thinking.

A cross over or small van dosn't really appeal to us as our son is only 2, we may still have another child and we also have 2 dogs that come away with us often.
Also the price of a crossover is out of our reach too.
We where thinking a hard floor with a winch to help raise the hard floor like the cub and the newer Kimberley's have ?
Just looking for easier options......

Matt and Brooke.

[Bill]

Swmbo and I went from a Cape York soft floor to an Aussie Swag.
Aussie Swag is a heap easier to set up.
Cant say it is much faster but not having to deal with the heavy canvas is a definate plus.
Was it worth it?
For us it definatly was...
Bill

[scarpsD40]

Hey Matt, I can understand where you are at. One of the things we did to help pack up our soft floor was to add a length of soft poly rope to the pack up process.
In our case Sue is too short to help me push/pull the canvas into pack up mode, and my back's on it's way out so while I can do most of it, I really struggle on my own.
So we tied the rope to the tent wall peg rings and once we drop the roof bows down, I.e. Canvas is now ready to be lifted over onto the top, I throw the rope loop over the top of the trailer.  Sue grabs this and takes up the tension while I now lift the canvas.
Happy to show you one day, but the combination of Sue holding tension on the rope as I lift the canvas us, means that it's a shared load. We take our time and get there progressively. Having us on each side of the trailer means less chance of a pack up fight:-)

[gronk]

I have a back that goes on me sometimes and when I had 2 KK's, packing up and setting up was fairly easy.

On the KK's, the rack over the top helps to open it up ( lots of leverage ) and on packing up I never pushed the hard top up, I just grabbed the canvas by the scruff of the neck and pulled from the side.

Whatever you look at, make sure you try them out 1st and see which one is easiest.....but with all of them it's heaps easier to have 2 people, even if only for the 1st half of the packup sequence ( 1 minute tops )

No matter what camper it is, I found the worst thing for my back is trying to man handle the trailer around...

The winch idea sounds good, but a well designed camper doesn't really need one ( again, all about leverage and how well they thought about the closing of it )

[Rumpig]

A cross over or small van dosn't really appeal to us as our son is only 2, we may still have another child and we also have 2 dogs that come away with us often.
Also the price of a crossover is out of our reach too.
We where thinking a hard floor with a winch to help raise the hard floor like the cub and the newer Kimberley's have ?
Just looking for easier options......

Matt and Brooke.

the winch idea may certainly be the answer for you then, i hadn't thought of that option as i don't have it myself on our trialer. I didn't know the Kimberleys had winches on them now, will have a look at their website to see how they've done them 

[Bongo]

We find our KK fairly easy to setup and pack up. But my back is not to bad. The hardest part for me is getting down to lock and unlock the the floor. SWMBO normally does this part but I can get down if necessary. I can set up and pack up the trailer by myself. The rams, and great design, definitely take a lot of the weight off the set up

We had a Tracky that we loved. To make the setup easier we used to tilt the bed base. The tent falls off when you do this saving a wrestle with it. Leaving the door open made it easier to pack up. Shut the door when trying to fold it and it made the task a lot harder.

The KK is definitely the easier to set up. Horses for courses. The advantage with the Tracky was the extra gear we could take along for 4 young fellas who were becoming independent and wanted to take along their own tents or swags. Now if they want to tag-a-long they have to bring their own vehicles. I suppose as the grandies get older we may have to find somewhere to put their swags and stuff.

Cheers!

[FlyingBushPig]

We had a cheap soft floor a few years back before living overseas for a while. While I don't have any back issues, we chose to move to a hard floor for other reasons. We bought a cub and while it's not hugely fast (we set up slowly, to ensure nothing is damaged), it is extremely easy. The winch is easy, although with a bad back you may consider fitting an electric one. One thing that might be difficult is when you need to reset the tent. This requires quite a bit of force to lift the tent bows to the correct position and pull the canvas toward the rear.

If you're testing some, make sure you try resetting the tent too.
Best of luck.

[Swogjb]

Hey Matt, I can understand where you are at. One of the things we did to help pack up our soft floor was to add a length of soft poly rope to the pack up process.
In our case Sue is too short to help me push/pull the canvas into pack up mode, and my back's on it's way out so while I can do most of it, I really struggle on my own.
So we tied the rope to the tent wall peg rings and once we drop the roof bows down, I.e. Canvas is now ready to be lifted over onto the top, I throw the rope loop over the top of the trailer.  Sue grabs this and takes up the tension while I now lift the canvas.
Happy to show you one day, but the combination of Sue holding tension on the rope as I lift the canvas us, means that it's a shared load. We take our time and get there progressively. Having us on each side of the trailer means less chance of a pack up fight:-)

Sounds like a great idea.
I'm definitely gunna give this tip a go.
 

[wartim]

Have a look at the new model EDX Hard floor by Mountain Trail Campers, it has electric opening and closing http://www.mountaintrailcampers.com.au/index.php/off-road-camper-trailers/hard-floor/the-edx-hard-floor-camper-trailer

Good Luck with your final decision.

Wartim

[Hodgies]

We too have gone from a soft floor to a hard floor.
Ease of setup is awesome.
We have a kk also and hubby has bad back, but we don't have problems with setup/packup with both of us on either side.

[Bird]

Matt..
Lets do a straight swap of trailers, and I'll tow your new trailer to the site, and set it up for you every camp you go on for 12 mths

I've had 2 spinal fusions as a teenager and m/cycle accidents and can do it easily.

[scarpsD40]

Sounds like a great idea.
I'm definitely gunna give this tip a go.
 

hhmmm, I spoke to Sue and she said no to helping you pack up your camper as well:-)

But the rope tip is all yours........

[Jen_Sprogs_n_Him]

We have just purchased a Pioneer, while we don't have it yet,  we've had a play with them at the factory.
They are so easy to put up, you can do it very easily without the winch that comes with it.
Cub campers also have a hard floor with the winch.

[Coiled]

I had the KK up until a week ago. (upgrading to get away from canvas).

I do have a bad back with surgery in June last year. I have found the KKamper to be very easy to setup with no lifting it is all pulling down actions which don't put a load on your spine. 3-4 months after surgey I was able to completely setup and pack up without assistance but it is definitely easier with a second pair of hands. There is a winch option to close the KK but even with my bad back I never entertained it as it is that easy.

[TasJK]

Hey! We have had a soft floor camper and now have an Ecomate Forward fold.
Yes, the hard floor is quicker and easier to set up . Yes, it has plenty of room (ours at least) for 2 adults and 2 kids and all the assorted gear that goes with that. And, IMHO it is fundamentally better for most conditions but particularly if it gets cold and/or wet.
However, as mentioned before, I would test it out first to see if one of you can reset the bows. My wife can do it on the Ecomate quite easily however that it the only bit I can think of that may be an issue for someone with a bad back (put it this way, my 6 year old did the winch up/winch down numerous times on our trip back to Tas and, excepting the last few winds on the way down, he managed fine!



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[peter01]

Matt, we intend to do similar and move from soft floor to hard floor around this time next year the whole packing up wile we have got better just seems a hell of a lot easier with a hard floor after watching a few over recent trips. The idea of packing up wet in a soft floor is not appealing at all as space is limited if we ever had to dry out the canvass after a weekend whereas the hard floor is done in minutes by self.

The only issue I have is storage, soft floor compared to hard floor however now with the ute this may not be a problem as Evo mentioned we intend to go to the Wodonga show this coming weekend and have another look around. Good luck with your search 

[tikety]

We changed up from soft floor to kk best thing ever, 2 kids sleep on mats on floor or own tents. Only found if bed and canvas not packed in right floor could be a little hard to shut. Short ratchet strap to pull down last little bit takes any manual load on back.


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