My wife's step father told us he had a travel trailer on his sister's property that needed to be moved because she is selling the property and we could have the trailer if we would go get it. He said it was nice on the inside when it was parked there years ago, but he had no idea what condition it was in now. Yesterday we went to check it out not having any idea of brand or condition. All we know was that it was about 24' and parked in the woods on his sister's farm. After I chainsawed, yes chainsawed the poison oak extending from the hitch to the wheels on the door side, I started to chisel the poison oak vines out of the door gap to get the door open. Opening the door revealed no large or small critters living inside. My wife was pleased at this point and noted how nice the inside was. Aside from a couple of sagging masonite panels in the ceiling, which seemed to be from age/heat rather than water. In fact it seems to have no water damage with the exception of the bottom of the door on the inside. We did a quick look around and talked about how well made the trailer seemed to be. I was able to pump up 3 of the 4 tires and move it out of the woods and out into the field where I could remove the wheels. I'm going to get tires put on the wheels and bring it home asap. I'm new to the RV world, but I'm guessing I should grease up the wheel bearing before I haul it home. I've got about a 2 and a half hour drive home with it. Anything else I should check or be aware of?

This project started out as with us thinking we were just going to move some junk. After doing some reading online today it seems like we may have a little gem on our hands. We're pretty stoked.

Have Fun,
Wm.

I really am new to RVing myself, and I'm not sure if it applies or if it is even neccessary, but if that unit has electric brakes.... It sounds like you have thought this out some just with taking time to lube the bearings before the tow, so I am sure you checked the lights as well.

To get the thing moved, I would clean the brakes, lube the bearings, replace the tires and use temporary lights.

If the brake work is daunting, it might be expedient to rent or borrow a 3/4 or 1 ton pickup or (better yet) a larger straight truck and tow without brakes. That will depend on the terrain and how cautious you are. I once rented a moving van to move a trailer that had no brakes. The truck didn't even know the trailer was back there. I felt very safe.

Brakes or no, I recommend nothing less than a 3/4 ton truck or SUV for towing that trailer.

Check ball size carefully.

Thanks for the info.
I brought the wheels home to put new tires on. 2" ball seems to be it. I don't have trailer brakes on my truck, but my brother has an F350 with trailer brakes. The camper plug on the trailer is rusted beyond use so I couldn't check the lights. I'll have to replace that and see about the lights on the trailer. I'm going to take plan b lights anyway.

Have Fun,
Wm.

The pix make it look really rough and I'm sure it is, but if the bones are solid and the skin is OK it sure would be a fine project trailer.

Are there any Barth logos anywhere on it? I'm assuming it's a Barth trailer since the thread is on this forum. Definitely some potential!

StinkyDaddy, Is there a plate by the door that has the Barth Name and a serial number on it.

If so we would love to have a picture of the tag and the serial number for our data tag project.

Thanks, Nick

Nick, are we thinking single digits here? Surely double at most. Hope he finds the tag and gets it to us!

quote:

Originally posted by StinkyDaddy:
I don't have trailer brakes on my truck, but my brother has an F350 with trailer brakes.

Yep, an F350 will gitter done, specially if it's one of the later Super Duties.

There is a large Barth logo on the back end. When I go back I'll try to find the tag. The vin# on the title is B1174.

quote:

Originally posted by StinkyDaddy:
The vin# on the title is B1174.

StinkyDaddy, You definitely own the oldest Barth that we have a record of. Your Vin would decode as follows:
B= second year of production = 1964
1= produced in January.
174= 174th Barth Built.

Nick

SWEET!

quote:

Originally posted by StinkyDaddy:
The vin# on the title is B1174.

quote:

Originally posted by Nick Cagle:
Your Vin would decode as follows:
B= second year of production = 1964
1= produced in January.
174= 174th Barth Built.

I have another thought...

The post is listed as "1965 24ft travel trailer"

Wouldn't it then stand to reason
B= second year of production = 1964
11= produced in November.
74= 74th Barth Built.

We need to see where the dash is in this plate to know for sure. In the past, the length was the last 2 numbers.

~ B11-74-_ _

~ B1-174-_ _




Also, based on that numbering sequence of B1174, it appears that the length wasn't included in the earlier tag. If you could, would you please post a picture of this tag.

This is a few years earlier, but it is the trailer we lusted for, and found above my pay grade, when we bought our first RV in 1969.

IMHO, it's definitely worth restoring, though a daunting project. I'd have tackled it at 70, but it would be beyond me today, at 80.

Bill NY - I'll work on finding the tag when I go to pick it up. It's listed as a 65 on the title, so B11-74 might be the case.