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Troop Trailers - Luxury or necessity


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I went online to check. At least for my location, there was a page with a pickup location zip code, pick up date, and next to that a "Time Needed" dropdown list that gave options from 1 hour to 14 days. Some locations may not offer a multi-day option.

 

For my location, a 5x8 cargo (enclosed) trailer or a 5x8 utility (open) trailer are $18.95 per day, or $56.85 for a 3 day rental. (There are smaller and larger trailers as well.) Add $8 per day for the optional insurance on the trailer and contents, it comes to $80.85 before tax. If you have 12 people on the trip, that works out to $6.74 per person for the trailer.

 

When we were a car-transportation-based troop and rented a trailer only once or twice a year, doing so was a very flexible and economical option for special situations.

 

Dan Kurtenbach

Fairfax, VA

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There are times when there is just not enough room to carry the backpacks alone based on number and size of cars. My Corolla can take 5 people, albeit a tight fit, but there simply is not enough trunk

Re: Ultimate Trop Trailer

 

Why not just by a Coleman pop-up. Most have a refrigerator, stove, heat\air, seating, table that converts to a bed, sleeps 6-8 then you can really ruff it. One for each patrol. Highest rank and seniority get priority on using. Three or four of these would outfit most troops.

 

Gets the boys outdoors, promotes excitement and retention. At parks just hook into to their electrical system. Nice way to unwind and relax after a hard day of hiking. All worthy BSA goals and you would be the envy of every troop at Camporee.

 

Guys Im joking. Dont need any hate mail.

 

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I think that a U-Haul trailer could work well. I'll just add one word of caution, which may or may not apply depending on where you are renting. They seemed to be extremely disorganized in terms of knowing exactly what trailers they would have on hand to rent. You could reserve one, but they seemed to be depending on the fact that people might be returning trailers to them from other places.

 

Some places seem to have way more trailers than they could rent at any one time, so you would probably be fine in those situations. But if you happened to pick a very busy weekend, there might be some uncertainty in terms of exactly what you'd get. This might not matter too much if you can be flexible in your size of trailer, too. The worst case situation would be if you reserved something, and showed up, and they didn't have any trailers on hand. "Well, we're expecting people to bring them in at any time."

 

Still, I think for a lot of troops, this may indeed be a more economical option.

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With rental trailers, yes, there is sometimes a "well, let's see what we can do" atmosphere. I once had to take a slightly larger open trailer than I had reserved because that store didn't have one when they thought they did, and I once had to take a different trailer than had been set aside for me because the lights didn't work on that one. But those were only minor inconveniences. And I know some folks who had a difficult time finding a usable trailer in a very rural area -- the rental locations that existed in area towns were not exactly well-stocked.

 

Dan Kurtenbach

Fairfax, VA

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The trailer rental business is also highly seasonal. I grew up in a college town and the local U Haul had a surfeit of trailers in early fall, and a shortage in the late spring. They would actually haul in truckloads of empty trailers in the spring. Maybe that has changed, but you need to get close the management of your local U Haul outlet to discuss these things.

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  • 3 weeks later...

We use a trailer, for several reasons. #1. We don't have anywhere else to store gear. #2. The church lets us use the 2 14-passenger vans they have, which keeps the number of vehicles we need on trips down to a minimum. I usually haul it with my Sequoia, which also hauls 8 passengers. On a typical trip, we will take both church vans, my Sequoia and another mini van. The trailer hauls all the backpacks. Works for us. And we believe in going light. #3. We do our own cooking in camp at Summer Camp, so we usually take two trailers - one hauling Patrol equipment and food, and the other taking the Scout's foot lockers.

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I know this is an old thread, but after reading this and a couple of other threads, I have a BIG questions....

 

How do you get away with having sponsors listed on anything along with your BSA Troop logo, etc etc.?

I was told by our DE that we can't have that in any way shape or form!

Examples..We had a family who has a show on the outdoor channel, they did lots of great things for our pack. One year they purchased our pack t's for all the boys. When I asked if we could put their name or logo on our shirts that they purchased for the boys , I was told no! It would imply that BSA was endorsing them. So, how do packs/troops have endorsements on their trailers???? And another question on the the trailers, My husband SM was made to believe that purchasing a trailer was a no no, they had to be donated. Not that we need or want a trailer, but after reading these threads I'm questioning all the info we are being fed. :/ Thanks for any info!

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61 you will find many folks on this forum and in scouting in general will ignore the rules that don't suit what the currently need.

 

In our district there is a couple of troops that have very sponsored trailers. Having one wealthy family sponsor your troop is easy, but also is a political mine field.

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I'm now considering the idea that a troop trailer is a necessity because you need a place to hang your water heater and shower.

 

 

I'm still trying to decide how this squares with the boys who spend a week at camp without taking a shower or changing their shorts though!

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Troop61,

 

The lawyers on the list can give you a better answer, but I think the problem is mixing a sponsor with trademarked BSA words and logos.

 

However, the BSA does not own the words, "Troop 61."

 

Yours at 300 feet,

 

Kudu

http://kudu.net

 

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So where is it in writing that a troop can't put the name of a sponsor on it's trailer? Seems the CO would have a say in it but not the DE.

 

"Trailers need to be donated, not purchased". Never heard of that one before. Where would I find that in the rules and regulations?

 

People like to make up rules, especially DEs.

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Our troop trailer is plain white. Does not say anything on any surafce about what it is for.

 

Troop paid for it by fundraising and camp cards.

 

Our pack has a homemadish trailer that is way too small.

 

It is going to buy a new trailer in the next year. Lowe's home improvement will sell it at cost so a $3,128 trailer wil cost us $1,500 (plus registration).

 

WE are going to fundraise for this too.We are going to say sometrhing along the lines of:

 

" Thank you to our supporters" on the bottom 5th of teh trailer with a lowes logo, and the names of any other buisnesses or individuals who helped us purchase the trailer.

 

One and done. WE are not selling sponsorship. But we will give recognition to those who helped us. WE are not going to sell sizes or spots, just list - on our own accord - those who heped us out.

 

No different than sending a big picture of the pack witha thank you note that most buisnesses post on their bulliten boards for the public to see.

 

I mean , if you really push it, even that thank you letter could be =considered an endorsement or sponsorship: Buisnes gives money, in return buisness gets card with picture of unit to display.

 

Difference with us is we are not selling an advertising spot like a city bus. The trailer will not have ads, just a printed name of person/buisness who helped contribute to our fundraiser.

 

One on, it will not change. Once bought, nobody else can add their name/ buisness name to it.

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