Lot 05
Feb 2026
The Ponderosa — 22-ft bunkhouse
Found: Redmond, off an older gentleman downsizing. Lippert slide had quit two summers prior; he'd covered it with a blue tarp and called it good. Which, to be fair, it sort of was.
Worked: New Schwintek sync motor, both rail bearings, fresh slide seals all around. Replaced the black tank flush line (cracked, classic). Repainted the propane cover because I couldn't stand looking at it.
Gone to: A young family in Prineville. Dad works at the mill, mom's a schoolteacher. Kiddos named the trailer before the paperwork was signed.
Lot 04
Jan 2026
The Mockingbird — 16-ft teardrop-ish
Found: A fella in Sisters who'd built it halfway himself and then realized he didn't want to finish it. Bones were good. Finish work was not.
Worked: Finished the galley myself — birch ply, marine varnish, a little Coleman two-burner hard-plumbed in. Rewired the 12-volt because his splices worried me. Added a proper Fantastic Fan.
Gone to: A retired librarian up in Hood River. She towed it home behind a '08 Tacoma and sent me a postcard from the Alvord Desert two months later.
Lot 02
Dec 2025
The Tin Can — 21-ft rounded aluminum, '68
Found: Barn find outside of Fossil. Mice had had a convention in it. The floor under the icebox was soup.
Worked: Pulled the icebox, cut out an 18-by-24 section of subfloor, sistered a new crossmember, laid fresh 3/8" marine ply. Cleaned the mouse situation with a shop vac and a lot of Lysol. Resealed every rivet seam along the belly with a self-leveling butyl. Original birch cabinets cleaned and lemon-oiled — left the patina alone.
Gone to: A carpenter in Joseph who'd been hunting one like this for four years. Said he cried a little. I believe him.
Lot 01
Nov 2025
The Workhorse — 26-ft tandem, '02
Found: Klamath Falls, from a couple who'd been full-timing and decided to quit. Heavy rig, but loved. Every drawer had a little plastic divider in it.
Worked: New axle on the curbside — the other one was still good but I didn't like the look of the spring hangers, so those got gusseted. Repacked bearings. New 14" load-range D radials. Atwood water heater had a weeping tank from a cracked burner plate — rebuilt with a kit, held fine on its overnight pressure test.
Gone to: A couple of nurses in Bend who wanted something they could take to Summer Lake on three-day weekends without worrying.
Lot 12
Oct 2025
The Little Dipper — 13-ft fiberglass egg
Found: Estate sale out in Lakeview. Fiberglass was sound. The 3-way fridge was not — it had that ammonia smell that tells you the cooling unit is cooked.
Worked: Pulled the fridge, put in a 12-volt compressor unit that runs off the house battery and a 100-watt rooftop panel. Rewired the running lights (someone had used speaker wire, which — no). New stinky-slinky holder on the rear bumper.
Gone to: A young couple from Eugene who'd just got married. Pictures from their first trip showed the trailer behind a Subaru that was definitely at the edge of its tow rating.
Lot 09
Sep 2025
The Scout — 18-ft pop-up hybrid
Found: Trade-in from a customer who'd bought a bigger rig off me a year prior. Canvas on the tent-ends was original and sunrotted along the zipper rails.
Worked: Sent the canvas out to Ruthann in La Pine — she patched both ends and reinforced the zipper runs with leather. I lifted the roof, inspected the cable winch (fine), and replaced the rubber roof seal. Tightened every bunk-end latch.
Gone to: A schoolteacher from Madras who takes two dogs everywhere.
Lot 07
Aug 2025
The Aspen — 20-ft, '96
Found: Burns. Widow clearing out her late husband's yard. She told me stories about their trips to the Steens for an hour before I even looked at the trailer.
Worked: Front cap had a delamination ripple about the size of a dinner plate — cut it out, injected West System epoxy behind the skin, clamped with a 2x4 padded form for 48 hours, came out flat as you please. New awning fabric because the original had a hole the shape of Idaho. Full dump system rebuild.
Gone to: A retired game warden.
Lot 06
Jul 2025
The Ladybug — 14-ft vintage, '72
Found: Ad on a feed-store corkboard in John Day. Paid too much, in hindsight. She was adorable.
Worked: More than I'd like to admit. New floor from the wheel wells forward. Rewired everything except the running lights. Original stove kept — still lights with a match, still cooks eggs, no reason to change it. Curtains stayed.
Gone to: A photographer in Ashland who's hauling it to national parks one at a time.
Lot 03
Jun 2025
The Hauler — 28-ft bumper-pull toy hauler
Found: I don't usually take toy haulers, but this one came through a friend of a friend and the price was right. Rear garage floor was in great shape — that's the thing to look at.
Worked: New ramp-door cables (the originals were fraying, which is how people lose toes). Rebuilt the onboard fuel station with a new pump and lockable cap. Cleaned out a remarkable amount of dirt-bike mud.
Gone to: A family in Prineville who race side-by-sides out at the Millican OHV area.
Lot 10
May 2025
The Kettle — 19-ft, '85
Found: A retiree in Fort Rock who bought it new, kept the receipts in a shoebox. He was more worried about it going to a good home than he was about the price.
Worked: Nearly nothing. New tires on account of date codes. Fresh wheel bearing grease. Cleaned the fridge coils. Replaced one broken kitchen cabinet latch. Honestly — if you ever want to buy a used trailer, find one that's been owned by one careful fella from new.
Gone to: A pair of hikers who wanted a base camp for the Pacific Crest stretch near Crater Lake.