Hi all, not posted here before but I've been reading a lot lately. We've just bought a S/H (2005) Trigano Cheverney from Camperlands. We pick it up in a couple of weeks and are going to use it that day. After reading about, and seeing, some of your traumas in pitching these I thought I'd come on and ask for a summary of top tips.
Here's what I've learned so far:
Colour code the poles when first pitched. I'm going to use electrical tape is that okay?
Take plenty of time to organise the poles before starting.
Get the frame basically up but on short front legs, pull canvas over, zip onto main trailer part, raise to full height then peg out.
Colour coding the poles really helps and electrical tape is fine
My TT is a chantilly so although it is a different model I think the putting up sequence would be similar.
I arrange the awning poles in two separate bags, first one holds the main structure poles and the other keeps the kitchen poles and a couple of extra one that fit here and there.
the first thinfg to do on site would be to find a pitch that is as level as possible and to set the trailer and chock the wheels. open up and peg down the main bedroom compartment. Attach the front awning using the zip and throw it back onto the bedroom compartment, put up the main structure poles and attach to the tt, I think its a hook attachment, make sure the poles at the front are lowered as you suggest to help pull the awning over.
buy yourself a level ,not a 6" one but a 2ft one ,get the trailer level all the way round then your awning will go up a treat.
we had a 6" with the tent but found it useless ,a foot across a bed and it read differently ,2ft will give a good average.once you erect it a few times you dont need any colour coding its a pretty straightforward standard tent design ,so long as the center pole has the hooks nearest the cab everything else falls into place.
keep the awning front poles parallel with the beds and its straight ,then you get to tune it
buy two tent peg removers ,hammering them is is best left up to one person but taking them back out (there are many!) better with two
buy a sweeping brush (just a cheapy version) it sweeps floors but also makes a great canvas manipulator for those to small to reach the roof
we cant throw the canvas back over the cab (mrs is disabled) so i erect the awning frame then put the canvas on minus the side and front door (the broom comes into its own then),they are zipped back in then everything is adjusted just so (the time consuming bit)
never had it go up 100% dead right ,perfect in the garden but we always get a blooming pitch with a slight slope
usually right where the cooker is!!!
when you pick up from camperlands they will give you a demo off how it all goes up so take a note book and pen and your tap to mark up the poles anf have fun!
good advice above from fatbloke and andy. We have a set of steps as i cant reach the pitch in the middle of the roof. We attatch the short poles to the trailer then bring up the errected frame to then and slide the frame into them all the way to the trailer. You can then pull it back out to tension the canvas. Our poles are colour coded but also sprung into the roof pitch section, the left and side and the right hand side (which is different due to the kitchen) so it is a little hard to get ours wrong although they were a mess when we bought it and it was a pain untill it was done. The legs are the same and 3 front pieces with right angled hooks are the same and 3 back pieces with curved hooks are the same and go on the trailer. the front is the bit where there is a 4 inch bit of pole beyond the angle joint. If you are moving the frame to the trailer before you flap the canvass over leave the kitchen off cus the bloody thing falls all over. Once you have located the 3 roof poles into the short ones you have hung on the trailer (one in each hole you will see at each roof angle in the trailer canvass which will enable you to find the locating hole in the poles of the trailer). Now clip the kitchen on beore pulling the canvass over. Out kitchen is in a seperate bag too.
We found leveling the trailer first saves lots of hassle and we just started using those yellow ramps/chocks things and have got on much better.
Hope i have not confused you. Once the poles are in front of you the descriptions should be helpful. The roof angle is the wider one too.
if you go on the trigano owners site above there was a post a while ago with photos of one being put up and also pole diagrams so you can follow those if you are unlucky and have a bag of unmarked/unsprung poles (unlikley)
When folding down make sure you fold the correct bed first (it is the one with the shorter stub) or it makes a real horrid noise and bends things!!!!!
Have a wonderful holiday and you will be fine
------------- Oh am loving the tin tent after campaining against it..........I was wrong.
Ow! My head hurts now! Seriously, thanks a lot for that. I'll print it off and I'm sure it will make sense when I'm actually in front of it. But trying to understand it now....as I said. Ow!
no one ever said putting an awning up was a labour and a drudge. An investment is sometimes only as good as the person making it. i have been perfectly happy with my trailer tent investment. I hope you and your camplet are happy
------------- Oh am loving the tin tent after campaining against it..........I was wrong.
Quote: Originally posted by bobandsuzzi on 17/4/2008
why would anyone spend hard earned cash on something they new was so hard to erect and time consuming
i thought camping was supposed to be fun, not a labour and a drudge, especially if the weather is bad
good luck with it, but a bad investment
it isnt ,i can put ours up single handed in the time it takes to erect our frame tent ,it soundscomplicated to describe but in reality its no more difficult than any other tent so long as the trailer part is level and square.
as for the trailer part itself you could be having a quick cuppa in 5 minutes and watching others trying to erect their tents in the rain.
bobandsuzzi, Thanks for your reply but I think that was a bit of a silly statement to make. So you've splashed out on a Camplet, one of the easiest of all to erect. Well done. I'm sure that's a very good choice for you. After careful consideration we decided to go with the Trigano instead as it represents much greater value for money, especially with a young family. It's just horses for courses. There are loads of reasons why the Camplet could be described as a 'bad investment'.
If you try to write the instructions for how to walk it makes it sound very complicated. The reality is obviously very different as I'm sure this will be. I'm actually looking forward to the challenge of trying this for the first time and I have no doubt that with a lifetime's experience of camping and caravanning, and just a tiny bit of common sense, we will soon get to the point when we can get our Trigano up and be sitting looking smugly at it in around the same time you will be doing just that with your Camplet. Then we will both be able to enjoy our good investments!
Well done bobandsuzie ive just gone on the 2 man tent forum and pointed out that they would be better off in a trailer tent.Hope they find it educational.
We all have different requirements when we are looking for our holiday accommodation. I need something I can put up on my own, I travelled all the way to Manchester to see the Camplet and was very impressed but it didn't suit my needs so I have bought a Trigano folding camper that does do what I want. I don't have to put up an awning if I don't want to. I don't have to peg it out every time I pitch it. When I get up in the morning I don't have to stand on a cold damp groundsheet to get dresssed. My Trigano may not be your ideal unit but it does most of the things I need and obviously the Cheverney suits Arrowcamper.
We all choose the best unit to meet our own needs. It's a big investment for all of us and the decision is only made after a lot of thought, at the end of the day we are all campers and should be helping and supporting each other rather than criticising other campers and their choice of unit.
Quote: Originally posted by happydad on 18/4/2008
Well done bobandsuzie ive just gone on the 2 man tent forum and pointed out that they would be better off in a trailer tent.Hope they find it educational.
the design on your chantilly has improved compared to ours ,i see the doors better designed (we can open either side but its not as neat but on the upside we can remove the entire front instead) the kitchen part looks a lot bigger and better ,the wardrobe and loo definately are to small in ours and have only the one opening unlike the recent ones
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Topic: Trigano Cheverney - Pitching advice
