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NEWS
Mountain Craft tackles tough fifth-wheel market
New locally-built, lightweight 28ft fifth-wheel caravan making RV show debut in Geelong this monthJayco’s lack of success with a range of big, American-style caravans with tray bed hitches hasn’t deterred a Mt Beauty, Victoria-based business from turning its skills to building and selling a new range of lightweight, fifth-wheel caravans.
The first 28ft fifth-wheeler from Mountain Craft RV will be on display at the Geelong Outdoor Living Show at the Geelong Showgrounds from January 20-22, after making its show debut at the Henty Machinery Field Days in NSW last September.
Mountain Craft RV owner Paul Stewart has a background in building trailers, horse floats and yachts, and decided to get into the RV manufacturing game after spotting a friend’s fifth-wheeler.
He says he’s spent the past two years researching the market, and has opted for the latest composite materials in the construction for their light weight as well as strength and durability.
“We’re using 39mm Stryomax fibreglass composite panels for the walls and roof plus 35mm of Dow Corning insulation, a 30mm thick honeycomb composite floor and Duralite composite lightweight panels (for the furniture),” Stewart said.
The 28ft show model boasts a typical fifth-wheel layout including a raised, walk-around queen bed up front, centrally located café dinette, rear kitchen, separate shower and toilet and plenty of storage including a double, built-in wardrobe.
It rides on roller-rocker leaf suspension and with a Tare weight of around 2850kg, and 3500kg ATM should allow the use of a range of smaller pick-ups like the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux.
There's all the usual Dometic and Thetford appliances including a big 215 litre Waeco fridge, along with luxury finishes like leather upholstery befitting a van with a $125,000 starting price.
Mountain Craft is also working on a smaller 23ft slide-out model but with a focus on small scale custom building only expects to produce a small number each year.
Despite just 17 fifth-wheelers built locally in 2015, Stewart believes there’s sufficient demand for a quality, custom-built fifth-wheel caravan. Along with Jayco, Queensland fifth-wheel specialist Southern Cross recently pulled out of the market and there are fewer American imports entering the country.
“There seems to be fewer and fewer fifth-wheelers on display, and we thought there was room for another Australian manufacturer,” he said.
“We want to build to order and make sure it’s a top quality product and the customer is happy; that’s our philosophy.”
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Written byChris Fincham
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