Choosing 3950 vs Hitchhiker

irish

Member
Hi, I have been lurking for a while and thought I would post finally :)

We looked at a 3950 about 3 years ago and thought it would be a good RV for us. I have a business that we take to large horse shows and I think it could be contained in the garage and also give me a place to work while we are on the road as well. The other thing is that we often take my mom and step-dad with us to work the shows, so maybe that could be a bedroom for them? But that would mean putting the business back in the trailer and hooking that to the back of the toyhauler. (Yeah, I'm getting myself confused!)

My husband on the other hand has gone back to wanting a Hitchhiker like we used to have and making a "train" with the cargo trailer. If we were completely retired I could see maybe something like a regular 5th wheel. His complaint is that the Cyclone doesn't have enough living space in the living / kitchen area and definitely no recliners. Also the TV in the Cyclone isn't big enough :)

Has anyone else gone through this thought process? How did you decide on the Cyclone?

Also I read a thread where someone had converted the garage into an office and it was working well for him except that it wasn't heated or have a/c. Can these issues be addressed?

Thanks.
 

jimtoo

Moderator
Hi irish,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and hopefully the family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.

We have a lot of Cyclone owners and I'm sure some have converted to office. I also know that the garage can be heated and a/c, but you may need to add a duct or outlet. I'm sure someone will be in soon to help with your questions.

Meanwhile, don't lurk, jump in and ask your questions and you may even have the answer to help someone out here.

Enjoy the forum.

Jim M
 

branson4020

Icantre Member
Towing double presents some challenges. Its not legal in all states. And every state where it is has some sort of overall length restriction. In Iowa, I believe its 65'. And, of course, you have much less maneuverability.
 

jayc

Texas-South Chapter Leaders
Irish, you may want to look at the Bighorn 3800 series of fifth wheels. They offer a rear den, rear bedrooms and all with a separate bath. These are new models and I have not seen any of them, but they might work for what you want.
 

irish

Member
We have double towed in the past with our Hitchhiker and a 16' cargo trailer. Hubby complained after a couple years of doing that and I know he will again. We traveled as far east as Kentucky and west to Arizona. We never got stopped or even looked at and we were at 70'.

Unfortunately we need cargo space with a ramp to unload at shows, so a rear den doesn't work for us. Again if we were fully retired, I would look at one because I still want "my" space somewhere in the RV :)

I have a commercial embroidery machine that needs to be loaded and unloaded at shows besides the inventory, display grid, etc. I may give up the embroidery machine in the next year or two and just do the rhinestones and designs, but we would still have display grid, inventory, printers etc that has to be unloaded at a show.

To me the big things a toy hauler does, is give me work space while we travel AND we could consider doing outside horse shows and rodeos by adding a screen room to the walk door area (not the ramp area). Right now we just do very large and longer shows (a week or more in length) that are indoors.

Thanks again for the responses. It helps my thinking and maybe my arguments with hubby :)
 

ArlingtonFire

Active Member
I thought the living area of most models seemed cramped myself when I first started the process.....The Cyclone model 3812 seems to offer more living space by the opposing slides and I was told you can remove the island for the living area to be more open if you desire.

For 2011 they added a heat duct and AC ducts have been standard...Good Luck with your decision !!!
 

plumberdude

Well-known member
We have a 2009 3914. We needed the bigger garage because we haul two bikes. We agree the
living space is to small. We just took out the middle section and added 36 round table with drop leafs.
We have not had a chance yet to try it, but will post if it helps soon. I know as the DW that I would not want
to be pulling more then what we have now. 41ft is alot of trailer going down the road.

Lori-DW
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
Thought they quit making Hitchhikers and only recently started back up again. How stable is that company?
 

irish

Member
So sorry to take a few days to come back here.

Nuwa (Hitchhiker) is back in business and doing fine. I met the president of the company a couple of weeks ago at a show and I was impressed with him.

After looking at the plans for a 3812 that ArlingtonFire has, I realized that if I can let go of the need for the extra 1/2 bath, maybe one of the other plans has more living space. We are planning a trip to a Heartland dealer to look at some other units. Since that is a week-end trip (over 2.5 hours away), it may be a bit before we are able to go look.

I want to thank everyone for the suggestions :)
 

pineguy

Member
Hi Irish

Sounds like we do something similiar. Us too bought a Cyclone for doing trade shows up in Canada. We purchased the 3850 because it did have the recliners (somewhat) and a good sized TV. The 3850 also was our choice because of the patio door, it just seems to open the whole trailer up into usuable space when not hauling stuff around or unloaded at the show. We recently got it home so have not loaded the show gear in it yet, too busy using it for recreation so far :)
 
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