Looking at buying a Mallard M29`

[deeduering]

We are looking at purchasing a mallard m29 from camping world of Omaha. I was wondering if anyone has had bad experiences with this travel trailer or Camping world of Omaha. We have never owned a camper before and we are a bit apprehensive about buying one without some insight. Thank you in advance for any information.

 

[danemayer]

Hi deeduering,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

We have a few Mallard owners on the forum, so perhaps one will see this thread and share their experiences.

 

[drew510]

Hi Deeduering,

I just joined the forum, but hopefully can offer some insight. I just posted a full review online, which I will paste below, but the Cliff’s notes version is A) Prepare for repairs on ANY RV you buy new. Build quality is poor on all of them, so expect to bring your trailer in at somepoint with a laundry list of repair items. Just make sure you do it before the one year warranty is up. B) We like our M29. I think it is a great value. There are always some things you like and don’t like, but that is basically your own preference. We got good use out of it this summer and would buy it again. Here is my full review:

We purchased our M29 (IDM29) in July of this year (2016) and took it on four trips before the end of summer. We had decided on this bunkhouse floorplan because we wanted larger bunks as well as direct access to the bathroom from the outside. We looked at several versions of this floorplan from different manufactures, such as Jayco,Passport, Coleman and even another Heartland (Wilderness). This trailer seemed to have the most bang for the buck.



Notable items:

• Options - From whatI can tell, unlike other RVs, this RV has no options other than fabric choices.My hunch is that they do this so they can produce them in mass and save time and money - and buyers are the beneficiaries. The MSRP on ours was around XXX.They seem to fluctuate based on location and whatever the dealer puts on there,but from what I can tell, all the ones I've seen online are the exact same. We paid XXX for ours from Camping World (Wood Village, OR).
• Water tanks – All three have 36 gal capacity. If you are a dry camper, you may want to reconsider this RV as it has a relatively small fresh water tank. We don't dry camp much, but did once and 36 was fine four our weekend stay.
  
• Propane tanks – I was initially a bit disappointed that this trailer came with 20lb tanks, which are the same as BBQ tanks. Our last trailer had 30lb tanks. After four trips, my worries are gone. We didn’t even go through one tank.
  
• Stabilizing Jacks - This model has electric stabilizing jacks, which seem to be working well so far. It does have a manual tongue jack, which I will be swapping out soon.
  
• Storage – The front pass-through is very big. The only other outside storage is a small one underneath the bunks. Others we looked at had the entire area under the bunk as storage. For our family of four, I find that the storage on this trailer is plenty adequate and it seems to have been built to hold the weight up front.
  
• Weight/ Weight Distribution– I haven’t gone so far as to weigh it front to back, but when I put the bikes on the back of the trailer, I need to put all of the luggage towards the front of the trailer to avoid sway. The dry weight is listed as 5800 in literature,but the sticker on the door says 6250 (or close to that). My bet is towing weight is close to 7000.
  
• Wide Axels – I’ve seen that quite a few brands are now putting wider axels on trailers to give them a more stable ride. I can’t say that I have seen a huge difference between this and our last trailer. It does make putting it on leveling blocks easier as you have more room between the wheels. I will need to buy new x-chocks as my old ones will not work. L
  
• HVAC - I found the A/C to be on the weak side. It is ducted throughout, but the most rearward one is just outside the bunkhouse. The top bunk can get pretty warm, so the kids struggled a bit one hot night. The heat seems to work just fine, but again,there is no duct near the bunkhouse so it can get on the cold side.
  
• Vacuum - One feature that I had not seen on an RV before, especially at this price point, was abuilt-in vacuum cleaner. It works okay but the hose does not extend all the way into the bedroom.
  
• Electronics – I feel this trailer could use more electrical outlets. There is one on each side ofthe main bed, one in the kitchen and one just outside the bunkhouse. Oh, and I guess one by the TV. The rotating entertainment center is a nice feature, but honestly, we’ve really only used it to better secure the TV while travelling. Speaking of the TV, this model does not come with one, which is no big deal.You’d be better off buying your own TV and mount much cheaper. I picked up a 32inch TV for $120 and paid another $15 for a mount. I was a cheapskate on the TV, but you should be able to fit a 40 inch TV. Just make sure to measure for it.
  
• Lighting. Almost all the lighting in the trailer is LED. There are four main cabin lights on one switch (no switches on the fixtures (yay for short people like me!) There is one switched light in the bedroom and two reading lights. Each bunk has a reading light. The only non LED light is above the dinette. I tried switching the bulbs to LED but immediately blew a fuse.
  
• Awning – This has an electric awning, which is great for set up and take down, but not so great for cleaning as you can’t lower it like a manual awning. It does have a built in LED light, which is great.
  
• Outside speakers –This is a nice feature. Ours was wired incorrectly and was playing sound both inside and outside the trailer at the same time. It wasn’t something that we could wait to fix, so I fixed it when I first discovered it while camping.
  
• Dual Heat Water Heater – this may or may not be more of a standard feature now, but it was nice to have the option for propane and/or electric. Saves on propane! When on electric, there is a very faint electrical noise coming from the heater, but you have to be standing right next to it outside.
  
• Black tank flush –this also seems to be more of a standard feature now, but if you don’t know about it, it’s a great thing! You hook your hose up to the receptacle, pull the black water valve and then turn on the water. Inside the black tank are jets that spray down the walls of the tank and rinse it out. We’ve had zero smell issues so far and I am willing to bet this is a reason.
  

Issues:

Wewere warned by friends (and even the salesman) that all new RVs will have a host of problems stemming from the build. It was good to take it on four trips to try and find all the issues. I will post them here only as an anecdote tosee if anyone else with this model has the same issues:

• Outside shower leaking.
• Bathtub leaks.
• Weak A/C (reporting it just in case there is actually something wrong with it).
  
• Water pump malfunctioning.
  
• Speakers wired incorrectly. Fixed myself.
  

Other than that and a few trip pieces not attached well, it seems to be doing fine.

 

[DanPace]

Deeduering, did you have a problem with the screen door latches on your M29? I recently purchased one and on the first outing noticed the latches are about a quarter inch short of reaching the door frame.

Thanks,

Dan Pace

 

[mlpeloquin]

I have a a Big Horn 3010RE. Had the same problem with the screen door as well as the screen door had a gap at the bottom vertical opening. I adjusted the screen door myself in five minuets. My suggestion would be to get a set of tools from harbor Freight in self contained boxes, ratchet wrench sets with sockets, screwdrivers, allen wrenches, and a cheep drill, 120VAC, with a drill set. Cheep tools, but do the job on the road, and blue Loctite, (removible/reworkable). When/if a screw loosens up, use a toothpick to apply about 1/3ed drop on the threads. They will not back of unless you are trying to remove them. Once fixed it will not need fixing again. Also some epoxy and Gorilla tape. You can patch and fix most things on the road in a few minuets and keep on camping.

 

[Rychehawk]

Deeduering, did you have a problem with the screen door latches on your M29? I recently purchased one and on the first outing noticed the latches are about a quarter inch short of reaching the door frame.

I picked up a 2017 M29 and I had choice of 3 units at my dealer, I passed on one for that reason, the main entry screen door had the same problem you described. The unit I bought is good and the doors line up fine but the screen door latches seem flimsy but do the job...so far!