Not sure on the weight, but my concern would be the space. Not sure where the treadmill would "live," especially in an older motorhome.

FYI, most folks say the general rule with an RV is "Sleeps 2, dinner for 4, ****tails for 6." That's no matter what the size! LOL

I am not familiar with the floorplans for all RV's, but I haven't seen one that would accomodate a treadmill without it being in the way? Why not just forget taking it with you and just go to a local gym, or find another exercise more conducive to the RV lifestyle...there is a big outdoors out there, surely 'real' walking outdoors is more fun than walking on the spot inside?

jmho
huggs kim x

So you are so set on taking a treadmill you are willing to give up seating for the rest of the family? My only suggestion would be to buy a toy hauler and carry it back there.I think the suggestion of getting out in the fresh air and walking would do you far more good than walking on a treadmill cooped up in your RV.

Hi Liz,

Thank you so much for the kind words! I live in Canada and unfortunately the weather is not always cooperative with us...it is mostly cold outside, or rainy or snowy, so when it comes to outdoor sport, it is not always easy to do . I am a gym frick and I LOVE treadmill the most, I love running on it, and to be honest with you, I don't really like running outside...

We are planning to become full time rvers and the first thing I thought of was what about the gym??? I have a home gym at home, and I know that I can't obviously bring it to the rv, space wise, weight wise and power wise...but I have seen once in a you tube video that someone had a treadmill in his rv, and one lady had an elliptical as well. That brought a smile to my face! I could bring my treadmill...

But then came the power problem, and since I have no experience with rv or generator , what so ever, I started to ask questions here to get some ideas of what to expect.

It does sounds an issue with the power, but I truly believe that every problem has a solution, you just need to thunk how to solve it.

For us having a lazy boy in the rv is less important than having a treadmill...we are just fine with a couch and a dinette, or a bedroom.  I know that you need to leave some of your habits behind to become a full time rver, but for me to leave the couch or the lazy boy is really not an issue...

The power is the issue that worries me as we are planning on boondocking most of the times and this might be too costly with the treadmill.  So space is not the issue...it is the generator working to provide the power to the treadmill  that worries me.

Have you had any experience with this issue before, or have you heard something about it?

 

Thank you Liz for your time, and have a great evening!

Sharon

 

Sharon!

WELCOME TO THE CLUB!!!

...I'm new here too! 

I don't know much ...but I 'do' think the power consumption may be a 'have-to-get-around-the-problem' problem.

I definitely want to run the rooftop air conditioner when I'm out in the middle-of-nowhere forest!

'I'm hoping' an economy generator (15 amp) should do the trick!

(I'll probably just not be able to use the microwave (and things like that) while the air conditioner is running.)

No big problem.

My main concern is the gas consumption the generator is going to guzzle-up ...at these high gas prices!

Anyway!

A treadmill (I think) will use up a lot of the 15 amp generator power. - So, you'll have to not use some appliances while the treadmill is running.

No problem!

200 lbs, eh!

Unwieldy!

I had a 17 or 21 ft motorhome, once.

There was a wrap-around dinette at the back.

I guess, if you took out the long bench seat, that ran across the back windowed wall, the treadmill could fit 'centered' there. - And the dinette table could still be dropped for the two of you to sleep on.

The two kids could sleep over the cab. - But you won't get any privacy, unless you hang up a curtain between you two, and the kids.

On the down side ...Don't forget, there may be a 'smell problem' with working-out in a small confined space as an RV.

Well! That's my 2 cents!

 

 

ps. I guess the two teens will work out over the cab, if they're 2 boys or 2 girls.

 

 

 

-- Edited by Millie on Friday 23rd of November 2012 09:07:54 AM

-- Edited by Millie on Friday 23rd of November 2012 09:09:15 AM

-- Edited by Millie on Friday 23rd of November 2012 09:09:59 AM

-- Edited by Millie on Friday 23rd of November 2012 09:25:10 AM

Hi Sharon.

Sounds like having the treadmill inside the RV is a high priority for you, That's fine as long as everyone else in the family is happy with that too, when you talk about taking out one of the lazy boys or a couch, you are talking about taking out the relaxation space for the family, also maybe even the sleeping space for the kids?

You already mentioned that the RV would not be 'too big', have you really considered the limited space available in an RV? Even a big one has it's limitations. I'm really not trying to be a "nay sayer", just trying to be realistic, we live fulltime in a 40ft diesel pusher with 2 slides, there are just the two of us, no kids, no animals. We love being together, actually 'like' each other so no issues being in that smaller space together 24/7., Even sharing the one tiny shower/restroom space lol. What I am trying to say (pretty badly i'm afraid, sorry) is that for a family with two teens, and two dogs ,that space is going to get claustrophobic pretty quickly, we all know teens can have 'issues' even at the best of times (had two myself) If you start removing chairs/loungers, you will have no comfortable spaces left except the dining area.

Fulltime RVing is an amazing way to live, I would not want you to give up your plan to do it at all, just maybe take a little more time to research your options (Took us a full year or more) maybe if you can, wait till the teens are in college etc, to give you more space inside.....

Sorry, hope this didn't offend, just trying to offer a little insight.
huggs Kim x

Hi Kim,

 

Thank you . Well my teens are 2 girls, one is 16 and the other 19.  Having a dinette and a sofa ,I think will be enough for them to sit all day  in front of the computer.

Having a treadmill in the rv is a wish of ALL OF US , not just me.  We all are ready to lose the amazing feeling of a lazy boy and leave just the sofa and dinette in order to have the treadmill.

Everyone and its priorities and wishes...everyone and its dreams...this is our wish and dream and I was just trying to find out some info...

We also don't use tv at all, nor we did in the last 8 years...and it will stay like this for the next time, so once again...we will prefer to workout all of us and not watching a tv on the lazy boy , so we will have our own little dream come true as we wish it to be...

I know that our first rv will be too small, at the beginning, but hey...there is what you can afford and there is what you want...totally different story...I wish we could buy the new 2013 40 foot coach class A...but we can't!  And losing your dream for money or size of space is a decision that you need to make. We have decided that waiting 16 years to do rv is enough...we don't want to wait till we be over 60 with savings and no kids on the rv...we would prefer to do it now and see what life has to offer. I believe in positive thinking and then everything falls into the right place by itself. However you still need to know what you are heading to and this is why I asked all my questions.

Regardless...I appreciate every reply, and I learn from each one of you ,so I am thankful for that!

 

Have a great weekend!

Thank you!

momyfor2 wrote:

---

May I ask when did you start rving and did you do it before part time or directly full time?

---

  Hi, Sharon

I guess I started RVing in 1974. (age 24)

…toured all over the U.S. in a converted-to-motorhome school bus.

…eventually settled on Vancouver Island, B.C., and lived in the converted-to-motorhome school bus there for 3 years in a campground. ($60. a month!  – Included electricity and sewer!)

Then bought 5 acres in North Island, and continued living in the converted-to-motorhome school bus for about another 5 years, until the house was built.

Then, around 1992, traveled all over Central America for about 3 years or so, while living in a 17 or 21 ft Tioga motorhome.

Then, a bit later, traveled across Canada from Vancouver to Nova Scotia in a camper van  …in the middle of the winter …with no spare tire! 

Then, lived in another camper van, in the forest, up in the mountains, 100 miles north of Vancouver, B.C. …gold panning!

Hi Millie,

 

That sounds great!!!! You have done so much in your life that others can only dream about it!!!!  I love hearing stories like that!

We have been dreaming to do full time rving for the past 16 years...but every time we had money issues and postponed it to later time when money will be more available... I bet you have heard this excuse  many times before...

But ...money never came as we wanted it to come, and we have decided that now is the time. We saw no reason to continue delay our dreams to when we will be 20 years more with (maybe) more money...

We have 2 girls, 16 and 19 year old, that are thrilled to do it more than us...they are old enough and mature to understand the consequences of this dream and are willing to take the challenge.  

Both of my girls are homeschooled, well. one has done  2 years ago, and the other is still homeschooled. I did the homeschooled, and they have been hs all their lives .

So living in a one space 24/7 with us is something that they are used to and love to do , and we saw it a perfect opportunity to jump into the water now. Why wait??

Unfortunately we have not got too much spare money, we rent today , and have nothing to lose. We can always go back to renting...there will always be houses for rent, but the years won't wait for us and time is a precious thing we sometimes forget to value its worth. We take it for granted...

We will probably be able to afford 30-36 foot motorhome, used, and probably old model, I assume from the 80's. That is what we can afford , for now, as I don;t want to obligate for finance.   People always say that it is too small, will be nightmare, the girls will hate me and so on. I don't think so and it all depends in the family. There are families that never sit together to eat, never do stuff together, and the kids just wait till they are 18 to run out from the house. This is not my family...we are the opposite.

We do everything together, eat together, live together and my girl did not wait to 18 to run outside the house. They understand that we won't live in those huge brown class A couches that we see on the roads from time to time, 40 something foot with 3 slides out...at least not now, maybe in years...if any ...they understand that there is what you want, and there is what you  can afford...simple way of educating them all those years...

So we have decided to move out of the rental by this spring and start our  dream. When winter comes, we will decide if to stay in Canada or move for the winter to USA. My husband still works full time here in Calgary so we will stay in Calgary area for the whole summer so he would be able to work.  Then. only god knows...

Back to our treadmill topic. We are a workout family...we all live it , especially myself. I am addicted and workout 6 days a week. I have a small gym at my house. The first thing I worried about was what about the gym stuff, I knew we can't bring it all, but at least the treadmill...so I asked here hoping to get some ideas and input from more experienced people that me.

Unfortunately people don't really get you when it comes to sport,  most of the world is more into tv ...we don't even have a tv at home, we stopped cables 8 years ago, and happily kept it that way.

So having a lazy boy or a beautiful spare chair in front of the tv for us is useless and a waste of space. There are 2 swivel chairs at the front, there is a couch, and there is the dinette, and our bedroom...how many more chairs do a 4 people family need????

So I thought to take out the lazy boy/chair and hopefully to trade it with a treadmill. I think people can't really understand it and see it selfish from my end. It would have been if that was only my wish, but all of us agree to do so, we just wanted some info of how to make it work in terms of space, power ,weight and so on, but I guess I was wrong.

Anyway, plans are the same. We are planing and hoping to pursuit our long time dream this spring, with out little money but a good plan, and we are planning to have a treadmill inside. We will just have to figure out how...every problem has a solution, you just need to think harder to find it!

People who live in USA don't get it that the Canadian weather is not always cooperative with us...most of the time it does not, so outdoor is not really a steady option. I am not looking to workout only when mother nature allows me to , all for just living in an rv with a tv and a lazy boy...I do like outdoors, but when it comes to workout, I have to be honest , I prefer the indoors, have much more to offer, when you are serious about it and not just walking around once in a week.

So this is my story, I hope it was not too long ...I have a tendency to make long posts...

I wanted to thank you for your cute posts and kind words , and for taking the time to reply.

I wish you all the best and good luck!

Have a great weekend!

Sharon

Hi, Sharon!
I have been following these comments, and thought about you yesterday when I was using my rebounder. We have not fully ditched the house yet, but we are planning on bringing our rebounder with us in the rv, to use both inside and out. Just wanted to say I understand your need for your exercise routine!

Good luck!

Deanna