Shamrock vs. Surveyor vs. Stampede??

Clarewood Camper · 03-22-2012, 11:20 AM

Hey all - just looking into purchasing/upgrading our trailer to a hybrid and I'm curious if anyone owns a Shamrock 17 or 19 or the Stampede 195SD who might have some input regarding quality and overall satisfaction/concerns with their rig. I appreciate all feedback. I'm sort of leaning towards the Stampede 195SD.

Thanks!

Athens-M50 · 03-22-2012, 12:40 PM

I have a 2002 Shamrock 17'.......just 3 of us wife and 11yr. old daughter.....we were tent campers for 20 years....till the wire got sick of walking to the bath house in the middle of the night.....and wanted a bath room.....we have only been able to go a couple time some far.....but LOVE it!!!.

**bikendan** · 03-22-2012, 02:21 PM

Shamrock and Roo are twins. there is nod differences other than outside graphics and interior decor. they are both made on the same assembly line.
generally, you'll find cheaper prices on the Roo over the Shamrock, since there are way more Roo dealers, therefore more price competition. especially since RVW and RVDirect carry the Roo and not the Shamrock.
RVW does also carry the Stampede now and should have the best prices on them.

Stampede and Surveyor have their own separate factories.

each brand will say theirs is better. it's all subjective. you need to get inside each brand and decide for yourself. all brands have their fans and haters.

why buy a 17 over a 19? there's a saying: buy your second trailer, first.
if you can tow a 19, get it over the 17. you won't regret getting the bigger trailer. neither size will fit in your garage and either will fit in most campsites.

Clarewood Camper · 03-22-2012, 02:40 PM

appreciate feedback - Athens, yes I am actually most interested in being able to quickly get out and to the campground and back without having to deal with the lifting/closing of the trailer over and over. That sort of gets to be a pain, especially when they make hyrbids/expandables that still provide the "outdoor" or tent feel sleeping experience without the hassle. Would also be great to have that full bathroom vs. the cassette. I will hopefully be able to convince my wife to camp before the wash house water is turned on.

Bikendan - believe me your point has been the topic of discussion in our house. My wife feels the extra 2K+ isn't worth it for 2ft. We are more weekender or long weekend campers, so it's hard to justify the cost. However, we have stayed a few times more than 4 nights and even a week (hard to get her to camp for a whole week - hoping this will make it easier for longer duration trips). I personally want the 195SD- I like the door placement, size, and interior design. The Shamrock 19 is also nice. I think Forest River in general makes a great product which is why I'm trying to stick with the brand. I've seen the Jayco's and they appear to be a cheaper / lower end model. At least that's how they look to me anyway. Thanks for the advice on RVW I haven't really looked into them at all - just local dealers and what I can see on eBay which isn't a whole lot. Cheers!

rob2112 · 03-23-2012, 07:16 PM

Just got our Shamrock 19 last year as an upgrade from our pop-up Great investment, and I agree that you should spend the extra $ and go with the 19, you won't regret it. They seem to get a bit smaller once you "move-in"

tmilicia · 03-27-2012, 03:40 PM

We just bought a 2011 195SD middle of last summer. The floor plan ended up being perfect for us and there is plenty of room inside for our small family. A few times last summer we even had 4 adults & 2 children in it without too much trouble.

I also looked at the Shamrock 19 before I went with the Palomino. The things that I liked better about the Palomino were 1) The tub in the bathroom, really helps with small children. 2) The Palomino has ducted a/c. 3) The SS diamond plated front of the 195SD 4) I liked the graphics better (personal choice) 5) at the time the palomino came with a flat screen and the shamrock didn't, plus there is an outdoor mount and hookup for it. But the biggest selling point was the price, I ended up paying a little less than $13k for it brand new.

I think we ended up camping in it around 25 nights last summer. So far, the only issue we've had was the original Concertone stereo took a dump the first time out. It wasn't a big deal though, I pulled it out and sent it to Palomino and they sent me a new Genesis system as a replacement. Let me know if you have any specific questions about the unit.

rossleckie · 04-01-2012, 01:57 PM

Thanks for the discussion about the various brands of hybrid under the Forest River umbrella. I looked at a 19' Shamrock on the weekend. Anyone had experience pulling such a trailer with a Dodge Caravan? The 19' is getting close to the loaded weight capacity even without much gear. The salesman said I could effectively add 700# capacity with an equalizer hitch. Anyone out there had experience with this? Thanks

rob2112 · 04-01-2012, 02:07 PM

Just because you "can" doesn't mean you should. Our 2005 Gr Caravan pulled our 10' pop-up OK, but our Jeep pulled it much better, and the Jeep struggled with the Shamrock 19. If you aren't going far, and it's relatively flat, you would probably be OK, but with a fully loaded trailer on even slightly hilly terrain, I think it would be alot for the van. You would definately want (need) an equalizer hitch

**bikendan** · 04-01-2012, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rossleckie

Thanks for the discussion about the various brands of hybrid under the Forest River umbrella. I looked at a 19' Shamrock on the weekend. Anyone had experience pulling such a trailer with a Dodge Caravan? The 19' is getting close to the loaded weight capacity even without much gear. The salesman said I could effectively add 700# capacity with an equalizer hitch. Anyone out there had experience with this? Thanks

#1 Newbie Mistake: listening to a salesman!
on another RV forum, just read about a new HTT owner that the salesman told him that his Ford Escape had a 5000lbs. tow capacity!!!

that Shamrock 19 will weigh over your 3500lbs. tow capacity, sitting on the dealer's lot! i'll bet it's actual UVW is over 3600lbs.
it's GVWR is 4770lbs.
that's WAYYY too much trailer for your minivan. the only minivan that was a truly capable tow vehicle, was the Astro/Safari minivan.
built on a ladder frame, rear wheel drive and a 4.3 Vortec v-6 engine.

Clarewood Camper · 04-05-2012, 01:28 PM

Agree with Dan re: the tow weight and unlikely event you would pull a 19' with a sense of "confidence" using any minivan. We have a pretty tow capable Tahoe (with included self leveling air ride system) and even with our 18' Rockwood Freedom Pop-up, you could feel the weight and would need to ride the gears in trailer mode more than usual so I cannot fathom what a V6 would feel like with a 19'.

Dan - you'll appreciate this as your comment was why go with the 17 vs. the 19. So I brought my wife about 2 weeks back with me to check out the trailers, she sat in the s-238 and wouldn't get out. The difference between the 195SD and 238 was measurable visibly and from a cubic space perspective, but not necessarily too much on the wallet or weight - so I just purchased the s-238 and we pick it up Saturday. I have to say, it's a pretty amazing trailer and has everything we could need and then some considering the camping we do. Sold our pop-up without a hitch and got what we wanted using eBay. I took everyone's advise and really looked at ALL of the trailers in the ultralight category. The Palomino really offers everything we want fairly standard (although I negotiated to get the alum rims), and the prices are really almost equal.

On an entirely seperate note, I'm curious if you or anyone has experience with dabbling in the solar world? While I am a RV camper - I'm just that, an RV CAMPER and I will never see the likes of an RV park so I'm looking into alternate methods of extending our stay with no power hookups. Solar seems to be the way to go. We've already purchased an extra battery to have 2 batteries which should be more than enough for a 2-3 night stay.

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