Metal Slide Tray????? - Montana Owners Club

DonandBonnie · 11-25-2006, 09:57 AM

Can someone out there convince me that I really need to spend $300 for the 18" Metal Slide Tray option.

Montana Sky · 11-25-2006, 10:19 AM

I have it in my coach. Truth be told, not sure I would get it again. I do enjoy being able to slide the bbq out instead of reaching and trying to pick it up while in the basement. My feeling on the benefit vs. the loss of storage space just might not be worth it. Will have to think hard about this option on the next one.

stiles watson · 11-25-2006, 10:59 AM

I don't know about the 18" tray, but my Big Sky has a 24" tray. I really like being able to organize my gear and have accessibility from both sides.

richfaa · 11-25-2006, 11:03 AM

We have it.. Helen like it because she does have to crawl around in the compartment on her hand and knees to dig things out.We can get 5 of those large plastic milk cartons in tne tray and that holds a lot of stuff. Not sure that you lose much if any space but everything is a trade off and the convenience is worth it.

Mudchief · 11-25-2006, 11:07 AM

I have it and I keep the ice maker and grill on it.

Glenn and Lorraine · 11-25-2006, 11:26 AM

Well I ain't sure about the tray either but I am ordering it in my new rig.

Cat320 · 11-25-2006, 12:18 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Montana Sky

I have it in my coach. Truth be told, not sure I would get it again. I do enjoy being able to slide the bbq out instead of reaching and trying to pick it up while in the basement. My feeling on the benefit vs. the loss of storage space just might not be worth it. Will have to think hard about this option on the next one.

My thoughts, too...that's why we did not get it. I'm tall enough that I can reach most items in there and the DW never uses the basement. Plus, it adds more weight, or reduces cargo capacity, however you want to look at it.

Bluegill · 11-25-2006, 01:20 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by DonandBonnie

Can someone out there convince me that I really need to spend $300 for the 18" Metal Slide Tray option.

I'm pretty sure I cant convince you one way or another here. All I know is that we decided that we did not need it.
I felt I had more control over where everything went. This is just my observation and I can not speak from experience.

Parrothead · 11-25-2006, 02:57 PM

We love ours. Was one of our "must haves". I don't think you loose that much space, in fact you may gain because what you put on it stays on it. I'm vertically challenged and I like being able to reach things without asking Ed.
Happy trails....................

Bill Frisbee · 11-25-2006, 05:00 PM

Our unit came with the tray installed. I removed it during my "weight purge" last Spring. It weighs 85 lbs and I do not miss it.
'

c5racer · 11-25-2006, 05:51 PM

Wouldn't be with out it. Losing 85 pounds from 14,000 doesn't mean much to the dually.

stiles watson · 11-25-2006, 08:37 PM

Hummmm, sounds to me like you may be able to buy Bill's at a bargain, then you both will be happy.

osubeaver76 · 11-26-2006, 12:56 AM

Don,
It's funny you should start this thread now because I was planning to start one today. We finally got to look at a 3400RL yesterday for the first time and will be ordering one in the next week or so. One option was the 18" sliding tray. I couldn't find anything about the tray in Montana literature. The salesman could neither assure me that the tray could be latched down (secured for transit) nor that it could be withdrawn from either side of the basement. Can you enlighten me on these features? For us, it wil be a "necessary" but I wanted to see how Montana's version compared to an after-market brand (the "Joey Bed" at http://www.joeybed.com/) that I've had my eye on.
Thanks,
Guy

stiles watson · 11-26-2006, 01:59 AM

There is a release latch on either side so that you can slide it out either side of the basement. When fully retracted, it automatically latches and is ready for transit. My tray is 3" to 4" deep. The whole tray, rails and mechanism stands about 6" tall, so you loose about 2" to 2-1/2" of vertical space under the tray.

After reviewing the Joey Duel unit, I would say that the one keystone uses is very similar with the exception that it is all sheet metal rather than plywood or corregated steel. You would have to compare the diminsions in the cross section.

I find it a valuable addition and would order it in a new unit.

DonandBonnie · 11-26-2006, 02:42 AM

Guy,
I haven't seen the tray yet. All I have is a MSRP sheet that had the tray listed as a $300 option. I have found that the fine folks on this forum can give me a valuable education that helps me make my final decision.

What have I learned so far from asking this question?
The weight of the tray is 85 lbs., which is something that I had not considered, nor do I know where to find it. The need for the tray may be a personal decision (based on vertical challenges) rather than a necessity. Some people gotta have it to reach the middle of the basement, others do not. The tray has lots of carring space and can hold some weight.

What do I need to do next?
Before I make the purchase decision, I'll find a dealer with the tray and check it out, keeping in mind the information learned here. In any event, we will head into this one decision armed with some good facts to help us.

Bottom line, even though I think I may know the answer to my questions, I'm still going to ask, because I learn more than just the answer, in most cases valuable information that I hadn't even considered.

Hope this helps,
Don

bonscott · 11-26-2006, 05:21 AM

Our 2007 3400RL has one. You do lose some space by having it, but it will hopefully come in handy.
We just took delivery of our new rig on Tuesday, and Scott just finished transferring all of our 'stuff' to the basement this weekend. The basement on this model is smaller than our 3295RK, but he did get it all to fit.
By the way, we got our slide tray "for free", by getting the dealer to throw it in at no charge, as part of our bargaining on the price. After we couldn't get them to come down anymore on the price, Scott did get our rep to throw in a couple options at no charge. You might try that tactic.

yvonnenid · 11-26-2006, 06:03 AM

We love the tray!! Not only do we keep our Weber Q on the tray, but we also keep the 5 gallon propane next to it. We never take either down we use the tray like a built in Bar B Que. It is really neat, Many people comment on our cool built in Bar B Que!

The Oldguard · 11-26-2006, 06:20 AM

I’ve found that more than anything else, you will have to make up your own mind about the tray. We took the 24 inch slide tray out of our 3295, and put it in our 3400RL it works very will for us.
I guess it will depend on how good your back is, and how much you like crawling into the basement to retrieve large items?
I’ve also found it is very handy for me to get onto the tray, and slide my body into the basement to do different repairs.

Parrothead · 11-26-2006, 07:01 AM

Now these are things we have not thought of. Doesn't the BBQ get hot underneath? Riding in it sounds fun. Hope we don't have any kids reading this or I can imagine some little rugrats having a great time riding back and forth! LOL
Happy trails........................

LonnieB · 11-26-2006, 07:05 AM

I can see how the tray would be beneficial to some, even a necessity to others, but I don't think it would do us much good. We don't fulltime, and we don't always do the same thing, so we don't always carry the same " stuff " in the basement. We have only made 2 trips, but the basement items on the last trip were completely different than the first. The things that always stay with the trailer, I keep in the front compartment, for now anyway. If I install the Onan generator, I'll have to do something different, but the tray will probably not be in the picture.

JMO

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