Pros and Cons Of Various Floorplans

[oldudbob]

There seem to be three basic 5th wheel floorplans; rear kitchen, mid kitchen and front kitchen. What are the pros and cons of the various floorplans? We are leaning toward a rear living area, mid kitchen floor plan.

[CountryGuy]

Personal needs and requirements is the first thing that comes to mind. You need to be able to envision yourself staying/living in one of these units. Personal choice!!

Not too long ago, someone posted a very thorough check list, to help you decide what you needed. See if you can find it with a search???

Basically, list what is important to you, desk?? big bedroom?? can you see the Television from your most likely place to sit?? Those kinds of things. Then take your knowledge of you, your family and your lifestyle shopping, match up the units with your requirements and wants.

Everyone has their own list. Mine was a desk, but NO WHERE NEAR the television. The rest of the comforts of home were way down our personal priority list.

Hope that helps.

Have fun shopping!

[stiles watson]

My tendency is to try to be logic oriented. This means I want to have "reasons" for making my choices. Phooey with this "feeling" stuff. Having said that, I have to say that after standing in the middle of each of these floor plans you defined, I chose the rear living model because it "felt" right. For the life of me, I really can't make a logical explanation for the choice. Go with what tickles you fancy or makes your nose wiggle.

[Bill Hill]

We wanted several things specifically: HAD TO HAVE 2 recliners, HAD TO HAVE a large rear window, HAD TO HAVE lots of counter space in the kitchen, and I didn't want to tow much more than 30 feet of trailer. As you can see by my signature, the 2980 has the HAD TO HAVE features. Compromise was on length, it's 32'9" with the extended hitch, but part of that overhangs the truck so I'm still about the same length as when I towed a TT that was 29'11" overall length. Oh, and Shari HAD TO HAVE a television that was easily seen from her recliner, and not mounted near the ceiling as our old TT was. We like some of the more open floorplans (like the 2955, etc.), but we really need to have the counter space in the kitchen when we both work there, and the 2980 lets someone work on either side of the counter.

[Montana_2753]

oldudbob: If you haven't discovered by now, you certainly will with this question: EVERYONE has a different opinion!! That's why a forum like this is so valuable. I believe it's better to learn from others mistakes. That being said, I suggest you write down what you feel is the "ideal" floorplan, taking into consideration things like: pass-through access from entrance-to kitchen-(mainly refrig/food/sink, etc.) to bedroom-to living areas when slides are closed; convenience of micro/stove/oven-to refrig./sink/counterspace; size/location of desk space (elec./phone outlets) and TV/entertainment center (some prefer TV across from couch/recliners while others prefer TV, etc. toward mid-trailer); how much "open" window space you want; size and cenvenience of W/C (sitting on the "throne", can you complete paperwork without hitting head on wall); STORAGE SPACE (inside that is easy to get to without having to use step stool or LADDER) (outside that will meet your needs now and later if you decide to go fulltime). It took me over TWO YEARS to find my IDEAL fiver and decided on the 3575RL Big Sky. I know this floorplan is no longer available, but I would try to find something as close to it as I could. Here is a link to the Big Sky floorplans.

http://keystone-bigsky.com/index.htm...575rl#bs3575rl

I have very good friends that helped me decide what to look for (the husband has over 40 years of RV experience from popups to large RVs and fivers - he's the one that told me about the W/C). I wholeheartedly agree with stiles watson (logic oriented) and CountryGuy (What's important to you?), but it comes down to "Can you live with it or without it?"

Good luck

Bruce

[sreigle]

Ours is a rear kitchen and we're very happy with it. Our first Montana had a mid-kitchen (by the entry door) and we were happy with it, too. To us, location of the kitchen is secondary to things like amount of storage and counter space, among other things. Good luck in your decision. Let us know what you decide. There are many great Montana floorplans out there.

[Wordsmith]

The advice about envisioning yourself in the unit is very good. I would suggest sitting in it for some time and then work your way through some scenarios inside of it. I would also suggest that you get a very good idea of what the unit is like with the slides retracted—it makes a decided difference. Ours—the 3295RK—is one of those where you can pretty much write off the rear of the unit with the slides in. Still, we absolutely love the galley bar; it is a wonderful space!

Find one that you like because of the pros but can live with the cons. Nothing will ever work one hundred percent for you.

[syplace]

We liked the rear living room and the rear kitchen. But after talking to othrs we decided on the rear kitchen. Reason: love the counter top, more storage area. The rear living room has the big window, but it is very hard to find a park where you have a beautiful view ....especially if you plan on staying put for a while.

[Kathi]

Well, we checked them all out. We did see the Cambridge and to us it looked just like the Montana 3400RL with more eye candy. But not worth the xtra moola......Took us 5 years but we did it.....We finally decided on the 3400RL. And what a beauty she is!!! We looked at the 3685FL and hated the fact that you had to climb stairs to get to the sitting area. We felt that you spend much more time in the sitting area then the bedroom, so a rear lounge was a must. The rear kitchen was out because we liked the fact that you could sit at the large rear window and have a great view. And Paul felt that it was to heavy in the rear. The 3500RL had the rear lounge but the doors seemed to cut the trailer in half. Didn't like that. We needed to be able to get to the frig and the bathroom while traveling as I don't do rest stops or gas stations..... So the fact that we were able to do that was a +. We just fell in love with it, sold one of our houses and we put cash down on the spot. The only thing now left to do is get the Majestic W/D that we ordered and never got. Still waiting for that. The only thing I can say is to get what suits your fancy, and you will be happy. Oh, another thing, make sure you have a place to park it, as they all look so little all parked on the lot until you get them home and try to find a place to park them.....Good luck and happy camping.....

[Virgil]

We have a 2955RL. We like the rear recliners. We can both see the TV well. I do sometimes lay on the couch to watch TV and have a nap. The one thing I do really like about the 2955 is that you can get to the fridge, bathroom, dining area and all the necessary places while on the road, where it is sometimes not possible to extend the slides. No matter the floorplan, they all have their advantages and disadvantages. The trick is to pick one where the advantages over shadow the disadvantages. Our previous 5r was a rear kitchen and we did like the ample counter space. We had the kids home then and they usually brought a friend or two. The meals were maybe not more elaborate but certainly consisted of more food, and the extra counter space was nice. Pick a plan, one that you think works for you and after a while, if you decide another one is better, changing plans is an option. Good luck and I am sure you will make the right decision for you.

[Bill and Ann]

Make sure you look at the 3670RL. It has the most open space of all the units with the two big opposing slides. As you have read, everyone likes what they have for THEIR reasons.

[DCP]

Bill Hill; I couldn't have said it any better!! Good job.

[BillyRay]

it's just personal preferance. it's what works for you. we like the open feeling of not being "boxed in"

[Sunshine]

We have the floor plan we do because we "fell into" a good deal. It suits our situation well - we don't have any intention of full timing and we do like the openness of the 3255RL. As you can tell from other posts, choice of model depends on what you will be doing. If I were going to consider full timing, or spending a whole lot more time in the Montana, I would probably pick a model with a desk, more kitchen storage, and more storage in general. Whatever your choice, it will be the right one for your situation and you will love your Montana. Have fun looking.

[rames14]

I feel that I'm just repeating what's been said, but consider all of the weekends and trips. We seasonal, so we expect lots of company. Some of the days its nice out and others its miserable, so we have everyone inside. Last year on one weekend we had ten people in watching a movie on a sweltering day. Since we leave it setup, it's nice to have all of the extra space because we leave things at the trailer. One of the reasons we upgraded from the TT was we were cramped. Now, one might consider us extravagant. Part of the fun is finding the right model for you. I think for most, its like when you met your significant other - when its right, you'll know it. Best of luck.

[thook]

We selected the 3400RL for a couple of reasons. One, it had the most counter space and secondly, and most important to us was that the kitchen was located on the drivers side. The majority of the units have the kitchen on the curb side. This is the side that is usually alongside your picnic table, fire pit and awning area and with the kitchen on the curb side you have very poor visibility of your "camping area" because of limited windows. Whereas having the dinette on the curb side usually gives you the greatest view of your campsite..............it works for us!

[HomeOnTheRoad]

Just a note about the 3295RK rear kitchen to correct a statement from above. The 3295RK is not rear heavy. In fact, it has the heaviest pinweight of all the Montanas. That means the weight is forward, not rearward. According to RVCG it is a very well balanced model, so I am told. Just wanted to clarify that point. I read somewhere the 3295RK has the axles farther back than most models to help with the balance. I am not sure about this.

[315RLS]

quote:Originally posted by oldudbob

There seem to be three basic 5th wheel floorplans; rear kitchen, mid kitchen and front kitchen. What are the pros and cons of the various floorplans? We are leaning toward a rear living area, mid kitchen floor plan.

We took a mid-kitchen to have the weight over the wheels and the rear area for the 2 recliners so we are able to take these out when need for space requires.

[Thunderman]

We have owned the mid kitchen model and presently have the 2955 rear living. The 2955 rl main slide won't come in until you move the 2
recliners. Moving the chairs when setting up and leaving is somewhat of an aggravation for me. I do wish we had the mid kitchen in our present Montana. Just goes back to the old personal preference. Good Luck

[Bill and Ann]

We have the 3670 mid kitchen. Recently moved the chairs to the side and the sofabed to the rear. Like the new layout much better.