Alot of the 10m+ buses have 600ltr fresh, 400 grey, and 200 black.

if getting a bus I’d go small wood/coal burner in a caravan heating is done with a diesel heater install.

We lived on the road for 7.5yrs 2009 - mid 2016, doing some seasonal work to make ends meet & having around 4 months off per year, our dog enjoyed it too.... will definately do it again before retirement, too good not to do.... just ask Reel Deal
Towed a car to get around & I had a 3.1m roll up inflatable with 8hp, ali floor to stand up on wsith inflatable keel, was kitted out for basic fishing. Boat & outboard was stowed in the boot of the motorhome

Find something that suits your budget & what works for you
You can be a combination unit of up to 20m in length, class 2 licence.
Have met others who have a 9m bus towing a ute that is towing a boat as long under 20m
Better setups I have seen are motorhome or bus towing a boat 12-14ft, the trailer is custom made so the quad bike is driven on above the boat... looks hard case

Viewing your "small list of must haves"

Same as our setup, altho 375 fresh & 310 grey water, 3 toilet cassettes
This does us for 4 nights 5 days for dunny use & water, also have a 2.2kg washing machine
Diesel heating is what you want, runs off main tank, can run it 24hrs when snowing outside
Your first priority is solar, house battery storage & 3 ways of charging batteries - alternator, solar, plugin to mains into multi stage charger.

We have 530w solar into 3 x 20a mppt controllers feeding 2 x 325ah 12v batteries... a little more solar would be nicer
Tow bar rated 2500kg, unbraked towing is 2000kg on 9T RUC = class 2 licence
We towed a 4 door Laser for 55k around the country.
When you live on the road, you want a car to tour around in.

Consider ground clearence & overhang
Check out Reel deals caravans ground clearence, then scroll up to the photo Clifftastic posted of the bus & compare the 2..... there are **** loads of kool places around the country that bus wont get into
Join nzmca club https://www.nzmca.org.nz/ this allows you to park up free or gold coin in RSA, golf clubs, many private & other places not on offer to the travelling public. Plus huge discounts on the ferry to sth isl
Our club owns over 30 properties thru out the country costs $3 per head per night

For your new rig, be familiar with the tare weight, gvm & gcm / gcw. Sometimes its the loading that can catch owners out, some of the newer lighter motorhomes have lower loading capacities & 750kg unbraked towing

Once you are setup, travelling can be done on the cheap without skimping, be it doing freedom camping or using our clubs properties around the country
Last big trip away, we did 32 days around south island over xmas break, cost us 73 bucks total for our accomdation - no camp grounds

Happy to answer any questions bro


Our setup

Guys, how do you get a self contained cert when your grey tank is less than the fresh tank? Mine had a bigger grey than fresh.

I havent had a caravan nor motorhome, but can make some points.

kitno wrote: Alot of the 10m+ buses have 600ltr fresh, 400 grey, and 200 black.

Hook-it wrote: kitno wrote: Alot of the 10m+ buses have 600ltr fresh, 400 grey, and 200 black. Have to question your figures on that for a self containment cert. You would need larger holding capacity for grey and black.. Solids lift volume.

These figures come from house buses that are for sale on trade me and Facebook. Most seem to carry atleast 400 ltrs of fresh water.

And it's far cheaper to run a normal vehicle compared to a large bus.

Yep Great thread. Enjoying all the comments and what guys have been up to.

With bigger fresh water tanks going into smaller grey tanks plus a black tank
Tank sensors are needed for this mis-match


kitno

With the big water capacity you are looking for, those buses are pretty heavy, usually in the 12-15T RUC, pushing big horses ranging 270hp plus in the older models = deep pockets... if towing, max vehicle length 10.5m
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/licensing-rego/road-user-charges/ruc-rates-and-transaction-fees/


I did a fuel report on our motorhome forum some years ago for reference here
copy/pasted below

7.4m cab-over Fuso 6spd man 190hp 4.9L, on weigh bridge cert scales 6880kg fully laden, 9T RUC
Towing Ford laser car, spec sheet says empty weight around 1100kg, plus used for storage

Recored trip of 3806km diesel 847.92L
http://www.calculatenow.biz/conversions/consumption.php
4.4886km per L
12.6795 miles per gal
22.2785L per 100ks