Dutchmen RV Kodiak Factory Tour
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- We were invited up to visit the Dutchmen factory where our Kodiak Ultra Lite travel trailer is built. This was a fantastic tour given by Brett & Mitchel, both in regional sales, who are very knowledgable on how the Kodiak products are built and assembled, including the processes and materials chosen. They gave a lot of good information on the processes that go into building these units to provide maximum durability & quality, while keeping them as light as possible. It was incredible to see each station of the build and how well the teams work together & hustle to not only get a high quality unit built but in a timely manner to get them out the door and to the customers. Once you get to see for yourself the process of build, you really appreciate the efforts that have been put into building these units. Abby and I really enjoyed the opportunity to visit the Dutchmen & Kodiak teams and allowing us to bring the camera for an inside look at production.
Visit Dutchmen's website to learn more about the Kodiak and all of the brands they build. '
www.dutchmen.com
Take a virtual 360 tour of our Kodiak! www.dutchmen.c...
Nearly one unit every 20 minutes. Amazing. I would not go so far as to say campers are "quality" constructed though. Seems to me speed and low cost of construction are job one.
You can have "quality" for a lot more money. It's up to you.
A, cheap
B, fast
C, quality
You can pick two from above but will have to sacrifice the third.
@@The_Osprey not in any RV they are all built the same way lots of staples, sure there are mfg that charge a lot more then 200k,but it a marketing gig, only.. the only way you get the best RV or houseboat is from people that build 3 or 4 a year, and use all house hold fixings not RV sinks taps pumps, hot water tanks fridges, furnace all crap and 4 times the price
My husband and I are going camping June 23rd in our 2024 Kodiac. We bought the front kitchen unit almost like the first one you showed on this video. It has a king bed and fire place and the pantry with fire place. If we want to we can take the shelves out and put a washer and dryer in. I love all the counter space. The only draw back is I wish it had a way that the cabinet doors would stay open. I made thin slats 12 in wood with v notches in the ends and painted to match my cabinets to hold them open. When you open the pantry the top mantle on the fire place will hit the wall and could make a whole in the wall so I cut a 12 in 1x1 and painted it to match and I put it on the floor and it keeps the mantle from touching the wall. 😊
Gooood afternoon from central Florida! The entire plant is in NASCAR pit crew mode. Very impressive! Thanks for sharing Adam and Abby.
Yes sir, you've got a real sales guy here...
Great… I get to see the dirtbags that did a horrible wiring and plumbing job on my 2020 283BHSL. IRV antennae not even screwed on, trailer brake wiring was also trash, entire wiring from battery rack to inverter to rear distribution panel had to be re-done. USB outlets wired backwards blowing fuses every time we tried to plug in usb items. Nails not even all the way seated and cabinets and drawers not aligned. Plumbing lines not fully tightened or properly sealed. Thankfully my dealer took the time to fix all the issues during our initial walkthrough and the week after our first camp, they really took care of me. I love my Kodiak but quality control needs to be addressed heavily!
I don't care what RV company it is, they're all cheapo made. A brand new one you must work on immediately to make things right. My experience
You ain't wrong in the least
Adam, I would be very interested to hear how your opinions might have changed, now that your axle, springs and tires failed after such a short time.
Only a guy with Adam's experience and knowledge would ask the kind of questions he asked. I like how Adam was adamant about seeing how the roof was installed. Who else would insist on seeing that?
Did you ask why they skimp on tires and install china bombs?
It’s all about the dollar
We’ve all been there, they’re working extra hard because company is in town 😂 great vid!
Impressive operation...! What a great looking and well built product... Thank you Adam and Abby for taking us along... 😁
Yikes, I worked in an auto factory in Michigan and we never hustled this hard. I’d guess this is a non-unionized shop.
Got tired just watching them run around like crazy... The quality they talk about must be sacrificed when they stress like that!? I'm used to the Swedish caravans, especially Kabe, they cost a lot but are really nice. The walls looks really thin, i think Kabe that is the best of the best in Europe have twice the thickness. You can live in them in freezing cold Scandinavian winters if you like winter camping.
There are some factories where if you meet the day's quota you can leave early with full pay. Don't know if that is the case There of course. I have also heard that many of the workers in those factories are Amish, including the electricians believe it or not.
If this is fast how slow is a union shop? This looks like standard production line work to me.
I’ve done production type work and this is normal when you have a daily quota. The line slowing down SUCKS in production as it makes the day drag on. In my experience working production most everybody just wants to do their job and go home and the faster you can do that the better.
At the start of this video they even say if they meet their quota they can go home early.
@@WilliamPayneNZ These days they are smart enough to make that quota just enough to last the full 8 hours. This is definitely a young person's job. I wouldn't last a week.
Hey guys glad you got the tour and sorry i missed you, when you came to the first scaffold i was behind the unit under the mezzanine at a bench making parts for the line. Hope you enjoyed it and glad to hear you like your unit. Take Care and wish you Safe Travels
There's so many trailers being built, and so many people buying them (on a 20 year note) that the peaceful and pristine campgrounds once reserved for less use... are now looking and feeling like walmart parking lots. Camping has gotten more stressful than staying home. Keep pumping them out.
If building RV’s was your business and booming, you’d be building them at the same rate. Let’s not forget that the RV industry is where fema turns when the need arises for emergency and crisis issues to shelter people out of place. We all know how crowded and poplar RV camping is getting but things progress and things change. Adapt and overcome.
I'm actually shocked to see only one person (the guy putting insolation i think) wearing a mask and also the many women working at that shop. Bravo to them and that looks like VERY legit and organized place of work. I'm jealous 🤣
The more factory tour videos I watch, the more I like the idea of building my own. Tom Lipton said nothing fails because it was built too strong
Stronger than necessary also means more weight. If building your own makes you feel better, go for it. I have no desire to build my own RV. The Kodiak are built well and we’ve had no issues with it.
I am so glad I saw this video. I purchased a Kodiak Ultimate 2921 and this video reassured me of my decision. I was reluctant to purchase another Coleman product after my first Coleman was of poor quality with a lot of minor issues that irritated me. Poor service by the sales dealer service department didn't help either. In watching this video on the Kodiak construction process it is reassuring that the Kodiak is a better constructed unit and I am looking forward to traveling with it. Thanks to Brett and Michel for the tour.
Not looking to buy an RV as I'm converting a school bus into an RV, but I'm impressed with the manufacturing process of this company. I've seen the bigger manufacturers and can see the difference in quality. I also have got a few ideas for my bus from watching this. Excellent video.
Great 👍 thanks . I worked for Liberty Mobile Homes. I put the sidewalls together. I like the assembly work . Production is where it’s at. I did learn a lot about the Kodiak.
I love the pace on the line. Reminds me of when I worked in an aluminium joinery factory. It can get monotonous on a line. Making it a challenge and being competitive makes it fun.
Seeing how the production of the RV is done definitely makes me feel better about buying a product like this. You hear stories of how a lot of manufacturers have poor craftsmanship and it makes a first time purchase or weary about buying. So this video definitely help me for sure andI’m not sure if Desmond reads his comments but I’m probably going to be taking a more closer look at the Kodiak because of this video so hopefully things like this will encourage other manufacturers to do the same
Great factory tour, Adam. Thank you Brett & Mitchel for your hospitality.
Thank you all that was great 👏👏👏👏👏👍🇬🇧🥰
Start time is 5am but if you miss line roll you are late and pointed. So we really start work as early as 4am
Excellent video. I love to see production work factories. It gives a person a good insight into what you are buying. I am currently in the market for a camper; smaller than your unit, but I will definitely look at the Dutchman line. The roof is always my concern. Water is a very expensive enemy of campers.
Check out the Kodiak Cub line. They are smaller than our series.
any brand is good, if you buy it new, take it to one spot and build a pole barn roof over it and never move it, or have the roof an all seams re-done every year the hard freeze an thaw, and bouncing down a road kills them all
@@arnoldromppai5395 I totally agree. I have a cargo hauler/camper that I recently discovered leaking. It's been under roof most of it's life, but the time spent outside deteriorated the roof. I bought it in 07 and had the roof re-coated 2 times since. I won't have another camper without a storage facility or some type of cover to protect it when not in use.
@@tonyn3123 you bet, they are all the same, i been doing RV repairs on the side all my life. i have changed the cooling units in over 50k RV fridges,, , endless furnace,, they all are very high maintenance, if you are not spending $1200 cnd minimum per year on keeping it sealed and new roof. you have huge water damage long before you see a leak,, it all in how they are all made. and there is no need for it for what they charge, weather it is all the shifting going down the road, the sun, the freeze an thaw, none of them any were are made to take that. that thin rubber skin they use as a roof a total joke and the warranty not worth the paper it not written on.. if you dont have bill of sale for yearly inspection an matanance..
I have to agree about the roof, why can they not use an aluminium roof, it’s crazy, our roofs go for years and years over here in the U,K so the know how is available, the Air Stream doesn’t have this rubber roof.
Thanks for this video. It is an excellent and interesting "how it's made" movie.
Iv owned my fair share of campers and I have had many complaints.. but I’d have to say I am really impressed with mine this year all of my complaints with construction, lighting, storage and function are spot on
Excellent video! I didn't expect to see that much detail.
what were you watching..
Thanks for the video. It was impressive to see the sidewalls and roofs come together with no use of measuring tapes. I really liked the bed storage shelves along the curved front cap. I may figure out how to install something like that in our Primetime Tracer.
One thing we love about our model is that there's plenty of storage built in.
Definitely a job for the young and healthy, they obviously have the folks humping their butts off to build as fast as possible, not sure how I feel about that -- definitely earning their pay hope its fair for this kind of work. I say this as a factory worker and more often than not some places run people like machines.
Awesome work.... All trades on this Kodiak...The real how its made... I did enjoy the video Adam & Abby... Cheers, Blessings.
I would gladly pay 10% more for the travel trailer if they would just slow down a little bit to make sure they do the job properly, these people are moving too fast to be able to accurately assemble this travel trailers
Theres literally no such thing as a properly assembled RV, of any sort... When you buy a new one, the first few trips "getting to know" your camper.. its just finding all the crap they did wrong at the factory, then having to get f'd by the dealer refusing to make all the mistakes you just paid for right.. and if the dealer DOES fix the problems, be prepared for that craftsmanship to be even more subpar than the factory. Its an endless cycle of declining service and pride in ones work.
Great tour and I’m impressed that they allowed such a thorough view of the process. I think for me though it has just reaffirmed my belief that all these type rv’s are of questionable quality at best and aren’t worth even close to what they cost.
I just started watching the video I am super impressed by the Rode Go II mics they did a good job isolating the voices.
Yeah they definitely isolated that guy who didn't have one.
I have seen production at three motorhomes manufacturing facilities in the UK and none of them "hustled" like the Kodiak guys and gals and I am not sure about the "quality", remember the guy in red mounting the side panel, break off the overly long wooden rail on the bottom of the side panel with his foot, not exactly quality. Having said that there was a lot of good and interesting part to the build and the design and lets be honest if it was not up to scratch I pretty sure Adam would be questioning the team at Dutchmen, an interesting video
These are employees trying to look good for the bosses in terms of speed. Probably is telling of the company culture. Not a great look in terms of displaying quality.
I imagine that rail is just something to hold onto to guide the side panel. Doesn’t appear to do anything.
Should have picked up a six pack of axles while you were there😂
Awesome!
This is the yin and yang to Abom's precision, clean, well lit, and flying out the fastest product, lowest quality, for profit. But it works for promo. Whats the average pay for those assembly "technicians" with the cordless drills?
I hope Lippert has started coating their Frames and Axles better, they seen to come with rust / surface rust right from the factory!
Sandra Westley from the UK they should galvanise the steel chassis to avoid rust.
Thanks for takin us on a tour, great workmanship with production..
I have a 2020 Kodiak 201qb without a slide. I didn’t want a slide and don’t really need one because I’m a solo camper. I love my travel trailer and it works great for me but I have to be honest, if I wanted a slide I’d buy something else because the cable driven slide uses the side wall for leverage and a rack and pinion uses the frame. Much better situation and is tried and true. I have to reiterate that I absolutely LOVE my Kodiak.
Cable system is tried and true also, and it cuts down on weight.
Great video! Makes me appreciate my Kodiak even more. We have the 283bhsl and love it.
Im a sucker for a good factory tour, thanks for taking us along Adam !
A great video Adam. As hard as those guys work, I would only last about 2 weeks. I think Abby wants to step up to that new design!
This is Wonderful So Amazing to see this Thank you guys for doing this
Great video, awesome plant tour and explanations
I love my Dutchmen RV. The quality is fantastic!
You are getting close to my country.
That is really amazing! Excellent content choice especially just after the RV museum. Thanks for sharing!
Two Thumbz 👍👍
Always interesting to see things made. Seems like your research paid off when buying your camper.
hate to work there.. notice there are no old people working in this plant because they would die :) Also.. this is not fine coach building this is do it as fast as you can dont worry about errors. They sell these things for 150k? notice they would not let them film in the QA section I am frankly surprised they had one.
tren i really don't know what your referring to but we went through the Jayco factory and it looked very much the same and there is older people that work there they just work in the sub compartment dept.adam you and maggie did a great service to kodiac well done
Hey easy im an old guy and i work there 58 this year and i think I've built RVs for 37 years now, and im fighting cancer, matter of fact i worked on the line today as we had people out, but most days i work at a parts bench and its still a hussel keeping up with the line. I hope to make at least 40 years in RVs
@@frankmiller4167 you will make 40 years but you will not see much of retirement,no one do that work in these plant or paper mills
Absolutely loved this video! Love y’all!
Tell that one guy, I found his pocket knife that he left in my pass-through storage, LOL!!
Slap 'em together fast and get 'em out the door. I do have to say though, our camper has been pretty trouble free, except our floor is getting pretty squeaky in it's 4th season. But, there are also a few things that got past "QC" that I've had to fix myself, that the dealer made worse than it was out of the factory (all electrical things...)
i will bet yours has only seen black top, not hundreds of miles of bush roads to public land lakes and camping free.
you missed asking why they didn't protect the wire and hoses down thru the frames and when they flip the chassis over the enclosed under belly cover was sagging and should have been connected in the middle to prevent center sag.
Very informative. Thanks for sharing.
Sandra Westley from the UK we galvanise our steel chassis over here so they don’t rust, we don’t have wood in our caravans either it rots, all sides are aluminium sandwich with insulation and the floors are fully insulated and all windows double glazed.
Dang, lot of tore up knees, shoulders, elbows...hard work for the long term
Thank you for the great video!
That's the model of Kodiak we bought in April. Very cool to see.
I bet you can’t wait to get water 💦 infiltration cause it’s going to happen 100 % by the slide out and bathroom 🚽 area
41:16 "This is how hard these guys work" Why use lifting equipment, when you can get hard working guys ruining their backs, right?
There was loads of lifting gear all along the assembly line, you need to re watch it you must have missed it.
Great video! Hey, did they happen to mention if the lumber price hikes have affected their production or final costs at all? Just curious.
Yes we had that conversation and Mitchell was telling us how many months they have had price increases on their materials.
Hooooly shit! Military precision like! Victor Kiam would be so impressed , he'd buy the company!
This is Fastating to see all this Wonderful
You really do get about Adam 👍🏻
@ 21 minutes in OSHA violation, the lady standing on top rung of three step ladder.
I did not see anything about how the roof was put on or how it was built. I was hoping to see how they make the roof
That's some rough usage on those hoists. Wondering how many chain hoists or control cables they have to change annually..
Adam, did you have an opportunity to mention items like the spare tire holder? ;-)
really, that stuff are option's
i love to watch rubber roof get big bubble in it going down road just a big sponge
Sandra Westley from the UK I cannot understand a rubber roof, why cannot you use aluminium and insulation, that’s the first area that’s effected by water and sun, it needs something more durable than a rubber roof, that can catch on trees, and damage so quickly.
If they finish their quota early do they still get paid for a full day?
Good vid. Does your wireless mic setup offer a hand mic? Might be handy to keep in the pocket for those who join in without a mic pinned on them.
Actually the Rode wireless mic does have a hand held mic housing you can purchase to use, but unfortunately I don't have one and really didn't think about that until this video. I honestly didn't know I would have two hosts for the tour or I would have planned better.
With all due respect, why only 1 inspection a week? Shouldn’t every trailer get scrutinized? I do commend the floor workers…I don’t know how they have the drive to do that every day
I don’t mean to be rude but Dutchman is the most cheapest trailer you can buy it’s literally the bottom of the barrel they use more glue then they should use bolts and staples I buy and sell travel trailers for a living I would not recommend to buy a Dutchman
You know they're making a quality product because they're actually showing the process and materials they use. A lot of these camper brands out there have terrible quality materials, especially in the floors, that make them not built to last.
there is not an RV made any were that is built to last, you pay the price of a home, the home lasts a 100 years, an RV is done after 10, this video showed jack squat, just fast camera work
wow that is cool they was in my home town
We bought that exact unit this April. It was great to see it built and get an idea of what is behind the interior walls and such. Any idea if the roof is aluminum truss or wood?
Mammas going to want a new unit
You can see why they produce junk The pace is too fast walk, don’t run Thanks for showing us why we should never buy one of those
They make a good product for mass production. I think maybe if you want a better product then you need to build it yourself and I hope you are able to do so good luck
Don’t patronize any RV builder if that’s the piss poor attitude your going to have.
Very good 😊
Someone needs to tell Kodiak to put better quality axles and springs in their RV's. Adams Kodiak wasnt that old & springs collapsed, axles bent then ruined the tires- no excuse.
Cabinets are made of decent materials
I want one!
At Mishawaka just down the road is where the Hummer was built
I am still holding judgement for this group. I have a Kodiak back up at the factory right now waiting for repair
Awesome
We have a 2018 with wolf flooring through the kitchen and living room space. But we love the camper, so how can I fix the floors.
Why doesn’t the rv industry use American made wheel bearings and quit using the cheap ass China made crap !
Our NEWNAR4080 is a 2000 year, have never had a discrepancy it is real wood. made correct, to last.
So basically it has no framing in it at all. Its held together by glue and stiraphoam????
I have a 1998 AEROLITE 826 CAMPER and I need find out if total exterior wall blanks could be bought
very cool
Wow that's a fast turn out I hope they're actually built Kodiak AK strong and better than some Jaycos!?
hay the workers get to go home as soon as the do there set number of units per day, need i say any more, you see how thin that roof covering is, sure they say an 18 year warranty, but the dealers will say, abuse you let winter ice an snow sit on it all winter, void,, fast turn out is very bad..
Every manufacturer business i worked at had a mrb process quality process was that seen anywhere
that foam core wall board is available in 1", 1-1/2", 2", 2-1/2" and 3" thick, any length and width you want. on my custom built pontoon house boats i use the 2-1/2" thick aluminum foam core wall board, and the 3" core floor board with built in hot water floor heating 3/8" pex pipe tubes. as most people here in north western Ont, Canada use them for fall moose hunting, and any thing thinner is to cold for the fall and late fall into winter, like mid Nov, IT IS 10 TO 15 BELOW and some years up to 2 feet of snow, looks like on these RV there only using the 1" thick aluminum foam core board wall board, and not using any of it for the floors. witch really sweats in our cold, it is a real turn off to me that the workers can go home as soon as they rush there set number of units per day though,, that tells a lot..
I couldn’t agree more, there is just not enough insulation in these RV they are just build for sunny weather, we have that sort of insulation in our caravans in the UK that you are talking about, with double glazed windows. We have been in minus 17 and insides been 24 deg all C .
My old stopping grounds when I was in high school: beautiful "downtown" Goshen, Indiana. Of course that was a few years ago.
Okay, it was more than a few decades ago but who's counting?
Question that I have always wondered since we received our Kodiak Ultra lite - where is the ladder in the back? Why isn’t one installed when it seems like every other rv out there has one .
Supposedly this is not a walk on roof but you see they walk on it to install vents and A/C. I believe they refer to it as "service only" roof.
Wish they made these things a little better on the inside, we have a Jayco and like it but the bathroom faucet and shower faucet are so cheap I'm afraid to use them... 🙄
we changed out our kitchen faucet in Jayco put one we have in our own home and in the bathroom couldn't put your hands under it as it sits too low
@@JaniceSF48 Same issue we have, the bathroom faucet just doesn't make sense!
Hard working Kodiak group for sure. Thank you for sharing the whole process makes one click good about buying tired product!
Adam, do they make a model for winter living with thicker spray in foam insulation? Like for going ice fishing or living in while working for an oil drilling rig?
I know that some manufacturers build specially for long term cold climate full time. I’m not sure how well the Kodiak would do but I have no doubt it would perform fine.
Look at an arctic fox or an outdoors RV
nice all that isolation to suck up water in the front when you get a leak.
what RV dont leak..
Sandra Westley from the UK we have never had an RV that leaks and we have had loads of them since 1978 was when we bought our first one, if made properly there is no reason for leaks, every year that our unit is serviced you have it check for water ingress on all the seams to honour your 10 year guarantee, but our walls and roof over here are all made of aluminium, bonded insulation and double glazed windows, and galvanised chassis.
I don't care for a floor like that.Tongue and groove are a lot stronger and last longer.
See what they will give you on a trade in for a new one
maybe 30% what he paid, soon as an RV leaves the dealer you just lost 50% a well known fact
Mitch you should have started at the beginning bro then you would have got a microphone lol don’t steel your brother thunder