Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Propane Refrigerators

Anyone have any experience with these? We have a little one but are looking for a new one. Need a big one. Seems like only choice for large ones is Crystal Cold and Diamond Elite. Both made in the USA supposedly by the Amish. Anyone ever used these brands?

My brother used a propane fridge for years at a
small alpine cabin up near Engineer Pass in Colorado.

I never heard him say he had any problems.

It always seemed to work well.

Sorry I am not sure what brand it was.

Zep did he have a cabin by engineer and one in Lake City as well? I LOVE engineer pass!! Some absolutely magnificent country up there! We go up there every summer.

My Keystone TT has an 8 cu-ft Dometic fridge/freezer. Either AC or propane and auto switches. When you close the freezer door it sucks all the air out.

I went dry camping one summer (all summer) and it ran great on propane.

They make bigger ones, but they ain't cheap.

yes his home for about 12 years was a cabin in Lake City.
and he also built a small alpine cabin up near Engineer Pass.
if you've been up Engineer I am sure you've seen it.
it was an incredible little alpine cabin
he loved building things...and was quite talented.

here is a link to the cabin he named "Thoreau's Cabin" up on the Engineer Pass road.

https://jamesrayspahn.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/august-2011-featured-project/

this cabin was also featured on one of those "Destination America"
shows that shows a couple trying to decide on which home to buy.

Check Axemen out of Missoula, MT. They had great propane refrigerators and freezers.

My grandparents used one until the day my grandpa died. They had it before they had my father. It was working well the day my Grandmother sold it.

Mark,
That episode was just on, small world. The couple from NY ended up with another cabin on the river.

Wow Brian....yes small world. That wife would not have liked living full-time at my brother's Engineer Pass cabin. The only way in and out in the winter is over an hour on a snowmobile....most of it un-groomed snow trail. The closest store in the summer is at least an hour away.

JKB That's the exact fridge we have had there since the place was built! It works great. Bad part is at only 8 cu ft we also have to have three coolers out on the porch. All the ice gets expensive. We have a family of six and have LOTS of friends and fam that come out to visit. Dometic was the first brand I looked at but unfortunately they do not make a model bigger than 13 cu ft. Crystal cold makes a 21 cu ft!!!




I will check them out for sure!

Zep!!! Are you kidding me!!! What!! Your brother built that cabin??!!! Now that is crazyyyyy!!! We have been by that place so many times it's crazy! We will go by it again this summer too! Always do. I mean I can't believe he built THAT place.

Small world is right!! That is amazing!

I wish my father in law and your brother were still around. My FIL would have not believed it if I told him I knew a guy.... He absolutely LOVED that place! I bet old guys that have built their own cabins in the mountains are kind of cut from the same cloth.

You probably don't know the brand do you? I'd guess a dometic/serval.

Yes small world. He built "Thoreau's Cabin" on Engineer Pass. He didn't actually hammer the nails in, but was very involved in every aspect of the design and erection. It was quite the design challenge being so far "off the grid".



If you notice below our cabin in Texas has the basic same design:

That's really cool!

I read a bunch, pretty cool.

I'm not sure I follow you JKB...
What exactly were you trying to look up?
If you are asking did he come up with the floor-plan himself?
Yeah he basically did.
These "get-away" cabins are around 1000 sq foot.
They are small but have a "big footprint".
(look bigger than they are because of the log size)
All one room with a loft and good size bathroom.

http://lakecitycoloradorealestate.com/photos.php?property_ID=153865

The cabin he lived in full time was larger
with 3 bedrooms. He pretty much designed it too.

I was looking up Thoreau's Cabin, as you posted, and did not see the connection to Colorado.

If it's the same Thoreau, he lived in MA, and the cabin is not much bigger than my shed.

This Thoreau, lived a long time ago.

Is it the same one?

JKB....my late brother was a big fan of Henry David Thoreau.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau

I think Thoreau often mentioned "his cabin in the woods"
in his many writings. Thoreau's cabin was his refuge.

So when my brother built the small remote alpine cabin in
Colorado he named it "Thoreau's Cabin" in honor of the man
he thought so much of.

Here is the sign he had made that stood at the site while
he owned the cabin. I believe later owners took the sign down.

Zep,

Can't believe you brother owned that cabin. We ride by it every time we go to lake city.

Small world Chris.

I was blessed to have such a great, big brother.

Here is a link with an interview with my
brother explaining a bit what went into it.

"Thoreau's Cabin" - Colorado

It's actually pretty interesting.

Hi, I met your brother Terry at the cabin in Oct 1999 and later purchased Thoreau's Cabin from your brother in May 2001. My wife and I lived in Evergreen, Colorado full time and enjoyed this mountain retreat for four years before selling it to Stacy who lives in Telluride. I never realized there is a identical log cabin in Texas. Where is it located? It's such a fantastic floor plan (only wish there was a soaking tub to go with the shower). Anyway, I can tell so many great stories about this cabin, we used to snow shoe 11 miles from the Nellie Creek trailhead (just West of Lake City) in winter gaining 2500 feet elevation, crossing avalanche paths just to check on the solar batteries and also enjoy a long Winter weekend at the cabin. Please contact me at ArizonaKJ@gmail.com if you have any additional photos during cabin construction - I would love to see as many early pics as possible. The cabin remains a special fond memory in my life, credits to your brother for creating such a unique cabin. And for anyone interested, the propane refrigerator worked perfectly even at 11,450 feet elevation!

Hello ColoradoCabin,

Yes Terry spoke about you several times. Thoreau's Cabin was indeed a very challenging remote "off the grid" project for him, but he loved that kind of challenge. Around that same time Terry also built another similar remote "off the grid" cabin near-by that was a victim of arson by an environmentalist-whack-job. He knew who did it, but could never prove it, however the guy died in a climbing accident in Alaska 5 years after burning down my brother's cabin. Needless to say we didn't shed any tears when he heard he fell down a 1000 foot ice crevasse.

The new cabins in Wills Point, Texas are not identical but are very close in design, just a tad larger, but not much.(32x28 & 28x20)

Terry and I both being bachelors and trying to make the most of very limited space did not put bath-tubs in the Texas cabins either.

Wow...you must be in great shape to snow-shoe at 11,000 feet....I hardly could breathe up there....lol.

My nephew Kevin in California who was involved in the construction of Thoreau Cabin sent me these pictures this morning after you asked:

Thoreau Cabin Foundation 1994:



Thoreau Cabin Suspension Bridge Pics:


Crazy Nephew Kevin hanging:(not OSHA approved!)






Terry on right, with my nephew on left:

Holy crap, did all the materials have to be air-lifted in there? What a daunting project!

liquid...no choppers...it was trucked in via a very bumpy boulder infested jeep trail road. it was crazy!