What all can you do with a old school bus?

14692 Views 54 Replies 36 Participants Last post by Jim S., Jul 27, 2007

G

Discussion Starter · Jul 24, 2007

I've always dreamed of buying a school bus and making it into a RV camper. Well the nearby high school is having a auction to get rid of a bunch of stuff. Computers, desk, office equipment, kitchen equipment, etc, etc, and a school bus. The last time I went to the school auction they had 2 buses and both went for only around $200. each. They both was in running order but high mileage.

Well what if any ideals could you do with a school bus? I've also thought about buying one and remodel it into a commercial kitchen for my wife to use. I would park it and put it up on blocks if I done this.

Or, park it on a leased hunting land and make a hunting lodge out of it.

21 - 40 of 55 Posts

freeinalaska

· #21 · Jul 24, 2007

4

Here's a couple of my favorite bus conversions. Pyrodon is right about school bus conversions being less than welcome in many campgrounds and RV parks. Hey Buspete is that CDL requirement set in stone in all states? It seems that the owners of conversions I've known never mentioned that they had to have a CDL.

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buspete

· #22 · Jul 25, 2007

freeinalaska said:
Here's a couple of my favorite bus conversions. Pyrodon is right about school bus conversions being less than welcome in many campgrounds and RV parks. Hey Buspete is that CDL requirement set in stone in all states? It seems that the owners of conversions I've known never mentioned that they had to have a CDL.

You know, I'm not sure if the various weight classifications are on the state or federal level. My license was in Massachusetts, and when I moved to NH they just transferred the same class of license at the DMV. I don't work at a bus company any more (had enough of grease and bloody scalps from whacking my head on things), but I kept the CDL so I could rent bigger trucks now and again.

A full sized school bus is in the 14,000 -20,000 pound range. I think the biggest thing you can drive with a regular passenger car license is 10,000 pounds. There is usually additional licensing to be done on top of the CDL to actually drive a bus as a bus (in other words, with passengers) and even more to drive it as a school bus (I.E. with school children).

Take the screaming kids out, and busses are fun to drive. They are even yellow, like big stupid Tonka trucks. Which reminds me, the yellow-with-black-stripe that is the standard motif for a school bus will need to be changed to be legal. You'll have to remove all of the lettering, the red lights and stop sign too.

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freeinalaska

· #23 · Jul 25, 2007

We've been looking at a bus we want to convert and have had a tough time getting straight answers about the CDL thing. I really haven't talked to the right people, but I do know AK is getting tighter on the requirements.

Grandmotherbear

· #24 · Jul 25, 2007

Cornhusker and freeinalaska- LOVED your photos!
Try www.wrybread.com and click on "dwellings" for more converted buses- and vans- and even a Ford Fiesta!

ruby_jane

· #25 · Jul 25, 2007

The site for school bus conversions...

www.skoolie.net :goodjob:

rkintn

· #26 · Jul 25, 2007

You could use it as a storm shelter.
[ame]http://www.dailyhaha.com/_pics/redneck_tornado_shelter.htm[/ame]

shar

· #27 · Jul 25, 2007

Friend of my dh made one into a chicken coop. DH said it was pretty cool, door closed in the evening to keep unwanted guest out, screens allowed for air flow.

hunter63

· #28 · Jul 25, 2007

georgec said:
Farm Show magazine has a special edition for school bus and combine conversions. It is amazing what people can do with those things. Check out http://www.farmshow.com/store/books.asp , I received it free when I subscribed. (It's a very cool magazine by the way)

Yes, yes, yes, DO IT>

Pony

· #29 · Jul 25, 2007

DH told me once about a fella who opened up the back of a school bus, put in retractable ramps, and used it to haul his 4-wheeler around. Finished out the front part as a small camper.

Me, I'd rather convert it into a home sweet home.

Pony!

Frank_P

· #30 · Jul 25, 2007

My dad, sis and I lived in an old 66 GMC school bus conversion for a couple years when I was a teen...back then (mid/late 80's) we never had a problem at campgrounds and small RV parks. It was nicely converted inside...but we didn't do it...traded for it that way.
The thing I liked was that the interior was not "RVish"...they finished it like you might a cheap room or efficiency apartment. We further added some cubicle like walls to give each sleeping area some privacy and it had a full sized (double pan) kitchen sink and a big kitchen table which utilized two of the old bus seats for seating.

It served us well from Indiana to Florida, to Arizona and finally back to Florida. We lived in it...stored stuff in it...used it as a guesthouse...and finally traded it for some work on a couple cars that were beyond our tool capacities.

Last I heard...that old rig had been used in a school bus crash em up derby...

As far as a CDL goes...I don't believe you need one as long as it is for personal use. In fact, with a regular license, you can rent any sized/weight straight truck as long as you are hauling personal items with it.
I just recently left a position where I was a supervisor for a transportation company for 11 years...so I am somewhat familiar with DOT regs.

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trappmountain

· #31 · Jul 25, 2007

mu late FIL had one on the farm it was a home for a friend that was down on his luck for awhile and then shelves were put in it for all his hand tool and nuts bolts screws and what not

G

Discussion Starter · #32 · Jul 25, 2007

Wow, lots of wonderful ideals! I'm really thinking that if I do buy one I will probably only use it for hunting/fishing camps. Thinking of putting a small kitchen in the back and bunk beds in the middle. Living room toward the front. A small shower somewhere near the bunk beds. I have a pot bellied stove to install in it. My only problem is I don't like paying insurance for something that is parked more then it is driven. But, I'm also thinking that if I ever get rich enough, I might buy some hunting property and just park the bus on blocks and make a hunting cabin out of it. Then I could build a deck around it and not ever have to worry about tags and insurance.

But then again my wife has been dreaming and dreaming of a commercial kitchen so she can put herself back into the bakery business again. We still have a lot of equipment from her previous business that we could install in the bus. But the business is not lucritive enough to pay rent or make payments on a new building. So we need a cheap school bus and convert it into a commercial kitchen. But I haven't mentioned anything to her about this ideal so I don't know if she would go for it or not.

forgot to mention. Since I do deer processing for a few people, a school bus might come in handy for a walk-in cooler also.

Maybe I aught to use the bus for a business and buy a real RV with the money we make.

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comfortablynumb

· #33 · Jul 25, 2007

I had a 54 ford school bus converted into an RV, it was cool. They will go anywhere.

mine was retitled with a class A title, which means no CDL needed to drive it... just a regular auto DL.

every yr at the county fair here, they have a school bus demolition derby. its a hoot. it take a lot of pounding to kill a school bus.

I sold my bus.... stupid mistake.

beowoulf90

· #34 · Jul 25, 2007

FYI,
From what I've found you only need to get a CDL if
1. It has air brakes
2. It is still used to haul kids.

If you turn it into a RV, some states just require a regular liscense. Like I noted above, if it has air brakes a class B CDL is required from what I've been able to learn.
I also found that most insurance companies won't insure them. I don't know if that is because of it's weight or they think you are making money and just want you to by business insurance.
My insurance company won't insure anything with dualies, but if I bought a truck that was the same model etc, but had single wheels in the rear they would insure it..Go figure..

Before you buy check with your insurance company. It may save you a hassle later..

Ramblin Wreck

· #35 · Jul 25, 2007

beowoulf90 said:
FYI,
From what I've found you only need to get a CDL if
1. It has air brakes

That's where they draw the line in our state, primarily. That's why most (if not all) the trucks rented out for moving don't have air brake systems.

mamajohnson

· #36 · Jul 25, 2007

Melissa said:
I wanted to get one and turn it into a green house. Kids were not impressed...

Melissa, I have wanted to do that forever!
I drove a school bus for about 10 years, would love to see one nurture plants.
I had thought if I took one that didnt run and parked it, put that clear plastic roof stuff on the roof, with all those windows you would have a perfect greenhouse. I gaurantee those babies get really really hot!
I've seen the buses in our district go for 200-1000 dollars. wrecked ones, some that just were too old and rattely to be used as a bus, but had fine engines. I would never pass one up!

HaysFarm

· #37 · Jul 25, 2007

This buss is in lakeland. My hubby thought this was just too cool

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Pony

· #38 · Jul 25, 2007

mamajohnson said:
Melissa, I have wanted to do that forever!
I drove a school bus for about 10 years, would love to see one nurture plants.
I had thought if I took one that didnt run and parked it, put that clear plastic roof stuff on the roof, with all those windows you would have a perfect greenhouse. I gaurantee those babies get really really hot!
I've seen the buses in our district go for 200-1000 dollars. wrecked ones, some that just were too old and rattely to be used as a bus, but had fine engines. I would never pass one up!

I was just thinking that, once it was done doing service as a greenhouse, what a great GIANT dehydrator it would be!

Pony!

sugarbush

· #39 · Jul 25, 2007

Any thing over 26,500lbs and 10,000 in tow needs a CDL. There are ways around this like Ag plates, but you would still need to add an airbreak endorsement to your regular license.

The best use I can think of for an old school bus is to crush it and sell it to the scrap yard at 100.00 per ton.

Ken Scharabok

· #40 · Jul 25, 2007

Seems it was someone on HT today who put a slide-in pickup camper on a low-boy trailer. Under the part which went over the pickup cab they had storage. Unused trailer in back was a patio so to speak.

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