Do Amish Make RVs? (Amish Built RVs and The RV Industry)
Some people are sick of hearing about it. Yes, the Amish people in Indiana do build RVs. What makes people tired of this fact is that the different RVs use this as a way to advertise their RVs as being built by the best workers. However, problems remain whether the Amish built or not.
The heart of the RV industry is in Elkhart, Indiana. That is next to the 3rd largest Amish communities of Elkhart and Lagrange Counties. It is very understandable that many Amish men would leave the farm and build RVs.
To learn more about this topic, just continue to read our article. It explores the subject so you have the best information on the topic and can make a better buying decision. The lack of quality may not be the Amish craftsman's fault.
Do Amish Make RVs?
Yes, they do but there is no Amish-owned RV company. Instead, the Amish men work in the RV factories in Indiana to provide for their families, build a nice nest egg for married life, and other reasons.
However, the Amish do not own or drive RVs, they just build them. One former employee of cedar creek RV was Amish and he left to start his own Cedar Creek RV repair shop. It is one of the most popular repair centers you can find in the nation.
Not every Amish man builds RVs nor has the ambition to own their own RV-related shops. But a majority of the Amish men in the Elkhart, Lagrange, and Nappenee settlements are employed by different RV makers.
Amish And RV Industry
You may not realize this fact but the RV industry and the Amish employee have been in a relationship going on 90 years together. Back in 1933 when Milo Miller started the first RV plant in Elkhart county, the Amish have been a part of the industry.
The relationship started off as seasonal work as the men were busy with their farms. But once the harvest was done, the men had ample time to build RVs. As the industry grew more popular, the seasonal work extended into full-time year-round employment.
As one person has said, not everyone was cut out to be a farmer and this observation applies to the Amish as well. What they bring to the industry is a good work ethic as well as craftsman skills that are rarely rivaled.
Amish RV Furniture
This is an interesting topic. We did not find where RV makers actually contracted with different Amish furniture-building companies to produce furniture for their RVs. There may be some.
What we found was that there are RV furniture companies who do make RV furniture and market-specific pieces of furniture made by the Amish and designed and built for RVs.
This may be an indirect method but you can go to Coach Supply or BraddandHall and pick up the pieces that the Amish have built for your RV. Most Amish craftsmen work in wood, thus they may not have a hand in a majority of RV furniture that is available to the different brands.
The Amish may just get orders for different styles and make them for the RV furniture companies that sell in the secondary market.
Amish Built RVs
There are many RV brands that employ Amish men in their factories. These companies include but are not limited to the following: nuCamp, Jayco, Starcraft RV, Riverside RVs, and Forest River.
These companies employ roughly 56.3 percent of men in the Nappanee settlement and 53 percent in the Elkhart-LaGrange settlement, (source). However, it is not a good idea to claim that any RV is Amish built.
Forest River employs over 11,000 people from Elkhart alone and most of those people are not Amish. While Amish men work on different stages of RV construction, they do not work on all parts of the RV.
The chassis is usually built by chassis building companies, the engines come from engine building companies, and so on. It is not all Amish built as the advertising implies
Amish RV Skirting
This is a verifiable and credible product. If you go to the Internet and type in those sub heading words, you will find that the Amish do make RV skirting. They just do not make it out of metal. At least for some variations.
The skirting we are focusing on in this short section is made of canvas. Canvas is a very durable material and add in Amish craftsmanship as well as pride of workmanship, you know you are getting the best skirting for your RV.
The problem you will face in buying this skirting is that the Amish companies that make it do not have phones, websites, and other modern communication devices. You have to track them down and visit their shops in person.
Amish RV Refrigerator
This product does exist as well but not in the way you may think. Instead of building the whole refrigerator, the Amish build their own cooling units. These Amish-built devices are compatible with regular RV brand fridges but made better.
The Amish style uses thicker cooling tubes that resist cracking. They also use non-flammable helium which won’t be a source of an RV fire. Plus, they are just better built and may come with extra materials to seal the cooling unit inside the fridge better.
Some Additional Words
Everyone has heard of the Amish quality and they expect the same craftsmanship in their RVs once they hear that the Amish built it. However, the lack of quality in any RV may not be the fault of the Amish employees.
It may be the requirements of the RV company that has established build quotas. One company demands that 8 RVs be built in one day and with that type of speed needed as well as pressure, craftsmanship is no longer a priority.
The Amish take the rap for the lack of quality even though it may not be their fault.
