For personal reasons, I needed to be in SD (preferably near Rapid City) for the summer. I thought I’d hit the jackpot when I found a WK gig less than 1 hour south of Rapid City. The phone interviews were proforma and we quickly came to agreement. I’m not going to go into all the gory details (I’ve already posted those on a workamper review site) but the situation got to be unbearable for me.

As we like to say, your house has wheels so you can move whenever you want. I found another opportunity less than 2 hours east, gave 1 weeks notice and rolled out.

The new opportunity is something I’d looked at before just because it’s unique. The first time I saw it advertised it was just running a farm stand in a rural SD town and staying in an RV park 1 mile away. The current iteration was slightly different.

It involved actually staying on the farm and performing other duties in addition to the farm stand. There’s a lot of back road driving involved, but that’s certainly less back breaking than shoveling dirt to make sewer repairs. And there are bonuses to being on a farm. I get fresh eggs for breakfast. I get to sample a lot of produce and get the overage at times.

It’s remote though. The nearest paved road is 9 miles away and I really got concerned bringing the RV over the road. The owners have tried to make it as RV friendly as possible. There are several FHU RV sites on the property and the Wi-Fi is reliable enough to stream video.

Overall, it’s a good gig for 7 weeks but I’m still looking forward to heading east for Amazon. This far east in the state it gets HOT. Not a problem when I’m inside but the farm stand is a different story.

When you travel around the country constantly, pulling a 15000 lb trailer behind you, taking unfamiliar routes, maintaining your vehicle or getting emergency repairs can be challenging at times. I’ve broken down on the side of the road a few times and been very fortunate that my emergency roadside assistance has come through for me.

On the last trip from Gulfport MS to Custer SD, I noticed that my truck’s exhaust brake stopped working once I got to the Black Hills. I typically only use the exhaust brake on long downgrades so I don’t have to abuse the regular disc brakes. There were only a few downgrades where I would’ve used the exhaust brake and they were manageable without it.

But, that still left me with the problem of getting it repaired. It was not a standard item when I ordered the truck. I had it installed about a year and a half after I bought it. Coincidentally, the work was done by a Dodge dealer in Rapid City SD, less than an hour away. But since that time, I’ve also learned a few things about the brake. The kit that was installed was actually a Jacobs exhaust brake, spec’d by Cummins and designed specifically for the Cummins engine in my truck. The parts needed for repairs cost significantly less when ordered directly from Cummins instead of through a Dodge dealer.

Armed with that knowledge, I started looking for a suitable shop to make the repairs. I found a Cummins service shop in Gillette WY, about 2 hours away. That’s a long drive but I could be fairly confident they’d have the expertise and the parts readily available. Since it wasn’t an urgently needed repair, I kept looking for other options. While driving through Rapid City, I noticed a truck repair shop that had a Cummins sign hung outside.

I contacted them and found out they typically worked on bigger trucks but were willing to discuss mine. They didn’t have anyone with actual experience with my exhaust brake. After providing them with a lot of information, they were leaning towards buying the whole kit (about $1300) and replacing all components. Based on a previous repair I was pretty sure I knew which part needed replacing. They were going to do more research after I balked at the entire kit. Don’t know how they’re doing on that since I never heard back from them.

Before I realized they were going to abandon the project, I started doing my own research. I found the installation manual and identified all the components under my hood, then started looking online for the one part I thought needed to be replaced – the vacuum pump diaphragm. Found one on eBay for $85, shipped. Since it looked like a fairly easy replacement, I rolled the dice and ordered it that night.

After it got here, the installation was not that simple. Actually, the removal of the old part was almost impossible the way I was going about it. Just as I was ready to remove a front wheel and wheel well to get a better angle on the bolts, one of my fellow workampers stopped by to offer assistance. After looking at the situation, he returned with a special ratchet from Snap-On and we were able to get the old part off in about 15 minutes. (I checked afterwards and that ratchet was selling on eBay for $165) Anyway, an hour later and the repair was complete. I held my breath and turned the key. Much to my delight, it started right up. When I activated the exhaust brake, I heard the expected change in engine sounds and the test drive confirmed the braking ability.

Workamping does have advantages besides a free site or a paycheck. I had the luxury of time to compare options. You normally have access to campground tools and resources, and other workampers who may have specialized tools or experience. Part of the repair required adding about 1 ounce of engine oil to the new pump. Since I had access to the garage, I didn’t need to run downtown and buy a quart of oil just to use an ounce.

I’ve written previously about working the sugar beet harvest, Amazon peak and various campgrounds or RV parks. These are the more traditional methods of ‘workamping’ that many people are aware of but they’re not the only ways to make extra money. There are some internet groups dedicated to helping people find non-traditional ways to support an RVing lifestyle.

Many of these options are more or less telecommuting jobs. They’re geared toward folks without a retirement income yet. They can include jobs such as accounting, proofreading, transcription, website design and teaching. Pretty much any job that does not require a physical presence can be done from virtually anywhere you have a good internet connection. These options are great for someone who still wants to work fulltime but I just don’t need that much extra income each month.

Some people in my situation perform services on the road (RV repair, hair care, pet grooming, massage). I tried in person computer support for a couple of years but discovered that RVers can be a very frugal bunch of people when it comes to computer services. Others sell arts and crafts. Count me out on that one. I’ve never been very artsy or crafty.

Tally ho! I stumbled across something recently that seems to be right up my alley. The website is http://app.usertesting.com

Companies with websites or smartphone/tablet apps are always trying to improve and need a lot of unbiased user input to make decisions. They contact usertesting.com and get testers to perform specific tasks and provide opinions and impressions.

Before I explain further, I need to emphasize that this is NOT a way to get rich or replace a fulltime income. It’s also not very steady work. When I first signed up, I had to create a basic profile and complete an in-house test. They listened to it, graded me, offered suggestions and cleared me to accept live tests. Between signing up and being cleared for actual work took only a couple of days.

So, I signed in to their website and waited for tests to start popping up. At this point, it really helps if you’re a multitasker. It could be hours between tests popping on your page so you don’t want to just sit there staring at the monitor all day long. Your computer will ding when a test pops in. Prepare yourself for a little more frustration here. Each client wants a particular skillset or demographic to check their website or app. You probably won’t qualify for most tests. When you do qualify, accept it quickly since only a limited number of people will get paid for it.

Within a day or 2, I qualified for a test. I completed it and thought I did a fairly good job. According to my dashboard, I had earned $10. They pay to a PayPal account exactly 7 days to the hour after you upload a test. Now, enter more frustration. Your first live test has to be manually graded by someone at usertesting before you can take another test. They were backlogged after my first test and I had to wait nearly 3 weeks before I could take another test. After that, I started qualifying for several tests a week. Depending on how much time you want to spend, you could probably make $50-$100 a week.

Again, this is not going to make you rich but it could pay for dinners out or campground fees without breaking your back or putting in set hours for someone else.