Product Review - Heartland Mallard M28

[Offshoreman]

Earlier this year (2018) my wife and I bought a new Heartland Mallard M28 travel trailer. After a few months and a couple of trips, here's a simple review...

What I like:
I managed to find a travel trailer with quite a few upgrades already on it; wide axles (longer distance between axles), 6 lug hubs, all LED running lights and largest water and holding tanks that would fit in the chassis. We were fortunate we did not have to special order and wait for those extra items.

Mrs. Offshoreman loves the storage and cabinet space. We literally have filled it for traveling and living afar, and there's still empty cabinets.... Not a bad problem to have.

The solid core siding, insulated floor and convex top are all nice and keep it very warm without the heater running all the time.

TWO SLIDES. I thought it would add too much weight for our new F150. But it didn't, and the room inside is astounding. More than enough for a family, and it's just she and me.

The bathroom extends across the entire aft end of the trailer. A tremendous amount of space.

What I changed or modified:
I took out the pathetic fake leather couch and replaced it with two fabric recliners I got from a local furniture store. Now we can move them around for movie watching or whatever. And as Putershark said, yes, one can nap in those chairs!

I laid a closed cell foam pad in the underside storage area so I didn't scar up the floor in there. And now I don't have to be so careful putting things in there.

I added electric landing gear, electric tongue jack, two 6 volt batteries for longer run time, larger propane tanks and I added two small inverters where AC power would be handy when we're running on batteries only. Like cell phone charging overnight, or watching a movie on the flat screen... No need to run the generator or seek AC shore power.

I added an automatically retractable awning over the port side slide. The main awning covers the other slide nicely, but the port side slide was uncovered. We live in rain country, it's just an effort to keep out the rain. Also, when it's time to leave the campground, we don't have to sweep off the slide before pulling it in.

I added covers over the roof vents. We don't have to close the vents when running down the road, or when it's raining.

What could be done better by the factory:
Much of the interior trim is very light weight. Almost to the point of being cheap. If you have rough kids and dogs, I would suggest better interior materials. Makes it plenty light, which is great, but have to be careful to not tear or knock off some piece of trim.

What I dislike:
Nothing yet. The TV is on a swivel dividing the main living area from the bedroom. You can turn the TV around to watch while lying in bed. We don't do that, so it stays facing the living area. But it could have more than just a swivel. It could have an extending bracket so it could be brought out into the room a few inches before rotating it so it can been seen more directly from the seating area.

 

[Dave LeGear]

Excellent "Real World" Review and write up Martin! I like the format and what the Factory could improve upon aspect

Review's like this one (by those who have actually bought that product) really add value to all of our members!

Thanks again Martin for taking the time to write one

 

[Dave LeGear]

Time for a long term product update on this review... What has held up and what needs to have more backbone since 2018?

And even better yet, what upgrades have you since made to various OEM equipment?

Thanks!

 

[Offshoreman]

A little update on the Heartland Mallard 28:

We recently spent two weeks in the Mallard. One week at a lake in Oregon (full hookups) and the other week in Idaho (no hook ups).

I really like how it tows. Having towed darn near everything you can think of, I like how this handles. Has a nice weight distribution hitch, which must be adjusted properly of course. Ours is perfect.

Brakes are just terrific. The larger 6 lug axles have larger brakes. Electric drums, but they're nice.

Getting rid of the dinette and lousy couch has been a good upgrade. We now have the two recliners (they're smaller), and a small table and two chairs. The table is round, but two sides fold down. Makes for a floor plan we can change to suit our needs.

Storage abounds!! We like the storage, but after two weeks, we absolutely love the storage.

The AC venting / ducting was very poorly installed at the AC unit. It was getting warm in Idaho and the AC couldn't keep up. It was as if there was something blocking the cool air from blowing out of the vents. I took down the interior cover and found the ducting where it meets the AC was not even taped up. Cool air was blowing into the attic space. Picked up some aluminum ducting tape and went to work. After I corrected the poor install, it was a regular ice chest in there!

And then there is that pesky interior trim. Most all materials are good, light weight but good. Except for the smallest trim pieces. They're barely attached with the smallest of brads. We've had to nail / screw or glue a few pieces back on.

Overall, we're pretty happy. Not the best RV on the market, but under $30k, with the upgrades, amenities and size, if I were shopping for a travel trailer again, I'd buy this one again, no problem.

 

[Offshoreman]

Also, the owner of CCrane, a Wi-Fi and radio electronics company, is a friend of mine. He's developed a new Wi-Fi extension device, so he gave me one and asked me to write a review for him.

So at the campground, we were 508 ft from the internet router at their store.

This device is an antenna that goes on the outside of the RV, with a repeater on the inside. Without it we were unable to get internet. With it, we had high speed internet and were streaming movies!

CCrane

The other antenna is just an AM/FM.