Snow on Trailers?

[Christi V.]

How much snow can accumulate on the top of our trailers? we hardly ever get snow , but i just swept off about 6 inches.. ( probably not alot to alot of your folks) off but I was wondering how much of snow is ok..? or is it better to keep the snow on top for insulation? I do have a heater running inside.

Beings they are made in Bacus, Minn the snow and cold is alot greater than out here.... so they must be made to survive!!

[Doug Mager]

...at LEAST this much, if not more.... (this from last year, NOT today.....grrrrr!!!)

[Doug Mager]

....being as how our egg IS painted, I'm really leary of scratching the paint (even on the roof) with anything like a broom!!! This year finds our trailer tucked away nicely in our neighbours heated garage, ahhhh the Christmas Season .....

[Christi V.]

I cant find a garage to put mine in maybe I will get another one of those portable sheds to put up.....
I am not to worried about the paint.... I am planning to have mine repainted this spring anyways... I was just curious as to how much snow can accumulate on top of them....

[reinhold m]

I don't have the answer for ya but I would think it's best to get it off before it gets melty and turns into less manageable ice. It also would initially depend on what variety of snow - wet heavy stuff? or light powdery stuff? or somewhere in between? Water is fairly dense/heavy, and snow is water, so when it piles up it would make for a hefty load up there.

As far as snow being good insulation that's true when it's on the ground, or on house roofs where you have a cold space (attic) and/or other very good insulation under the roof material itself, but on a fiberglass trailer the roof's pretty thin so I would expect your heater inside would just send the heat thru the roof and melt your snow causing water to run off only to freeze into ice on the sides of the trailer.

Anyway, what I really replied for is to recommend what I use for clearing off snow - the sno-brum; scratch free sweeping. I use it on my vehicles and I would imagine it'd work well on trailer roofs if you add a longer handle and didn't let the snow pile up too much. There's another brand that comes in orange foam but I can't remember the name of that one right off. This one (sno-brum) I have myself and can recommend it as being durable and worth the money.

If anyone does go the portable shed route most of those aren't designed for much in the way of snow load either so be sure to knock the snow off the tarp/roof after it accumulates a few inches.
Happy Winter!

[Christi V.]

thanks for the reply.... the snow here has been pretty powdery.. but with the sub- freezing temps I was more afraid of it getting 'heavy'.... I would rather keep it off then have it accumulate and cause any kind of damage.
I have never heard of a sno-brum.... we havent had this much snow since 1990 i think.. so its pretty rare around this area.......more snow predicted then again sub freezing temps....

[Gina D.]

I have about 2 feet of powder on mine right now.. happens every year.

I am not real worried about it. It seems sound enough.

The trailer sat unmoved at 7000 feet for several years before I rescued it. Much more snow got on it and stayed longer on it than what I get here and the roof is fine.

[Rick kl]

At the oil upgrader where I work we have a problem with snow on roofs of buildings, the heat from the building melts the snow the water runs down to the roof edge making a dam, some of these can be solid ice 6" thick, that's when snow on a roof becomes too heavy. Most structures that are not heated won't be affected by this, Here is an article about snow on buildings.

http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d001201-d0013...99/d001299.html

[Doug Mager]

Christi, I wouldn't rely too heavily on those portable shelters!!
We have 2 of them (slightly different styles). They NEED to have accumulated snow removed from their tops as soon as you can. We use a wide 'shop broom' and work from underneith (pushing upwards on the tarps) ...Failure to keep snow off them WILL cause them to colapse. Another concern is the wind (which we've had here now for 5 days straight, VERY unusual). Even anchoring them isn't much help as the wind WILL buckel the corner brackets IF it doesn't lift and move the shelter first. MAYBE on of those shelters with the aluminum roofs (???) but I suspect they'd have similar issues and be much heavier to re-erect if upended!!! NOTE: this weather pattern is expected to remain in our area at LEAST till Christmas and who knows after that.....

[Booker B.]

Here's my story - I had our VW Convertible Rabbit / Suzuki V-Strom and my chop saw under ours. It was snowing like crazy last year so I moved the motorbike into the shed I had just built. Later that night I opened the door to go and clean off the portable shelter (for a 2nd time that day) and as I walked up the driveway all I heard was a 'whoomph' sound. The shed had completely collapsed, puncturing the top of the car and completely crushing my saw.

Thankfully the big ticket item (my motorbike) was put away. So if you don't plan to be home every day that it snow to clean it off I would stay away.

Edit: We did not not get nearly the amount of snow every else on the Island did yesterday:

[Doug Mager]

Yes, I've had to de-snow our shelters 4, sometimes 5 times a night depending on snowfall amounts. NOT fun....

[Gerry]

How much snow can accumulate on the top of our trailers? we hardly ever get snow , but i just swept off about 6 inches.. ( probably not alot to alot of your folks) off but I was wondering how much of snow is ok..? or is it better to keep the snow on top for insulation? I do have a heater running inside.

Beings they are made in Bacus, Minn the snow and cold is alot greater than out here.... so they must be made to survive!!

This picture was taken last year when we had over 4 and half feet on the ground. I did manage to pull the snow off the Boler once but the little Lady-Bug wintered just fine.
Of course I had a 2#4 brace holding up the roof on the inside but believe me we had loads of snow in Maine last year.
Yes my Boler is under there
Gerry
ps. Better get ready we're gonna get 2 feet tonight!!!

[reinhold m]

Of course I had a 2#4 brace holding up the roof on the inside....

I was coming back to post this helpful idea but you beat me to it... great snow picture!



Gina D.,

your double wall Burro may 'naturally' be better at supporting roof loads than single wall units like Christi's Scamp? I've heard stories of Scamp roofs sagging somewhat just because the little spiral support things that go from the counter to the upper cabinets were removed, notwithstanding adding weight up top.

anyway, to each their own solutions for their individual situations. I'm just usually an 'err on the side of caution' sort of fellow

Christi V.,

didn't mention in my first post, but my family lived in Tumwater for 12 years so am familiar with the general amount (or lack of amount) of snow you would usually get in that area. so... enjoy it while (if?) you can! we still have many friends/family in the greater Olympia area and Chehalis/Centralia as well.

[Scott S.]

that's exactly what my SurfSide looks like right now. I't light snow cause its minus 20's here but I'll be sweeping it off soon. I'll take a pic before I do.

[Paul from NWOnt]

I just let the first snow 'set' a little. The initial crust provides a protective layer that I leave when I sweep off the snow - no scratching that way.

[Christi V.]

didn't mention in my first post, but my family lived in Tumwater for 12 years so am familiar with the general amount (or lack of amount) of snow you would usually get in that area. so... enjoy it while (if?) you can! we still have many friends/family in the greater Olympia area and Chehalis/Centralia as well.

sure is a small world! We measured 16 " here so far.... it was melting alittle today, so I got the rest of the snow off the top... suppose to freeze again tonite.. then more snow.. we might get 4" more....
ok. i do like the snow.. but it can go away now!!

[Gerry]

I just let the first snow 'set' a little. The initial crust provides a protective layer that I leave when I sweep off the snow - no scratching that way.

Paul, I too use to worry about scratching my poor Lady-Bug but now that I started winter camping, and try to get out once a week, I have to clear all the snow off the top of the camper so that no longer is an option.
Road grime splash, from on-comeing cars also is doing a number on Her too.
Let's hope the good coat of wax I applied this fall and the new one in the spring will get her shine back for the summer.
Gerry

[Rusty01]

These pictures were taken yesterday. We've had more snow since.

[Gina D.]

FYI, I just opened up my trailer after it has sat unopened since before thanksgiving.

For the last three weeks, I have had more snow and Ice on top of it than pictured above (About twice that) and a "heat wave" has thawed all of it in about 3 days.

I was prepared for the worst, as the last time this happened, I had wet cushions from what I thought was a window leak.

Bone dry. Even my bathroom, with a known small leak in the vent cover.

We will see what happens when I put water in the tanks and pressurize tomorrow, but I am suspecting it will be uneventful.