Winter Camping in a 3023 for the season

DN

dnemecek

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Has anyone slept in their Trailmanor 3023 during a winter? I live in Colorado Springs and am considering using my trailer for the winter. Looking for suggestions or if this is even possible. I believe we got like 13 inches of total snow last season. Thanks
 
Spent 15 days in Sedona last winter. TM was warm. Furnace and oil/ electric space heater made it toasty. Also, we had an electric blanket that we placed under the sheet in the rear bed. Due to the overhang, the rear bed platform gets cold, so we slept on a warm blanket. High temp for both weeks did not reach 50 degrees and nighttime temps were as low as 20.

Also spent several days in Santa Fe on the way home where snow was on the ground the entire time. Did not use the freshwater line outside to the park water source due to freezing temps. TM are actually very well insulated units.
 
There are some threads on here about it not being good for snow to build up on a TM. You can stay warm in a TM when it is very cold though. We had snow last year while we were bow hunting in Missouri but it melted fairly quickly. We have camped in weather that is in the teens and stayed warm. You do need to fill your fresh water and disconnect and drain the hose unless you have one of the heated hoses. I guess your fresh water tank is inside one of the bench seats. You may need to leave it open for heat to get to it. Ours is under the sink and we just leave the door to the cabinet open.
 
Make sure you have some pool noodles. Also you will find that considerable moisture penetrates the mattress and condenses on the top of the bed tray making the bottom of the mattress damp. Not a big deal, but you will need to remove the mattress when you get home to dry out.
 
I would be most concerned about water freezing.

outdoor hookup line
fresh tank
water heater
toilet
grey tank
all lines

4 season RVs have electric heaters for some of these.

I believe that below some temperature propane will no longer be usable, but no damage will be done.
 
Regarding keeping warm in bed... we have used an electric mattress pad before and it was GREAT. We used it on top of a foam egg topper on an air mattress while tent camping in mid 40s (at night) and it was just fine so I imagine it would be toasty in especially cold weather. {The only reason we stopped using it was DH shorted out the wires on his side somehow. MY side was fine.}
 
When it gets cold enough for propane to no longer be usable, I suggest you pack up and go home as you will not be very usable either. Propane stops evaporating at -45F
 
Somebody camped in Moab during the winter and detailed their trip on here. With precautions they did fine.
 
I have been searching but can't find the thread I am looking for. I did find this thread and it is a good one about not a lot of leaving snow on the the roof for extended amount of time:

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8625

The thread I am looking for is where a guy camps I think in Co. about 2 years ago...he tows his 2619 with a Jeep Wrangler (longer version then mine) He had a sort of contest to guess the length of the icicle coming off his window awning.
 
Thanks T and C...I just found the thread too...it is in Utah and the thread is 14 pages long. I love this thread and I am still jealous he could tow his TM with his Jeep Wrangler. The thread is an interesting read.


FYI: I did see another thread that cautioned don't get snow/ice off with a metal shovel...bad scarring to TM.
 
I have spent most of my life in SoCal, so my snow experience is limited to visits to the mountains and two winters in Michigan back in the 60's.

I have a question about using those heated water hoses you see advertised in RV magazines. Wouldn't the pipe that comes out of the ground where you attach the hose freeze even if the hose did not? :confused:

The DW and I have been talking about spending two weeks in an RV park in either Big Bear, CA or Flagstaff, AZ this winter just to see how we would like living where winter is the real thing. Hence, my interest in this question.

Sunshine Tom
 
T and C said:
The DW and I have been talking about spending two weeks in an RV park in either Big Bear, CA or Flagstaff, AZ this winter just to see how we would like living where winter is the real thing. Hence, my interest in this question.
Sunshine Tom
Click to expand...

I have been to Big Bear in the Winter (house rental).

I have been to Norden (Donner pass) in the Winter (house rental).

Never confuse two places like this, even though they are in the same state.

In Norden I had to shovel around the car twice a day. I piled the snow on top of the snow next to the car. Eventually I had to move my pile over so I could start a new pile. I can only toss snow about 8 to 10 feet high. For a 3 day storm that is not high enough.

Just as a guess, Norden can get more snow in a weekend than Big Bear will get in a season.

The newer homes in Norden are 6 inch exterior studs instead of the normal 2x4. This is to allow for additional insulation. Code requirements.

But both are nice places.
 
Some winter camping thoughts

We travel in the winter in our TM up and down the west coast. At the first sign of snow or ice in the forecast we pull in to a park with water, power and sewer and wait for roads to become completely bare before proceeding. We have been stuck for up to a week in the snow waiting to move on. Of course there is winter and there is winter. You cannot compare winter camping on the West coast in Oregon and Washington with Minnesota or Northern New York.

The big issue is keeping the snow and ice off the roof. We have a push broom that we use every few hours to keep it from building up.

Heat is not a problem, we use 2 1500 watt heaters and have a spare propane tank which we deploy to avoid having to move the dinette slide (2720SD) to get at the horizontal tanks. In addition we have made covers for the windows, vents and door out of a roll of reflective insulation with an air gap core that we bought at Home Depot. These covers slide under the curtains against the glass and make a tremendous difference in heating. The vent covers are held in place with velcro.

If it's below freezing at night we fill our water tank once a day and keep the cabinet doors open to avoid a freeze. We have not had temperatures so low that we could not dump black and grey water or had the grey water tank freeze. If we did have to deal with it, building a skirt out of insulation around the tank and plumbing and hanging a 100 watt bulb incandescent bulb for heat in the space would probably do the trick.

Our best idea was to use two single thermorest camping mattresses under the TM Queen size mattress in the rear. This is very warm and is so comfortable that we use them in all seasons now.


Peter and Martha
 
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T and C said:
I have spent most of my life in SoCal, so my snow experience is limited to visits to the mountains and two winters in Michigan back in the 60's.

I have a question about using those heated water hoses you see advertised in RV magazines. Wouldn't the pipe that comes out of the ground where you attach the hose freeze even if the hose did not? :confused:

The DW and I have been talking about spending two weeks in an RV park in either Big Bear, CA or Flagstaff, AZ this winter just to see how we would like living where winter is the real thing. Hence, my interest in this question.

Sunshine Tom
Click to expand...

Now here is a subject I can talk about! I grew up in Escondido but have lived in snow country for the past way too many years to mention, including Wyoming, Flagstaff and now Colorado. We lived in Flagstaff for 22 years and the only thing that could have convinced us to leave was our precious grandchildren. I couldn't recommend Flagstaff more highly.

However, you will not like it in a TM in the winter. You would most likely end up at the KOA which is ok but it is steep (as in an adventure just to get to the restrooms/laundry walking on ice), water and dumping will be an unending job, on and on. We have done it. It's not fun. It makes Sedona sound really good, Phoenix even better. If you have a house where you can walk around, throw another log on the fire, not even think about running water and sewer, it is VERY different.

I think a cabin or even a hotel room would give you a much better sense of how it feels to LIVE there, rather than to camp there.

Malinda

P.S. We have been warm as toast in our TM in single digits multiple times, but everything else is not exactly something to look forward to.
 
We have only camped a few times in the cold, but mid November in the low 30's was the coldest. We used air conditioning foam (gray from hardware store) under all the flaps. For the large flap up near the front, we used leftover pink foam cut out of two large pieces to insulate that area. It's hard and we cut to fit in the space. We a 1500W twin ceramic heaters we use for heat in the main area. I also have two 200W small space heaters we use for the bedroom areas. When taking a shower, the 200W is nice to heat up the bathroom. Remember that there will be quite a bit of condensation each day to deal with. Mostly in the windows. We haven't been braved a trip longer than 3 days in cold weather. We did not have hook ups, so didn't need to worry about a hose line freezing. Good luck!
 
OneMoBear said:
Now here is a subject I can talk about! I grew up in Escondido but have lived in snow country for the past way too many years to mention, including Wyoming, Flagstaff and now Colorado. We lived in Flagstaff for 22 years and the only thing that could have convinced us to leave was our precious grandchildren. I couldn't recommend Flagstaff more highly.

However, you will not like it in a TM in the winter. You would most likely end up at the KOA which is ok but it is steep (as in an adventure just to get to the restrooms/laundry walking on ice), water and dumping will be an unending job, on and on. We have done it. It's not fun. It makes Sedona sound really good, Phoenix even better. If you have a house where you can walk around, throw another log on the fire, not even think about running water and sewer, it is VERY different.

I think a cabin or even a hotel room would give you a much better sense of how it feels to LIVE there, rather than to camp there.

Malinda

P.S. We have been warm as toast in our TM in single digits multiple times, but everything else is not exactly something to look forward to.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the above, and PopBeavers' post too. I'm convinced. The TM will stay at home for this one.

Tom
 
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