# Snow Load



## fshr4life (Feb 7, 2009)

Just curious - as I watch the wet, heavy snow pile higher and higher on the roof of my 270BH right now, how much can a travel trailer withstand? When should I break out the ladder and try to start getting it off of there?

JD


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## clarkely (Sep 15, 2008)

fshr4life said:


> Just curious - as I watch the wet, heavy snow pile higher and higher on the roof of my 270BH right now, how much can a travel trailer withstand? When should I break out the ladder and try to start getting it off of there?
> 
> JD


There seems to be a lot of new campgrounds in Quebec, and i saw a lot of new campers with 2 feet of snow on their roofs, i wish i would have gotten a picture or two of that.

I did get a picture of an older class C with 2 feet on its roof.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

If you're going to try to remove some, make sure you don't snag anything on the roof. It wouldn't be too hard to dislodge something and create a leak path....


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## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

I had 2 feet ( probably a little more ) on mine and its fine. I checked inside last week and its all dry inside. I would recommend keeping your roof vents slightly open and not wide open ( assuming you have covers ) so snow does not get blown into them. If you do take some snow off I would be real carefully with that.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

I removed snow last year when we had about 30" on the trailer. Not due to the snow but we had a forecast for heavy rain. The snow would have soaked up the rain and I did not want to think about what it would do. Had we had a warm spell without the rain forecast I would have left it alone.


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## Northern Wind (Nov 21, 2006)

I use a snow rake and clean it off when it gets to around 2 or 3 feet deep, and keep it even lower in the spring when there is chance of rain, never had a problem yet (knock on wood)


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## Just Add Dirt (May 5, 2009)

Mine has a pretty deep load on it; It'll be summer before I can get it out

__
Image uploading. Refresh page to view


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## Piecemaker (Nov 15, 2007)

fshr4life said:


> Just curious - as I watch the wet, heavy snow pile higher and higher on the roof of my 270BH right now, how much can a travel trailer withstand? When should I break out the ladder and try to start getting it off of there?
> 
> JD


JD

I would guess this question came up since we are no doubt both in the Nor'easter.

My thoughts are that if my tt can hold the 3 full tanks,water, black and grey, about 130 gallons and they say I can sleep up to 7-8+ people then 2 feet of snow with empty tanks and no people would near equal out. They say an inch of rain equals a foot of snow. So 2 feet of snow is like 2 inches of rain. Maybe someone will step forward with the math end of it. I used to worry about it but don't anymore.

( i took up flyfishing last year. PM me if you like)

Brian


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Piecemakers said:


> Just curious - as I watch the wet, heavy snow pile higher and higher on the roof of my 270BH right now, how much can a travel trailer withstand? When should I break out the ladder and try to start getting it off of there?
> 
> JD


JD

I would guess this question came up since we are no doubt both in the Nor'easter.

My thoughts are that if my tt can hold the 3 full tanks,water, black and grey, about 130 gallons and they say I can sleep up to 7-8+ people then 2 feet of snow with empty tanks and no people would near equal out. They say an inch of rain equals a foot of snow. So 2 feet of snow is like 2 inches of rain. Maybe someone will step forward with the math end of it. I used to worry about it but don't anymore.

( i took up flyfishing last year. PM me if you like)

Brian
[/quote]
The concern wouldn't be tires and springs, but rather the roof. So 2" deep x 8' wide x 28' long is 37.33 cubic feet of water (~1 cubic meter for those of you from the north...







) That's ~280 gallons at a weight of 8 lbs/ gallon. giving you a grand total of 2,240 lbs!!!

No idea what it can hold. I don't have access to my trailer so I can't see it, but based on my yard, (and the fact my trailer is 35' long), I'd guess, I have ~1,400 lbs on the roof right now.


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## maddog (Dec 16, 2009)

Ice is the bigger issue. It wouldn't hurt to remove the snow though. If it were to warm up a little and rain a little then freeze, you now have a bigger issue with the weight of ice. Trust me I know from experience.







When we have significant snow now I climb the ladder and push it off the roof. Learned that from my insurance company who denied my claim


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## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

Just Add Dirt said:


> Mine has a pretty deep load on it; It'll be summer before I can get it out
> 
> __
> Image uploading. Refresh page to view
> ...


your link isn't working


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## fshr4life (Feb 7, 2009)

Thanks for the comments and pics. Yes, I'm more concerned about the weight on the roof, not on the axles or wheels/tires. The snow we got is about as heavy as you can get - it snowed for a while, then rained for a while and back and forth. Shoveling the driveway was like shoveling wet sand. We got about 2.5 or 3 total feet of snow like that, but luckily it was really windy, so I've only got about 1.5 feet on top of the trailer right now. I may try to push some off with a broom or something soft, but it looks like it's doing OK right now. Hopefully it will warm up enough to melt some off in the next few days before another storm hits...

JD


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