snow loading

[Brianl]

Any ideas on what the 303RLS can take in the way of snow loads?

[perfpix]

Don't know what the official answer is, but in recent snow loading related post, some people mentioned letting unlimited snow accumulate on their RVs because they have no access to their RV in the winter. In 2015 when we got 10 feet of snow I removed the snow from my RV because I didn't want to take any chances. Your 303RLS is 32.5'x8' or 260 sq ft of roof surface. 1 foot of snow on the roof would amount to 260 cubic feet of snow. At a maximum of 21lbs per cubic foot of snow (I got 21lbs from googleing), that's 5460lbs of snow on your roof. That's still only 21lbs per square foot of roof which is way less than a person walking on the roof, so I don't think the roof will collapse. But the whole rv will be under a lot of stress. 2ft of snow and your talking up to 10000lbs of snow. That's why I remove it rather than let it accumulate if we get a crazy amount of snow. Of course light fluffy snow is no big deal, but in 2015 we got 10 feet of snow followed by rain storms which the snow soaked up like a sponge collapsing the roofs on a lot of homes and buildings in my area. I was shoveling snow off the roof of my house that year as well.

Just my 2 cents

John

[orbiker]

Don't know what the official answer is, but in recent snow loading related post, some people mentioned letting unlimited snow accumulate on their RVs because they have no access to their RV in the winter. In 2015 when we got 10 feet of snow I removed the snow from my RV because I didn't want to take any chances. Your 303RLS is 32.5'x8' or 260 sq ft of roof surface. 1 foot of snow on the roof would amount to 260 cubic feet of snow. At a maximum of 21lbs per cubic foot of snow (I got 21lbs from googleing), that's 5460lbs of snow on your roof. That's still only 21lbs per square foot of roof which is way less than a person walking on the roof, so I don't think the roof will collapse. But the whole rv will be under a lot of stress. 2ft of snow and your talking up to 10000lbs of snow. That's why I remove it rather than let it accumulate if we get a crazy amount of snow. Of course light fluffy snow is no big deal, but in 2015 we got 10 feet of snow followed by rain storms which the snow soaked up like a sponge collapsing the roofs on a lot of homes and buildings in my area. I was shoveling snow off the roof of my house that year as well.

Just my 2 cents

John

WOW
I never did the math.

That's a lot of weight pushing down on anything that is touching the ground.

[GENESIS]

Uhhhhhh........what is snow?

(says the smartazz from south Georgia).

Tom

[D2Reid]

We winter at ski resorts. I use a brush and remove the snow. Not only does it remove the weight, but also keeps us from having snow melt freeze up issues. One of my unprovable hypothesis on a minor roof leak that we had is the melting snow would collect in a micro-crack then freeze at night, expanding. Over a couple of months this cycle was enough to open up an itty bitty roof leak. I cleared the offending snow/ice and caulked the stew out of it with DAP. Leak ceased.

As I am up on the roof clearing the snow I get a good birds eye view of my neighbors. Out of the 20 campers I can see only one other clears the snow off. I am guessing it's generally not a problem. But I believe in preventative maintenance, so I make the effort.

Note to self: Do the roof clean and reseal in the spring, doing it in the fall makes the roof really slick and dangerous with snow on it.

[orbiker]

We winter at ski resorts. I use a brush and remove the snow. Not only does it remove the weight, but also keeps us from having snow melt freeze up issues. One of my unprovable hypothesis on a minor roof leak that we had is the melting snow would collect in a micro-crack then freeze at night, expanding. Over a couple of months this cycle was enough to open up an itty bitty roof leak. I cleared the offending snow/ice and caulked the stew out of it with DAP. Leak ceased.

As I am up on the roof clearing the snow I get a good birds eye view of my neighbors. Out of the 20 campers I can see only one other clears the snow off. I am guessing it's generally not a problem. But I believe in preventative maintenance, so I make the effort.

Note to self: Do the roof clean and reseal in the spring, doing it in the fall makes the roof really slick and dangerous with snow on it.

Are you working at the ski area?

Did you do a RV skirt made of snow?

Do you run a snow-blower around the RV?

What Ski area? I was a patroller at Crater Lake (cross country patroller)

[D2Reid]

Are you working at the ski area?

Yes, this is our third year here. First year was ticket scanner, last year was Mountain Safety Patrol, and this year is Product Sales (ticket sales)

I work Thursday, Friday, Saturday from 7:45 until 11:30. I make enough money to pay for the propane and electric bill. I get a free ski pass for the season and reciprocal passes at nearby resorts for diversity.

Did you do a RV skirt made of snow?

We actually built an RV skirt this fall for our old RV as a test to see if it makes a difference, it does. Our new Momentum 376TH we’re going to purchase a professionally made skirt. And then we stack snow around it. Right now we have about 3’ of snow stacked around.

Do you run a snow-blower around the RV?

Old school, me, a shovel, good news is RV sites are not very big.

What Ski area? I was a patroller at Crater Lake (cross country patroller)

That would be awesome. Crater lake has mega-snow. We are in Park City because the climate is more temperate. We average 20 for a low and 35 for a high.

Park City Utah, the largest ski resort in the continental US. Park City Mountain Resort has a severe personnel problem. Lots of jobs available. Ski patrol wants full time for the first year, OEC certification.

If you are thinking about a new happy home PM me, I would love to give you the skinny on this area and what we do.

Dallas

[orbiker]

Sound like a great way it spend the winter. I'll bet the 376 is the nicest rig in the lot.

Here is a couple pics from years past.
New Years 2008 viewing Crater Lake Lodge (not open in the winter) I stayed in our pickup camper plugged in.



The best day at Crater Lake NP is the day after a storm.





I let my OEC lapse about 4 years ago.
A good friend busted his hip on ice right in front of the cafeteria and I can afford that to happen to me.

Ski Safe, Have Fun

KEN

[Aridon]

Gorgeous pics. OP, great gig, hope you have a good season.