How long does it take you to set up and break down?

**Johnww** · 05-24-2020, 08:23 AM

As others have said previously, take your time, especially when leaving. Upon arrival the first thing I do is hook up the electrical power to make sure our Progressive EMS will accept the power source at the campground. Nothing more aggravating than extending the jacks and / or unhooking only to find the EMS does not accept the power source.

**WhittleBurner** · 05-24-2020, 08:44 AM

What I have found the number one thing that will mess you up doing either one is someone coming up and talking to you while you are at work. As others have said you will develop a routine hooking up and unhooking. When you get interrupted it is so easy for something to get missed. If I get interrupted I will stop and wait til I'm alone again and start all over again from the beginning. That is why I will not go up to someone when they are in their process even if I know them.

**Da Breeze** · 05-24-2020, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by Johnww

As others have said previously, take your time, especially when leaving. Upon arrival the first thing I do is hook up the electrical power to make sure our Progressive EMS will accept the power source at the campground. Nothing more aggravating than extending the jacks and / or unhooking only to find the EMS does not accept the power source.

This is great info and used to deserve first place in my fifth wheel schedule too,
but after a "near miss" that was caught just in time,
the NEW.. Number ONE thing to do when setting up is......

Drum roll please..........

FIRST THING I DO, is to CHOCK THE TRAILER WHEELS !!!

Incidentally......removing the wheel chocks, happens to be the LAST THING to do as well !!!
This stops any backwards or forward rolling of the trailer, when dropping front jacks or hooking up the fifth wheel hitch !!

NOTHING will spoil a trip worst than bent landing gear or a wandering " slippery slope" trailer !!!

BTW... I always empty and flush tanks the night before, especially if I want an early start ....(9 am is early for me

)

Michael

**[email protected]** · 05-24-2020, 09:09 AM

Take your time. It's not a race.

I can setup and tear down quickly when on the road, but I still give myself an hour for closing up shop when we are getting ready to depart, with 30 minutes the previous night. That's what I plan for, but if I need more time I take more time.

When I setup, I hook up the electrical first, then water and sewer, then open the slideouts. It doesn't take long.

**Steven@147** · 05-24-2020, 09:42 AM

Originally Posted by [email protected]

Take your time. It's not a race.

I can setup and tear down quickly when on the road, but I still give myself an hour for closing up shop when we are getting ready to depart, with 30 minutes the previous night. That's what I plan for, but if I need more time I take more time.

When I setup, I hook up the electrical first, then water and sewer, then open the slideouts. It doesn't take long.

Agreed, exactly what we do, take our time, and even then can be set up in 30-45 minutes. Yup, on setup, first thing hook up the power monitor and check the site feed, if ok get the electric connected.
Tear down about the same time frame. I'm doing the outside stuff while the wife is taking care of the inside. I take my time with dumping the tanks and cleaning the black tank. About the time its ready for hitch up, the wife is done inside and comes out to assist hitching. She usually backs the truck in and hitches to the pin. Takes about 45 minutes to hitch and ready for pullout.

**Ellen and Jerry** · 05-24-2020, 10:17 AM

whittle burner X2. I need to "allow" as much "time" as needed to attend to the tasks in a sequencial manner, especally on leaving. As stated, mistakes can be costly, as I know from personal experience.

**CDEW13** · 05-24-2020, 12:35 PM

15 to 30 Minutes for set up, biggest issue of set up being how level the site is. 30 to 45 Minutes to break down and get on the road. Practice makes perfect as with any task, you'll get better as time goes on.

**janicerocks** · 05-25-2020, 06:31 AM

It takes us about 10 - 15 mins. to set up, we both have our jobs and work together. I would never sit and watch, unless I am not able too. Tear down I handle the inside, while he does the outside.

**frank4711** · 05-25-2020, 06:40 AM

Originally Posted by hampal

I'm curious as to how long it takes others to level up, hook up, etc. at a campground. Also how long when you're leaving to break camp and get on the road?

I'm new to this and it seems like it's taking me a long time. Just leveling up and unhitching in my yard takes at least an hour. It's that pretty normal? Seems like I always have trouble getting the hitch off the ball.

I've got a 2500 RL which is a travel trailer not a 5th wheel.

TT will take longer than 5th wheel ... practice will make you quicker but remember take your time and enjoy it. Much of my fun camping comes from the planning and prep.

**RvReno** · 05-25-2020, 08:47 AM

My wife and I have a 27bhs, we are 1 year into it (it's our first rig) and we celebrated on Friday because we were in a spot between trees with room for the slide and level side and level to side in about 20 minutes. This is in a boondock 'site' that is kinda level. It took 4 of those 'lego' bricks to get level side to side this time. After side to side, it's another 20-30 min to get wheels chocked, off the hitch and stabilizer deploy. We are never in a hurry, even when we want to be and the kids are jumping around. Once off the hitch we divide the inside and outside setup. We work together to back into a spot and get level side to side. Teamwork is the key.