Timber!

Julie C

Advanced Member
Site Sponsor
Joined
Jul 16, 2023
Messages
39
Location
Virginia
How big of an issue is this?

We used a broom to move the branches as we opened the slides & unfurled the awnings

What do we need to look for as we break camp down?

They cannot move us. Labor day weekend - all sites are booked



Tree.jpg

Tree 2.jpg
 
If it were me, I would put someone on the roof as you close up shop to move stuff out of the way and to prevent any potential damage from limbs and stuff, and to check the roof membrane. In my case that would be my wife as I am afraid of heights.... She goes up and checks everything before we close the slides, and takes the leaf blower with her to blow off debris and water (if any). As for moving the rig after closing up??? Carefully check and move things out of the way after you start to move. Looking at the picture, you will have some scratches, but they should rub out easy enough. Good luck, I don't envy you....
 
Doesn't look too bad. I would just get up there and start cutting branches back!

The branches look fairly light. If you drove in slow there shouldn't be any damage to roof membrane. You do want to check to make sure you didn't pull off any of the roof features like antenna or roof vents were damaged.
 
I'd be asking the campground to come over and trim those. I think it is just unacceptable that campground operators aren't considerate of the size of campers we travel in.

Our fear with having plants up against our RV is the intrusion of critters. Ants seem to be our enemy.
 
I carry Loppers and a Razor Tooth Saw with me for your exact situation.
As stated, try asking management to trim back the branches for you.

When they don't, I use the loppers and saw mentioned above.
 
Couple of months ago, I had the same situation, I asked at the office and they gave me some tools. Went on the roof, and took care of my problems.
 
I carry some snippers too.
BUT, be careful: Soft leaves with flexible twigs shouldn't really cause any damage as they brush along as you move, but cutting them away to expose stiff, sharp sticks can scratch pretty deep. Sometimes you're better off leaving them alone.
JK
 
I'm assuming that you are in a commercial campground. Government-run campgrounds often have rules against cutting ANY branches, trees, etc. That said, they also recognize that if their tree damages your rig they are responsible, so they will usually take care of any issues that are brought to their attention.

We just finished two months of campground hosting at a Missouri State park. They objected to campers cutting branches themselves, but would send someone out to take care of an issue pretty quickly. I made it a point to look for potential issues and let the office know so that someone could come out and take care of it while the campsite was empty.
 
Hookup and move away from the branches before moving slide in

How big of an issue is this?

We used a broom to move the branches as we opened the slides & unfurled the awnings

What do we need to look for as we break camp down?

They cannot move us. Labor day weekend - all sites are booked



View attachment 47988

View attachment 47989

Hookup and move away from the branches before moving slide in
 
I'm assuming that you are in a commercial campground. Government-run campgrounds often have rules against cutting ANY branches, trees, etc. That said, they also recognize that if their tree damages your rig they are responsible, so they will usually take care of any issues that are brought to their attention.

We just finished two months of campground hosting at a Missouri State park. They objected to campers cutting branches themselves, but would send someone out to take care of an issue pretty quickly. I made it a point to look for potential issues and let the office know so that someone could come out and take care of it while the campsite was empty.

I’m not sure that the campground would assume any responsibility for scratches; however, trees falling could be a different matter depending on how good the victim’s lawyer is


IMG_9977.png
 
I carry some snippers too.
BUT, be careful: Soft leaves with flexible twigs shouldn't really cause any damage as they brush along as you move, but cutting them away to expose stiff, sharp sticks can scratch pretty deep. Sometimes you're better off leaving them alone.
JK

it turns out that you are right. We slowly backed out from the campsite, and we looked at the roof. It looked good and we are good.
 
We were in a PA State camp ground last year. Shortly after we got set up, in a very large stand of Pines a storm blew up. within 5 minutes there was a tree laying lengthwise across a Chevy 3500 directly in line with my truck. The tree was thankfully too short for my truck but it totaled his (my wife and I just got close to the ground beside the camper). Thank God no one was in that camp site at that time, but that poor guy was totally distraught about losing his Older completely reconditioned truck. The picture is after DCNR started cleaning up the mess. Tree on truck.jpg
 
Don't know if it is official policy, but at the two parks we were at this year, if you got too close to a tree and scratched your rig it was your problem. If you were parked and the tree moved to scratch your rig it was the park's problem. We did have one incident this year where a storm came up and a branch came down, poking a couple of holes in the roof of a camper. The park superintendent himself was out there and got all of the information for the report, then a Ranger came to get more information. The word we got was that the State would cover the damage.
 
Yes! All is well

Glad everything worked out well. Love the sense of humor with the title of the post. Made me wonder if you carry a chainsaw? I have been in state parks that the ranger did not want the trees trimmed by campers but they came by and did it themselves. Looks like good advice in this post as far as the small leaves doing minor scratches but the short limbs are the ones that do the noticeable damage.
 

Try RV LIFE Pro Free for 7 Days

  • New Ad-Free experience on this RV LIFE Community.
  • Plan the best RV Safe travel with RV LIFE Trip Wizard.
  • Navigate with our RV Safe GPS mobile app.
  • and much more...
Try RV LIFE Pro Today
Back
Top Bottom