Snow Load

[RichCarter]

Have you considered a winter cover. That ice and snow can't be good for your roof and associated equipment.

[Scottenj]

Originally Posted by RichCarter

An inch of water weighs about 5 lbs/sqft. For fluffy snow, a foot of snow is about an inch of water. As it compacts, it weighs more per foot of depth of course. So your 18 inches of snow probably weighs about 10 lbs/sq ft. If your camper roof is 20' long, you have about 2000 lbs of weight up there. Jayco brags about handling a 4500 lb roof load. That's not all that much snow.

The weight of snow varies with water content but 1 pound/square foot per inch seems to be a general rule of thumb so that is 18 pounds per square foot, not 10. My camper is 42' feet long so more like 6,048 pounds and we got more snow last night with more expected this week.

Jayco's 4,800 number sounds impressive but is actually not that useful since they don't say what size the roof segment they are using is and therefore I can't calculate the pounds per square foot.

[Scottenj]

Originally Posted by RichCarter

Have you considered a winter cover. That ice and snow can't be good for your roof and associated equipment.

I used to use one with the travel trailer I owned before this, the problem I saw with it is it makes it more inviting for critters. I had huge problems with my travel travel, my fifth wheel is better sealed up and I have had less problems but I worry that a cover will lead to a problem. I may have to rethink this.

[Ringneks]

I would at least cover your ac in the winter, the snow piled around the ac unit in that pic would be concerning to me,( I know it’s not the op’s rv) but I’m pretty picky.

[Levinehikeski]

I’m just north of you, I was on top of my trailer this past weekend. Get up there and clear at least some of it off, like others said, get the bulk off.
There prob isn’t a building code for the roofs, the same one could go to Florida that goes to NorthEast, no construction difference between the 2.

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by Scottenj

My first goal here is to figure out when/if I need to do it. Doing a Google search there are a lot of people who live in high snow regions and say they have never cleared snow and never had a problem in some cases going back decades.

A lot of people also comment that RV dealers never do it to units on their lot. My dealer is trying to get an answer out of Jayco.

If I need to do it, I will figure out something safe, a snow rake may be an option but it won't be straight forward because I have solar panels with wiring running along the roof.

I have solar also and the rake went along the cable and I took the rake all around it. I used a carwash soft brush on an adjustable pole to clean the solar panel off. I only use the main pole on the rake with pipe insulation on the handle for grip and I can reach 3/4 across from each side. My solar panel keeps the batteries charged if uncovered. Now it snows everyday so I pugged it into the house until the weather breaks

[Hollander Mutthaulers]

Originally Posted by deepsea5

If you decide to go the roof snow rake route, just remember that the TT roof will have plumbing vents, appliance vents, antenna(s), skylights, etc attached. A snow rake can create carnage with those items if you aren't careful.

I have an old aluminum snow rake. When I use it, I adhere to the motto: "Be afraid, be very afraid". I usually work off an extension ladder so I can see the entire roof.
The plastic snow rakes are probably more forgiving.

On those rare occasions that I remove snow I use a bristle push broom to gently push and pull the snow off where I can safely reach. Bristles give better. But I walk on my roof so there's 220#+ per 12"x4" foot print - that's a pretty sturdy roof.

[Frozen North]

Remove a little now or a lot later.

[Flyingaggie]

I have no hard physical data, but I've used mine for years on ski trips. Granted, I'm usually in Colorado and Utah where snow density is much lower than the east (ie. a lot of times 1" of water in Utah will make 18"+ of snow, so light and fluffy). Partially because I know I'll have to do it at some point, I usually don't let it get more than 8" or so on my trips. 1) the heat from the rig plus now melt will begin to make an ice layer on the roof, which is much heavier than snow. 2) I don't trust weight limits they give on the RV roof and don't want to push it. 3) I don't want to have big chunks of ice coming off when I leave and possibly cause and accident or hurt someone on the highway.

I'm younger, so I don't know if I'll do this as I age, but I use a fairly stiff bristle broom from the hardware stores and get on the roof. It allows me to push the big piles of light snow off easily and the stiffer bristles allow me to get most of the ice off. I'm also able to be very cognizant of where my vents/skylights/etc are when clearing. It usually doesn't take me that long and the bristles don't harm the roof. I basically use the same brush type when I clean and condition my roof.

Again, I'm still kinda young and don't mind getting on the roof. It's not a perfect system, but it gets the bulk off and keeps me from being too paranoid while I'm there and leaves me with less to do when I'm getting ready to leave.

Tim

[RichCarter]

This thread has me thinking about the whole roof load issue. With my previous camper, I always cleared off as much snow as practical during the winter lay-up. It was an RVision, not well made. With our new Jayco, I more or less planned to leave it alone unless it built up a significant load. In past winters here in NH, we've gotten as much as 10 feet or more during the course of a winter. Typically, we get less than that though, maybe 5 feet. I figured I'd start worrying about it if we had a bad winter. I've heard reports from national dealers who don't bother to clear off the snow from their Jayco RVs because the magnum truss roof can handle the load. Pencil and paper quick calculations show that you don't need much snow to accumulate more than 4600 lbs of the stuff. A couple of feet might do it. Heck, we can get two feet in a good storm. If the snow is wet, much less would be a problem.
I have a roof rake to remove snow from our boat and camper. The roof rake makes it easier to do but it's a PIA, a job I'd rather avoid. I think I'll head out there tomorrow and pull the accumulated snow off.

[AfricaUnite]

I carry one of these..

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C...6AQgwN6BAgHEAE

True Temper 193055510 Telescoping Snow Roof Rake with Aluminum Handle, 17-Foot

use your ladder.. be careful...

[kirkelli]

Originally Posted by Scottenj

Does anyone know what the snow load limit is for an Eagle? Trying to decide if I need to go try to push the snow off the roof.

I am at about 18" with no prospect of it melting any time soon.

Based on this calculator you have 1,697.3 - 2,377.3 lbs of snow now. I would be scraping it off..

https://www.inchcalculator.com/snow-weight-calculator/

[Scottenj]

Originally Posted by kirkelli

Based on this calculator you have 1,697.3 - 2,377.3 lbs of snow now. I would be scraping it off..

https://www.inchcalculator.com/snow-weight-calculator/

I think that estimate is very low and based on snow with a lot less moisture than we have around here. If I was only looking at less than 2,500 pounds over my whole roof I wouldn’t be worrying, I think 18” of snow around here is 6,000 pounds plus.

[Scottenj]

With 18” of snow on the roof last weekend and more snow due this week, I went out and bought a 12’ step ladder and a 17’ roof rake with a plastic head. It was a project but I got pretty much all the snow off. The top was crusted over and hard to penetrate but after the sun was on it all day I was able to break through the top. Being up on the ladder let me see where I was raking and avoid all the things on the roof. We have gotten more snow since then but I only have about 4” on the roof currently. Depending on the forecast I may clean it off again this weekend.

I did find in my manual, they say to remove >8” of snow or >2” of ice so I will likely go with that in the future.

[kirkelli]

Originally Posted by Scottenj

I think that estimate is very low and based on snow with a lot less moisture than we have around here. If I was only looking at less than 2,500 pounds over my whole roof I wouldn’t be worrying, I think 18” of snow around here is 6,000 pounds plus.

If you toggle the snow type, I did it to 'Settled Snow', the weight came up to 7,643.9 - 11,463. I can tell you there are many, many outdoor trailer storage places in Reno and the snow is around two feet. I'm not seeing anyone scraping snow off their units. However i would just to be safe

[pwadventurer]

Originally Posted by Ringneks

I would at least cover your ac in the winter, the snow piled around the ac unit in that pic would be concerning to me,( I know it’s not the op’s rv) but I’m pretty picky.

I took your good advice and ordered 2 for my rig. We have a lot of pine trees and the pine needles seem to find every nook and cranny.

[Ringneks]

Originally Posted by pwadventurer

I took your good advice and ordered 2 for my rig. We have a lot of pine trees and the pine needles seem to find every nook and cranny.
Attachment 68031

Looks really good, that roofs clean now. We haven’t had much of a winter around here yet.

[Scottenj]

The manual for my unit says to clean off excess snow over 8" or over 2" of ice.

The density of snow varies widely depending on moisture content but the density of ice is constant.

2" of ice is 9.53 pounds per square foot and that works out to ~3,200 pounds over the area of my roof. It also works out to Jayco apparently assuming roughly 1.2 pounds per square foot per inch of snow.

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by Scottenj

The manual for my unit says to clean off excess snow over 8" or over 2" of ice.

The density of snow varies widely depending on moisture content but the density of ice is constant.

2" of ice is 9.53 pounds per square foot and that works out to ~3,200 pounds over the area of my roof. It also works out to Jayco apparently assuming roughly 1.2 pounds per square foot per inch of snow.

I removed 12 inches or more today. That's 3 times now

[AfricaUnite]

Awesome used it this weekend. Slides wouldn’t go in. Removed snow hood to go.