tight parking / crawl to empty sewage?

[Losangeles]

Hi all

We have a 2017 21' ordered..... we'll be parking it by the side of our home. A tight spot, but doable i think.

The 21' will be quite snug up - about 6" or 8" away from - a tall wall (all along the property line) on the drivers side.

About once a year the parked Escape is used by guests, and so after their stay I need to empty the black and grey tanks.

Using my Trailer Valet XL I could move the Escape a long way forward to get easy access to the sewage drain, but it would be much easier to leave it in place.

My questions are:

one) approximately how far from the black/grey outlet is it to the front of the body , and how far is it to the rear of the body? (not including front storage box, not including rear bumper or spare tire)

two) If the 21' Escape is about 6" or 8" from the long wall from the drivers side, I'm understandably concerned about being able to get access, and connect an RV sewage hose to the Escape, and then open and close the valves.

Any clever tricks that I haven't thought of?

I plan on getting the underside foam, FWIIW.

three) With the foam, do you think a decent sized (but not huge) adult guy (me) could crawl along the side of the Escape to connect the sewage hose and work the valves, with a wall 6" away from the belly band.
My body would have to be mostly *under* the Escape, as I can't fit thru an 8" opening.

Yes I know the 2017 21' is more square, and also the frame is 4" wider.

I know this is a tough question to answer..... thanks for any thoughts.



Los Angeles

[jennykatz]

I'm 230 lb and getting into a 6 in space might be a challenge .
options
Don't have guests use your rig, pull your 21 out from wall and empty then put it back ? Pictures would help of wall and house
We have a similar problem of being able to empty our 21 when we get it .We have a septic tank and field and we thought of opening the 4 in. clean out plug and emptying it in that .Will that be a problem? what side is the clean out on (drivers side )?

[Losangeles]

Originally Posted by jennykatz

I'm 230 lb and getting into a 6 in space might be a challenge .
options
Don't have guests use your rig, pull your 21 out from wall and empty then put it back ? Pictures would help of wall and house
We have a similar problem of being able to empty our 21 when we get it .We have a septic tank and field and we thought of opening the 4 in. clean out plug and emptying it in that .Will that be a problem? what side is the clean out on (drivers side )?

As i mentioned - yes - one option is to pull the Escape way way forward and then empty it, but it would be much easier to leave it in place and empty it.

Yes I know that no adult can fit in a 6" space, but I'm curious how much space is there *under* the 21'; one that has the underside foam.

and... the cleanout is under the house, and the house is on the passenger side, but the location of the city sewage connected cleanout (under the house) does not matter, as the sewage hose(s) can simply go under the Escape to get to their destination.

[Jim Bennett]

You don't have to dump right away after guests, but do it when you next take off with your trailer. We have done that lots, and it worked fine for us.

[Losangeles]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

You don't have to dump right away after guests, but do it when you next take off with your trailer. We have done that lots, and it worked fine for us.

Unfortunately that might be 6+ months and I don't want to leave the sewage in that long.

[Donna D.]

When parked, how much room between the passenger side and the house? Could you possibly pull the tongue toward the house side to give you room to get to the discharge valves? Fortunately they're in front of the tires

[azjack]

How about cutting the black tank pipe up front and adding a dump attachment at that point. You may need a longer dump hose or park farther back in camp sites.
In case you are not aware, the pipe goes across inside of the front` of the trailer and then drops down through the bottom and then back to the valve area.
Jack

[Losangeles]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

When parked, how much room between the passenger side and the house? Could you possibly pull the tongue toward the house side to give you room to get to the discharge valves? Fortunately they're in front of the tires

Hey Donna.... that is a great idea... I could 'cheat' the tongue towards the house a BIT.... my limitation, of course, being the rear of the Escape swinging over and hitting the property line wall (drivers side)

but I might get lucky.....

thanks for the great idea. Brilliant.

[Losangeles]

Originally Posted by azjack

How about cutting the black tank pipe up front and adding a dump attachment at that point. You may need a longer dump hose or park farther back in camp sites.
Jack

Hey Jack... cool idea.... i didn't think of that.

I wonder if ETI could do that for me in the build? I'm guessing no.

and

this would leave the grey tank partially full... but much less of a concern...

[tractors1]

I think this could be a great application for a macerater pump.

Amazon.com: SEAFLO 12V Quick Release RV Mount Macerator Waste Water Pump 45 LPM 12GPM Boat RV Marine: Automotive

[Losangeles]

Originally Posted by tractors1

I think this could be a great application for a macerater pump.

Amazon.com: SEAFLO 12V Quick Release RV Mount Macerator Waste Water Pump 45 LPM 12GPM Boat RV Marine: Automotive

Hey Charlie

I understand what a macerator pump does - but how would it help me in my situation?

I can't imagine the benefit.

But am all ears.

[tractors1]

Originally Posted by Losangeles

Hey Charlie

I understand what a macerator pump does - but how would it help me in my situation?

I can't imagine the benefit.

But am all ears.

I would attach it when parking the trailer for long periods (like in a boat) with an output hose to reach your rolling tank. Switch on with an extension cord.

Might have to build a stand for it to sit on or get a 90 degree pipe elbow to attach to your rig if it's too long overall. Rhino makes those.

[Losangeles]

Originally Posted by tractors1

I would attach it when parking the trailer for long periods (like in a boat) with an output hose to reach your rolling tank. Switch on with an extension cord.

Might have to build a stand for it to sit on or get a 90 degree pipe elbow to attach to your rig if it's too long overall. Rhino makes those.

Interesting idea... thanks.

I guess overall I'm most comfortable with ... once the guests leave... i empty and rinse and empty the black tank, then empty the grey tank, so all the tanks are clean (enough) and empty.

so... i'd need access to the black + grey valve at the sewage outlet from the Escape.

Donna's idea of swinging the tongue, towards the house, away from the wall, as much as possible is a great idea... and of course i'm not so smart so I didn't even think of that.

[thoer]

You might need to remind guest who aren't familiar with RVs that the waste tanks are not infinite. The first vehicle we had with waste tanks was a Rialta and it had fairly small tanks, On our first camping trip with it, washing dishes, showering, etc we filled the grey tank up in one day.

[Losangeles]

Originally Posted by thoer

You might need to remind guest who aren't familiar with RVs that the waste tanks are not infinite. The first vehicle we had with waste tanks was a Rialta and it had fairly small tanks, On our first camping trip with it, washing dishes, showering, etc we filled the grey tank up in one day.

Good point... but luckily our guests understand. (and are reminded as well)

[Ron in BC]

My trailer is also close to a fence. There's lots of ground clearance and I don't have any difficulty crawling under to reach the other side. Cranking the tongue jack up a bit would give even more clearance. I wouldn't worry about it.

Ron

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

My trailer is also close to a fence. There's lots of ground clearance and I don't have any difficulty crawling under to reach the other side. Cranking the tongue jack up a bit would give even more clearance. I wouldn't worry about it.

Ron

Why was my first thought of you getting a face full of....well, effluent.

[cpaharley2008]

Good excuse to take the trailer camping and dump at a cg, using one of those portable units can get nasty as well as heavy. I had about 18" and it was too close to breathe...

[jamman]

You could park with BOTH sets of tires on blocks to give you more room under the trailer. Then (as Ron said) raise the tongue to improve access to disconnect/connect the hose - and lower it to level to dump.

[Losangeles]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

My trailer is also close to a fence. There's lots of ground clearance and I don't have any difficulty crawling under to reach the other side. Cranking the tongue jack up a bit would give even more clearance. I wouldn't worry about it.

Ron

Hey Ron - thanks for the great ideas and the awesome pic. Very helpful.

I had not thought of cranking up the tongue a bit to gain a bit more space. Silly me. of course! :-)
then lower to level, to dump.

(thank goodness a bunch of wise people firmly told me to get the power tongue jack!)

and... if need be, i could buy an inexpensive 'creeper' (is that the proper name?) to lie on it, on my back, and easily scoot under the Escape and hook up.

and... I like to store my travel trailer on some particle board or similar, just to keep the rubber off the concrete. It is my understanding that this can help reduce the slightly bad interaction between concrete and rubber, over time. (but that is a whole different debate)