Using trailer when's it's -10F below to +30F or so.

[Dan S]

Between uses, I'll be storing a new 19' in an unheated pole building in northern Wisconsin near our cabin. Our plan is to use it in the 'shoulder seasons' as in January thru mid April and in September and October. My question is this, January and February can be very cold in northern Wisconsin, as in -20F below to +20F. What's the risks of pulling a frozen brick of fiberglass down the road in bone chilling temps in the depths of January. Cracking or ? We make take 2-3 trips during the January to April period with January and February being the coldest. For those of you that haven't experienced the joys of below zero temps, you're really missing out! It's sort of fun in a twisted way. Thanks.

[steve dunham]

We live in NW Wisconsin . We have pulled our FG trailer out of cold storage on many occasions and the trailer shows no sign of cold damage. We left for Florida one winter day and it was 27 below F.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by Dan S

For those of you that haven't experienced the joys of below zero temps, you're really missing out! It's sort of fun in a twisted way.

Grand Forks ND, one balmy March morning about 8 or 9 years ago, it was 45 below on the way to the job site at 8 am. I remember many things about that area, but I don't recall it being "fun"...




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[float5]

You can pull the trailer down the road but best not to add water to it!

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

Grand Forks ND, one balmy March morning about 8 or 9 years ago, it was 45 below on the way to the job site at 8 am. I remember many things about that area, but I don't recall it being "fun"...




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Neither is 120 deg in the Texas shade .
I'll take a little cold any day .

[fudge_brownie]

There are other considerations beside your trailer when you are below 10 degrees F. Food stuffs such as fruit, vegetables, liquids, even canned goods need special consideration. Keeping water in a liquid state to "flush" the toilet becomes important. If you are towing it will probably be necessary to run the furnace while driving. With the really cold temperatures that Steve mentions I would be worried about cold stress. Not that it would stop me, but driving slower, avoiding bad roads might help. Things just break easier when they are cold.

Maybe some "cooler heads" can speak to sleeping in an fiberglass trailer below 10 degrees F. I would think the inside would be pretty frosty.

In my younger days I did winter camping. We would do four day trips out of the Bald Eagle Center near Bemidji MN. When setting up camp the first thing was to dig through the snow to get to bare ground, not that it was warmer but you eliminated the chance of melting it and getting wet. Tents were useless because of the condensation - it would snow inside. A tarp worked better but not as warm. Once we constructed a wikiup, a Native American structure, tepee like but made with pine boughs. I think I may have experienced this for a total of two weeks. Was it an experience, yes. Was it fun, no. Would I do it today, never.

[Donna D.]

I find, as I'm aging, I do better in the heat than the cold. Everything starts to ache when the temperature gets below 35 degrees. I guess I'm now at that point in my life... there's a reason for motels. When needed

[Iowa Dave]

My Dad would always encourage us to take plenty of warm clothing along in our winter adventures. He'd say " you can always put more clothes on if you've got them but you can only take so many off, give me the cold any day". A veteran of the Battle of the Ardennes and raised on the farm he knew cold weather. We started hundreds of cars each winter in the service station days, sheepskin lined boots, leather mittens with wool liners and a wool balaclava and we were good to go. When I got off at night, I went skating on one of our city's 19 rinks. Now there are only a couple rinks And the are unskated for days on end. All of my scouts earned the penguin award, one night outside under a tarp in December, January and February. Builds character.
Dave

[Greg A]

As Paul says above, I'd just pull carefully and I personally wouldn't use the trailer till you had gotten a good bit south and temperatures were a more balmy 20-30 degrees.

[BCnomad]

In addition, be prepared for some condensation issue. Although lessened in the current generation, be aware of proactive measures to combat it if it appears.

[padlin]

Brings up a sort of related question.

Last winter we headed south just before New Years, I aired up the tires to 50 lbs 2 days before we left, it was 10 degrees when I did so.

35 degrees when we left at 5am, got on the highway and had a blowout within 30 minutes. Tires had about 15k on them and looked fine, before we left.

Could the air have expanded when it warmed up causing the blowout? I did find the tires at 52 lbs while sitting at the tire shop, but that was after not moving for an hour.

[yardsale]

We regularly dry camp in our trailer in the winter in temps down to 0 degrees F. We have a 3 year old 17B with old style windows and insulation which is prone to condensation inside that can be managed by venting. Using the water systems is another matter, even with the heated tanks, double windows and extra insulation as the dump valves are outside the heated space and prone to freezing even with liberal application of "pink stuff" Could probably get away with 25 degrees, especially if it warmed up the next day. Newer trailers have better windows and insulation but the same design flaw with the dump valve. Another issue depending on the size of Escape you choose is the furnace included is the same size regardless of the trailer size. We were able to stay warm at -20 in the 17 B but I doubt we would do so well in larger trailers. Also, we ended up replacing our furnace after three winters as we wore it out! If you really want a more winter worthy trailer, look at Lance (poorer quality??) or Oliver (more than twice the money), or resign yourself to dry camping.

[BCnomad]

Originally Posted by yardsale

. We were able to stay warm at -20 in the 17 B but I doubt we would do so well in larger trailers. Also, we ended up replacing our furnace after three winters as we wore it out! If you really want a more winter worthy trailer, look at Lance (poorer quality??) or Oliver (more than twice the money), or resign yourself to dry camping.

Have not camped at those temperatures but rather just below freezing. The factory furnance would be ok keeping the 21 at 65f but it's duty cycle would be high(ish). This in a classic. I pack a space heater for furnance assistance.

[cpaharley2008]

Bob,
I always keep my trailer at 50 cold and my truck 40 cold. These are the max on the tires. Sometimes I notice my tires up to 44 while hot using the monitoring system. and the outside was near 100, but I think they can handle the increase. Did you ever find out why the blow out?

[padlin]

No, just a fluke I guess.

[cpaharley2008]

BTW, I have something for you from Osoyoos...your spare cover.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

Neither is 120 deg in the Texas shade .
I'll take a little cold any day .

Aw, c'mon Steve. 90s in the summer, maybe hitting the century mark once or twice. Good excuse to go take a dip in the Frio river, kick back and have an iced tea. Besides, it only lasts a few months, whereas the cold death grip of the far north can last for 3/4ths of the year.

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[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by padlin

Last winter we headed south just before New Years, I aired up the tires to 50 lbs 2 days before we left, it was 10 degrees when I did so.

35 degrees when we left at 5am, got on the highway and had a blowout within 30 minutes. Tires had about 15k on them and looked fine, before we left.

Could the air have expanded when it warmed up causing the blowout? I did find the tires at 52 lbs while sitting at the tire shop, but that was after not moving for an hour.

The pressure will certainly go up with temperature - but the absolute pressure would only go up about 5% from 10°F to 35°F, so the gauge pressure would go from 50 psi to about 54 psi. Normal operation similarly boosts pressure due to heating, so in combination the air pressure in the tire would have been higher in use... but the maximum allowed inflation pressure is expressed as "cold" for that reason, with an allowance for increase in use.

I find it hard to imagine that the 4 psi or so increase due to the ambient temperature increase would be critical to the tire, but it could perhaps have been the last straw for a tire with a construction fault.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by fudge_brownie

There are other considerations beside your trailer when you are below 10 degrees F. Food stuffs such as fruit, vegetables, liquids, even canned goods need special consideration. Keeping water in a liquid state to "flush" the toilet becomes important. If you are towing it will probably be necessary to run the furnace while driving. With the really cold temperatures that Steve mentions I would be worried about cold stress. Not that it would stop me, but driving slower, avoiding bad roads might help. Things just break easier when they are cold.

Maybe some "cooler heads" can speak to sleeping in an fiberglass trailer below 10 degrees F. I would think the inside would be pretty frosty.

In my younger days I did winter camping. We would do four day trips out of the Bald Eagle Center near Bemidji MN. When setting up camp the first thing was to dig through the snow to get to bare ground, not that it was warmer but you eliminated the chance of melting it and getting wet. Tents were useless because of the condensation - it would snow inside. A tarp worked better but not as warm. Once we constructed a wikiup, a Native American structure, tepee like but made with pine boughs. I think I may have experienced this for a total of two weeks. Was it an experience, yes. Was it fun, no. Would I do it today, never.

We slept in tents when winter camping in Northern Minnesota but we opened all the windows so the moisture could escape.
We also cleared the snow away and then covered the ground with pine boughs and a tarp to stop the cold from coming up.
I enjoyed winter camping but that was back when I was younger but I would still rather winter camp than camp in warm weather and high humidity .

[SFDavis50]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

Aw, c'mon Steve. 90s in the summer, maybe hitting the century mark once or twice. Good excuse to go take a dip in the Frio river, kick back and have an iced tea. Besides, it only lasts a few months, whereas the cold death grip of the far north can last for 3/4ths of the year.

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Aah the Frio, one of the few rivers without water moccasins, giant snapping turtles and alligators; or, at least it's clear enough that you can see 'em before stepping on 'em.