Removing Snow From Roof

[Kokopelli]

Just got back from Rocky Mountain National Park where there was a winter storm warning out for 6-16" of snow. The storm didn't hit but I was wondering what to do if I got 6-12" of snow overnight with the top up. How do you remove snow from the top of the camper when it's so high up? Or is it safe to lower and then remove? All that weight might make it drop pretty fast lowering, so possible keep the door shut and let it fall slow? Or do you drive around and look for something high you can stand on to get it off?

Wondering how others have removed snow that falls when they're camping.

Thanks!

 

[SunMan]

Just got back from Rocky Mountain National Park where there was a winter storm warning out for 6-16" of snow. The storm didn't hit but I was wondering what to do if I got 6-12" of snow overnight with the top up. How do you remove snow from the top of the camper when it's so high up? Or is it safe to lower and then remove? All that weight might make it drop pretty fast lowering, so possible keep the door shut and let it fall slow? Or do you drive around and look for something high you can stand on to get it off?

Wondering how others have removed snow that falls when they're camping.

Thanks!



Great question!
Haven't found myself in this pedicament yet but it has crossed my mind many times.

 

[kcowyo]

Two options....

1. Bring a Sno-Rake if you might get bad weather.

2. If you wake up to an unexpected accumulation with no snow removal tool on hand, drop the rear of the camper. Hopefully some will slide off. I think more than just a few inches of wet snow would be an incredible strain on the lift mechanism and the 'liftee'.
.

 

[Kokopelli]

Thanks KC. That snorake looks like the ticket. I know there had to be something out there. Love the knowledge you guys have!

 

[robojeeper]

Kokopelli, I don't know if you call it good or bad luck but I have been in the mountains riding my quad in january, feb,march and had snow on 6 occasions. I about s**t the first time I woke at 1am and could hear the end boards creaking.well I made the mistake of trying to lower the top,nearly broke my back when it fell.I used a flat shovel to move snow,bad mistake the screws on top and shovel don't mix,metal against metal bad idea again, but got thru that night and I was leaving next day anyway.so the next time all I had to do was bring a folding ladder and push broom,yeah a simple push broom worked great. I did get up at 1am to broom it off but did not have to lower it. I am able to carry ladder on quad trailer so it make it easier.Maybe if you have two people you could lower the back top and not need a ladder. be careful on the front lowering don't be under it even with two people.hey snow camping is a lot of fun so don't giveup on it.

 

[mtn-high]

I live in snow country and leave the camper on full time. I second the push broom and have used one to remove snow from our trucks for many years.

 

[pods8]

I think more than just a few inches of wet snow would be an incredible strain on the lift mechanism and the 'liftee'.
.


Once when airing out the camper at home I got 3-4" of heavy/wet cascade snow on it while at work, it was still holding it up but you could visibly see the sag in the middle of the roof. It did rebound as soon as the weight was off though which was nice!

 

[Kodachrome]

Since I live at 8,000 feet, I have thought about this too. It is not uncommon at all to spend a month or more clearing 3-10 inches of new snow every other day and some days as much as two feet, although it is pretty light mid season. This is one of the reasons I made a larger front fairing, to give the snow a good slide path down the front. As my truck is lifted to begin with, I usually keep a longer snow scraper around anyway, so it is standard in my kit. No metal, no hard plastic rakes that are one trick ponies, everything must serve at least two purposes on my vehicles.

With the roof down, I can just push it off, With the roof up, I will carefully drop the front to create the slide path and then push away.

All this said, I am not really going to be home much for the next two Winters but that does not mean I won't deal with snow elsewhere.

 

[kcowyo]

Be careful letting that snow slide off the front...

Snow snapped off a wiper arm and the radio antennae off my Landcruiser last winter when a large accumulation slid down the front & windshield. Plus then you'll have a big pile of snow by each front door of the cab to dig out & work around. That's why I suggested lowering the back of the camper vs lowering the front, and maybe even pull forward a little, to avoid having a huge pile by the camper door.

The SnoRake is a great product because it is collapsible and extendable. The 'rake' portion is soft but firm foam. No chance of dinging the camper or vehicle like with a metal or plastic blade. One tip about using them is to not put the 'rake' end down on the ground. My neighbor did this, in his gravel driveway. Some small gravel stuck to the rake and when he went to swipe his car with it - scratch city, before he realized what he'd done. Ouch!
.

 

[Kokopelli]

KC - which SnoRake model do you use? Looks like they have 2 collapsible models: one 12" wide rake and 37" long handle or one 18" wide rake and handle up to 68" long. Like everyone with a pop up I'm looking for good function with least space.

At home with the top down or off the truck a push broom and ladder will work great. On the road with the top up I'm not interested in packing that stuff. Figure I can stand on my small step stool and reach the top to rake off the snow. Don't know how compact the larger model is or if it would actually be harder to pull the 18" wide vs multiple 12" wide rake.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[kcowyo]

I actually have an older one on a wooden, non-telescoping broom-handle. The rake is 18" wide and I just pull the snow off in small rows and sections. I would get the longer telescoping pole, since it's adjustable and looks to take up the same space as the shorter one. Better to have more than you need, right?
.

 

[rich]

I dealt with this last weekend getting hit with the first snow of the season on the Western Slope of the Sierras in Hope Valley. It was only two inches and I was able to drop the top and just let it blow off on the drive but anymore than that and I would have had to do something about it.

On the issue of the lift boards "creeking" that concerned me too. My lift panels are old and dead, I am about to replace them. We were traveling with a milk crate that we are currently using as the step to get into the camper and I thought about putting it on the counter on top of the ice box so that if we had a collapse it wouldn't crush and kill us.

FWC's website says the new ones are rated to 1,000lb snow load, were the old ones (mines and 89' Fleet) rated to the same? If they are rated to 1,000 lb snow load on a roof that is about 6.5 ft by 7 ft how many inches of snow = 1,000 lb. I know it would depend on moisture content but a rough estimate of when to worry and get out and clear it off would be good to know. Don't want to be crushed in my sleep

 

[highz]

I dealt with this last weekend getting hit with the first snow of the season on the Western Slope of the Sierras in Hope Valley. It was only two inches and I was able to drop the top and just let it blow off on the drive but anymore than that and I would have had to do something about it.

On the issue of the lift boards "creeking" that concerned me too. My lift panels are old and dead, I am about to replace them. We were traveling with a milk crate that we are currently using as the step to get into the camper and I thought about putting it on the counter on top of the ice box so that if we had a collapse it wouldn't crush and kill us.

FWC's website says the new ones are rated to 1,000lb snow load, were the old ones (mines and 89' Fleet) rated to the same? If they are rated to 1,000 lb snow load on a roof that is about 6.5 ft by 7 ft how many inches of snow = 1,000 lb. I know it would depend on moisture content but a rough estimate of when to worry and get out and clear it off would be good to know. Don't want to be crushed in my sleep

Here's a link that may answer your questions. Note that they say one inch of water is 5.2 lb per square foot, and snow can be anywhere from 3 percent to 33 percent of that, and ice can be close to 100 percent of the water weight. Your 45.5 square foot roof that holds 1000 lbs should then be able to handle 21.98, (okay, 22) lb per square foot. That would be a little over four inches of water, or a foot of wet snow. Personally, I'd be out clearing snow long before that.

http://www.aragriculture.org/disaster/ice_snow/ice_snow_accumulation.pdf

 

[rich]

Here's a link that may answer your questions. Note that they say one inch of water is 5.2 lb per square foot, and snow can be anywhere from 3 percent to 33 percent of that, and ice can be close to 100 percent of the water weight. Your 45.5 square foot roof that holds 1000 lbs should then be able to handle 21.98, (okay, 22) lb per square foot. That would be a little over four inches of water, or a foot of wet snow. Personally, I'd be out clearing snow long before that.

http://www.aragriculture.org/disaster/ice_snow/ice_snow_accumulation.pdf


Yeah, I think I would start to get stressed out about 6" or so but good to know it could go more if the old ones are really rated to that.