Ever worry about hanging limbs?

We scraped the side of our camper on the first trip out with it, trying to pull out of the pull through space. There was a tree that wasn't in the way when it was parked but we couldn't swing out wide enough to get out of the spot without scraping the tree. We now keep tree trimmers in the camper for those scenarios. My husband also really prefers to scout out campgrounds and the roads to get there beforehand so we can avoid that situation again.

garyp4951 wrote:
I got a nice long scratch down the side at Home Depot from the trees in the island, due to not paying attention to the size on the tree canopy.
I also have a tree on my street that I have to pick the right spot for my ac to miss limbs.

Check your city code and see if they have a 13'6" clearance code. If they =do= report it and have the homeowner trim it, which is likely cheaper than if the city does and adds it to his utility bill. I know our city got shirty with my dad for having small branches hanging over the =alley=, like that's going to hurt a garbage truck...

Lyle

handsome51 wrote:

laknox wrote:

Jimbee wrote:
Hey All,

Are any of you ever concerned about damaging Ac or other roof components when driving through heavily wooded campgrounds? Made some NYS park reservations for this summer at 2 different campgrounds in the Catskills and then the terrifying thought hit me. What If my 5th wheel is too tall and low hanging branches rip off some roof equipment? Some of these parks are tight and backing out usually isn't an option!

Yikes!

I'm 18" taller than my old FW, so I'm a bit paranoid about it and learning what my limits are. I did manage to drag a branch across my roof at my dad's house when I =thought= I had clearance. Managed to scrape off an attic vent and dent the forward vent hatch. Couple small scrapes on the roof that I taped over. At our annual boondocker, I changed spots due to overhanging branches that I didn't want to deal with (along with the steepness of the spot), and I'm glad I did.

There were 2 people around the corner from my house that had branches hanging over the street, well below the city code of 13'6", and literally met in the middle of the street. I wouldn't even take my old 11' Komfort that route. When I got my new KZ, at ~12'6", I called the city to have them check; =I'd= measured about 11'6", myself. It only took 4 months, and about 4 calls, to Code Enforcement, before they got it taken care of...mostly. Still a couple "streamer" branches hanging down, but not enough to worry about.


I keep the tree limbs on my street trimmed myself with a battery chain saw trimmer. I keep a old style tree trimmer in my storage compartment of the RV for the few times a tree limb is hanging to low at my campsite. It is a lot faster to to this then as you found out getting the city to get it done. And sometimes if it is a lot of limbs at the RV site I will get the campground to cut them . But if it is just one , it is quicker for me to do it and then get set up and take it easy.
Lyle

I'm lucky in that there are a couple different ways to get to my house, but this is the most convenient. As it is, it's still a code enforcement issue and they admit that they dropped the ball when I first reported it. Frankly, I have little to no need for a long trimmer of any sort, so I didn't feel I should have to spend the money to buy one to fix someone =else's= problem, or get hassled for doing those homeowners' jobs for them if I just started trimming their trees. Same goes for a campground. They want to put me in a site with overhanging trees, then they need to have it trimmed up and not expect me to do it...IMO. It's part of what I'm paying them for, right?

Lyle

I got a nice long scratch down the side at Home Depot from the trees in the island, due to not paying attention to the size on the tree canopy.
I also have a tree on my street that I have to pick the right spot for my ac to miss limbs.

All of us with tall vehicles & do extensive travelling are going to experience battle damage at some point or another. Backing into a site the frequency of damage happening is greatly reduced by having the DW get out, communications in hand, & do the spotting for you.

Bullheaded "I can do it myself" will cost you. A CG is not a warehouse yard for semis where there are no height issues & the distance between parked trailers is known. Semi trailers are built to take bumps into loading docks. Most RV trailers are nothing but flimsy plastic. The trees will win everytime.

Put me down for minor roof damage from a low hanging branch as well. Now I'm very parnoid about having enough clerance of low branches.

I do carry small pruners and rarely need them. While I do expect campgrounds to keep up with overhanging branches etc....Its fully my responsibility not to go down roads where damage might occur as I'm stuck with the bill. A buddy backed into a site last year and a low broken 6" branch did over $10k damage in a few seconds! Aside from the "newness" of pulling/backing a 5er my one great challenge is being aware of my height in unfamiliar settings.

Daryll

laknox wrote:

Veebyes wrote:
Had a serious issue at a SP one time. No way for getting into the site. No problem. CG people passed me a lopping saw. Up on the roof I went & did some serious pruning. They were very happy. Picked up branches as I cut them. No problems for getting a very tall trailer into that site for quite some years to come.

I'll bet they were happy. Got a sucker to do =their= job for them. :W

Lyle

Maybe so. I don't care much. Goes with the territory of not making reservations & using CGs never been to before & not likely to be passing that way again. This was a case of an almost full CG, no reservations & no alternate close by. When you are a pretty big 5er you need to be adaptable.

Yes, I am concerned all the time since having roof damage done by a tree branch that was pulling loose from a tree. This was on a county road on the way to the storage lot. That limb got a number of us. My damage included the sat. dish, a/c and 1 vent covers, 1 roof panel and the rubber membrane. I let my insurance fight it out with the owner of the property and the county. I found a different lot later that was on a treeless street.

Most Friday mornings we bicycle with a group through the Texas Hill Country, picking rural roads to avoid traffic. Not so long ago I noticed an odd shaped piece of plastic at the side of the road.
Sure enough, the rest of an air conditioner cover was a few feet further along the road, and the AC itself showed up after a while.
Thinking back, there had been a nice (if you're on a bicycle) stretch of overhanging trees and shade not far back.
Campgrounds are more civilized than some of our roads.