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2manytoyz's avatar
2manytoyz
Explorer
Sep 09, 2019

Class A stuck next to house!

Our previous rig was a 25' travel trailer. We kept it parked next to the house since 2011, when we moved in. Zero issues moving it.

Late last year, we bought a used 35' Class A. It fits nicely next to the house too. When I had the fence installed, I specified a 14' wide RV gate with a welded aluminum frame on the back to help with sagging.

All was well for months. Last week I went to gas it up prior to Hurricane Dorian approaching our area. I made it about 20', and the rear axle sank.

We're in FL. Our property has about a foot of topsoil on sand. Drainage is usually pretty good. There was no visible standing water that day.

Once it dug a hole, there was no getting it out. I jacked it up, put pavers and wood under the rear tires. I could get it to move forward some, but never get up out of the trench it had created.

We have Progressive RV insurance. After a couple of hours of effort, I called them. This was covered under our policy since it was within a 100' of pavement. They sent a big tow truck, pulled us to dry land.

Now I have to contact a paving company for ideas. We have buried utilities in that area, so I don't want a solid concrete pad. Maybe crushed rock with pavers on top, or two 4' wide concrete strips for the tires, the rest filled in with gravel. Still researching this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nglAhQECRF0

I'll be a lot more cautious where I travel off road after this experience.

  • We did that same thing in my brother's yard in MI after storing our class A for the winter. Buried it to the axles. Winched out at a cost of $350 and that was 9 years ago. We laugh now, but it wasn't too funny while it was happening.
  • When we bought our current house, it was the first time we had ever been able to park our RV on site. We had always stored it at my FIL's house. We didn't bring the RV to our house until we wanted to go camping the next time. The day before our camping trip, I brought the Class C home and parked it in the grass behind the driveway end.

    It rained that night.

    We were late getting started on our camping trip the next day, waiting for the tow truck.
  • The video was fun to watch. I thought the tow would pull you right into its rear end for a moment.
  • Did you sink in on both sides? (two tracks) Or one side only.
    A 3' wide sidewalk and gravel or crush and run next to it could minimize the impact on buried utilities, depending on how they are run.

    Just looked at your video, see that its both sides. But I think no longer than it is and since its a straight line, I'd still do a single 3' wide sidewalk and C&R since you would be moved by the drivers side wheels on concrete, the right side should not dig in unless its really soup.
  • FL.........
    Crushed oyster shells

    Sisters driveway is over 300 feet from road and is hard packed dirt then covered in crushed oyster shells.
    Works great.


    SHell driveways etc

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