RV Covers in snowy areas.

pianotuna wrote:
Mitch,

I've never seen a cover on an RV in Regina.
The business where I store my RV has 7 acres of RV's. There is not ONE that is covered.

I think covers are good way to separate an RV'er from the money in their wallet, and an even better way to damage the skin of an RV when there is wind causing the cover to move and abrade the finish.

Appreciate the comment Don.

But, if I headed that advice, I'd probably be on my 2nd or 3rd trailer by now... I park mine at home, under some trees, so to say the least, it gets pretty dirty..

This was several years ago and the cover was about 10 years old at this point. I have since gotten a new one, but the trailer still looks great!

Mitch

Been soft covering for 12 years. Would have had a car port built if I could, but I can't.

Pros, keeps the trailer clean and out of the sun.

Cons, cost, hassle of putting it on, taking it off, and storing. The key is securing it enough and covering anything that can cut it.

One year the cover rubbed the rubber roof edges on my Starcraft when I didn't have the cover secured from the wind very well, didn't do any permanent damage but had me worried for a bit. Think it just rubbed the white oxidized layer off, the white **** you wash off, I think.

On my new trailer some grit got blown under the cover once and the upper corners had it ground in. Again when the wind got under it due to not being tied down enough which is hard to due on a trailer with round edges. It's all fiberglass so it buffed right out.

As I write this I wonder if the cover is worth it. 10 years with no damage vs 2 with. Got a month to decide.

Observations, had a cheap Adco cover, it shredded in less then 2 winters and if you wait to long to get one they are out of stock!

The good Tyvek one I had worked well, lasted 6 years before it just disintegrated. It was light and easy to work with, still got holes in it from anything remotely sharp but held together.

Currently have a Calmark. Expensive, heavy to work with and bulky to store. It does hug the sides well due to it's weight, very thick and soft. 3 years now and no sign of holes from sharp edges.

I would suggest getting Tyvek if you want to cover. The Calmark is a better cover but it's too hard to work with. Might be better with a roof you can walk on, I can't walk on mine.

ScottG wrote:
mine never left a single mark.

Same here, on 3 different trailers since 10 from late Nov until late March, 4 if I count the 2009 Popup we had for 1 year. Our average is 32" of snow per year. What are these people buying for covers that leave marks? The ones with 80 grit sandpaper for the underside?

I guess car covers scratch up the finish also? Funny how the cover on the black 76 Vette I had didn't mark anything, and it was on for about 5 years straight until it literally fell apart from UV exposure.

pianotuna wrote:
If covers are so wonderful why do RV dealers not use them?

Removing a cover at -30 would be quite a task.

Probably the same reason car dealers don't have their inventory in a large garage. They are on display to be sold. Many people buy cars, take them home and keep them in a garage.
It's up to the consumer to decide how to care for their vehicle.
Why do people wax their RV's and cars? The dealer doesn't do it, unless you pay a small fee. :)

Ok, basically I think majority has agreed with my opinion. We've had RVs for over 20 years this is our fourth world. We had our last one for 11 years with no cover and never have an issue with the exception of Stripes fading overtime. I asked this question in two different forums and the general consensus is no cover. I've never really considered one just for the work of getting it on and off. My thought was it would go on one in December and not come off until probably March but my other worry was if I wanted to clear the roof it would make it exceedingly difficult. I also use the generator if we lose power at the house and I could see that being a potential issue as well. If I had a hundred people come on and tell me the virtues of having one I may have looked at it differently. Thanks for the replies.

Mitch,

I've never seen a cover on an RV in Regina.
The business where I store my RV has 7 acres of RV's. There is not ONE that is covered.

I think covers are good way to separate an RV'er from the money in their wallet, and an even better way to damage the skin of an RV when there is wind causing the cover to move and abrade the finish.

Regarding covers, I've only had a RV 1 winter without indoor storage and it came with a cover so I used it.
I found that the snow stuck to the fabric kind of on the roof and so did icecicles when it would thaw some. Few of them tore the cover and the snow was hard to remove from the roof.
We had a merry Christmas meltdown that year in Anchorage and when the snow was gone, I strapped a blue tarp over the cover, covering mostly just the roof. Made snow removal much easier.

pianotuna wrote:
If covers are so wonderful why do RV dealers not use them?

Removing a cover at -30 would be quite a task.

Just like the other statement further up about the repairs due to covering.....if I was a dealer I'd tell you to leave it out in the elements as much as possible. Hard to sell a lot of RVs if the older ones stay in good shape!

Like when people ask my opinions about buying a car, boat, motorcycle, etc. I always reccomend buying new. Without a lot of new machine sales, there will be far less newer used ones for sale for the rest of us.

My ADCO held together for five seasons during a period when we had some record snowfalls in the area where I live.

What about shrink-wrapping an RV like they do to boats when they are pulled from the lake?