2x Blocks Under Jacks Reason??

Some people put blocks under the jacks for valid reasons.. For example I have pads that if I am on soft ground I use they are over a foot square and that is over twice the area of the bottom of my jack pads.. So they do not sink as much into the dirt.

And sometimes you need the extra jacking height.

And if there is a snowballs' chance of snowballs (how is that for a twist on an old phrase) that is frozen ground.

I have had my jacks freeze to the ground.. Major pain in the operating system

I have never had 'em freeze to one of those pads, or to a wood block (WHich I sometimes use) and of course in this case 2 pads are better than one.

When the ground freezes. I up jacks. Drive off... Gently tap the block with my 8 pound sledge. and ... It breaks free right smartly.

Toss the block, (And sledge) into the storage bay and off we go.

RJsfishin wrote:
I guess I should have mentioned that I'm seeing all this here in the Quartzsite desert, brick hard ground that couldn't compact if the whole MH was on a single jack. I guess this "block under jack" trick just wasn't meant to be understood.

As far as teaching me anything from it, not likely !:)

I camp a lot beach side (not directly on the shore but several hundred yards out of the sand), wouldn't ever think about dropping bare jacks on to the ground there.

After a good rain storm you would have to lift the jacks and fill in under them each time. Sandy ground isn't very firm and even with 2x10s under the jacks requires a few touch ups during a week of camping...

I always put my tongue jack on a board plus my stabilizers, to me that little amount of "work" is well worth it.

Now for folks that build the great pyramids with a lot of cribbing does seem to be a bit over the top. Although I have seen some large MHs attempting to fit on some rather steep ground which I could see a reason to use a lot of blocking since the jacks would never extend that far..

Laying a block or flat down, for the foot of a leveling jack, could be viewed as a thing of respect, for the other campers that should come in behind you.

Reason being, next time you walk into a site or park spot at night, where another camper parked & did not use a block or flat under the jack foot, step into the hole that was left from their jacks where who ever was parked there before & didnt give a flip one way or the other, then turn you ankle over from not seeing that hole in the grass.
You'll be wishing that a bunch of others would at least have had some amount of camper respect, to not put the jacks down with out some sort of support under that foot.

I might look foolish doing it, laying those flats down for the jacks, but no body parking behind me will have to worry about stepping in a hole I left in the dirt.
Neil

C-Leigh Racing wrote:
Laying a block or flat down, for the foot of a leveling jack, could be viewed as a thing of respect, for the other campers that should come in behind you.

Reason being, next time you walk into a site or park spot at night, where another camper parked & did not use a block or flat under the jack foot, step into the hole that was left from their jacks where who ever was parked there before & didnt give a flip one way or the other, then turn you ankle over from not seeing that hole in the grass.
You'll be wishing that a bunch of others would at least have had some amount of camper respect, to not put the jacks down with out some sort of support under that foot.

I might look foolish doing it, laying those flats down for the jacks, but no body parking behind me will have to worry about stepping in a hole I left in the dirt.
Neil

X2!

I never thought about it in that way but it really is a great point.

Leaving any holes, large or small can ultimately hurt the next campers. There would be nothing worse than having to visit the Emergency room and spending your entire trip with a bum foot or ankle.

Leave nothing behind except your actual foot prints!

RJsfishin wrote:
I guess this "block under jack" trick just wasn't meant to be understood.

As far as teaching me anything from it, not likely !:)

A learning disability I presume.:@

Last thing you want is your jacks post holing into the material they are supposed to be supported by. Size of the footing in relationship to the compactness of the soil and adequate footings to support the load above with no soil compaction.

NinerBikes wrote:
Last thing you want is your jacks post holing into the material they are supposed to be supported by. Size of the footing in relationship to the compactness of the soil and adequate footings to support the load above with no soil compaction.

Maybe you missed the part about this thread originating from seeing all this blocking on the brick hard surface out here in the Quartzsite desert ??

Jacks are great going down, but when going up, it is only a relatively puny spring lifting them up.

Dropping jacks onto blocks is probably a habit for other terrain. I know that I'd be throwing blocks under jacks, or at least some type of object to spread the load out since jacks tend to have a small surface area. On asphalt, this might leave marks. I'm used to camping on sugar sand, so if I dropped jacks without using boards or blocks, the jacks would just burrow into the ground, and would require some digging to get them lifted back, as well as some TLC to get the abrasive sand out of the mechanism.

If blocks are too heavy, there was a review in Motorhome magazine about boards with ropes attached, so one can just chuck the boards underneath the jacks, drop them, then just grab the ropes after lifting the jacks up when it is time to leave. Quite a back-saver.

Gdetrailer wrote:

C-Leigh Racing wrote:
Laying a block or flat down, for the foot of a leveling jack, could be viewed as a thing of respect, for the other campers that should come in behind you.

Reason being, next time you walk into a site or park spot at night, where another camper parked & did not use a block or flat under the jack foot, step into the hole that was left from their jacks where who ever was parked there before & didnt give a flip one way or the other, then turn you ankle over from not seeing that hole in the grass.
You'll be wishing that a bunch of others would at least have had some amount of camper respect, to not put the jacks down with out some sort of support under that foot.

I might look foolish doing it, laying those flats down for the jacks, but no body parking behind me will have to worry about stepping in a hole I left in the dirt.
Neil

X2!

I never thought about it in that way but it really is a great point.

Leaving any holes, large or small can ultimately hurt the next campers. There would be nothing worse than having to visit the Emergency room and spending your entire trip with a bum foot or ankle.

Leave nothing behind except your actual foot prints!

Correct, we as RV camping people, are not the same as regular everyday people in todays world, at least that is how I view we should be.

I remember back the first time camping, was my wifes idea & I wanted no part of it. Hot weather, cold weather, insects flying around to bother someone, not me, you not gitting me out in the woods.
Camped up in the mountains first trip, pulled in camp just before dark & setting up, folks came over to help us set up, lady across the drive brought over some stuff her & her DH had left over from dinner & in about 15 minutes we were set up. That is the respect I'm talking about, makes no difference who you are, respect everybody.
WHAT, no bugs bothering me, is this for real.
Camping people are just different from everyday life folks & I would not trade that for anything.
Life is so different camping & I've been hooked ever since that first trip from the love those folks showed us & didnt know us from sam hill.
Neil

So I'm off to the thrift store in search for coveralls.