Your carrying capacity?

[AprilWhine]

This is not a request, just a question.

A member from another club asked the group how to get a 9'6 vintage surfboard from MA to FL. After several very expensive suggestions, I said he should get in touch with the RV community. MA to FL is a popular snowbird route and he could probably get someone to carry it for him cheaper.

One of the other members replied that he has a 40' Class A and there would be no way he had room for the surfboard. On the other hand, I would be able to carry it easily in the bus.

So my question is, would most people here be able to carry something like that for a one time trip?

[bucky]

Why not the back ladder on a 5er?

[Golden_HVAC]

My factory cargo weight rating is 2,734. My phone extension at the time was also 2734.

I did carry a dog from Sacramento California to Battle Ground Washington once! It was a long post on "Rallies" at the time, in the spring of 2007. The three legged dog was found back east, and adopted by a couple in Washington. A friend was going to drive her from Sacramento to Ashland OR, but the next person in line had a health problem, and he bowed out. So I offered to drive the dog from where I was (Lake Tahoe) to my sister's home in Battle Ground, a short hop from the new owners home in Olympia area.

As for shipping the surfboard, it would be fairly expensive to ship a $200 surfboard more than 200 miles, the cost being more than it is worth! And you would risk great damage by shipping it by UPS (their automated package handling equipment and conveyors can damage items, especially if the name tag is not visible, and the 'arm' comes down to tumble the box, and 'hopefully' bring the label right side up.

Other shippers can also be expensive because it is over 50" long (usually way over, like 75" long X 24" wide and 12" thick when the fins are taken into account).

Greyhound used to accept packages, but you had to have the other person meet the package at the Greyhound terminal in their home town. It was not door to door delivery.

Anyway with all the 'problems' of cocaine smuggling, I would not accept a package and hope that it was not a package of illegal drugs, inside a modified surfboard. The fiberglass probably would hide most of the scents. .

Fred.

[AprilWhine]

Thanks for the feedback!

[Ivylog]

I'd put it on the roof of your MH.

[NanciL]

I carry two 18 foot kayaks and one 17 foot canoe on my truck roof when I am pulling my travel trailer to and from Florida while snow birding.
Tell him to go on Paddling.Net and ask if anyone wants to make a few bucks by carrying it, and he should get some responses.

Jack l

[sch911]

Put it in as checked oversize baggage on his flight. It'll cost a few bucks but get there much easier. No it's not a good idea to carry it in an RV. It just gets in everyone's way, and will get damaged after it get's moved a half dozen times. I can't speak for everyone but I wouldn't even consider doing it.

[Old-Biscuit]

Biggest issue....how dinged up is this vintage board going to be after the trip from taking it in/out of RVs (so they can be used) during the trip?

And who is going to be liable for the damage?


Cheaper, less hassles, insurable with shipping company vs bunch of RVrs meaning well.

[mdamerell]

As toedtoes said it's a matter of loading and storage for the trip. If the person had a toy hauler, stowing it in the garage is much more feasible than trying to get it through a door and turning it to get it inside. At 9'6" it's too long to put on a bed for the trip. Storing to protect it and the RV for transit would be an issue. Personally, I would find it very problematic and would decline.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

8 ft long by 6 inches thick is about the limit in size for most TT I've seen. Many are smaller. Would be about the same with a Class A with the door at the front like almost all diesel pushers. Some Class A rigs with the door in the middle of the living space might be able to go up to 9 ft long.

However, having a large item like that down the middle of the aisle is going to make using the RV for the several days of the trip a real PITA.

I wouldn't do it.

We carried two 8' kayaks on the inside of our older no-slide TT, though we had to pull them out every stop and store them under the trailer. Once had a CG manager complain about them making the CG look 'trashy'. So we left. I was never be able to use the TT for Wally docking when I had them with us.

Sold them when we got the new bigger trailer because the door/wall/sink doesn't allow enough room to get them inside - and because with the slides pulled in, I don't have any room to carry them.

[toedtoes]

The issue I see is that unless you have a large outside storage compartment for it, you would have to bring it inside the RV.

Most RVs have a side door, so there's a sharp L turn that the surfboard has to maneuver. Depending on the layout, this could be impossible. I could get something 5ft long (maybe up to 6ft long) that is rigid into my RV. Anything longer than that, and I can't maneuver it around the L.

An RV with a rear door is the best option. My friend can load something like that into her little teeny chinook much easier than I can in my larger clipper - simply because she has a rear door with a straight run through the RV.