Ice on roof

[klr650goldwing]

We are preparing to head south from Minnesota in the next few days. The roof of our 5er has ice and snow on it. The snow will obviously blow off quickly, but we're concerned about the ice. Lately we have had rain, sleet and snow almost at the same time. It looks to be an inch or more thick. As we drive into warmer temperatures, sooner or later it will all come off the roof. What have you all done to avoid that ice flying off and hurting someone?

[rmalik1]

run the furnace and space heaters

[MC9]

Gee, I had no problem til I got to SC. Ice slid off the roof in a
parking lot and sheared off my tailights...

[ItsyRV]

Even in states with no specific law requiring the removal of snow or ice, you can face consequences under other laws. In N Carolina, there is no snow or ice removal law but there is a law that says if moving and falling snow or ice from your vehicle damages another vehicle, it's an at fault accident on you. In West Virginia, falling snow or ice is considered creating a road hazard and cited as such. This seems to be the standard law that is applied when no specific removal law exist. Just checked and both Nevada and Arizona enforces the same laws on unsecured loads for falling ice off RV's.

[azdryheat]

Here are the states that have specific snow/ice removal laws: Alaska, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Wisconsin.

Minnesota has no snow/ice removal law like Michigan, for example, but a Minnesota state trooper is quoted on many websites saying snow/ice could be 'considered' a load. I think it's a stretch to say snow is a load that needs to be covered, tied down, secured, etc. (Being a city cop, I've never been too impressed with state troopers, they tend to make stuff up from my experience).

[klr650goldwing]

Thanks for your thoughtful replies. I think I was trying to avoid climbing up on the roof while it was slippery etc. But I did climb up there and as it turns out there were 2-3 inches of snow up there when the ice landed. So, the rather thin layer of ice was on top of the snow. Once I was up there, I walked all over the entire roof in baby steps and with each step, the ice broke loose, Once that was complete I could sweep it off. So, we are good to go.

[Lwiddis]

"Divide that 57.2 by 12 and one inch thick by 1 ft by 1 ft and you have 4.76 lbs per square foot of roof. Just guessing at 35 foot by 8 foot and you have 1335 extra pounds on your roof."

Wow! I wouldn't have thought it so heavy. Huge number.

[ItsyRV]

In addition to the Danger aspect to the public, think about what a small sheet of hard ice could do to the items on your roof. Imagine if a large enough sheet hits your a/c shroud, antenna, vents, etc.

Or what could happen to your vehicle if someone in front of you failed to clear their own ice off their RV and it flew off and hit you.

Warm the RV up in advance and let the heat break the ice hold on the roof and remove it, by hand if necessary.

[schlep1967]

Remove it. Not only is a danger if it flies off the roof, you are carrying a whole lot of extra weight at the very top of the rig.
A quick google search tells me 1 cubic foot of ice weighs 57.2 lbs. You say you have an inch of ice (or more) on the trailer. Divide that 57.2 by 12 and one inch thick by 1 ft by 1 ft and you have 4.76 lbs per square foot of roof. Just guessing at 35 foot by 8 foot and you have 1335 extra pounds on your roof.

[wanderingaimles]

Insulation in most trailers isn't great, you may be able run the furnace or space heaters enough to melt it free of the roof to ease removal.
Just depends on how cold it is there.

[MFL]

Definitely not a good idea to tow it that way. Like ^^^you will be responsible. I'm thinking maybe running the furnace, adding enough heat to loosen, then push off with long handled garage broom.

Jerry

[laknox]

klr650goldwing wrote:
We are preparing to head south from Minnesota in the next few days. The roof of our 5er has ice and snow on it. The snow will obviously blow off quickly, but we're concerned about the ice. Lately we have had rain, sleet and snow almost at the same time. It looks to be an inch or more thick. As we drive into warmer temperatures, sooner or later it will all come off the roof. What have you all done to avoid that ice flying off and hurting someone?

LEGALLY, you are required to remove the ice before traveling, in most states; think "unsecured cargo". If =anything= flies off and a LEO sees it, you can be ticketed. Not sure if there is a truck wash near you where you can spray it off, but I'd sure check. I've seen too many videos from dash cams where people have been hit with ice and heavy snow off the tops of trucks/trailers.

If it's not too thick, maybe just walking on it, CAREFULLY, might break it up enough to be able to sweep it off.

Lyle