Parking a Class A within 4" of a wooden fence

[zonearc]

We're moving to a 32' Class A from our 23' Class C. The longer coach will make parking somewhat difficult on our property. The only way to make it work is to nose it in to the side yard a little (roughly 2'), which is just over 9' wide. This will pull the coach very close to the wooden fence we have. To avoid the possibility of grazing it and shredding paint off the coach, I was wondering if anyone had suggestions of something to do on that side of the wooden fence. While the right answer would be "don't hit it!" , its bound to happen once ... and I'd like to avoid an expense paint job as a course of that.

Thanks for any suggestions you may have!

-Mike

[happy-2]

Are you parking the coach between the house and fence, if so have about 13 in cut off the eves of the roof which will give you plenty of room.

[PAThwacker]

I had to back a single axle pup up a sloped driveway and swing it around a tree and then swing it back to the side of garage. Royal transmission burning affair. It was cheaper to drop the tree.

[CavemanCharlie]

To put my TT into the shed I have to back it up a 90 degree turn , and up a hill, and into a dark shed. Once in the shed I have to back it over a 2 inch high cement pad near the work bench. I have to GOAL (get out and look) several times to make sure I'm not hitting anything. I wish I had a spotter to help.

Can you get someone to stand nearby and help you watch ?

[nomad_289]

Open your side window and lean out to view the front corner of the MH, mirrors and the front tires. Go Slow and keep the front corner at 4" from fence.

I've currently got the same parking situation. Have to miss a mailbox, then a light-post, then a tree, then overshoot, and turn sharply to within 4" of fence. This allows about 8" of clearance on blind side. After a half-dozen tries (with spotter) you'll get accustomed to when/where to turn. In a way, the fence line serves as a guide so you know you have clearance on the blind side.

Difficult, I don't go on many impromptu Sunday drives; but having the RV on-site is invaluable.

[ol_Bombero-JC]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Just park the dang thing.

You are pulling in forward and fence will be right at your elbow.

Don't 'What if' this to death.

Excellent plan - but way too logical...:R

~

[CavemanCharlie]

valhalla360 wrote:

CavemanCharlie wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
We split time on our boat. The fender idea isn't likely to help. At best it will push the fence over.

The railroad ties will only be helpful if you can get the rig perfectly straight before backing in. If there is any angle the 4" of space will easily be eaten up by the overhang. If you have it perfectly straight, you really don't really need guides.

Push the fence over but, not maybe hurt the RV ? Most likely easier, and cheaper, to set the fence back up then fix the scratch on the RV.

I agree that not hitting the fence is the best idea. I though maybe this was a back up plan just in case he hit the fence by accident.

I said "at best". Good chance it still damages the RV if you hit the fence. RV walls aren't designed to take impacts. Our boat has a thick rub rail to back up the fenders.

True, Fair enough.

What type and how tall of a wooden fence? Someone suggested making the fence swing. Is there a way to modify the fence to remove a section / sections temporarily and then put them easily back in after you get done parking?

How may times a year will you be backing in there?

[CavemanCharlie]

valhalla360 wrote:

CavemanCharlie wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
We split time on our boat. The fender idea isn't likely to help. At best it will push the fence over.

The railroad ties will only be helpful if you can get the rig perfectly straight before backing in. If there is any angle the 4" of space will easily be eaten up by the overhang. If you have it perfectly straight, you really don't really need guides.

Push the fence over but, not maybe hurt the RV ? Most likely easier, and cheaper, to set the fence back up then fix the scratch on the RV.

I agree that not hitting the fence is the best idea. I though maybe this was a back up plan just in case he hit the fence by accident.

I said "at best". Good chance it still damages the RV if you hit the fence. RV walls aren't designed to take impacts. Our boat has a thick rub rail to back up the fenders.

True, Fair enough.

[valhalla360]

CavemanCharlie wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
We split time on our boat. The fender idea isn't likely to help. At best it will push the fence over.

The railroad ties will only be helpful if you can get the rig perfectly straight before backing in. If there is any angle the 4" of space will easily be eaten up by the overhang. If you have it perfectly straight, you really don't really need guides.

Push the fence over but, not maybe hurt the RV ? Most likely easier, and cheaper, to set the fence back up then fix the scratch on the RV.

I agree that not hitting the fence is the best idea. I though maybe this was a back up plan just in case he hit the fence by accident.

I said "at best". Good chance it still damages the RV if you hit the fence. RV walls aren't designed to take impacts. Our boat has a thick rub rail to back up the fenders.

[zonearc]

I think we may end up paying to park it elsewhere. I found a spot about 15 minutes away fir $75 a month which will have to do for now. I may test run it a few times next to the house to see how I like that as well for the long-term.

[MikeInOregon]

Our radical idea is to move to a different house!

Our trailer is parked between the property line fence and our house. We have about one foot of clearance on either side. So parking the trailer is certainly doable, we do it all the time. But it is also kind of a pain. The driveway has an 8 degree slope up and the the trailer parking area is level beside the house.

Because of this and other reasons, we've decided to move to a different house with a larger lot with possibly an RV garage or metal RV cover. This is not the only reason that we have decided to move. My wife would love more space for gardening and there are a variety of other reasons. Camping and the RV lifestyle have become important enough that we are willing to endure the pain of moving to have a larger area for the truck and trailer.

I saw this house in the local home listings. It's a small house with a big level driveway and RV garage. An RV'ers dream! In the future when we start looking, I'll ask the real estate agent to find something like this.

[JAXFL]

My suggestion is SLOW & EASY.

I park ours between the neighbors fence and the house roof overhang. Lucky it is a Class C so I get a little room at the cab door to get my body out after I park. I have been doing this with a 32' MH. When I get it in there I have 3" on the fence side and 4" on the overhang side. With the "C" I can open the passenger door and just slide out of the cab area. Parking a Class A would not allow that. I would have to go in and out of the back window...hehehehe

[LI-Camper]

Is there a way to remove some fence sections on a temporary basis? If the neighbor doesn't mind you could hinge fence sections to swing away from your RV until you're parked. Then put them back in place. I think after you do this a few times, you will get good at it and not have a problem.

[Ozlander]

You're worrying about the fence.
What's on the other side that you're not worrying about?

[DrewE]

zonearc wrote:
In our case, the problem is that its not the widest street and I'll have to turn it in pretty tight. I'm not saying its not doable, but it is going to take finesse, frustration, etc. But I'll get it. Maybe wood and railroad ties won't work, but I still wish I could have something over the fence to prevent a scratch or ding. If I hit it hard enough to knock over the fence then I'm applying too much gas.

If you hit the fence with a rolling object that weighs maybe ten tons, the momentum of the rolling object may well knock it over on its own. It's not a question of too much gas, just simply physics. It may mean that you aren't paying sufficient attention to the fact that your fence is being destroyed, but that's a different matter.

It's kind of like hitting a shopping cart with a car. The cart is going to move, even if the car isn't getting any gas.