Towing in snow?

[el_jefe1]

Not that I would ptobably make a habit of it, but does anybody ever pull their trailer in the snow? I'm planning a trip over Thanksgiving, and in Michigan and Ohio there's always the potential for snowy weather that late in November.
For those who have done it, I'd love to hear what you've learned about towing when there is snow on the ground.
Certainly the goal would be to stay on clear pavement, but what happens when you are out late in the season and wake up to snow cover?

[Grit_dog]

What some don't realize either, is there's a HUGE difference in traction between warm, wet, greasy early and late season snow (or all winter on the W side of the Cascades! Lol) and cold dry snow when the thermometer dips.
Below about +10F, snow and ice are much stickyer. Below zero, it's almost like driving on a gravel road. But between like +20-35F, traction gets perceptibly worse with every couple degrees of warming.
Up in the interior of AK, you can rip around most all winter in 2wd on bald tires, because 30below temps make the snow packed roads pretty grippy.

[drsteve]

millerak49 wrote:
I agree with Drsteve, around here lots of people out towing when it snows with heavy snowmobile trailers. Drive smooth and careful. Easy on the gas, easy on the brakes. You would think everyone would be used to it her in Alaska, but first big snow there are always lots of ditch divers. Watch out for other vehicles driving too fast, especially 4x4.

Same here in Michigan. The first dusting of an inch or two, and people are sliding off the road left and right.

[millerak49]

I agree with Drsteve, around here lots of people out towing when it snows with heavy snowmobile trailers. Drive smooth and careful. Easy on the gas, easy on the brakes. You would think everyone would be used to it her in Alaska, but first big snow there are always lots of ditch divers. Watch out for other vehicles driving too fast, especially 4x4.

[Frostbitte]

I try to avoid it as much as possible. Driving in icy, snowy weather is hard enough without anything behind me at times.
I've been caught in one freak snow storm years ago in May. Drove slowly and cautiously. Visibility was horrible as well. Stopped at every small town to have a break and clear snow and ice off.
Oddly enough though, the added weight in the rear due to the trailer seemed to give me more traction.

We've had to camp out in our trailer as early as late March and late as early November here in Canada due to certain circumstances, not just vacationing and we've been able to miss bad weather those times. Days were warm but the nights are chilly so be prepared to use sleeping bags and heaters. Don't put water in the lines in the trailer until you can keep it consistently warm.

If you really have to do this, I'd watch the weather and wait until late morning to get going. Let the road crews clear out the roads and let the sun melt off any ice and stuff. Wait until the weather breaks to travel. Avoid freezing rain, blowing snow types of situations and be ready to camp out in a hotel/motel in communities on the way to your destination.

[spoon059]

Drive slow and plan WELL in advance. Several years in a row we've had to tow in 4WD for a little while to get out of Maryland en route to Florida in February.

[Grit_dog]

drsteve wrote:
Snowmobilers tow on snowy roads all the time, some with large, heavy enclosed trailers. They seem to do just fine.

Yup, every time, and ideally it's in the worst road conditions getting to the best powder!
My trailer is suspiciously closely resembling a 30' TT. Current one anyway, but have ranged from little 2 place open trailers to 20' cargo trailers to the current 32' enclosed.

WI, WA, CO, WY, MT, ID, AK, NM, AZ BC and a couple other states. Only have ever chained up for unplowed parking lots or forest roads.

[BizmarksMom]

I chance towing in the snow every November when coming home from Thanksgiving. Like everybody else said, take it slow and easy. No fast moves. 4x is absolutely your friend. Be ready to wait it out if the conditions are awful.

[Edd505]

Wolf Creek Pass E/B about six miles to the summit last weekend pulling a 35ft 5W. Thanks for shift on the fly 4x4.

[drsteve]

Snowmobilers tow on snowy roads all the time, some with large, heavy enclosed trailers. They seem to do just fine.

[blt2ski]

Every weekend from December to early April using trailer as a ski hut. Included getting stuck at top of pass due to extreme snow fall, avalanche danger etc.
Not dead yet!

Marty

[allen8106]

I've towed my 5ver in snow once. We live in Kansas and were headed to Arizona in March. Got up the morning of departure to find 3-4 inches of snow on the ground and still snowing.

We pulled out as planned and just took it easy. We drove well below the normal 65 mph, gave plenty of distance between vehicles for stopping. About 4 hours out we ran out of the snow completely.

[thomas201]

When you travel with chains, you need chain pliers in case you break a cross chain. In fact carry 2 or 3 cross chains, and a handful of cold shuts and or lap links. That way you can fix or repair as you go. Takes a lot less space than a extra set of chains. Sometimes you can make the fix without taking the chains off. Oh forgot, need a good hammer.
I carry this junk, with the chains in a 5 gallon bucket, or an old canvas mail sack (out of a dumpster not stolen).

[Bedlam]

I have crossbar chains for my tow vehicle and cable chains for my trailer. If I was going to do the front of my tow vehicle, I would probably use cables whether it is 4wd or not - I could use chains up front, but prefer the lower profile and weight on the steers.

[carringb]

Lots of good advise.

I carry 2 sets of chains for the van. I've broken a set before towing, so now I like having a spare set. And if it turns to heavy freezing rain, like the Columbia River Gorge gets (inches of ice, always topped with a layer of rain water, with gusty winds) then chaining up the steers is the best way to maintain a reasonable speed.

I've found premium cables work best on the trailer. The trailer is pretty easy on them (3 seasons so far, and they look new still) but the nicest part is the tensioning ring-bungee means I don't have to stop to re-tighten them after install. They are also Super-z rated, meaning they only need 1/8" clearance at the sidewall, which is good because the trailer shocks are fairly tight to the tires.

Engine braking can help hold your speed, reducing the need for service brakes, but beware that can also exceed available grip, and cause a jackknife. It's very counter-intuitive to get out of that situation when it happens, because you have to give it a little throttle to get the slipping tires back up to road speed.

Also, I didn't see it mentioned yet, but traction is the worst near freezing! I'll take towing at 0-degrees any day vs 30 degrees! Once it drops below 20 chains are rarely even needed.

I leave my trailer brakes set as-is. Never had an issue there, but I do sometimes give it a little extra manual braking on steep downgrades.