parking on hill

[trcothorn]

Up until today I’ve always stored my puma travel trailer at my in-laws because I never thought it was possible to keep it at the house due to the extreme slope. Well I managed to park the thing in the backyard and I’m curious if this looks to be acceptable to anyone else. I used 4x4 blocks of wood as chocks behind the rear axle, and drove in 1.5 foot stakes to keep the blocks from moving anywhere. I also used rubber chocks behind the front axle, and I finished it off with xchocks. It didn’t budge an inch when I decoupled from the ball, and I lowered the nose down as far as possible. It’s still at an extreme angle, but I don’t plan on turning on the fridge or extending the slide while it’s parked like this. Any problems keeping like this until I can build up a more level pad? We are planning on building a level pad at some point down the road.

thanks

[afidel]

Used railroad ties, they're cheap and will last forever. I used 10" timberlok screws to tie the courses together and on the bottom 2 courses I used a 3/4 thick wall heavily galvanized pipe to secure them into the ground. To make the hole to drive the pipe I used a 7/8 spade bit with a 12" hex extension in my impact driver.

For a 3' high wall you're going to use what's known as a dead man system to keep it from leaning too much. I did a 2' wall without one and it's really leaning more than I like.

You'll also want to consider drainage, I used fist sized rocks (called 8's and 10's locally but this is regional) in the base but still put in a 5" perforated pipe to act as a french drain against the wall.

[trcothorn]

After reading these comments, I am going to go ahead and start the pad project as soon as possible rather than waiting for a while. Now this opens up a lot of follow questions.

I would like to tackle this project myself, although I have never done anything like this. Without measuring at all my best guess is that I would need to to build a 3 side retaining wall that is approximately 2.5 to 3ft tall in the rear in order to get the trailer close to level. I have asked different people the best way to go about building the wall using lumber instead of blocks, and I got different opinions. One person told me to anchor 6x6 posts into the ground with concrete and build the walls with 2x6's. Another told me to use 6x6's to build the entire thing, using rebar to stake the base layer into the ground and attach the rest with spikes.

Youtube doesn't have a whole lot of examples of what I'm trying to accomplish, so if anybody has any knowledge of this please let me know.

Thank you for the help!

[phillyg]

I used to park my Class A and C, and FW trailer on a similar angle for several years; no issues.

[Lwiddis]

“I would dig a hole at the front and try to get the nose down as far as possible”

X2

[BarneyS]

He shouldn't screw down the rubber chocks that are behind the front axles because they have to be removed to get the trailer out. Otherwise he would have to just drive over them with the rear axle. They aren't going anywhere anyway unless a neighbor needs a pair. :E
Barney

[time2roll]

I would have bolted the wedge to the board for the rear tire instead of using the 4x4. More like the second picture. Skip the front wedge.

Adjust as you please next time you have it out. Fine for today. Eventual retaining wall would resolve everything.

[ronharmless]

That wouldn't work for me, YOMV, but I'm not ready to let $25K go careening down the hill and start over from scratch. Because your asking other their opinion (from posted pictures no less) indicates to me you're not to comfortable with it. What's your gut telling you?

[trcothorn]

We are planning on a retaining wall this year but probably not until fall. I know the osb won’t last long but I have several scrap pieces so that’s what I used to combat the tires sinking into the ground. I have the other side up on 2x10 boards to level it side to side. I’m thinking about just buying a railroad tie and anchor it behind the back tire for now. I wanted the trailer where it is because when I connect to the truck the truck tires are still on asphalt driveway. I can just about guarantee if I backed down the hill further where my truck was in the grass I would get stuck, even in 4lo. I’ve gotten stuck on flat wet grass in the ram 3500 because of the crappy stock tires.

[GrandpaKip]

How far down the road? Are you going to use it meanwhile?
I ask because if it’s going to stay put for months at a time, I would definitely rethink how it’s sitting now. The OSB is going to fall apart, it looks like the passenger side rear tire is pushed in by the edge of the 4x4 and the driver side rear tire doesn’t hit much of the 4x4.

[Seon]

I'd put retaining wall blocks and back fill that area until level. Problem solved.

[theoldwizard1]

I would dig a hole at the front and try to get the nose down as far as possible.

Concur on concrete under the tires. What ever you do is going to sink in spring time unless you have a really good/deep foundation.

[BurbMan]

Huntindog wrote:
No fridge, no slides, no problem..... For now. That OSB will degrade pretty fast though.

Agreed on this. Maybe it's the shadow in the pic, but it looks like the slope eases as you go back a little, so if the tongue was where the axles are, the TT wouldn't be on such an angle. If you have 4WD on the truck, use LO range to pull the trailer out, it's easier on both the transmission and the lawn...if you don't have 4WD that's gonna be interesting getting that TT outta there.

[JRscooby]

If it was me, I would bolt a couple of mudflaps top and bottom of a 6X6 long enough to catch both sides. As long as the ground is solid enough the timber won't sink the trailer won't move

[wildtoad]

How long are you contemplating letting it sit there? I’d be concerned with the malformed tires I see.

[Huntindog]

No fridge, no slides, no problem..... For now.
That OSB will degrade pretty fast though.
You can paint it to make it last longer. But a more permanent solution is best.
A couple of small concrete slabs would do the trick.