Soft & sometimes soggy ground

[Matt1221]

Aside from a full blown concrete pad, what are my options to keep a 8-9k pound tt from sinking into the ground?

[GrandpaKip]

valhalla360 wrote:

GrandpaKip wrote:

There isn’t any plywood made for ground contact, even marine plywood.

Actually not true. Had a wood basement in a 20yr old house. The plywood showed no signs of decay...unfortunately don't recall the plywood spec.

I just found out HomeDepot has a ground contact plywood rated as such by the APA. In all my years of construction, that’s the first I’ve seen.
Learn something new every day.

[Grit_dog]

valhalla360 wrote:

GrandpaKip wrote:

There isn’t any plywood made for ground contact, even marine plywood.

Actually not true. Had a wood basement in a 20yr old house. The plywood showed no signs of decay...unfortunately don't recall the plywood spec.

But who cares, we’re talking pads to keep a camper from sinking....
Wood basement, lol. Must been very dry climate. Otherwise that makes as much sense as a lead balloon.

[Jebby14]

when my camper used to winter in my buddies field it sat on 12 foot cedar 2x12's no problems even in a swamped field. now it sits on gravel

[valhalla360]

GrandpaKip wrote:

There isn’t any plywood made for ground contact, even marine plywood.

Actually not true. Had a wood basement in a 20yr old house. The plywood showed no signs of decay...unfortunately don't recall the plywood spec.

[Lwiddis]

“I just left the wood there for the next camper.”

Not a believer in leave NO trace? Or leave only footprints, take only pictures?

[ppine]

Put down some road base and drive on it. You need around 2 1/2 inches or more. Much cheaper than concrete.

[Terryallan]

You can also use the 16" concrete paving blocks. Three on each side is long enough for the tandems to fit on. Now If you can't hit the 16" block every time you park, put another set beside of the first set. but you should be able to hit the 16" block. I kept mine on those blocks for years before I had the spot paved.

[Grit_dog]

As you've read, there are many different, but similar solutions.
Whether you want to lower the ground pressure of the rig, which is what you asked, or stabilize the soil/construct a parking pad.
Assuming the 5 pads you're considering are seeing about 2klbs a piece, with a 2'x2' pad, you'll be lowering the effective ground pressure to less than 5psi, which will work in most conditions short of liquefied earth.

[theoldwizard1]

profdant139 wrote:
I've used thick boards in muddy campsites when we boondock. It works ok but it is a pain to pry up the sunken boards after the mud has dried.

Those "pads" need to be at least 2'x2'. Probably at least 3'x2' for dual wheels.

You can make them out of pressure treated lumber, but don't use lumber wider than 6". Wider boards are likely to crack. Forget gluing them together also. This means screws are your only choice. Drill a hole about half way through the 2x6, large enough for the head of the screw to sink into the middle. Use screws compatible with PT wood. If you screw cross braces on top, you have built in small chocks !

No help from me on prying them out of the soft soil and they won't be light ! You had better have a hose handy to rinse them off and a place to store dirty outside items.

[GrandpaKip]

2 concrete pads. Some 1x4’s, about 15 80# bags of ready mix, and some rebar.
There isn’t any plywood made for ground contact, even marine plywood.
Or make a platform out of 10’ 4x4’s, lagged or through bolted together.

[schlep1967]

Instead of the full blown concrete pad just pour two smaller pads where your tires sit. I made ours about 3'x 8'. Another option would be two dig down below the frost line, dump a few bags of concrete mix in and level it off. After it sets, stack cinder-blocks up to ground level and then back-fill around them.

[2112]

For the house, I cut a sheet of 1/2" plywood into 4 pieces of 2'X4'. I seal them with multiple coats of Kilt's and external house paint. I stack them 2 high under the tires. The bottom two that sink into the mud last about 6 years before needing to be replaced. I take the top two with me when we go camping. My landing gear rest on concrete cinder blocks.

[midnightsadie]

if you just sit it there? it will sink. long time clear up to the axle.put some cement slabs down then the treated plywood on top.

[afidel]

Agreed, for the house start with a base of 1's & 2's and then top with 57's. We had over 18" of rise over 12' of run so we built a little retaining wall with railroad ties, a stone base, and thick walled 1.5" pipe 6' into the ground. We used 10" timber locks to hold the pieces together.