Pad site for travel trailer on rural property?

[npaden]

I thought I would start a separate post for this from the cistern question.

On my new land I'm going to put a travel trailer down there to leave so we can spend the weekends in comfort if we get the oppurtunity.

I'm trying to decide if I should put in a cement pad to set the trailer on or just level it out with the tractor and put some bricks under the leveling jacks and call it good. I also thought about getting a load of gravel put down under it. I'm going to have a septic system installed and will leave the trailer there all year long.

The benefits I see to the cement slab would be giving the trailer a nice sturdy level spot to sit, and being able to see under the trailer and that it might help keep mice and snakes and other critters from hanging out under the trailer.

Any other thoughts or advice?

Thanks, Nathan

[Sully2]

Originally Posted by npaden

I thought I would start a separate post for this from the cistern question.

On my new land I'm going to put a travel trailer down there to leave so we can spend the weekends in comfort if we get the oppurtunity.

I'm trying to decide if I should put in a cement pad to set the trailer on or just level it out with the tractor and put some bricks under the leveling jacks and call it good. I also thought about getting a load of gravel put down under it. I'm going to have a septic system installed and will leave the trailer there all year long.

The benefits I see to the cement slab would be giving the trailer a nice sturdy level spot to sit, and being able to see under the trailer and that it might help keep mice and snakes and other critters from hanging out under the trailer.

Any other thoughts or advice?

Thanks, Nathan

Depends on how much loot you want to lay out. As far as concrete goes...pour pads wherever CONTACT is made with the ground. Front jacks...wheels...etc. Make them "large" an super HD. Gravel the rest of the pad with the exception of YOU MIGHT want a cement "patio" area here you can sit in the evenings...under the main awning..and blow the suds off a few...without getting your feet wet or dirty...etc. That sort of thing.

Spray the gravel area once or twice a year with something like Round-Up to kill weeds..etc..

Id make jack pads about 18" square..and pads for the tires about twice that size..for ease of locating the rig when you might move it out and back in again.

Bury some electric lines...you'd be suprized how handy some 120 AC can be ...especially in the evenings...besides you need juice for that refridge anyway...

[schmism]

we have had camp setup at our property for the past 9 months or so.



with our "light" popup dispite it looking like it sits on grass, its actually a gravel base overgrown with grass. So with our standard blocking under the jacks, it was level and required no followup dispite being set in the same location for 3 months straight.

the Awing off the front is almost required. We came to rely on the area under the canope almost as much as the area inside the trailer.

a word of advise, save yourself the trouble on the front end and track down a 100gal propane tank now. I messed with 20lb tanks for 6 months (and nearly 5 exchanges) before i tracked down a couple of 100#ers on craigslist for $100. It was nice not to have to worry about running out half way through the weekend durring the winter (when we moved inside the shed to get out of the wind)

a few more notes from my home away from home/camp. a full size fridge is almost requred, and frezer space is like gold.

we picked up a washer and 19" tv off of craigs list for $20, it was a big time savor not to have to truck laundry back and forth (for a few months we just hung stuff up to dry the old fashon way, till i aquired a dryer from a friend)

Perhaps owning a trailer you already have a second set of stuff for it, like we do, for camping. but often the kitchen camping stuff is of poor quality ment for "it will work for the weekend" service. After useing it for 8 consective weeks youll wish you had gone ahead and upgraded to more "normal" kitchen cookware and or dishes etc. cheep walmart stuff works well (assumeing thats not what you call normal kitchen stuff )

watch your shore power and trailer power requirements. (again might be diffrent because of your trailer size) but a little popup isnt designed to power an addtional house fridge/microwave/toaster/coffiemaker etc. IF your outdoor kitchen contains many of these things youll want addtional seperate shore power recpitcals.

[npaden]

Thanks for the input so far.

Here are a couple pics of the trailer. It is a 34' bumper pull trailer with a fold out area near the front. It's perfect for what I plan on using it for, it is a 1986 model and looks like it from the outside, but the inside has been completely redone with new air conditioners, heater, water heater, vinyl flooring, etc.











It has a 50 amp plug in so I will be rewiring the panel at the utility pole to handle the load. It's a pretty large trailer but according to the specs it only weighs 6,250lbs.

I feel like I got a really good deal on it ($3,500) especially considering that the seller says that in the last 2 years it has had both air conditioners replaced, the heater replaced, and the new vinyl flooring installed.

Sorry about the quality of the pictures - they were taken with my cell phone.

[EddieWalker]

Nathan,

Nice trailer!!!

I would put down gravel for under the trailer and either pour a patio pad or build a wood deck. Once the trailer is parked, there's no need for anything fancy under it. Four inches of road base rock, cleechie or limestone is ideal.

It's not so much about the pad because the trailer won't be moving around much. But being able to sit around in front of it, and to have a clean place to enter and exit it is very important.

Eddie

[Timber]

I would also put down a Vapor barrier under the gravel. Nothing eats metal faster than parking it over bare earth

[RobJ]

I personally would not put down anything perminant. Why? You find a nice tree, been there for 50 years, you settle in, then lightnen strikes the tree and kills it. Time to move. Concrete blocks, 2x12 treated, etc can all handle the load. On that trailer I'd put 3 down each side (6 total). When I did mine I put it up high, about 2 feet or so. Not a good home for critters but no grass would grow. Every year I'd shoot the area with roundup and toss a bag of ant and bug killer under it. Eddie is right about a deck and IMO a deck is more pleasing to the bare feet and less pleasing to most bugs, including scorpions that we have around here. A deck can easily be moved to and underlaid with plastic, etc.

I understand the power and septic are a little hard to move but I have seen some above ground septics that can be moved around and may handle your needs. Just run all the gray water on the ground away from the trailer.

I just wouldn't spend a ton of money in concrete. You start doing that then I'd be looking at a real house. I built our weekend place for $10 a foot, it's 1500sqft.

Elkhart House Project

Good Luck,
Rob

[Nat]

I'd go along with Rob, just park it and sprat with round-up occas. I have had mine for the last 7 weeks at a site behind a country store on the ground with a 5 ft long 2 x 8 under the tires and under the jacks. I never had any problem with sinking or shifting. When I left the only marks were where the boards were and the grass was dead, but will grow back in a few weeks with no lasting marks such as a concrete or gravel pad . You never know what you will want to do there in the future, so don't do anything permanent. Later, Nat

[npaden]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm leaning toward putting in some cement squares to park the trailer on and put the trailer jacks on and then filling in the remaining area under the trailer with gravel.

Where I'm putting the trailer is on the very Northeast corner of my 160 acre piece of property and even if the tree falls down it is going to stay there to be out of the way of the hunting, etc.

I'm also leaning toward pouring a large patio area in cement to have a nice place to sit around and not have to worry about bugs and stuff. In some areas of the country that might sound crazy, but around here cement is better than weeds and there is no way I could spend the time and effort required to have nice grass to sit around on in front of the trailer.

[Bird]

Maybe I'm in the minority this time, but having owned 6 RVs and having been a full timer for nearly 6 years, I guess my opinion is different. The gravel pad will work, and you may or may not be reasonably happy with it in the long term but I'm bettin' the day will come that you'll regret it, while if you can afford a concrete pad, you'll never regret it.