Snow + canvas = ?

[tagman]

Stupid question time.
What happens when your camper is set up and it snows?

During the day - easy... Brush it off. But at night it would build up.
I have never even seen snow. I would assume a layer of 20mm thick would weigh a bit?
Would it stretch the canvas if it sat between supports?
Would it bend support poles?
What do you do?

We are going to Bathurst 1000 race this year and the news just reported 2-3 inches of snow there overnight. We were at the race in 2010 and it snowed there the following week.
So that made me think about the above questions.

May be a silly question, but that is what forums are for - education.

Thanks Brett

[Mace]

Having had a swag that has been covered in snow overnight (and also lived in areas that regularly receive snow)  - the key will be to get the stuff off asap as its the weight that will be the killer! 

Not much has been done in Australia on snow loads, but overseas, fresh snow (not old, waterlogged compacted snow) weights vary from between 200 and 300kg per cubic metre. Waterlogged or compacted snow,  perhaps doulbe or triple that!   So a 10 cm depth over a square metre will weigh between 20 and 30kg, probably the upper figure given that we dont often get truly "dry" snow.

We have a bit of land up at Tolmie, just outside Mansfield, with a house at 900m.   Many years ago, we received a snowfall of 60cm overnight.  All was well, the place looked a picture.

The next night, it rained.  Half of the roof trusses in the house broke, they were ok with the fresh snow, but didnt like the extra wet load .

So, if it snows, light a flaming big fire in the middle of the tent.  This will keep the roof warm and melt the snow!!   

Seriously, some form of additional heat source inside the CT will help to melt the snow as it lands on the roof. If you have it, keep some form of gas heater going inside, but keep the doors and windows open and dont go to sleep - have a snowball fight to keep awake.    Use a gennie and an electric blow heater  and keep it blasting away inside to keep the ambient temp up as high as possible.

[nick_4x4]

I would stick a tarp over the tent of a night if in areas where it could or would snow, i would also use a trick i seen on a post here a while back with some of those kids noddles inbetween the canvas and tarp.

I think the canvas would stretch with too much weight on it.

Nick

[austastar]

Hi,
   push the canvas up with a broom occasionally and it will slide off.
A plastic tarp over the canvas will make it easier to shift as it can't get as much traction on the smooth surface.
cheers

[speewa158]

lf its that cold l might consider a motel room as an option   

[chester ver2.0]

Hi,
   push the canvas up with a broom occasionally and it will slide off.
A plastic tarp over the canvas will make it easier to shift as it can't get as much traction on the smooth surface.
cheers

Yep this works just do it before bed and usually someone gets up for a pee so they have the duty

[Matto]

Stupid question time.
What happens when your camper is set up and it snows?

Reminds me when I was riding to work every day. People would ask "but what happens when it rains?". Answer - "you get wet".

I think the others have sorted it. Enough weight on the roof most certainly will be able to collapse/bend poles, so the trick is to not let a whole heap pile up on there. 2-3 inches, I would suggest, wouldn't really be something I'd be overly concerned about. As Mace says, keep some heat in the camper and it'll probably melt as it lands.

I assume there'll be a few people sleeping inside? Or is all that canvas just all for you?  With a few bodies, you'll probably have enough heat. Or get yourself a 12v electric blanket for your bed, and make the other suckers freeze.

No first-hand experience in snow in a camper trailer - it's a bit rare up these ways since we bought ours. Was just thinking about this last week though.

Cheers!
Matto

[GGV8Cruza]

As most have pointed out, its best to get up a couple of times during the night to get it off. The attached shows what happened one night when we were swagging it, very cold that night

GG

[ozbogwam]

Not a camper trailer but on a snow camping trip with a done tent that stood 210cm tall at the middle. I went to sleep and woke up the next morning with the roof about 10cm from my face. We had about 15cm of snow over the night.

At least I wasn't in a swag like one of the guys who was buried in the snow. At least he was very warm.