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All weather camping.

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David Rotelle

All weather camping.
« on: January 30, 2017, 08:22:06 pm »
Just pulled into our cozy site in Old Forge NY.....Eight Degrees and dropping :)

Will give you a report on how our Cruiser performed tomorrow................
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swiftboot

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Re: All weather camping.
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2017, 08:42:22 pm »
Dave, not sure I have ever seen "cozy" and "8 degrees & dropping" used in the same sentence. ;)  it will be interesting to see how your water lines and tanks fair.  I winterized when 30 degrees was predicted here.:)
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ron-n-toni

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Re: All weather camping.
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2017, 08:44:55 am »
A group of us were snowmobiling in Old Forge in 1979 (I think) when it broke an all time record of minus 52. It was so cold the big power lines across the mountains snapped and the power went out in the whole area. My wife and two boys and I were in a Lance pick up camper at the time. We had electric blankets, an electric heater, plus the propane unit heater when it started to get cold in the middle of the night. Propane heater barely kept us warm enough. Had the leave the next day because there was no gas for machines, no diners were open, and too cold to sit around. Hope you fare better. We liked the Big Moose road to the Stillwater or speed runs at the airstrip.
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David Rotelle

Re: All weather camping.
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2017, 05:41:27 pm »
Ron, 

Thanks for sharing your experience in Old Forge. Although we were traveling through Old Forge on our way to Lake Placid this time we have been to Big Moose and Still Water a number of times over the years they're both beautiful places. We have been snowmobiling in Old Forge and Tug Hill since the early nineties and never saw it colder than 4 below that I can remember.....  This morning when we left our camp site at 6:00 am it was 3 below. On our way to Lake Placid the temp fluctuated between 13 and 19 below.

Amazing nothing in the cruiser froze. The water worked fine, the slide and jacks worked fine as well. We ran two small electric heaters one in the bedroom and one in the living area throughout the night. I also kept the furnace set to 72 degrees, yes I'm happy to report it was very cozy  :)



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David Rotelle

Re: All weather camping.
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2017, 05:52:35 pm »
Sorry I meant to include these pictures.
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rdalton

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Re: All weather camping.
« Reply #5 on: February 01, 2017, 06:06:13 am »
David,

This is like a scientific experiment!  :lol Keep us posted! ;)
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David Rotelle

Re: All weather camping.
« Reply #6 on: February 01, 2017, 01:04:13 pm »
Our Cruiser is back home now parked in our barn. Other than needing a thorough cleaning top to bottom everything is fine, no leaks or extra squeaks..........all is good.

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rdalton

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Re: All weather camping.
« Reply #7 on: February 01, 2017, 01:25:17 pm »
How was it sleeping overnight?  What was your preferred source of heat?  C'mon man!  You have good info you're not sharing! haha!
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Pax

Re: All weather camping.
« Reply #8 on: February 02, 2017, 06:48:39 am »
And how was it traveling on snowy roads?

     - Mike
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David Rotelle

Re: All weather camping.
« Reply #9 on: February 02, 2017, 05:25:29 pm »
 I'm not sure if its the duel rear wheels and the extra weight of a motorhome but it did exceptionally well. We were in some semi packed snow at the campground that was several inches deep and several snow covered roads with no issues.
I was especially mindful of stopping with all the weight behind me but stopping/skidding was never an issue either.

I felt comfortable driving on back roads and the highway.

Very impressed all around!

Dave
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David Rotelle

Re: All weather camping.
« Reply #10 on: February 02, 2017, 05:41:45 pm »
These roads did not have snow on them but WOW was it an incredibly beautiful drive!!

We now have 18,000 + miles on our Cruiser in less than a year, using it in the winter certainly adds to the bottom line.
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4X4Diversion

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Re: All weather camping.
« Reply #11 on: February 02, 2017, 10:07:48 pm »
Our winter camping experiences did not go quite as well as yours :)
Driving back from southern Utah to Wyoming just after New Year day, we pulled over at a Flying J truck stop to spend the night. We were dry camping having winterized in southern Utah before hitting the road. We  awoke around 4 am due to being cold. The furnace was not working due to dead battery. Started the truck engine which warmed up the coach well.
After I got home I started wondering why the battery discharged so fast -- loads were only furnace fan, fridge compressor and a few lights. Did I mention  that it was -20 degrees F. Took a look at the Lifeline battery specs -- at -20 F the batteries only give you 40% of normal capacity. To make matters worse the required charging voltage is above 15V when you are below 0 degrees -- since alternator puts out 13.5 to 15 volts (I have heard) I don't think the batteries were being charged as we drove down the road.  Another concern is that the temperature at which you can freeze your battery goes up as percent charge level goes down -- at 25% charge level the batteries will freeze at 9 degrees F!
On the good side our 4X4 rig performed perfectly on many days driving on snow packed roads.
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David Rotelle

Re: All weather camping.
« Reply #12 on: February 03, 2017, 09:34:14 am »
Our first new Motorhome was a 29' 1997 Winnebago Minnie Winnie, we loved that Motorhome. We took a few years off from motor homing from 2000 to 2005 because of being tied down to our Dairy. In 2006 we purchased a Fleetwood Tioga from my Cousin who owned a Fleetwood dealership. We have since owned a couple of used Born Frees and now our Cruiser.

We have always kept our Motorhomes plugged in when not in use, stored under roof in one of our barns. We have had some coach batteries that needed to be replaced over the years but for the most part we have not had any problems with pipes freezing or battery trouble.

I realize there are varied opinions and different ways to care for our coaches and mine may not be the best, so far we have been very fortunate. Earlier in the week when we spent the night in NY we were plugged in throughout the night at our campsite. The temp dropped to about -4.

 The next day we were parked at White Face Mountain in Lake Placid. When we arrived at 8:30 am it was about -8. We chose to run our Generator while we were skiing. We had two small electric heaters running and the furnace set to about 60 degrees.

When we returned to the Cruiser at 3:00 in the afternoon to my delight the Generator was still running and the temp in the coach was 70 degrees, outside temp was about 15 degrees.

We have spent some nights dry camping in cold and hot weather, generally we run the generator throughout the night when we're not plugged in. 

Dave
 
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