Going seasonal questions


sbrenton

New Member
Greetings!

I am trading in my 32' TT and making the change to a 40’ Puma park trailer with two slides. I camp almost every weekend from mid April to late October and it is becoming more difficult to tow the trailer and get onsite at a reasonable time these days. Since I have never been on a seasonal site I wanted to know if there was any “gotcha’s” I should be aware of. I was also unsure about how to care for parts of the trailer. Where it will not be moving is there anything I should do to preserve the tires, chassis, breaks, etc. How should I handle the sewer connection? Should I run a PVC connection from the trailer to the drain and leave the camper drain connections open? Should I wait until the tanks fill up to dump them? Should I support the slides?

I know my dealership will cover a lot of stuff on the delivery but I wanted to hear from the people who are actually maintaining the seasonal campers. I have always found great information here and think this is the best place to get my new questions answered.

Thanks in advance for any help,

-Steve
 

hertig

Senior Member
Re: Going seasonal questions

Some people leave the black tank valve open. This is not a good practice, as the liquids will run right out, and the solids will tend to stay behind and become 'permanent'. It is better to open the black tank valve 'only' when the tank is at least half full. You may be able to get a remote valve if you don't want to walk around to there manually.

More people leave the gray tank valve open. This is a less problematic practice. The downsides are that you don't have anything in the gray tank to clean out the pipes after dumping the black tank, and anything in the sewer system which wants to get out (bugs or smell primarily) can get into your gray tank and possibly trailer.
 

C Nash

Senior Member
Re: Going seasonal questions

Some of the park models come without holding tanks so they would be hooked up to utilities same as a house. Don't know about the Puma.
 

Kirk

Senior Member
Re: Going seasonal questions

Most park models that we have looked at use the same plumbing fixtures as you would find in a house or mobile home and do not have waste tanks. Since it is intended to be in a fixed location and not used for traveling, there is no need for things like waste/water tanks, a water pump and a 12V converter or batteries. The lights are usually all of the 120V type as are all appliances. A park model is just a mini-mobile home.
 

sbrenton

New Member
Re: Going seasonal questions

Thanks for the advice .. :) .... The Puma I am getting is the 39ptbss and is self contained. When I asked the dealer these questions they told me I could leave the tanks open but I think hertig is right and that is not the best thing to do. They also said I do not need to support the slides or frame with anything other than the provided jacks in each corner of the camper. Does anyone have an opinion on that? Should I support the slides or put jacks in the middle of the frame?

thanks and happy camping,
-Steve
 

rjf7g

Senior Member
Re: Going seasonal questions

I have an Innsbruck 36FRS set up permanently on a site (see my post in General RVing). It is my second trailer I have had on the same site (two pop-ups before that, but I don't recommend seasonal camping in a pop-up!). I asked my dealer about supporting the slides and he recommended against it. I added stand jacks at various locations just to eliminate some of the bouncing I started to feel once my park trailer started to settle a bit, but only under the frame, not under the slides.

I treat my holding tanks just as I would if I were not set up permanently and have not had any problems. It's not that big of a deal to wait until a tank gets 2/3 to 3/4 full and then deal with it.

I have chosen to leave my tires on my new park trailer but am keeping them covered. Most people in my campground have left their tires on their trailers on their seasonal sites. Occasionally, someone will pull a trailer out and move it to a different part of the campground but after a few years the tires really aren't road ready.

I have built a deck and installed a shed on my site. What kind of site modifications are you allowed to do? These things make life a lot easier. The shed is great for the "end of season" pack up...I have a set of deck furniture I set up in a screen gazebo on my deck at the beginning of the season, so that goes in to the shed as well as the "shoe bucket" and the cooler and the indoor/outdoor carpet as well as all of my tools.

Enjoy your season!
 
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