Trailer Parking In Yard

[Buc]

So, I’m planning to relandscape the front corner of our yard. The basic idea is to move our fence line up to the street (to match the neighbor’s fence on that side), and get our trailer parked behind the fence.

There are two aspects of this project relevant to this forum that I’d like to seek advice on.

1. The ground is currently a bit soft: our trailer has dug into the ground about an inch over the winter. Is there a good resource you know of that does a clear job of explaining how to lay a crushed gravel parking pad that will hold up to use?

2. Is wiring an RV power station reasonably straightforward? It would be about a 75 foot run of wiring from our breaker box. I’m thinking about one of those power posts you see at campgrounds that have 50/30 and household power).

I should add that we’re in an area with few building restrictions since we’re outside the city limits, in rural Boulder County.

 

[Buc]

Here’s what the area looks like now after having some trees and a tangle of juniper bushes cleared out. The Sienna is parked about eight feet from the driveway, on gravel.

 

[Bigblockyeti]

For maximum durability a heavy duty landscape fabric should be laid down first then gravel on top. This serves to prevent weeds and keep your gravel from eternally sinking into the earth.

Wiring is pretty straightforward, the required depth varies based on whether or not you use conduit and what kind. A run of that length in only 30A would require 10ga THHN or similar direct burial wire should you go that route. A 50A circuit would require 6ga wire and that is quite bit more expensive nowadays but certainly worth it if you're likely to need it in the future.

 

[Rollin Ollen]

So, I’m planning to relandscape the front corner of our yard. The basic idea is to move our fence line up to the street (to match the neighbor’s fence on that side), and get our trailer parked behind the fence.

There are two aspects of this project relevant to this forum that I’d like to seek advice on.

1. The ground is currently a bit soft: our trailer has dug into the ground about an inch over the winter. Is there a good resource you know of that does a clear job of explaining how to lay a crushed gravel parking pad that will hold up to use?

2. Is wiring an RV power station reasonably straightforward? It would be about a 75 foot run of wiring from our breaker box. I’m thinking about one of those power posts you see at campgrounds that have 50/30 and household power).

I should add that we’re in an area with few building restrictions since we’re outside the city limits, in rural Boulder County.

For ground stability you need to remove the top soil. Clay (or bedrock) for a base will keep your gravel pad firm

Darrell

 

[Neal]

Keep in mind what's overhead, that tree is going to drop all kinds of yuck and also be a path for critters.

 

[Rosy]

I would do a base of road crush tamped down firm. You can probably rent a mechanical tamper from Home Depot.

 

[Dan_Frisbie]

I had to scrape my top layer of dirt off to achieve clearance and then laid down a few inches of “millings” which is ground up asphalt and/or concrete. If you can run a skid-steer, you can smooth it out yourself, then rent a compactor and pack it down tight with lots and LOTS of water. The concrete Millings set up pretty hard, asphalt not quite as hard.
Millings are the road surfaces that are scraped off when a road is being resurfaced.
Get the 1” and below for a good driveway surface.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

For maximum durability a heavy duty landscape fabric should be laid down first then gravel on top. This serves to prevent weeds and keep your gravel from eternally sinking into the earth.

Wiring is pretty straightforward, the required depth varies based on whether or not you use conduit and what kind. A run of that length in only 30A would require 10ga THHN or similar direct burial wire should you go that route. A 50A circuit would require 6ga wire and that is quite bit more expensive nowadays but certainly worth it if you're likely to need it in the future.

A common mistake here! The electricity run is 150 feet when calculated for wire size. To avoid voltage drop I would use 6awg for 30 amp. That only ups the wire size one wire size.

Better yet if you want both 30 and 50 amp service, consider bringing wire for 50 amp (calculate) to the post,and install breakers for the two service outlets. This then eliminates the need for two complete runs of wire.

Road base compressed for the pad, above grade is better.

 

[Scooterfan]

No sure about Colorado...but in our neck of the woods one wouldn't do a project like yours without laying down "gopher wire". YouTube the laying down of road base (various options here) and you get the idea. For your wire run, go heavy

 

[Buc]

No sure about Colorado...but in our neck of the woods one wouldn't do a project like yours without laying down "gopher wire". YouTube the laying down of road base (various options here) and you get the idea. For your wire run, go heavy

There are prairie dogs in the area, but only across the Main Street in the open space areas. There are too many dogs in the neighborhood for them to be active. I’ve only seen squirrels, foxes and rabbits around (and a bear). Our dogs tend to chase them all away.

I’ll ask my neighbor about gopher wire. He installed a gravel parking area a few years ago and hasn’t had any problems.

As for wiring, I’ll certainly use good stuff. I’ll bury it with conduit as well. I’ve cut through live a wire buried in a yard before. Am I correct in understanding that I’d need 100 A fuse and high enough rated wiring for this to be able to run power for the trailer and regular power at the same time?

 

[Kevin D Pem]

The breaker protects the wire. Breaker sized according to wire run not load. If you run a sub panel you will run wire size according to sub panel size. Ask a friend electrician to help with local requirements.

 

[sanda]

So, I’m planning to relandscape the front corner of our yard. The basic idea is to move our fence line up to the street (to match the neighbor’s fence on that side), and get our trailer parked behind the fence.

There are two aspects of this project relevant to this forum that I’d like to seek advice on.

1. The ground is currently a bit soft: our trailer has dug into the ground about an inch over the winter. Is there a good resource you know of that does a clear job of explaining how to lay a crushed gravel parking pad that will hold up to use?

2. Is wiring an RV power station reasonably straightforward? It would be about a 75 foot run of wiring from our breaker box. I’m thinking about one of those power posts you see at campgrounds that have 50/30 and household power).

I should add that we’re in an area with few building restrictions since we’re outside the city limits, in rural Boulder County.

I see Boulder County is starting to go the way of Boulder. Good luck with that.

 

[Bigblockyeti]

What would the "regular power" be, is that for your house? 75 feet is 75 feet, no getting around it, you can use larger wire if you like but the NEC does not require it. This table references different voltage drops at 120V and at 240V, so yes, @75' pulling a full 30A, 120V, you will see a voltage drop slightly over 3%. This shouldn't be dangerous to nor compromise the performance noticably of anything in the camper. There are several other calculators available online.

Voltage Drop Tables

Voltage drop becomes important when the length of a run of wire or cable becomes very long. Usually this is not a problem in circuits within a house, but may become an issue when running wire to an outbuilding, well pump, etc.

www.cerrowire.com

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Wire length is measured to and from the panel. At 75 ft, the minimum 15 ft house cord 5 to 6 ft from ground to breaker! Almost 100 ft times 2 = 200 ft if you want to do a proper calculation.

But for a minute let's consider recent brown out posts!! Cutting corners on infrastructure is why people get boost converters. So what to do? Me thinks build for the job.

This is the quick and dirty way to size for this project!!!

50 Amp Wire Size Details: Gauge, Breaker, 220/240V Example

50 amp is one of the most common amperages we need a gauge, breaker, or a wire for. The key questions regarding the 50 amp wire include: What is a wire size for 50 amps 240 volts? (50 amp wire gauge; NEC code applies) Wire size for 50 amp sub panel 100 feet away? (Here ... Read more

learnmetrics.com

 

[Bigblockyeti]

That was a good read right up until guaranteeing a circuit rated for 50A will be fried by 50A. More so discredited by writing "For every 100 feet, voltage drops by 20%."

 

[Kevin D Pem]

That was a good read right up until guaranteeing a circuit rated for 50A will be fried by 50A. More so discredited by writing "For every 100 feet, voltage drops by 20%."

I am sorry. I would have made a dissertation using the 1990s NEC I used when I worked in the trade. But alas that was then and this day I am a little dimmer in my memory.
No more arguing! If the man desires, he can use an extension cord. Hopefully he learned that the only guarantee one has to a circuit being designed for 50amps, is one not designed by a bunch of people on a forum, that may or may not know what they are talking about. He will be the ultimate judge.

 

[Buc]

Yeah, I’ve understood for a long time that guys on forums like to argue amongst themselves. At least I have a good handle on the construction of a gravel parking strip.

Thanks everyone. I’ll share pics when I start building.