Wisconsin Winter Camping

[bellhop]

We have a 2019 Zinger Travel Trailer with two slide-outs. In Wisconsin the weather is pretty cold and miserable during Jan, Feb. During the winter months, I winterize the whole trailer, drain the water, put the sides in etc. On a few occasions we wanted to "winter" camp since we have a fireplace and propane heater. We don't use water, and have an outdoor porta-potty to solve our bathroom needs. The one caveat is that when we arrive we'll put the slides out. By the time the weekend is done, some of the snow on the roof has melted on to the slides and froze. So, when it comes time to leave, we try and put the slides in but it's not an easy operation. The seals are frozen, there's ice on the roof of the slides etc. We've only camped twice this way, and I really feel nervous every time I try and put those slides back in. Anyone have any ideas or solutions? We thought about just leaving them out, or maybe buying outdoor heating pads to place on the roof to keep the ice from forming.

 

[Matt]

My first thought is that you must have electric slide outs, mine are hydraulic and that fluid doesn't work very well in freezing conditions so I wouldn't be able to winter camp. I guess my only suggestion would be to sweep the roof before you left home and obviously only camped if it wasn't going to snow. I'm also thinking that these RV's that we have aren't really designed to use in freezing weather but that is your call. Good luck