Winter Motorcoach Travel

Winter Motorcoaching  

by Guest Writer Mark Layton 

Mark and Darlene Layton were proud Country Coach owners for many years. Always avid winter sports enthusiasts, they made good use of their motorcoach throughout the winter. Mark authored this article he’s shared within this newsletter some time ago. Mark told us recently, “We are still wintering in Colorado and have a house in Glenwood Springs not too far from the ski areas. We enjoyed many ski adventures over the years while wintering in our Country Coach motorhome.”

     I meet people all the time that don’t understand that you can use your coach to go skiing or whatever you like to do in the winter at temperatures below freezing. I have been skiing out of a motorhome since 1970 and thought that I would like to pass on some of the things that I have learned. First of all, we are very fortunate to own a coach that is well insulated and makes things easier. You have to remember coach manufacturers don’t put a lot of priority into ensuring that nothing freezes, since most of their sales are to people that go to warm climates. When I ordered my last coach, a 2000 Magna with a kitchen slide and heated floor, I made sure certain things were done before I took delivery. The nice thing is they can all be done to any coach and at any time. 

     Besides what was done at the factory I had my tires siped* which helped a lot. You are going to say what the heck is that. That is exactly what I said when I first heard about it from a highway patrol officer in Idaho. One day I was talking to the officer and asked what kind of chains they use. His answer was, “We don’t use chains; we have our tires siped and therefore don’t need chains.” So I went to Les Schwab in Junction City and asked about it and was told most truckers get the tires siped for better traction. Since then I’ve found my tires wear better due to running cooler, and I have better traction on slick or wet roads.

   The freeze protection all manufacturers put in your coach is fine to a point. It takes care of the water and holding tanks but not the water pump. Since the water pump is at the lowest point of your service bay it will freeze if you don’t give it extra protection. There’s a small 12 volt heater available which I installed and hooked up to the thermostat to take care of freeze protection in the service bay.

     Your hot and cold water lines will need protection if you have a kitchen slide. We heat-taped all water lines to the slide and put insulation around them. Remember your refrigerator has a water line that goes to the icemaker. This line is plastic and you have to replace it with copper tubing before you can heat tape it as the plastic line will fail from the heat tape (I found this out the hard way). These are things you should do before going to really cold climate. Other things you should have ready when you get there are 60 watt light bulbs, three or four small electric heaters and a good snow shovel. Even though we don’t travel when it is snowing it is nice to be able to keep your place clean around the coach. Since I retired we don’t have to travel when the weather or roads are bad so that is not a problem. I carry a set of chains just in case they’ve been unused since we got the Magna.

      You ask what in the world are the light bulbs for? They are to plug into your bays. I get the light bulb attachments that have a socket on one side and two prongs on the other so you can plug them into any outlet. Usually the 60 watt bulbs are enough to keep things from freezing in your bays.

     Just about all the places we go have 50 amp hook ups. I put one of the electric heaters in the service bay and one in the bay that has the water filter. I found that at 25 below things will freeze even with the light bulbs going. As far as the service bay is concerned, you would not have to use the heater but why use your propane or diesel if you have power available? The heaters in the outside bays are plugged into a 30 amp cord with the right adapter (available at all camping stores). All the hook-ups I have seen have a 50 and 30 amp outlet. I use both 50 amp for the coach and 30 amp for the heaters. That way I don’t overload the coach breakers. I use two electric heaters in the coach to cut down on cost for diesel or propane and need to move the coach for refueling. 

    The other thing that is a must is to protect your cooling unit of your refrigerator. The manufacturer of the refrigerator tells you that all you have to do is to turn the switch on which keeps the light on inside the refrigerator. I found that not to be good enough in real cold weather. I use the foam insolating tubing that they use for water pipe and cut it to the right length and cover all but one row of the outside vents. Then I also put a light bulb in the area where the cooling unit is to keep it from freezing. No matter what someone may tell you, I have seen too many cooling units freeze and have to be replaced. Two years ago when we had a real cold spell in Breckenridge the service truck replaced at least five or six units in one day at the cost of about $2000.00 each. Mine was not one of these needing replaced; it was working fine--and still is.

    Now what to do about filling with fresh water and dumping. I see a lot of people making up and using water hoses with heat tape and insulation. I also see the problems they have some of the time with the faucets freezing because they are designed to drain back and are not freeze proof when the water is left on. I fill with water and dump when I need to and empty the hoses and put them away till I need them again. I do it this way so as to eliminate any chance of problems.

Since we usually go to the hot tub after a hard day of skiing and take our showers there, we don’t use a lot of water and therefore don’t have to fill and dump that often. Sometimes we do dry camp in the winter when we know that it is not going to get too cold. Then you have to be prepared to run your generator more often.

    If you have a kitchen slide, bring your kitchen slide in at night when temperatures are at their lowest, so that your furnace will keep everything in good working order.

    After I retired, we went to Tiger Run RV Resort in Breckenridge, CO for longer periods of time and found that there were only a hand full of RVers there in the winter.  As I originally wrote this, there were at least 50 to 75 RVs there all winter long. Tiger Run has an indoor pool, hot tubs and clubhouse. We enjoyed wine and cheese parties every Wednesday evening all winter long.

    There are quite a few RV parks near ski areas that are open in the winter. You will find if you prepare and do the things I have been talking about you will enjoy your coach just as much in the winter as in the summer.

We enjoyed our motorcoach in all seasons, Mark & Darlene

**What does the term “siping your tires” mean? Increased traction and increased tire life due to improved heat dissipation from siped lugs are a couple purported benefits of siping. Many all-season, mud+snow, and all-terrain tires marketed today are siped in the factory mold, yet few mud terrain tires are siped. Tire siping involves cutting small slits, or grooves, into tread blocks of tires to improve traction in adverse weather conditions. Sipes allow the tread blocks to spread on contact with the ground, helping expel water from the tread and providing better grip. The simplest way to sipe tires is to take them to a reputable tire shop like Dickman TireCenter in Junction City OR and have them cut. Be sure to check with the tires’ warranty issuer (manufacturer or tire retailer) before siping. Policies on tire warranty may be affected or warranty could be voided if the tires are altered.