winter storage - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

Hidonlo · 10-30-2014, 07:37 PM

Should use anything inside the camper like mouse killer and drying agents??

hilltool · 10-30-2014, 09:14 PM

I make sure I take all food out. I dislike leaving Mose poison as I don't like the idea of one dying in the wall. I'm not sure what you mean by drying agents. For what.

RichR · 10-30-2014, 09:32 PM

Take everything out that mice can chew on like paper, towels, food, or anything they can use to build a nest. Place Bounce brand fabric softener sheet in cupboards and any place mice can hole up in. I don't think they can take the strong fragrance. I can't say for sure that Bounce works but we have never had mice in this trailer. I wouldn't use traps or poison. If you are storing under cover it is better to crack open a window and a roof vent and let the air circulate. I have used Damp-Rid but I don't think it is that effective. Maybe if you put a large container of it in and change it regularly it could help.

allenr · 10-31-2014, 09:03 AM

Two words, glue traps! I have used bait to kill the mice and found it stockpiled the way small critters will stockpile acorns. For reasons I don't understand mice killed with bait often die in the middle of an open space.
I have no faith in dryer sheets, but they do smell nice.
Glue traps with the plastic trays are the best thing I have found. Mice can chew there way out of a trap made with a paper product. I keep a lot of traps in the trailer when not camping, and when camping I will still have traps in out of the way places. Catch a mouse, throw it out, and they are not that expensive

Hidonlo · 10-31-2014, 09:51 AM

Thanks all for the info. Can mice really get in? I have been all over the trailer and have no gaps.

JackandJanet · 10-31-2014, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hidonlo

Thanks all for the info. Can mice really get in? I have been all over the trailer and have no gaps.

Yes, they can. Look under the bathroom sink where the drain exits the trailer. In mine, there's an opening you can almost drive a truck through (at least a mouse sized truck). I have the same kind of opening where the drain exits the trailer under the kitchen sink.

The fresh and hot water piping has similar openings, but they are much smaller. Still, mice don't need much space to get in.

- Jack

jffh · 10-31-2014, 04:00 PM

Hello, new to the site. Just bought a 2310 from a older couple that used the trailer 3 times. Super nice and very happy with it. When he put it away for the winter, he put it up on jack stands so the tires had a weight on them but not the full load. What do others do? Is this a good idea, or needed? tires are original and have very few miles on them. Trailer always stored inside in a heated building. Thanks for your comments/ideas.

RichR · 10-31-2014, 05:09 PM

Welcome to the Forum!

You will probably get varying opinions on this subject. Taking the weight off the tires and axles may benefit them but is not good for the trailer frame. I would jack the tire pressure up a few pounds and park the trailer on boards to keep them off the ground. Goodyear recommends adding 25% to the recommended tire pressure which is 50 pounds. Also, put covers on the tires to keep the sun from deteriorating them.

RCREYES · 10-31-2014, 05:20 PM

I bought the plastic cutting boards at Big Lots and keep my tires on them. Rich is so right about the possibility of tweaking the frame if on jacks.

RichR · 10-31-2014, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCREYES

I bought the plastic cutting boards at Big Lots and keep my tires on them. Rich is so right about the possibility of tweaking the frame if on jacks.

Those cutting boards work great under the stabilizers also.

Luckydog671 · 10-31-2014, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hidonlo

Thanks all for the info. Can mice really get in? I have been all over the trailer and have no gaps.

They don't need need much of a gap. Back when I had my Lazy Daze, I found a cozy mouse nest, complete with mama and babies, in the oven!

RichR · 11-01-2014, 07:11 AM

I recently read that mice can squeeze through an opening the diameter of a pencil.

hilltool · 11-01-2014, 03:09 PM

Why the cutting boards as opposed to the plastic leveler squares or wood, for that matter? just curious.

rick

specter1000 · 11-12-2014, 10:09 AM

I can say those glue traps are great! I never thought of putting them in the trailer, but I will now. I live in the country and those dang mice get inside my basement every winter! I have sealed up every place imagineable, and have found one spot I think they get in, they've pulled away the weather strip along a door and slip in behind it on the hinge side...which is really tiny!

One hint when setting glue traps, mice like to run down the edge of a wall, so I set my traps at a spot where they have to funnel through a narrow opening along a wall edge, like a gap along a cabinet and wall...catches them every single time. Can't count how many I caught...now to put it to work in the hi-lo.