Storing in a clamshell trailer

[PMaine]

I have a camp up north and I want to store my sleds there this season. I have a clamshell trailer and I was planning to use that to keep the sleds in while I am away. I am going to hook the tongue of the trailer to a tree so it can't move while loading/unloading.

Anyone done this before and if so, was it worth the trouble or are covers and outdoor storage a better bet? I can see snow piling up around the trailer halfway through the season and causing issues.

 

[Doc Harley]

Well.....two annoying possibilities can happen.

1) snow on top of clamshell will get very heavy. No big deal.

2) sometimes during a thaw. Ice will form at joint between deck & top. This can be a nightmare. You don't even want to know.

 

[SAB1]

That's where I store mine. Never had a problem. Have to shovel the snow a bit when it gets deep. I keep the front of the trailer clear so I can get it out if some one were to break down I need to go get them. One year we had rain on top of a good snow that froze like a rock so shoveling wasnt possible. I just hooked truck up and pulled trailer forward to get them in/out and then backed back into position.

 

[PMaine]

Thanks guys. The way my driveway is I will need to have the tongue sticking into the woods so once it's there for the season I don't think I will be getting it out, and I am okay with that.

 

[yamadoo]

My only issue was the rain or melt ice of the mating surfaces of the top and bed. This was with a TopCap on Triton trailer. I just kept a pry bar in the area not in the trailer.that was after breaking off the handle by trying to pull it open.
Did store in it for 25 yrs.

 

[Motorboat]

I have a buddy that keeps a piece of wood between the deck and the shell so it can't freeze shut.

 

[Doc Harley]

OMG! Then it freezes up. It's over. May as well go back home. Or tear up the trailer. You decide.
I was able to bring my trailer inside. The other time it froze overnight, I went insane......

 

[nydiver]

We had a cap that stuck inside the lip of the trailer, froze solid every freakin time and we'd be out there with a plumbers propane torch melting it away. Then I got a length of heat tape for pipes and zip tied it right against the inside of the bottom rail, plug it in thursday night, and friday after work it was good to go. Also later added a skirt of cove molding on so it hung over the trailer rails, I don't think my friend used the heat tape all last year, the snow and water just couldn't get down there to freeze the top to the deck. I put a sno cap on mine and I've never had any issues with it, I did put some jelly silicone lube on the zippers and they never froze up.

 

[Riceburner]

I have a buddy that keeps a piece of wood between the deck and the shell so it can't freeze shut.

That is what I did when I owned a clam shell.
Three narrow shingles, one each side , one center.
Worked like a charm.