Trailer melt water managment question

[HUS457]

Hey group. I upgraded from my clamshell to a 7X14 enclosed. I insulated it &’put a Chinese diesel heater in it. Which works great. Which leads to the issue at hand;

How does everyone manage the snow & ice melt run off?

It’s a bit of a hassle. The snow & ice melts & runs to the tailgate where a bit slowly makes its way out . Then quickly freezes and the melt water backs up on the tailgate & floor. Then every time I need to close the tailgate I need to chip ice away for it to close.

What are your fixes for this? Tx.

 

[twyztid]

I don't have the issue you are talking about but this would likely solve your issue.

 

[HUS457]

I think a hole would freeze over

 

[maim]

this is me just thinking evil but slope the trailer so that the drain hole is sistered into the exhaust hole for the heater. while heater is running it will never freeze. can always plug it up when heater not in use.

 

[HUS457]

I like it. I think you’re onto something.

 

[Scooter02]

I have the same dilemma. I was thinking of drilling a series of holes (thinking 1/2”) in the floor across the back of the trailer in front of the door. Thought was that when the sleds melt off, the water would just drip out the bottom rather than making a dam where the ramp meets the floor.
Thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks, Scott

 

[HUS457]

I like Maim’s idea. I have a small plywood box in the front of my trailer on the floor that houses the heater, battery & some electrical. So I don’t want the water in there. The exhaust runs from there, under the trailer out the passenger side. I’m going to drill a hole large enough to put a black pipe threaded flange in. I’ll put a threaded plug in that flange and a small length of black pipe down to run along side of the exhaust. Ie touching it, up against it. That way the pipe will conduct heat from the exhaust pipe. Enough to prevent melting over anyway. So I’ll lower the tongue jack on the trailer to direct all the water to the front. Take the plug out & drain it. Then put the plug back in & repeat a bit later until it’s all gone. That’s my plan for now.

 

[HUS457]

I ended up using a threaded 4” black pipe flange with a length of 1”x4” pipe as a drain. I capped off the flange inside to use as a plug. The 4” length should have been 6” or even 8” to get it closer to the exhaust. Easy change if need be. I’d post a pic but for some reason I can’t post pictures on this site .

 

[maim]

need to use a picture re sizer app or host them on a picture site and post links here.

 

[RobX-1]

Or, if posting from your computer, just use Windows Snipping tool to snip your orginal high-res picture and then use the snipped image to post here.