Drying Gear in Your Trailer

[boondocker97]

Seems most of the new, high-end enclosed trailers have gear drying systems in them. How well do these systems actually work for everyone and do you count on them to get your gear dry before riding for the next day?

My riding group typically does day trips anymore so everyone peels their gear off and it goes in a bag and home that night. However, on the last overnight trip I did two of the guys left their gear in the dryers of the Trails West trailer we were using. Their stuff wasn't quite all the way dry the next day after the heater timed out. Is this pretty common? Doesn't really seem like a worthwhile feature in that case.

I sweat so much I pretty much have to get my gear inside and fully laid out or it won't be dry the next day. Boots have to go on a dedicated boot dryer over night too. My experience may be different though because I sweat like it's my job when I'm riding. I even wear minimal layers and non-insulated gear.

 

[RBalazs]

Seems most of the new, high-end enclosed trailers have gear drying systems in them. How well do these systems actually work for everyone and do you count on them to get your gear dry before riding for the next day?

My riding group typically does day trips anymore so everyone peels their gear off and it goes in a bag and home that night. However, on the last overnight trip I did two of the guys left their gear in the dryers of the Trails West trailer we were using. Their stuff wasn't quite all the way dry the next day after the heater timed out. Is this pretty common? Doesn't really seem like a worthwhile feature in that case.

I sweat so much I pretty much have to get my gear inside and fully laid out or it won't be dry the next day. Boots have to go on a dedicated boot dryer over night too. My experience may be different though because I sweat like it's my job when I'm riding. I even wear minimal layers and non-insulated gear.

I have a 28 foot burandt trailer and the heaters in there work pretty darn well and the timer is in hours, so I mean you can turn it on for up to 10 hours. I crank it so when I’m driving home it’s running and then if it’s not dry when I get home I just turn it on for whatever period of time I think it will need to dry. Another thing for properly drying is keeping a roof vent cracked to get the moisture out, which can be tough because your sleds probably have snow on it.

 

[IDspud]

Have 7-9 sleds and gear in my tw and we hang in trailer to keep cabin and back and forth simpler. Driving home and 6 hours at night always drys them out. Then I start heater right before breakfast to warm clothes and trailer back up to ride. Sleds warm and dry is really nice when it’s below zero.

70 gal propane tank in truck bed gets filled once a year.

 

[IDspud]

I also leave a small barn heater running to help circulate and dry air once furnace cycles out when near 110.

 

[davem4notw]

Have 7-9 sleds and gear in my tw and we hang in trailer to keep cabin and back and forth simpler. Driving home and 6 hours at night always drys them out. Then I start heater right before breakfast to warm clothes and trailer back up to ride. Sleds warm and dry is really nice when it’s below zero.

70 gal propane tank in truck bed gets filled once a year.

Just bought an enclosed trailer last Nov without a heater system or cabinet/shelves. What is best, a propane or diesel heater system? Hearing advantages are greater with the newer diesel heaters! Thanks!

 

[christopher]

Only thing I have found is that if the temp is REALLY LOW, then I need to run a small honda EU2000 for additional electricity as the furnace will DRAIN the dual batteries on the 28ft trailers when run overnight.

And make sure you have some manner of VENT to blow out the warm moist air and pull in dry cold air over the course of the evening.

 

[ratlover]

Just bought an enclosed trailer last Nov without a heater system or cabinet/shelves. What is best, a propane or diesel heater system? Hearing advantages are greater with the newer diesel heaters! Thanks!

The “new” diesel heaters are Chinese knock offs after the patents expired. They are really cheap compared to the original espar and webasto. The Chinese units have some units that are all in one fuel tank and all or just the heater. to install a non Chinese diesel heater in a trailer that doesn’t already have a fuel system in it to tap into you are needing to add a tank too so that adds to cost and complexity. They make gasoline heaters too but don’t think there is a Chinese one. Search the net or youtube for Chinese diesel heater and there are tons of info

I prefer not to buy Chinese knock off products if possible most times. I went with a propex propane unit. From what I have read it should work slightly better at altitude and burn a bit cleaner than diesel units. Also from what I read it uses a bit less electricity. Propane is less energy dense than diesel so it won’t be as easy on fuel. Plumbing wise it saves me from putting a fuel tank in as well since the webasto or espar dont have all in one units like the Chinese units do. I bought mine from van cafe that has a “high altitude” modification. I asked em what it is, they were very vague I think trying to protect what ever mod they do. Probably something simple like an orfice change or something but its a cheap mod so I didn’t push the issue and just bought it since I don’t care. I have used my propane fired furnace in my rv at 10k feet no issue so im sure the propex will work fine.

Going to try to install it this week. Will update when I finally get it put in.

Don’t use mr buddy type heaters to dry things. They put a ton of moisture in the air. Like an insane amount.

 

[boondocker97]

I didn't think about the furnace running on the batteries/inverter. That's probably why my buddy didn't have it running longer than 2 hours when we got to the motel.

Ventilation for the humidity is real too, and something you don't really think about much. In both my older enclosed and a trails west we've had 5 sleds melding off overnight when it was real cold at night and it froze the spots the water was draining out. Opened the trailers the next morning and there was a pool of water several inches deep in each of them on the downhill end. Very humid in there then! Also prompted me to drill some 1/2 holes across the back by the rear door for drainage when we put the floor tiles down.

Since 1999 our old trailer has had two 30,000 BTU blue flame heaters mounted in it. They keep it plenty warm in there only turned 1/2 way up, but there isn't any air movement and it will burn your eyes after a while. They also create humidity.

Just picked up one of these to mount up in the front part of the gooseneck similar to how the Logan trailers have the Hot Dawg heaters. https://www.mrheater.com/catalog/pr...big-maxx-natural-gas-unit-heater/category/92/
Northern Tool has them on sale for about $400. Can't run it down the road, but should be fine anytime it's parked.



Trailer has three 40lb propane bottles and an on-board generator so might as well put them to work! The blue flames will probably stay in place as backup or if we don't want to fire up the generator. There's a vent close to where this new heater will be mounted that we could crack and then crack a roof vent in the back and I think it would cycle some fresh, dry air through. Also have a couple 7.5" 12V fans strategically placed to push heat down and back in the trailer (trailer has a pretty tall ceiling). Probably won't get this mounted in there for at least another month with all the other irons I have in the fire, but should be nice when it's done.

 

[davem4notw]

The “new” diesel heaters are Chinese knock offs after the patents expired. They are really cheap compared to the original espar and webasto. The Chinese units have some units that are all in one fuel tank and all or just the heater. to install a non Chinese diesel heater in a trailer that doesn’t already have a fuel system in it to tap into you are needing to add a tank too so that adds to cost and complexity. They make gasoline heaters too but don’t think there is a Chinese one. Search the net or youtube for Chinese diesel heater and there are tons of info

I prefer not to buy Chinese knock off products if possible most times. I went with a propex propane unit. From what I have read it should work slightly better at altitude and burn a bit cleaner than diesel units. Also from what I read it uses a bit less electricity. Propane is less energy dense than diesel so it won’t be as easy on fuel. Plumbing wise it saves me from putting a fuel tank in as well since the webasto or espar dont have all in one units like the Chinese units do. I bought mine from van cafe that has a “high altitude” modification. I asked em what it is, they were very vague I think trying to protect what ever mod they do. Probably something simple like an orfice change or something but its a cheap mod so I didn’t push the issue and just bought it since I don’t care. I have used my propane fired furnace in my rv at 10k feet no issue so im sure the propex will work fine.

Going to try to install it this week. Will update when I finally get it put in.

Don’t use mr buddy type heaters to dry things. They put a ton of moisture in the air. Like an insane amount.

Thanks for the info. Yeah I’m not a china product fan either. I’ll probably do the same with a propane unit. Let us know how yours turns out with pics if you can. Thanks!

 

[BeartoothBaron]

I've got the Modine Hot Dawg version of that downstairs in my garage. I think I put it in five years ago, and it's been perfect so far. It's "Assembled in USA," which may not mean much, but hopefully a few more American jobs involved...

 

[SLDHVN]

I didn't think about the furnace running on the batteries/inverter. That's probably why my buddy didn't have it running longer than 2 hours when we got to the motel.

Ventilation for the humidity is real too, and something you don't really think about much. In both my older enclosed and a trails west we've had 5 sleds melding off overnight when it was real cold at night and it froze the spots the water was draining out. Opened the trailers the next morning and there was a pool of water several inches deep in each of them on the downhill end. Very humid in there then! Also prompted me to drill some 1/2 holes across the back by the rear door for drainage when we put the floor tiles down.

Since 1999 our old trailer has had two 30,000 BTU blue flame heaters mounted in it. They keep it plenty warm in there only turned 1/2 way up, but there isn't any air movement and it will burn your eyes after a while. They also create humidity.

Just picked up one of these to mount up in the front part of the gooseneck similar to how the Logan trailers have the Hot Dawg heaters. https://www.mrheater.com/catalog/pr...big-maxx-natural-gas-unit-heater/category/92/
Northern Tool has them on sale for about $400. Can't run it down the road, but should be fine anytime it's parked.

View attachment 415842

Trailer has three 40lb propane bottles and an on-board generator so might as well put them to work! The blue flames will probably stay in place as backup or if we don't want to fire up the generator. There's a vent close to where this new heater will be mounted that we could crack and then crack a roof vent in the back and I think it would cycle some fresh, dry air through. Also have a couple 7.5" 12V fans strategically placed to push heat down and back in the trailer (trailer has a pretty tall ceiling). Probably won't get this mounted in there for at least another month with all the other irons I have in the fire, but should be nice when it's done.

Just finishing installing this in my 8x24. Ran a test cycle with it so far, its quiet and it puts out lots of heat. Looking forward to seeing how it performs.

 

[TurboSportTSi]

I didn't think about the furnace running on the batteries/inverter. That's probably why my buddy didn't have it running longer than 2 hours when we got to the motel.

Ventilation for the humidity is real too, and something you don't really think about much. In both my older enclosed and a trails west we've had 5 sleds melding off overnight when it was real cold at night and it froze the spots the water was draining out. Opened the trailers the next morning and there was a pool of water several inches deep in each of them on the downhill end. Very humid in there then! Also prompted me to drill some 1/2 holes across the back by the rear door for drainage when we put the floor tiles down.

Since 1999 our old trailer has had two 30,000 BTU blue flame heaters mounted in it. They keep it plenty warm in there only turned 1/2 way up, but there isn't any air movement and it will burn your eyes after a while. They also create humidity.

Just picked up one of these to mount up in the front part of the gooseneck similar to how the Logan trailers have the Hot Dawg heaters. https://www.mrheater.com/catalog/pr...big-maxx-natural-gas-unit-heater/category/92/
Northern Tool has them on sale for about $400. Can't run it down the road, but should be fine anytime it's parked.

Trailer has three 40lb propane bottles and an on-board generator so might as well put them to work! The blue flames will probably stay in place as backup or if we don't want to fire up the generator. There's a vent close to where this new heater will be mounted that we could crack and then crack a roof vent in the back and I think it would cycle some fresh, dry air through. Also have a couple 7.5" 12V fans strategically placed to push heat down and back in the trailer (trailer has a pretty tall ceiling). Probably won't get this mounted in there for at least another month with all the other irons I have in the fire, but should be nice when it's done.

Good call on the floor holes in the rear (and love the floor tile idea!). I did the same thing, but have them draining into insulated trough drains with heat tape inside to keep the water from freezing as it drains. Insulated floor has made that a game changer! 3 sleds melting overnight makes for a pretty good ice rink in the morning and otherwise doesn't care about floor drains.

For my trailer, I sort of copied the Burandt / Mirage setups with dedicated boot and glove dryers, as well as small computer fans under each helmet storage bay. All of that seems to work fairly well. Nothing special for the clothing aside from stealing a bit of flow from the glove/boot dryer piping underneath via holes. Surprisingly, I haven't had issues with it drying out, and I am a heavy sweater.

I would make two changes if I were to do it again: Two smaller furnaces instead of one big boy, so you can get the same capacity if needed, but just run one to keep some heated air circulating for longer. I probably need to upgrade the thermostat from the ultra basic RV model to allow the furnace fan to run on a timer instead of only when the furnace is lit. That, and install a fan or two for additional circulation. You will probably see a similar issue with that Hot Dawg style unless you plan for circulation. 80* in the trailer doesn't do much if the air is stagnant and all the heat is up high.

Digit9 had a radiator shroud & dual rad fan setup that hinged down from the ceiling that I was considering copying. I generally like to design a bit cleaner than that, but my neck being as red as it is allows for such divergences at times.