Comparison of Motorhome vs. Fifth Wheel Setup/Teardown Time Requirements

John In Detroit said:

I can tell you some of them are very entertaining indeed.

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Yes John, over the years we have seen many cases where were were having coffee and watching our 5th Wheel neighbors getting ready to leave. After some time the wife co-pilot finally comes out with two cups of coffee and dog(s) in tow and loads into the pickup cab. Then they leave for a long day . We pull out and have a comfortable couch to rest on while the other drives. We can stop for coffee and bathroom and be back on road in minutes.  When we stop for lunch our rig is fully cooled down, we have a sandwich and are back on road in a short time.

But I don't deny the value of 5th wheel when sitting up for long stays of weeks and lessor costs, especially if you have a use for pickup at home, which we don't.

Bob

The only night we've spent in a hotel was at Monaco's expense when they had to tear up and replace the floor tiles in our coach due to a leak. The hotel reservation was made for us by Monaco and we didn't even have to sign anything at the hotel.

wendycoke said:

We've never had to stay at a motel while having work done on either of the motorhomes. Most facilities that take care of motorhomes have hookups sites where you can plug in at night. Once we sat in the motorhome and watched TV, ate lunch, took naps, while they worked underneath on something or other.

OTOH we did have to stay in a motel in Joliet on our anniversary while work was done on our pickup truck.

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I think it's different for someone who is traveling to travel and someone who is traveling to work.  I can't go sit in a motorhome repair place while they replace my ball joints, turbo charger, transmission or whatever is ailing at the time.  I have to be at work at 6:00 am four days a week, and when I get off work at 4:30 I need a place to relax, eat dinner (cooked by my wife and me) and get ready for the next day of work.  If my truck is down, no problem.  I get a rental car and go.  If my trailer is down, well I gotta move everything I need out into a motel and then I don't have cooking facilities. Even if I did have cooking facilities, there's the hassle of moving all the food from the motor home to the hotel (Residence Inn, for example). 

What about oil changes, major services?  I have to put my truck in the shop for that and I take a rental car.  Would someone come to my RV park and do a lube and oil change?  Backflush the cooling system and change the transmission fluid?  I'm set up in the park here and will be for about six months. I don't have time to move my home to a shop for maintenance. Plus I'm paying a half million dollars for a vehicle with an engine that only gets used 3 or 4 times a year most of the time.  I can't afford it, sorry.

If I need work done on the trailer, I hire someone to come to the RV park and fix it while I'm at work that day. 

What about storage?  Is there as much storage in a MH as in a fifth wheel?

Bruce Patterson said:

What about storage?  Is there as much storage in a MH as in a fifth wheel?

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Storage for a 30-foot RV is, well, storage for a 30-foot RV whether it be a MH, TT, or 5er. At least anywhere I've store an RV the cost has been based on the size of the unit, not it's type.

As for "traveling to travel" or "traveling to work," we do both....we work so that we can travel. Of course, we don't have (and never will have) a "half million dollar" vehicle.

Wendy
Cortez Colorado where we're expecting extreme high winds on Tuesday

Bruce Patterson said:

What about oil changes, major services?  .... Would someone come to my RV park and do a lube and oil change?  Backflush the cooling system and change the transmission fluid?

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Bruce, there are a number of mobile services that will do that. I had one such service come to our coach at an FMCA rally last year. That's all the guy does full time.

wendycoke said:

Storage for a 30-foot RV is, well, storage for a 30-foot RV whether it be a MH, TT, or 5er. At least anywhere I've store an RV the cost has been based on the size of the unit, not it's type.

As for "traveling to travel" or "traveling to work," we do both....we work so that we can travel. Of course, we don't have (and never will have) a "half million dollar" vehicle.

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Wendy,

You misunderstand.  I don't want to store my RV, I want to store all my worldly posessions IN my RV since it is my primary residence.  I take my RV to my job location, hook up and go to work and live in the RV while I'm working.  I've looked at motor homes and I've never seen one with all the features of my 5th wheel for less than a half million $$$.  I travel all the way across the country from one job to another, and I have a washer and drier, bathtub, double refrigerator, two entertainment centers, two furnaces, two air conditioners, a walk in closet, an office with a 21" monitor for my laptop docking station and lots and lots and lots of storate (probably at least 10,000 lbs in books alone. 

Also what do you do when you need propane?  When it is 40 below zero, I go through propane like crazy.  I can't unhook my trailer and take it somewhere to get propane like you have to do with a MH.  I take my 3 40 lb bottles and my 100 lb bottle to the store and fill them up.

Bruce Patterson said:

I can't unhook my trailer and take it somewhere to get propane like you have to do with a MH.  I take my 3 40 lb bottles and my 100 lb bottle to the store and fill them up.

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Bruce, most places have a mobile propane service, although it costs $$.

Tom said:

Bruce, there are a number of mobile services that will do that. I had one such service come to our coach at an FMCA rally last year. That's all the guy does full time.

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Tom, what if you are in Cresson, PA or some other remote location?  What if you need major repairs?  Will they do that?  How do you take your propane tanks out and take them to the store?  Also I seriously have never seen a MH with the comforts of my trailer for less than a half million dollars.

Tom said:

Bruce, most places have a mobile propane service, although it costs $$.

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I've been many places that don't.  I can't rely on that.  I was in a small town near Albany for 9 months one time. The temps were well below zero and there was up to three or four feet of snow.  No way a service could have got to my trailer to fill my tanks. I had trouble getting home at night sometimes becasue I didn't have four wheel drive at the time. I had to drive to a gas station once a week with my 100 lb bottle and fill it up to keep from freezing at night.

Bruce,

For the way you're using a "RV" there is no way you can beat a 5th wheel.

I don't think anyone is disputing that point. But for the way most people on the forum use their RVs there is pros and cons between 5th wheels and motor homes. The way we travel we seldom spend more than three or four days at any one place. For the way we travel we decided that a motor home suited us better. If we traveled differently we may have bought a 5th wheel.

Neither one is right or wrong. It's what makes the owner happy and suites their situation the best.

Alaskansnowbirds said:

Bruce,


Neither one is right or wrong. It's what makes the owner happy and suites their situation the best.

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Agreed!

Understood Bruce. I can't imagine staying in the coach in those conditions for an extended period.

Bruce: I don't want to hijack this thread, so will post a sideways request, only, at this time. When you have time and inclination, you could start another very useful thread, that a lot of folks would appreciate.

Reading your posts, you're camping, sometimes, in inclement freezing weather. The conditions you describe indicate that you keep all of your RV services working, in that weather. You have the know how to keep it all going, full time!

Start a thread, someday, on the tricks and knowhow of keeping a camper going in the winter. I for one would appreciate the info!

Ray D.  ;D

Ray D said:

Start a thread, someday, on the tricks and knowhow of keeping a camper going in the winter.

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Ray,

We already have a topic started on that subject here, just waiting for the kind of information that Bruce could provide.

Ned said:

  I hate to think of the results of a jackknife.

I'll take my chances in the motorhome in every case.

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Ned,

Several years ago we saw the results of a travel trailer jackknife on I75. It was over a narrowed bridge heading north. The whole front end of the trailer was gone and the contents strewn all over the highway. Certainly not a good day for the owner.

I agree a motorhome is much easier if one is traveling frequently and much safer at any stop.