Moving into a Keystone Montana Fifthwheel May 1st - RV-Dreams Community Forum

CaptainRandy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Moving into a Keystone Montana Fifthwheel May 1st

Paul and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome to the forums. We are a nice, friendly, bunch and you'll get a ton of good information here.

Oh, and as an afterthought (hence the "edit") which Montana did you choose? We have a Montana (see signature) and love it.

Paul

-- Edited by Paul and Jo on Sunday 3rd of April 2011 01:02:29 PM

53 Merc · RV-Dreams Family Member

OOOH man, you are brave. -30? My word!! You might consider what I did. We built a metal, insulated building and park inside. Our max low this past winter was -14 and we had no problems at all.

laurly · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome! We hope to get a Montana as well, soon as the houses sell. Hopefully that won't take forever!

Racerguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome to the forum.We have a great family here. As for living in your Montana in that cold weather all I can say you will need to get a large propane bottle if at all possible.I have a Ceder Creek that is very comparable to the Montana in structure and build quality.This winter in Northern Florida we had a cold snap where for a couple weeks it got down to the low 20's at night and only in to the 40's during the day.We were burning a 30 lb.bottle every 3 days and that was supplimenting with electric heaters.Good luck and welcome to the club.

CaptainRandy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hi

Tnx's for the reply - we are getting a Montana 3750FL model with the living room up front & 5 slides.

We have already ordered a custom skirt to enclose the bottom and will be putting a few heat lamps under there to add a little warmth. the Montana has a 2" heater vent routed into the floor space and totally enclosed bottom. We are planniing on getting our local propane dealer to set a 100 gallon tank next to the unit.

We will also have one or two radiator type oil filled heaters to keep mom and the katt compy - the Montana comes with a 5,000 BTUelectric heater that looks like a fireplace.

Workinrvers · RV-Dreams Family Member

Capt. Randy, Welcome to the forum. If you have not done so yet, check out the Montana Owners site here http://montanaadministrator.forumco.com/ lot's of good folks and good info specific to Montana's.

We have a 3400RL but my wife really fell for the front living room floor plan of your unit so one may be in our future. You know what they say, "happy wife, happy life" biggrin

We have lived in ours through 2 Indiana winters but nothing close to -30 brrrrrrrr, that's cold!

Sounds like you are thinking ahead and getting prepared. We go through a 100lb LP tank in about 10 days when the temps drop into the teens and single digits. Our water hose is heat taped and we also have the 5th wheel skirted w/ vinyl.

I do not use the slinky style plastic sewer hose in the winter. I attach a 3" pvc pipe and this has a good slope to the sewer pipe to provide for good drainage, this way I can leave my grey water vavles open all the time. I empty our black tank about every 7 days, just wait for the "burp" when you flush and you'll know it's time to drain. smile

Keep us posted on your new adventure.

Phil

CaptainRandy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hi

Thanks for the tip on the PVC pipe - easy and inexpensive fix.

We won't be taking delivery until April 29th, after a 1,600 mile drive from North Georgia in a Subaru wih 3 dogs and a cat.

I'm glad we have the summer to gear up for winter - we will be about 1 1/2 hours from Jackson Hole and 3 hours from Yellowstone and the Tetons.

Ckerr · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome to the family! We have a Keystone Fuzion. Just got it out of the shop after having a slide repaired. Keep an eye on the vertical corners of the slides. Not the most water-tight joint out there. The repair vacility suggested sealing the others with silicon. That's my project for tomorrow!

CaptainRandy · RV-Dreams Family Member

I'll be sure to keep an eye out for leaks, we will have 5 slides to keep track of .....

Course here in the high plains desert we get about 6 inches of rain a year!!!!!

It does snow & freeze a lot and the wind has been know to blow a little.

I guess I just keep an eye on the inside corners or is there something I can look for on the outside??

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Ckerr · RV-Dreams Family Member

If the inside corners are accessible, keep an eye out for any dampness in the very outside corner. None of the corners on ours are accessible -- all have built in items in the inside corners... The outside slide end panels are fiberboard which will wick any moisture. So watch for any softness or sponginess on the bottom outside corners.

As a preventive measure the repair folks said to run a bead of silicone caulk along the trim piece on the outside corners. I'm going to try to take some pictures in the next couple of days.