How much weight does wet snow on roof add?

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by PermanentTourist, Nov 16, 2018.

  1. Ezrider_48501

    Ezrider_48501 Road Train Member

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    i want to know the verdict of how much your snow weighed.
     
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  3. tscottme

    tscottme Road Train Member

    They would park under it because it's a pull-thru spot.
     
  4. SteveScott

    SteveScott Road Train Member

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    Think of it this way. A gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds and if you're around 4,000 over it would take a little under 500 gallons of water to make that much weight. 53 by 13 feet of snow and ice a few inches thick could easily melt down into 500 gallons of water.
     
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  5. 86scotty

    86scotty Road Train Member

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    The people who have argued that you can't walk around on the roof of your trailer should read this thread.

    Average guy: 200 pounds
    A few inches of snow: Thousands of pounds
     
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  6. Lepton1

    Lepton1 Road Train Member

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  7. Lepton1

    Lepton1 Road Train Member

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  8. Lepton1

    Lepton1 Road Train Member

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  9. Slowmover1

    Slowmover1 Road Train Member

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    More to it than this:

    1). Does snow weigh ABOVE 100-lbs in the space taken by a boot?

    2). Walking will exert even more weight into a an even smaller space than did standing.

    It may be that a fat boy could lay still on the roof at a higher pressure than snowfalls psi, but how he gets on & off is another thing.
     
  10. PermanentTourist

    PermanentTourist Heavy Load Member

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    Lol that's what I needed to find yesterday, a bridge that's exactly 13'6
     
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  11. PermanentTourist

    PermanentTourist Heavy Load Member

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    Ok, so the verdict is in:
    20181116_115439.jpg
    20181117_154300.jpg

    The difference is 4060lb. Considering that I burned 90 gallons, i.e. 720 lb of fuel, the actual weight of snow was 3340 lb.

    Snow is heavy.

    My earlier math of multiplying the square area of the top of the trl by the thickness of the snow and then by the 20lb per cubic foot weight of wet snow actually underestimated the weight by about 500lb. But still close enough to be useful.

    The simplified formula is 750 × thickness of snow in inches. Be aware that it underestimates. This is for standard 53 foot trl, and only accounts for snow on top of it.

    This concludes the science.
     
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