Give me 40 acres and I’ll turn this rig around

[DCB]

Well, I actually think I can do it with less than 40 acres! But how much less is the question? I’m casually considering purchasing a different home for multiple reasons. One of them is, I would like to be able to store my 41’ Monty on my own property. But an unknown is, how much acreage would be best suited for maneuvering that beast, assuming I want to circle around to drive into position, rather than backing in from off the street, which might hold up traffic for hours. I’m sure there’s a formula for working that out somewhere, that I could use to evaluate options for a property purchase. Appreciate your thoughts!

[DQDick]

With a little practice, at a empty parking lot, backing these things is really pretty easy. On other hand finding pull thru camping sites is getting harder and harder with the virus, but great back in spots along lakes and rivers are still available. Makes it worth it to learn to back and a lot cheaper.

[BB_TX]

I live on an acre and I think with another half acre, most of that at the back, I could do what you want. Certainly two acres you could.

[DCB]

Originally Posted by DQDick

With a little practice, at a empty parking lot, backing these things is really pretty easy. On other hand finding pull thru camping sites is getting harder and harder with the virus, but great back in spots along lakes and rivers are still available. Makes it worth it to learn to back and a lot cheaper.

Yes, I understand. I’ve actually taken paid lessons from someone very experienced, but now that I have had a few experiences oF my own, it would probably be a good idea to take it out for more practice. However, a parking lot is still quite a different proposition than a crowded RV park or a street with traffic. Thankfully, most places with back-in sites have someone available to assist getting situated on the site — or there are fellow campers available to assist.

[Theunz]

Go to a parking lot and make as tight of a U-turn as you are comfortable with. Measure the width of the U-turn. That’s how much empty space you will need exclusive of the house and storage facility.
You can’t just go by acreage because of the different shapes. Long and narrow won’t allow much room. The one acre lot I used to have was 100’ wider then the two acres I have now.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by RookieDCB

Well, I actually think I can do it with less than 40 acres! But how much less is the question? I’m casually considering purchasing a different home for multiple reasons. One of them is, I would like to be able to store my 41’ Monty on my own property. But an unknown is, how much acreage would be best suited for maneuvering that beast, assuming I want to circle around to drive into position, rather than backing in from off the street, which might hold up traffic for hours. I’m sure there’s a formula for working that out somewhere, that I could use to evaluate options for a property purchase. Appreciate your thoughts!

I think it all depends on how you want to position the trailer in relation to the house etc. On this house I have a piece of property next door that I pull the trailer into for loading/unloading and maintenance. I store it at another location. I pull in to parallel the fence so we do whatever then make a U turn to exit on the other side. Due to rows of pecan trees I am somewhat limited. My U turn takes no more than probably 80' width (don't want to pull the trailer sideways) so I can miss the tree branches. If you are just looking for "minimal" I would say 100'W x 120' deep to let you just come in and make a U turn. We have dirt; if it was pavement I would probably want to make it wider to lessen the strain on the RV. If you intend to build a shelter for the RV I think I would make the parcel appropriately deeper for whatever structure you wanted.

[Slow Hand]

I like to back mine into a spot. It shows other RVers that I know what the hel;l I'm doing. It's all about putting the rear wheels right where you want them. It's a piece of cake. It only takes a couple times to get it right. after that it's no big deal. Just don't back up to far LOL

[sourdough]

I'm good with backing as well, but on a city street with traffic, trying to maneuver into a "spot" while disrupting traffic would best be avoided IMO if the OP had the option of just driving straight in. JMO YMMV

[Carl n Susan]

A parking lot, as suggested, is a good place to determine how tight a U turn you want to make. But even easier, visualize almost every RV park with pull though spaces. They are usually 60" spaces with a road on each side. You normally drive up one road and circle back on the next one. That is close to a 60' diameter on the inside. Add 20' on each outside and you should be good to go.

[Mikendebbie]

My lot is 2.5 acres but the area around the house is about 1 acre. For the first 10 years I had smaller RVs and I drove thru the gate, turned sharp right and pulled around to the storage spot without backing in. At the time I chose not to install road base and gravel under about half of the “circle drive” (frankly ran out of money and figured I would do it later - but later never came). As long as the weather was dry I could drive across the grass.

The Monte is too long to make the sharp right turn just inside the gate. Additionally - 14 years ago I did not expect the trees and shrubs to grow to the size they are now. If I could make the right turn - the Monte would get scraped by limbs the whole way. I do not want to trim the trees because they now provide excellent privacy and shade. When we bought the property it was a weed-filled former corn field.

It is all in the planning! 14 yrs ago I did not see a Montana pulled by a dually in my future. I could not imagine having anything larger than our 32’ long Alpenlite fifth wheel.

[rollingdownthehighway]

I live in a Cul De Sac and pop a u turn at the dead end circle with the 3700 LK and back up the rig right next to the house. If the grass is damp or wet it makes it real fun backing up the driveway into the spot due to the slight slope. The first time was fun, took several attempts, now I can do it in 1 shot with 1 pull up to get it straight if needed.

[beeje]

We are on 5 acres, 3 of witch are grass. So space is not an issue. However we are way back off the main road on a shared drive. Its .4 miles to the house with 4- 90 degree turns on the way in. Once at the house I have to turn it around to get it backed into its spot in the pole building. To do so I must drive on the lawn. That has been an issue in the past if it has rained a lot while we are out. Sunk the dually into the lawn several times.

Well anyway, I think something as small as a 1/2 acre could work if the house is situated in a way to get it turned around. There is no one size fits all that can be stated here. When we looked for our property, we looked from a standpoint that our fifth wheel MUST be able to get to the house and have the ability to get turned around.

[knapper42]

I've got 2 acres and I've built an RV cover building and it's even behind my shop and that still gives me lots of room for turning and backing our 40ft rig and long long long 3500 Durmax. I bet you can do it with an acre maybe a little less.

[mlh]

I have a pull through shed that is in a little field of a half acre. It’s easy to pull in and turn my camper around and pull in the shed without using all the room I have.
Lynwood

[GreG L.]

This has been posted here before, but it's a good example of with enough practice you can back up anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-3_Ry7s4yg

[Camp CA]

Not much.......Depends on whether you want a circular driveway that you can pull through vs. back in. In that case, you could simulate that turn in a parking lot and mark the edges of the turn then measure the driveway dimensions. I can pull my 41 ft long trailer with a long bed DRW truck and can easily maneuver the streets in our mobile home park.

A square-shaped acre would be about 208.7 by 208.7 feet and the radius is half that. That seems like a lot of turning space for a pull through circular driveway plus room for a house and garage. Two acres would work just fine.

[Slow Hand]

How busy is your street? It should only take a short period of time to back it in once you have done it a couple times. Practice early in the morning or after 6pm when traffic is light.