Community Forums

Cherylmcaloo · 07-27-2022, 10:35 AM

Hello everyone.
My husband and I season in a marina in a park model RV. Currently, attached to the unit is an awning which is manually operated. Although in good condition and a good size, it is difficult for us to manage putting it up and down.
I have been thinking about removing it and adding a traditional house or mobile home retractable awning. Not necessarily an electric one but possibly one that has a hand crank that just one person can use to operate the awning.
My primary concern is the mounting of the unit (how) and the weight.
Thank you for your thoughts and advice.
Cheryl

Dutch Star Don · 07-27-2022, 11:17 AM

You have companies that advertise like Sunsetter Awnings. I know they have manually operated awnings and I think power awnings. I think a Sunsetter type awning would be more substantial and work better on a fixed structure.

Ray,IN · 07-29-2022, 03:31 PM

X2!

BP120 · 08-11-2022, 07:49 PM

We have a trailer on a permanent site and a retractable awning on it. It mounts to the front of the trailer and cranks with a removable "hook" . It's easy and relatively quick to do. Many of our neighbors are park models and everyone uses retractable units as we are not allowed to have canopies. After a few years, they need to be replaced even if closed when not there. It is just the nature of the product and we have strong winds at time from the river. Ours is about 5 years old and we just noticed seams are beginning to open so probably will need to replace next year. Worth the investment and if you are a careful shopper, you can find a good deal.

After re reading your post, I am not sure if we have similar units but we have no trouble cranking ours with the pole attachment. Perhaps you need a unit with a good crank case.

glwinger · 08-12-2022, 06:49 PM

The electric awnings are no where near as strong as the manual awing with the rigid uprights. Doesn't take much wind to rip the electric awning off the side. I wish mine had the old style awning.