Bev pretended :
Correct! Even once up the main slope of my drive, I then have to squeeze it through the restriction between my garage and a fence, with
2" spare. Easy with the mover, but near impossible to push and see where you are going in the gap.
Ok, I was just curious. I was thinking of using them under the wheels of the MH if the ground is soft etc. We’ve been stuck a couple of times in the previous, lighter, MH and we now avoid grass pitches if we can but sometimes there are no hardstanding ones.
Dormobiles are nothing but trouble.....
If you only need it for home, why take it with you?
I'm guessing that its the kind that is fixed to the caravan chassis and can then engage with the wheels to turn them. They can be very useful if you store in tight spaces.
Not being a caravanner, the only movers I have seen are those used for light aircraft and helicopters, which are a separate unit, stored in the hangar. I wonder if having one built in makes the caravan a motorised vehicle in its own right?
Especially when using narrow Devon lanes
<shrug> beyond my ken but an interesting thought.
It happens that Colin Bignell formulated :
You can buy that variety for caravans too - dealers use them for shuffling their caravans around on their sites. Fine on a reasonably flat surface, but they lack enough grip with the ground, when working on much of a slope.
No.
They only engage for moving onto a pitch, moving for storage etc. They have ‘rollers’ which press against the tyres to turn the wheels. Most are radio remote controlled although I’ve seen the odd cabled one. The run of a 12V battery - similar to a car battery. They move at walking speed, if that.
If you see a caravan parked somewhere etc, look for the rollers next to the wheels. They are normally disengaged, perhaps 30/50cm away from the tread.
Most caravaners seem to have them these days.
I’ve never needed to.
Fine, but does ever new caravan owner need 50kg taken away from their payload to cater for the minority who have parking issues?
Don’t get me wrong, they’re great if you need them but I’ve watch people on sites faffing about on level ground with a motor over when they could have pitched in half the time manually.
Tim
So, when it is engaged, how is that different from a pedestrian controlled vehicle, like this milk float?
Colin Bignell pretended :
The movers are intended for off road use, the regulations don't apply off the public road - though of course many, like me, do have to make use of them for the first few yards to get on and off the road.
on 15/06/2022, Tim+ supposed :
They are an extremely popular option, I don't think any come with a mover already installed. For me, really it is an almost essential for getting it out to the road and back up my drive. It is not something which could be quickly fitted and then removed when not needed.
I was also think about whether it counts as a motorised vehicle when being towed, even if the motor is not being used.
I don’t think they come as standard, people have them fitted.
As for payload, I suspect many people have no idea if they are overloaded. I’m not a caravaner but I know in the motorhome world, where payload is also a problem, people often get a nasty shock when they eventually get around to visiting a weigh bridge. For example, a typical 3.5 T MH has a kerb wt of just over 3T, including a 75kg driver.
However, that excludes the awning most people add, at least on passenger, often a spare wheel, ….. Some of the 3.5T ones are 6 berth and have seats with belts ( inc. driver) for 6 people.
Do the sums.
True, people don’t travel in caravans but they do carry awnings, BBQs, picnic tables, chairs, food, bedding, clothes, ……
And in our case, when working on the holiday home in France, one trip took all the old kitchen units from home (including the kitchen sink) and another took a staircase that had been made at home but not permanently fastened together (a home made flat-pack).
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