Hello, We are currently looking to purchase a new caravan, xplore 304 or swift compact and live on a steep hill with a level driveway but sometimes restricted access due to parked vehicles. We are going to get a electric motor mover fitted to the caravan, but wanted to make sure that we can pull up outside our house on the hill, unhook the caravan and manoeuvre it into the driveway without any issue.
Advice required re motor mover
- Thread starter Carmad
- Start date
Hi welcome to the Forum. What specific advice are you looking for as there are many types of motor mover and prices too. Fortunately yours isn’t a heavy caravan so you have a good choice. Does your caravan have to move up the steep hill, and any idea what gradient it is. If you look at mover brochures and specifications the makers give details of incline and weight capability.
I have an Xplore 304 and had a Powrtouch Freedom manual fitted and I'm very glad I did.
Our driveway is gravel chippings and is 1 in 4 in places. I need to get the van about 25- 30 metres up it and there's no way the car can pull it up as the wheels just spin. Found this out when we got home after buying it 🙄
At the road we have a bell mouth pull in. Enough space to pull the car and caravan in to clear the road. The caravan is then unhitched and reversed up the driveway no problem.
When leaving we do the reverse. Back the caravan down the driveway into the bell mouth. Then the car goes down and we hook up and set off.
We have a 100aH battery in the van and after 5 or so minutes of reversing up the drive way it's hardly discharged. On one occasion I had to use a smaller 70aH battery and even that coped very well.
You won't regret getting one. I use it on site as well as I'm rubbish at reversing.
Our driveway is gravel chippings and is 1 in 4 in places. I need to get the van about 25- 30 metres up it and there's no way the car can pull it up as the wheels just spin. Found this out when we got home after buying it 🙄
At the road we have a bell mouth pull in. Enough space to pull the car and caravan in to clear the road. The caravan is then unhitched and reversed up the driveway no problem.
When leaving we do the reverse. Back the caravan down the driveway into the bell mouth. Then the car goes down and we hook up and set off.
We have a 100aH battery in the van and after 5 or so minutes of reversing up the drive way it's hardly discharged. On one occasion I had to use a smaller 70aH battery and even that coped very well.
You won't regret getting one. I use it on site as well as I'm rubbish at reversing.
I can pull up outside the house. The electric motor mover would then need to go up a short distance on the road ( less than 10m) and turn into a footpath with slight incline before entering the driveway which is level. All surfaces are tarmac. Not sure what the gradient is although would describe it as a moderate hill, but is in a development.
On that basis any mover is likely to be suitable. The choices are quite wide but there are three basic concepts.Crank on with a lever arm, wind on to the tyres and auto engage all electric. Weight is one factor that you might consider as caravans quickly use up the payload., and a mover comes out of payload. There are installation companies that will offer different types of mover for at home fitting. My best mover was a Reich Move Control a wind on unit. In nine years apart from new batteries on the remote it was totally trouble free. I even hit French lay-by kerbstone which lifted away from the kerb. The Reich didn't budge one jot, its tyre-mover gap did not change.
Switching from AGM(28kg) to LiFEPO4(12kg) battery will help offset some of weight gain of MMs.
Avoid using on muddy pitches as mud clogs up drive wheels.
Avoid using on muddy pitches as mud clogs up drive wheels.
If going up a hill, I would go past the entrance and then reverse the caravan into the driveway. No gradient issues then. However no idea of your circumstances and if it would be possible?
Welcome to the Forum Carmad. Your choices are relatively light. This gives you the comfort knowing all the main movers will perform adequately. My Powrtouch will move 1.7 t up a 25% gradient. However when gravel is concerned the jockey wheel can drag and cause issues. I assume your road and drive are all a solid surface?
Interesting in that Truma Powrtouch, in a technical call earlier this year, suggested I did not change from my lead acid traction battery I use for powering the mover at home, to a Lithium technology battery.
I did not get a reason other than they had more issues with installations using them than with the previously conventional lead acid installs.
I was surprised, and would as an engineer have liked for my education a technical reason, but followed their advice.
Hi, can I double check, you said you use the mover and reverse up the hill, meaning jockey wheel is following. On the way down the steep hill, are you also going in reverse (as in turn the van round and back end first, jockey wheel following) - I'm asking as I came down my steep driveway with new caravan as I've always done, back end first on the mover, and the back end almost grounded. I had the jockey wheel at lowest point, so I was considering whether I should try next time to take it down the steep bit nose first, but then when it levels I could find the back end grounding I would like to know if you reverse it up and down your driveway, and tips for not grounding
I also have the Powrtouch Freedom. I have about 7 metres from the drive gates to an A road so I just pull up and uncouple, then with the mover I turn the van and reverse up our sloping drive about 15 metres.
When recoupling I either reverse the car up or drop the van down with the handbrake, either way I always couple with the mover as my retractable towbar is rather near the bumper so I need the fine movement.
I position the van on site with the mover to be more precise or to level the van side to side.
Our van is an Elddis Odysey 462 at 1350 kg fully loaded, I use the mover quite a lot and in 6 years it hasn't faltered once.
Our mover is manually applied but most Powrtouchs seem to be the electrically wound on type now.
Also they come with a 5 year warranty and are very helpful with queries
When recoupling I either reverse the car up or drop the van down with the handbrake, either way I always couple with the mover as my retractable towbar is rather near the bumper so I need the fine movement.
I position the van on site with the mover to be more precise or to level the van side to side.
Our van is an Elddis Odysey 462 at 1350 kg fully loaded, I use the mover quite a lot and in 6 years it hasn't faltered once.
Our mover is manually applied but most Powrtouchs seem to be the electrically wound on type now.
Also they come with a 5 year warranty and are very helpful with queries
I can't visualise how your drive is compared with mine but....
I pull up just off the road into the entrance to my driveway. At this point the caravan is flat to the road and at 90deg to the entrance. Just unhitch and leave the jockey wheel as is coming off the car. So the caravan is virtually level on the road.
The driveway starts off on a gentle slope from the road until becoming steeper.
I then use the motor mover to rotate the van in order to reverse it up the driveway back end first. It never grounds but it is a shortish caravan..6.5m I think.
Once at the top, spin it round and park it up in place. Caravan is still level to the ground at this point because it's in the car port.
Next time I just reverse the caravan down the driveway, back end first and at the bottom it levels out without even coming close to grounding. Then spin it through 90deg to hitch up.
I've recently switched to 100AH Lifep04 with no problems. Just check max current draw requirements of your MM and what battery can deliver continously .
The max draw is likely to be for couple seconds at beginning to get rolling.
Has anybody measured current draw with clamp meter?
Where Li might give problems is peak current draws, they have BMS (battery management system) in them that will cut power to protect battery. AGMs have no smarts, max current draw is limited by internal impedance.
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