caravan trollies (Movers)

[oldagetraveller1]

Does anyone have any real experience of this relatively new product?
I have a European van with no on-board battery, so fitting a normal motor mover carries the added cost of installing battery, wiring etc. In theory, an electric trolley with built in battery/charger presents a good alternative. and I can carry it in the car as opposed to adding weight to the van.
But, does it perform well, how long will the battery last, are replacements easily available etc?

 

[Surfer]

There are a number of these around and you cna pick up a second hand oen at real knock down prices. I would be very surprised if any one would in all honesty recommend one.
The battery is not the issue, issue is grip to be able to pull the caravan and the extra weight of carrying the unit around especially if the caravan is in storage. Genrally recommended that you change to a pneumatic tyre. On even slight inclines they tend to lose grip and you have wheel spinning. Better and cheaper to fit a battery and a proper motor mover.

 

[JTQ]

Is it this "track-laying" device you have in mind:-
http://www.caravancovers.org.uk/protec-innovations.php

To an extent it should be better that the powered jockey wheel type in being closer to the axle it will carry more down force and therefore potentially achieve more traction.
I have no direct experience of these, I believe they cost a not insignificant £1000. For various reasons its not a solution for me; not least is fear of its resale value, unless purchased SH at a rock bottom price.

You dont have to have a fixed battery to power a main wheel drive type of mover. I have a small portable battery that stays at home [on charge] and I just couple this up to the caravan with snap-on terminal clips for the moving at my home. My motive is to avoid any drain on the van's battery when leaving and to be 100% confident of a fully charged battery on return for the up hill climb. It also avoids putting high discharge currents on the van's GEL battery, something I think best avoided.
If your need is limited to "at home" powering doing the same portable battery solution might be worth consideration. It would be cheaper than a new "trolley" unit.

 

[Steve L]

I still use an old school jockey wheel clamp Motor mover ET for my caravan.
It only cost me £250 about 10 years ago secondhand. At 17Kgs for the mover, it is reasonably easy to carry especially since I've fitted an aalco suplimentary plastic handle to the jockey wheel shaft. I have an old tractor battery at home to use the mover with and when away i plug the extension lead into the caravan battery.

As I've got worse in health with a back problem, i utilise the small sack truck i have for the cassette loo tank, to transport the mover and the battery.

It might not have the finesse of the tracked mover but at a quarter of the cost, it does the job just as well.

To use it more effectively, I've lowered the tyre pressure to 10Psi to give a bigger footprint. The nose weight is about 75Kgs on our hitch.

BTW, I also use my mover on my goods trailer and boat trailer. All you need is a 45mm jockey wheel clamp. I've fitted a suplementary one to all my trailers to avoid having to take the original jockey wheel off before fitting the mover.