Thank you for the clarification about the licence, and I appologise for the wrong steer in my previous comment about cat BE. This is good news because it basically means you can tow virtually any caravan providing its within the capability of the tow car.Hi There,
Yes we have double checked my husbands licence which was only recently renewed and he definitely has retained his BE entitlement. He just didn’t apply to retain his C1 as his medical condition would not have covered that entitlement.
No longer having his C1 entitlement is one of the many reasons we are now looking to change to a robust caravan and powerful tow car as this will be more suitable to our current situation and we will definitely be adding options such as a motor mover and an electric levelling system in order to reduce as much of the setting up tasks as possible. I know these options are rather costly but fortunately our funds allow for this, so whatever we can legally add to make towing and setting up a caravan as easy and as safely as possible then please forward us any tips or suggestions of what gadgets and gizmos you use or have had fitted to help do this.
Thank you all again for your helpful and informative advice, tips and suggestions and we look forward to keeping you all updated on how things progress in our journey to find the perfect new set up for ourselves.
Happy Wednesday!
Sue x
I fully endorse PTA's suggestion of doing a towing course, They cover a wealth of techniques and tips which are difficult to describe on a forum.
It sounds as though you will be looking at caravans on the heavy side, and I am sure you would find a caravan mover very useful. It takes the strain out of manoeuvring a caravan into tight or difficult locations, its also very good for safety in protecting your physical well being.
I am sure that you may already have some of the items you may need from your motorhome.
A pair of good extension rear view mirrors will almost certainly be essential when towing. You may need to get step for the doorway.
You will be familiar with the need to level your motorhome, and the same is true for caravans, Whilst there are some automatic levelling and stabilising systems that can be fitted to caravans, you do have to start paying greater attention to how much all these things weigh, becasue they eat into the limited payload capacity of the caravan.
Again a concern about weight may affect the water system you opt for, A few caravans do have inboard fresh water tanks like a motorhome, but most caravans don't, instead they tend to use a portable water containers for both fresh and grey water. There are systems that allow you to connect via a pressure reducing valve to a tap, or by using a float valve in the water barrel.
Some super sites do have facilities to drains at the pitch for grey water.
Many motorhomes use a roll out awning. Unfortunately these are not so common for caravans, partly because the wall construction may not take their weight, and also, the weight eats into teh caravans payload, and when closed up it's high up on the side of the caravan which will affect the caravans stability when being towed. You need to look carefully at the available types of awning, and how difficult /easy they will be to set up and take down.
Do check with your insurers about what security measures they require to be used.
One of the major advantages of having a car and caravan over a motor home, is the ability to use the car to travel around the locality without having to pack up the motorhome and awning each time. Parking in towns and villages will often be easier and more convenient. Fuel efficiency will be better, and general driving when not towing will be more comfortable. Usually cars have lower road fund tax and servicing costs.
I hope these musings will be helpful
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