Manouevering up a steep drive

[Anne_374300556]

Hello IÔm new. My husband and I have just bought an ageing 2 berth Sprite Alpine in the UK and have towed it to our home in Spain. We have a steep drive (about 1 in 5) which has only a short flat bit at the end - just about long enough for the van. The drive is about 120 feet long. At the bottom you drive in from a road parallel to the drive with only a short turning bit inside the gates at the bottom. We are at the end of the road which is only 5 feet wide with no turning circle. The van was cheap as we are now pensioners so we cannot afford a power mover. We just about managed to move it up by zigzagging up the drive with rocks (we have loads of those!!) at the wheels. We hoped we could reverse up with the car but the van brake came on so that was no go. We would appreciate advice as we donÔt want to go through that again. Can we override the brake in some way (if we can afford the new clutch!!!) or shoud we get a winch. If a winch I donÔt know how we would find an attaching point. I wouldnÔt want to risk any part of our Spanish home as the whole lot might collapse! Would a manual or electric winch be best. Many thanks if anyone has any ideas.

 

[tffwkends]

hi anne

get in touch with someone like machine mart in the uk,ask them advice on the most effective method get a builder in to sink a solid ground anchor to attach your winch,thereby ensuring it wont pull your house down ,i hope this is some help to you.

PS enjoy you retirement

jim

 

[Oldfogey]

I would go for the above. As you have found, the Alpine is not all that heavy (I have a Compact, which is the pop-top version), so a manual winch would be acceptable, but make sure it can "wind out" under control for lowering back down the slope.

Another alternative, if you a confident with these things, is to slacken right off the brake cable adjustment at the A-frame, so that the brakes cannot come on. Reset it once the van is parked, as there will be no problem going down, and you do not want to forget!

Depending on your car, you may be able to further improve the ease of the operation by having a front tow-bar fitted.

I'll have a look at my van tomorrow and see if I have any other ideas.

 

[Anne_374300556]

Thanks for prompt advice so far. And by the way sorry for saying the road is 5 feet! It

 

[ThePlotter]

The brakes should not come on when reversing unless they are the old type with a little lever by the rear of the ram,if so attach a strong rubber band around the lever and to a convenioent point so that as you start to reverse it will move the lever back and disconnect the brakes(DO NOT FORGET TO REMOVE IT AGAIN BEFORE TOWING )the only problem I see otherwise is the clutch.