Lovely pitch, great site and beautiful area. Sometimes we just left the van at Cantobre and spent a few days in a hotel on the coast in the Camargue.
Mel
Moderator
IMHO, a motor mover is not a necessity until it is. Then it saves huge amounts of stress and falling out. If you have a calm and laid back plan for the occasions in which reversing is not going to work, ( either because of your skill, or because no-one could reverse a caravan into that space under those circumstances); then it is not a necessity.
For us it a Caravanning essential for the saving on potential stress and anxiety.
mel
For us it a Caravanning essential for the saving on potential stress and anxiety.
mel
I’m with Hutch. On a heavy TA , long and with a large tug it is just impossible to get onto some pitches.Two of us , no weaklings, can’t move our TA by hand so sadly a mover is a prereqisite.
But as Prof points out it will erode your usable pay load. Needs must😉
But as Prof points out it will erode your usable pay load. Needs must😉
This site in the Bordeaux region took some getting into. No chance without the mover. Note the orange bag warning of the trip hazard root below.
When we came to leave, the French man who had come to the adjoining site offered to help us push . He was amazed when I showed him the mover.
This pitch was tiny, but the site immediately before this (below), was somewhat different In size. The middle tree is in he centre of our pitch. Never had such a long walk to the car.
The grass across the road was not used for camping, so this is the view we had. Including a small beech.
It was also ridiculously cheap. The river is a Dordogne tributarty.
John
When we came to leave, the French man who had come to the adjoining site offered to help us push . He was amazed when I showed him the mover.
This pitch was tiny, but the site immediately before this (below), was somewhat different In size. The middle tree is in he centre of our pitch. Never had such a long walk to the car.
The grass across the road was not used for camping, so this is the view we had. Including a small beech.
It was also ridiculously cheap. The river is a Dordogne tributarty.
John
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My caravan is stored at home on my drive in an area next to my garage.
The area is U shaped with brick walls on two sides and a sturdy fence on the other. The drive gently slopes down into the U.
I store the caravan nose first into the U to make theft more difficult and it is a tight fit.
This is no trouble with a mover and would involve winching or towing the caravan out backwards if the mover failed!
Previously I had a much lighter caravan without a mover and used a hand winch to extract the caravan.....quite a faff about but I was younger then!
The area is U shaped with brick walls on two sides and a sturdy fence on the other. The drive gently slopes down into the U.
I store the caravan nose first into the U to make theft more difficult and it is a tight fit.
This is no trouble with a mover and would involve winching or towing the caravan out backwards if the mover failed!
Previously I had a much lighter caravan without a mover and used a hand winch to extract the caravan.....quite a faff about but I was younger then!
Exactly, movers are not a necessity and the world existed without them.
But....
They opened up a raft of opportunities for storing & pitching caravans that never would have existed before they became available.
And for me, the initial outlay for a mover is recouped within 2 years of not having to pay storage fees.
For me, the cost of the mover was repaid immediately as it allowed me to continue caravanning despite deteriorating health.
To directly answer the OP's question - a mover is a necessity for some people and for some pitches but not for others.
To directly answer the OP's question - a mover is a necessity for some people and for some pitches but not for others.
Just ordered a Bailey Unicorn Vigo, 1600kg & requested a Powrtouch Evolution to be fitted, went for the manual activation as there are stories about failure of the auto-engagement version. has anyone had any problems with them ?
My manual Powrtouch is easy to use. No problems. Auto engage is more expensive and not something I have yet considered.
I had problems on an automatic evolution. Previously I had had a Reich manual for 7 years with nary a problem. So on my last van I had a Powrtouch classic manual engagement. It was mechanically fine but after two years the rubber boots were starting to split. They were replaced under warranty but again the new ones started to deteriorate. So I just removed them. Cleaned the contacts and terminals then pressed in some electricians puttty. On top I wound self amalgamating silicon waterproof tape, with a couple of tie wraps just to ensure it all stayed in place.
Mel
Moderator
Our first van had a manual engagement Powertouch mover.It was an absolute pig to put on, requiring Herculean force. Both of us heaving on the lever on more than one occasion. In fact the head of the lever split. Had a reich mover on another van that you wound on, rather than levered on. This was much much easier. Also had automatic engage Powertouch. Very easy.
mel
mel
£499 + £99 fitting, worth every penny given the tight bays of our storage site. Whilst reversing in was particularly challenging, when other owners can't park their caravans square in their allotted bays, then we feel vindicated in investing in the mover. For us of more advanced years, not a ' nice to have' but more a necessity.
I think if the lever was that stiff the mover rollers were too close to the wheel. We had ours adjusted and at the correct gap it was easier but if anyone is looking to et a manual mover I would say try one first to see if you are happy with it.
I do agree that in a storage facility they are far better. On site if you are a bit out it is of no great consequence but in a tight storage are a mistake can be very expensive.
A key item with the manual non screw on mover is to have an extendable wrench the one supplied is too short and it does become more difficult to engage or disengage the rollers.
On our manual one I found a pipe that I could put over the wrench and it sort of work, but was still difficult going. OH could not even budge it and she is a lot fitter than me. We then got the auto engage and never looked back.
Yes works as well, although I had extendable wheel wrenches for both cars and caravan in their respective tool kits.
Even with an extending wheel wrench, I was finding it increasing difficult to engage the mover, and even harder to disengage it so when one of the gearboxes got noisy I bit the bullet and replaced it with an automatic one.
So I broke a flywheel once reversing the caravan into our storage plot many years back.
Slipping the clutch, huge heat build up, DMF gave up!
Its an absolute rarity to see me reversing the caravan, always motor mover.
Slipping the clutch, huge heat build up, DMF gave up!
Its an absolute rarity to see me reversing the caravan, always motor mover.
Yes even the best at reversing is going to put pressure on the clutch so the mover may save that although not heard of problems with the fly wheel from that.
Dual Mass Flywheel, there was a bit that held the plates apart, it was that piece that gave up, so every gear change the plates would rub making a noise like a chair leg on a wood floor.
Many years back, so much so I cant remember, Jaguar X Type sport premium collection, 6 speed diesel, apparently the worst for towing!
Px it, salesman didn't test drive it, thankfully.
With my Superb and its DSG I tended to use the motor mover more than with other cars. The DSG is only really a series of automated clutches.
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