Motor movers

[DevonZ]

Hi all, looking to put a basic motor mover on our 2 berth van. I’ve narrowed it down to two, I disregarded the emove as it is chain driven so leaves the two Powrtouch models the Classic and the new Freedome, both have the exactly the same features and specification and the same price so what are people’s opinions on each?

 

[Craigyoung]

Hi there , we have a powrtouch classic mover and I can say its great it puts the caravan where I want to put it ! It's like working a TV remote controler ! A £65o tv remote !!

 

[audiorob]

https://www.caravanmoversonline.co.uk/pages/SINGLE-compare-movers.html
this might be a useful comparison link - the Leisurewize Emoves are included - I thought the entry 203 was chain driven but other models like the 303 and above were gear driven?
"The EM303 caravan mover by Leisurewize is a basic, gear driven caravan mover for the cost conscious caravanner. It features a high quality gearbox and robust aluminium rollers for excellent grip in all conditions. Engagement is manual and operated both sides simultaneously." as opposed to
"The EM203 caravan manoeuvring system by Leisurewize is a perfect entry level caravan mover for the budget conscious caravanner. Whilst the price is cheap it still features a high quality chain drive gearbox and robust aluminium rollers for great grip."
Hope this all helps your decision making - I am in the same dilemma myself - after all it should hopefully be a fit and forget purchase that will continue to make life easier for many years to come!

 

[Dustydog]

I’ve had two Powrtouch over the years. .As long as they are five years old or less no problems.
Powrtouch after sales service and no quibble guarantee is legendary.
However , ten years on I am faced with replacing the gears and bearings on both sides. I’m not worried as it has suffered extensive use. So how have the competition compared?
Replacing the gears and bearings myself is not too expensive but if you need an engineeer........

 

[otherclive]

I have had Reich and now Powertouch, but both were the basic wind on rollers with a cross actuator. My Powertouch was coming up to four years old and I noticed that one of the rubber boot seals had crack in it. Looking online they were not available. So I rang Powertouch and told them I was looking for two replacement rubber bots. Given rubber will deteriorate, I was pleasantly surprised when the representative said "I see your mover is under 5 years old". The replacements were sent first class post at no charge. Otherwise its been A1.

 

[Woodentop]

Having had a Powrtouch (correct spelling) Classic with manual engagement and now having one with power engagement I would NEVER go back to a manual - far too much like hard work.

 

[Parksy]

I had a Powrtouch Evolution fitted last week and from what I've seen so far I'm delighted with it..
I'd intended to buy the electric engage model, but because my caravan spends a bit of time in storage I eventually decided on the manual version. It's almost £100 cheaper and will not take so much battery power.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Parksy

Despite the fact that caravan movers can use high currents, they are used for such relatively short times, the actuall battery charge used for the mover rarely exceeds about 1AH. The electric actuators I suspect will use far less battery charge.

I don't think you need to be overly concerned about the extra power the actuator..

 

[Parksy]

Thanks Prof.
I have the manual version fitted now, it's no trouble at all for me to engage the rollers with the socket and lever supplied.
The only thing to watch out for is the kick from the socket bar when disengaging.
The mover itself has removed all traces of uncertainty when reversing the caravan into the dark barn where I store It.
It was very difficult even with Milencos fitted to make out the old telegraph pole roof supports that I was reversing betwween in the semi darkness.
I unhitched at the entrance yesterday, used the motor mover for the final few yards and Hey Presto!
A 'hole in one' . :cheer:

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Prof

Regarding power consumption my powrtouch is quoted at 20 amps with a max of 80 amps..I guess that is an hourly figure so in theory a 85 amp hour battery should be sufficient. . However when under maximum load.eg climbing a steep hill consumption will be near the maximum. I can confirm my powrtouch has never flattened my 110 ah battery even after a 50 yard run or when manoeuvring in tight places which takes time with a ta..1ah seems very low but I don't doubt you are correct. Those golf buggies seem to go forever!

 

[Raywood]

We use the mover with an 85 amp battery but only for very short distances and not up hills and it has never used enough to register on the control panel that shows the charge level. Possibly if you need longer distances or have to go uphill then a bigger one might be better though. The main use we have is getting it back into storage, which is tight between two other caravans with far less room for error than on site.

 

[otherclive]

The times where my mover really earned its keep was to extricate the van from a very wet field after a heavy downpour on already softish ground. The other was when the farmer cut the grass on a CL when it was still wet. On all three occasions the cars were AWD but had road oriented tyres on the XC70 and Superb. The other occasion was with a Sorento fitted with a traditional 4WD system and all- terrain tyres. That didn’t go anywhere either.

When performing such extractions the noseweight has to be reduced to little more than zero. Plus grip tracks can also help the mover by placing them under the nose wheel. As they sure enough did zilch for the cars’ traction.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi Prof

Regarding power consumption my powrtouch is quoted at 20 amps with a max of 80 amps..I guess that is an hourly figure so in theory a 85 amp hour battery should be sufficient. . However when under maximum load.eg climbing a steep hill consumption will be near the maximum. I can confirm my powrtouch has never flattened my 110 ah battery even after a 50 yard run or when manoeuvring in tight places which takes time with a ta..1ah seems very low but I don't doubt you are correct. Those golf buggies seem to go forever!

Hello Dustry,

Your getting the units sligtly mixed u:- a measurement of a current flowing is an instantaneous value. In your case the mover manufacture reckons the mover will consume about 20Amps at normal running with a peak (or stalled) of 80A.

Amp Hours are a differnt but related value. If you had a device that consumed a constant current of 1A and it ran for 1 hour, it will consuke 1Ah of energy.

Now lets consider your mover. You use it to move the caravan about 50Meters which is quite a long distance, and considerably further than most people would use one for, so perhaps your usage is more than common. There is nothing wrong with that. But obviously the more a mover is used the more it will deplete the charge on the battery.

Depending on the make model and the load its moving, caravan movers typically have speeds between 12cm/sec to 30cm/sec, If I assume yours is a mid range speed of 20cm/s (or 0.2M/s) it wll take you 50m/0.2m/s or 250 seconds to move your caravan 50m. 250seconds is 4.16 minutes. Lets be generaous and call it 5 minutes. That is 1/12 of an hour.

Again I will assume the terrain the caravan has to be moved results in an averag current demmand of 40A for the whole journey and that would represent a pretty uneven surface.

40A for 1/12 of an hour = 3.33Ah of battery capacity.

Most people wil use their movers for far less than that and in practice average power consumption per use is about 1Ah.

Its quite an aye opener, to think that the traditional 12" flourcent or halogen lamps that used to be fitted to caravans would each use about 1Ah of battery capacity for each hour they were running! Suddenly the movers power demands don't seem so big, and that is why its not essential to have the biggest battery available just becasue you have a mover fitted.

For the reason that such small amounts of battery capacity are required to run a mover, you don't automatically need a battery with a large Ah capacity. typically an 85AH shold be more than sufficicnt to run a mover. The only slight down side with some cheaper or poorly made or maintained batteries where they may struggle to supply the peak (Stalled) power demand of a mover.

 

[RayS]

The powrtouch unit with motor engagement is a bit more prone to damage from kerbs and other obstacles than the manual engagement version particularly on some European campsites which have small edged pitches and also in approaches to some French filling stations where you have to turn in through raised concrete edges.. Should the motors get hit it is then quite difficult to engage the drives.
So i would consider this option carefully.
The manual operation system does not have to have the cross bar fitted and not to do so reduces the effort required by half, although you do then need to operate from each side rather than just either.
The other trick is to make sue the handle and socket are aligned correctly such that the handle does not touch the ground. This can usually be achieved by changing the socket position on the handle by one quarter of a turn - the socket teeth are not necessarily symmetrical with the flats of the square drive.
Then mark a line on socket and handle with an indelible felt tip marker.
Much easier to do than to describe !

 

[otherclive]

The powrtouch unit with motor engagement is a bit more prone to damage from kerbs and other obstacles than the manual engagement version particularly on some European campsites which have small edged pitches and also in approaches to some French filling stations where you have to turn in through raised concrete edges.. Should the motors get hit it is then quite difficult to engage the drives.
So i would consider this option carefully.
The manual operation system does not have to have the cross bar fitted and not to do so reduces the effort required by half, although you do then need to operate from each side rather than just either.
The other trick is to make sue the handle and socket are aligned correctly such that the handle does not touch the ground. This can usually be achieved by changing the socket position on the handle by one quarter of a turn - the socket teeth are not necessarily symmetrical with the flats of the square drive.
Then mark a line on socket and handle with an indelible felt tip marker.
Much easier to do than to describe !

On a previous van I had a manual Reich Move Control which had a cross bar and roller engagement was by winding the rollers onto the wheels. It had quite low ground clearance but that hadn’t caused any problems in UK or boarding ferries etc.
Your comments about french kerbs reminds me of the time my nearside unit hit a kerb in a French Aire. Loud bang and the van jumped sideways. I pulled away and parked up expecting major damage. There was. A kerbstone had been detached from its position. The Reich nearside unit had been pushed rear wards a smidgeon but still had adequate clearance to the tyre. It just didn’t move in a straight line for the rest of the holiday, but was reset on return home.

I do like simplicity.

 

[Niall_McIntosh]

We were fortunate in that the previous owner of our 'van had had a motor mover fitted. We wouldn't be without it as there is no way we could use the car to reverse the 'van onto our driveway, as the road is too narrow. Unfortunately, one of the motors failed half way through this manoeuvre when we returned from a trip, a week last Sunday. I managed to get the 'van straightened up on the road with the car, and contacted the manufacturer the following day, Monday (13th May). After a telephone diagnosis I was told that it would need a visit from an engineer to replace the faulty unit. As of today, despite almost daily phonecalls, I am still waiting, and the caravan is still parked on the road outside my house. I am not a happy bunny........we were supposed to be away in Gowerton this week, I had to cancel that trip as we didn't know when the engineer would be coming.

 

[Niall_McIntosh]

Hurrah! The engineer came today, I now have a functioning Motor Mover again. :cheer: