Can anyone advise on reversing a caravan down a sloping driveway with a mover? The slope is 12 to15%, caravan would have to be reversed down and manoevered around the side of the house. Am I silly to worry that it will tip up or run away? Will be using a Powertouch evolution on a 1600kg van.
Mover
- Thread starter Grador
- Start date
You should definitely check the specification of the mover you have or are anticipating for its maximum slope specifications, but most movers were rated to a 1:4 slopes or 25%, However it is vitally important, the caravans tyres are at the correct pressure and the mover is correctly installed to make sure the rollers have the correct pressure on the caravans wheels.
If teh above conditions are met, then the mover should hold teh caravan quite satisfactorily on the slope. I cannot guarantee the caravan won't tip, as that depends on how you load the caravan. You might be wise to move something heavy towards the hitch to to ensure the jockey wheel does not lift.
As an alternative, you might be able to find an electric winch to anchor at the top of the slope and use that to control the decent of the caravan, and to pull it up.
If teh above conditions are met, then the mover should hold teh caravan quite satisfactorily on the slope. I cannot guarantee the caravan won't tip, as that depends on how you load the caravan. You might be wise to move something heavy towards the hitch to to ensure the jockey wheel does not lift.
As an alternative, you might be able to find an electric winch to anchor at the top of the slope and use that to control the decent of the caravan, and to pull it up.
I would discuss it with Powrtouch, getting the answer in writing. [Not only to know the answer, but getting a "fit for purpose" statement should that ever be needed.]
I know that another brand could "back run" when it tried to hold after climbing, I had that problem with a levelling ramp requiring I changed to a multi stepped type. It was trouble free, however on my 7% inclined drive.
I know that another brand could "back run" when it tried to hold after climbing, I had that problem with a levelling ramp requiring I changed to a multi stepped type. It was trouble free, however on my 7% inclined drive.
As a sensible precaution, I would say that it's wise to stand by the hand brake!
You can always pull it on should you lose confidence in the movers ability to cope with the incline.
You can always pull it on should you lose confidence in the movers ability to cope with the incline.
Thank you, yes the mover spec will cope with the van easily, apparently on a 25% slope and we had thought of ensuring that we’d something heavy up front to keep the jockey wheel down . It’s just having the confidence to do it and I was wondering if there was anyone out there who has managed a similar scenario.
Thank you, believe it or not I phoned Powertouch and spoke to someone in the technical department. I explained the situation and my concerns and was met with silence, I thought that I’d lost the connection. When I said, “Hello “ he replied that obviously the mover doesn’t have brakes. I said that I understood that but wanted to know if the mover was designed to do what I wanted and he said yes and that was the end of the conversation. It wasn’t exactly encouraging or what I was expecting to say the least!
Thank you, yes had considered that also along with having chocks ready to place behind the wheels, from the side and obviously stay away from the rear of the van.
If you have the mover already fitted you might try a relatively safe test in a field using two off cuts of builders scaffolding planks inclined at least to your estimated 15%.
First see if it will climb, then if it will hold and finally, if it comes down with good grace. Standing well back. That way it will not go far if it winds back, so that significant bit safer.
If it holds, my biggest worry, you could come down with a better degree of control by in effect halving the slope, "crabbing" by moving just a single wheel at a time, alternating. IMO that's the safer exiting policy, though does not get around, will it hold statically.
Even at the best of times the handbrake only uses one shoe a side in reverse, so is not as effective as forwards, but also the van rolls a bit before that single shoe is activated fully. That means the van will have some inertia building up that acts on it tipping it rearwards as the shoe bites. In all I would find out if the mover technique works safely, before taking on the drive itself.
First see if it will climb, then if it will hold and finally, if it comes down with good grace. Standing well back. That way it will not go far if it winds back, so that significant bit safer.
If it holds, my biggest worry, you could come down with a better degree of control by in effect halving the slope, "crabbing" by moving just a single wheel at a time, alternating. IMO that's the safer exiting policy, though does not get around, will it hold statically.
Even at the best of times the handbrake only uses one shoe a side in reverse, so is not as effective as forwards, but also the van rolls a bit before that single shoe is activated fully. That means the van will have some inertia building up that acts on it tipping it rearwards as the shoe bites. In all I would find out if the mover technique works safely, before taking on the drive itself.
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We have a steep drive although I have never checked the correct angle and have used a motor mover on two caravans. The first had a lever actuation and this held easily, the second had a wind on actuation and you did have to be sure you had wound that on fully. The Powertouch is a lever or automatic depending on the model and should not be a problem but to be safe I would chock the wheels when stopped and do not forget to put on the handbrake before uncoupling the mover.
Even if the mover struggles on the slope, you can normally shuffle it up the slope by moving each side separately, this is hard work for the battery and it may need a good one to do it.
Even if the mover struggles on the slope, you can normally shuffle it up the slope by moving each side separately, this is hard work for the battery and it may need a good one to do it.
Thank you, we haven’t actually bought the caravan yet as we’re holding back until we resolve the problem. We currently have a caravan with mover (both 2004) but haven’t needed the mover to reverse it as my husband has, not without difficulty, been able to reverse it into position with the car. We haven’t actually used the caravan for a few years and debated selling it but thankfully we didn’t, as since lockdown we’ve enjoyed a few outings to the extent that we’re hooked again and want to buy a new van. Unfortunately, over the years the entrance to our driveway has become narrower as we have mature hedges either side, which although have been carefully maintained, have encroached on the space and narrowed it. Cutting the hedges back is unfortunately not an option. The problem now with reversing the van down is that it’s almost impossible to do as the car easily can become imbedded in the hedge as the reverse is in an “S” shape and we don’t live on a main road so don’t have a lot to play with there either. Also as we reverse down the drive, the back of the caravan just about clears the ground as the ground levels off where we park the van. The new van will be wider and probably 18 inches longer which will only exacerbate the problem. What we do now is use the mover to position the van at the right angle at the top of the driveway, then hook it up and reverse it down most of the way to where the slope is very gentle, then we use the mover to finally park it.
Whether we’ll be able to do this with a longer and wider van is debatable as the bottom may connect with the ground before we can get to a position where we can safely unhook and continue with the reverse using the mover. Obviously if the caravan isn’t attached to the car then we can lower the jockey wheel right down to stop the back of the van from hitting the ground, hence why we want to reverse it purely with the mover.
Apologies for all this detail but you have all been so helpful and it’s much appreciated so I thought it best to explain as best as I can.
Tha
Thank you, that’s very encouraging, our driveway isn’t very long, probably just about 11metres if we went straight down but we have to take the caravan down at an angle and park it beside and beyond the house. The biggest worry is how far we can take it while hitched before the bottom connects with the ground.
I live on a reasonably steep hill and approach the house going uphill. The first time I brought the van home I was concerned about it "running away" as soon as I unhitched it!
My process is to stop and apply the handbrake. Then engage movers (Powertouch Automatic) and move the van slightly closer uphill to the car to make unhitching easier. This, as the handbrake will have been released, gives confidence that all is well. Then a simple reverse a couple of feet and pivot to mount a lowered curb and so enter the drive.
The first time we did this was with a new empty van and the hitch lifted as soon as I disengaged it. I held it down with one hand as I reversed the van - bit scary as certainly it would have tipped up backwards without me being able to hold the front down. Since on the numerous occasions I've done the same the weight of gas etc in the front locker has stopped any concerns about tipping up.
My process is to stop and apply the handbrake. Then engage movers (Powertouch Automatic) and move the van slightly closer uphill to the car to make unhitching easier. This, as the handbrake will have been released, gives confidence that all is well. Then a simple reverse a couple of feet and pivot to mount a lowered curb and so enter the drive.
The first time we did this was with a new empty van and the hitch lifted as soon as I disengaged it. I held it down with one hand as I reversed the van - bit scary as certainly it would have tipped up backwards without me being able to hold the front down. Since on the numerous occasions I've done the same the weight of gas etc in the front locker has stopped any concerns about tipping up.
Wow, thank goodness that worked out okay for you. I understand how you felt, we’ll be doing it with a new empty van too. With all the encouragement and advice we’re receiving it’ll hopefully work out for us. The one positive I can take from it all is that I’m so glad to have joined this forum, so appreciative of the helpful advice.
We reverse down the driveway each time we take the van out,It's fitted with a Powrtech Evolution mover.The van can stop on the slope and not move. It sometimes tips up,all I do is hold it down at the front using the manouvering handle and continue.As previously said it depends how you load the van.
If the current caravan can only just clear the ground at the bottom of the drive then adding 18 inches may just cause it to connect. You can possibly avoid this by having the van nose down as far as you can, but there is no guarantee.
I do not know if it does work but the magazine has twice suggested a modification with castors attached to the rear legs to prevent this. You might be able to find this on the web site or on you tube if you want to check it.
I do not know if it does work but the magazine has twice suggested a modification with castors attached to the rear legs to prevent this. You might be able to find this on the web site or on you tube if you want to check it.
Hello,
I've never measured the slope,I take it a 25% slope means every 4 feet in horizontal length the drop is 1 foot.
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