Movers made me smile.

[Jcloughie]

I went with a friend to look at his cabin cruiser in storage.



While there I spotted this little van. The movers looked to be a bit OTT. I am not mocking. It might be disabled people who need the mover to keep on caravanning. But it made me smile.



The van looked clean and looked after.



John

 

[trevormonty]

A lot people me included fit movers because of tight storage locations. The aren't OTT by any means. Anything less than perfectly flat hard surface and fit person is going to struggle to move even than small van.

 

[Jcloughie]

A lot people me included fit movers because of tight storage locations. The aren't OTT by any means. Anything less than perfectly flat hard surface and fit person is going to struggle to move even than small van.

I do not recall ever seeing movers on a very small van. But I accept your points. But my remark of OTT referred to the physical size of the mover in relation to the van. They look bigger than I had on my 1500kg van.


John

 

[Beachball]

I do not recall ever seeing movers on a very small van. But I accept your points. But my remark of OTT referred to the physical size of the mover in relation to the van. They look bigger than I had on my 1500kg van.


John

Someone near me got Freedom Sunseeker 3 berth caravan laded weight 750kg he put a motor mover on to make it more accessible for parking on his drive

 

[Lutz]

I think I would have reacted similar to JC. My first caravan was a 1300kg. It never had a motor mover and I never missed having one, but I was younger then and a bit fitter than today.

 

[RogerL]

I think I would have reacted similar to JC. My first caravan was a 1300kg. It never had a motor mover and I never missed having one, but I was younger then and a bit fitter than today.

That's a heavyweight! My first caravan, an '83 Ace Globetrotter mid-range 4-berth, was just 650 kg net / 800 kg gross - no mover but I was a lot younger then and much, much fitter.

 

[otherclive]

My Trigano Silver 420DD with MTPLM of 1000 kg had the Powrtouch Evolution automatic movers fitted. What a PITA they were and on some occasions I had to use my drill with a modified T bar to wind them away from the tyres.

 

[Van Fisher]

My Eriba Touring weighs about 870kg. The place at the back of my home where I park it has a shallow uphill gradient of about 1 in 12, and is too tight to turn in with my car attached.
Call me a wimp, but I have no chance of pulling it up without the movers. The force required, even if there was zero friction, calculates to more than my body weight. Also, when manoeuvring the van on gravel or soft ground, they are invaluable.

 

[JTQ]

A big attribute of having movers engaged is the van is locked solid, no chance of it "rolling" anywhere nor having issues with the peculiarities of the hitch override mechanisms reverse handbrake.
I can fully understand why the owner who had them fitted could have wanted them, like living with my highly cambered lane, undulating route and the tightness of fit into my car port

In respect to the "scantlings" of the fitted mover being OTT, that might be simply down to what could have been acquired most attractively, rather than purchased as an optimum fit?

 

[Hutch]

With the remark to the MM being locked solid, I was driving solo and passed a caravan whose MM, and tyre was smoking, obviously left locked ON. I waved them over and they stopped, so it is poss to drive off with a MM locked on.

 

[ProfJohnL]

There have been trailer movers since the 1980's but they were the type that coupled to the hitch or "A" frame. They were great on hard flat surfaces, but could otherwise become quite dangerous on slopes where they could lose grip and be overpowered by the weight of the trailer.

I had the privilege of knowing John Carver of Carver & Co (engineers) Ltd, the designer of the first caravan mover that drove the road wheels. This gave it tremendous grip and safety advantage advantage over the "A" frame models

It was never conceived to be a blagging point or toy for the well off, but more as a product that could extend the life expectancy of caravanners.

It was called the "caravan mover" becasue at the time Carver's were one of the biggest OEM suppliers into the UK caravan market, but he also recognised it could have applications on almost any trailer.