Does anyone have one of these for sale? I need one to get my van in and out of my sloping and tight access drive.
Thanks
Jon
Thanks
Jon
Mr Shifta Wanted
- Thread starter Jon_5040768
- Start date
I was thinking of having on of these myself but read an article that if it was fitted to the side mounted jockey wheel bracket it could cause distortion of the chassis and the Alko warrenty would be void. How much fact there is in this I do not know but it made me think, as being practically minded I could see the logic behind it.
That is true - for the type of motor wheel that fits into the jockey wheel clamp - it is stated on the Mr Shifta web site. However, the Mr Shifta conects to the hitch the same as the tow ball on your car so there is not probelm
jon, I had one and it physically moved the van ok but be careful on your sloping drive especially if it is wet. It is possible for the tail to wag the dog and for the wheels of the shifta to be dragged over the surface.
People have posted in the forum of being draggged along by the handles as they clung on.
People have posted in the forum of being draggged along by the handles as they clung on.
Hello Jon,
I note that you state you have a sloping drive. This rings alarm bells in the context of 'A' frame movers such as the Mr Shifta you are after.
Even on quite modest slopes, if the mover looses grip, the weight of the caravan takes over and it can and will start to push the mover out of control down the slope. Purely as a guide, if you could not stop the caravan by your self without using the brakes, then it is likely that none of the domestic A frame movers could, they simply do not weight or the grip.
Check through some of the other threads on this subject, and you will come across some reports of unfortunate outcomes when the 'A' frame mover has lost grip.
As I recall, Mr Shifta would arrange to come out to your caravan to demonstrate their device, but if there is no prospect of new sale I doubt if they would help.
Many of the manufacturers will make claims for the amount of torque they produce which might seem impressive, but torque by its self is useless unless you have the grip to be able to use it. And there lies the Achilles heel of 'A' frame movers. The grip is limited by the weight of the device and nose load of the caravan. This will be a small proportion of the total weight of the caravan.
Conversely the axle mounted movers enjoy the benefit to the majority of the weight of the caravan to develop far more grip than the 'A' frame movers, which is why the majority of axle movers claim to be able to move a caravan safely up a 1in4 slope.
Ultimately it depends on the ratio and length of your slope. If it is short and not too steep them a Mr Shifta may be answer to your dreams but if you have a steep or long slope then it might be the stuff of nightmares.
I note that you state you have a sloping drive. This rings alarm bells in the context of 'A' frame movers such as the Mr Shifta you are after.
Even on quite modest slopes, if the mover looses grip, the weight of the caravan takes over and it can and will start to push the mover out of control down the slope. Purely as a guide, if you could not stop the caravan by your self without using the brakes, then it is likely that none of the domestic A frame movers could, they simply do not weight or the grip.
Check through some of the other threads on this subject, and you will come across some reports of unfortunate outcomes when the 'A' frame mover has lost grip.
As I recall, Mr Shifta would arrange to come out to your caravan to demonstrate their device, but if there is no prospect of new sale I doubt if they would help.
Many of the manufacturers will make claims for the amount of torque they produce which might seem impressive, but torque by its self is useless unless you have the grip to be able to use it. And there lies the Achilles heel of 'A' frame movers. The grip is limited by the weight of the device and nose load of the caravan. This will be a small proportion of the total weight of the caravan.
Conversely the axle mounted movers enjoy the benefit to the majority of the weight of the caravan to develop far more grip than the 'A' frame movers, which is why the majority of axle movers claim to be able to move a caravan safely up a 1in4 slope.
Ultimately it depends on the ratio and length of your slope. If it is short and not too steep them a Mr Shifta may be answer to your dreams but if you have a steep or long slope then it might be the stuff of nightmares.
Jon,
JohnL has in essence stated the problem; its simply a one of the traction grip limit dictated by the weight bearing down on the movers tyres. Its not a "power" thing as that's more than enough, its a grip thing.
For guidance my "drive" has a dip with a maximum incline of 1:14.
My Mr Shifta coped excellently under all conditions with my 1000kg van and on a dry day with my 1700kg van that replaced it.
However it was quite a different situation with the 1700kg van if the tarmac was wet. On the downhill slope the van would just push the Shifta as if it was not there. And under those circumstances its a long way from the end of the handle to the vans handbrake!
The Mr Shifta though is the best of the bunch in this grip regard because its got the battery weight to add to the nose weight. Its a great bit of kit for the right task.
Now got a Reich and sold the Shifta.
JohnL has in essence stated the problem; its simply a one of the traction grip limit dictated by the weight bearing down on the movers tyres. Its not a "power" thing as that's more than enough, its a grip thing.
For guidance my "drive" has a dip with a maximum incline of 1:14.
My Mr Shifta coped excellently under all conditions with my 1000kg van and on a dry day with my 1700kg van that replaced it.
However it was quite a different situation with the 1700kg van if the tarmac was wet. On the downhill slope the van would just push the Shifta as if it was not there. And under those circumstances its a long way from the end of the handle to the vans handbrake!
The Mr Shifta though is the best of the bunch in this grip regard because its got the battery weight to add to the nose weight. Its a great bit of kit for the right task.
Now got a Reich and sold the Shifta.
Thanks for all your replies.
How do you work out the gradient of the drive. If I level the van on it, the back of the van is about 32cm from the ground and the front about 55cm from the ground. This is a twin axle van about 6.5m long between the points measured.
The drive is a constant slope and is concrete.
I can see the points you all make, and for my previous single axle Van I had a power wheel and experienced the problems highlighted! It just about worked if other people pushed at the same time, otherwise the wheel just slipped.
I was hoping that the bigger Mr Shifta would be ok with the twin axle van though...
I have to turn the van through about 110 degrees whilst going up the slope - not easy with a twin axle, in fact impossible by manually pushing it.
I have to use the car and there is hardly any room in the close where I live to get the outfit in, so I have to reverse the outfit off the main road and round into the close, though a 90 degree bend, negotiate badly parked cars (on both sides of the road)and then through another 110 degree bend up onto my drive. Not easy with a long van!
I hoped the Mr Shifta was the answer!
Jon
How do you work out the gradient of the drive. If I level the van on it, the back of the van is about 32cm from the ground and the front about 55cm from the ground. This is a twin axle van about 6.5m long between the points measured.
The drive is a constant slope and is concrete.
I can see the points you all make, and for my previous single axle Van I had a power wheel and experienced the problems highlighted! It just about worked if other people pushed at the same time, otherwise the wheel just slipped.
I was hoping that the bigger Mr Shifta would be ok with the twin axle van though...
I have to turn the van through about 110 degrees whilst going up the slope - not easy with a twin axle, in fact impossible by manually pushing it.
I have to use the car and there is hardly any room in the close where I live to get the outfit in, so I have to reverse the outfit off the main road and round into the close, though a 90 degree bend, negotiate badly parked cars (on both sides of the road)and then through another 110 degree bend up onto my drive. Not easy with a long van!
I hoped the Mr Shifta was the answer!
Jon
I have a Mr Shifta 2 for sale. It looks like new & has the bigger tyres which help with grip considerably. We purchased it because we did not want to carry the weight of a fixed axle type motor mover around with us all the time. I have never felt the need for such a devise away from home.
How good is it? Well on a hard surface it is great. By hard I mean anything down to well compacted gravel. Unfortunately our drive is new soft gravel that hasn't yet bound together with dirt & as my wife has just had a new hip I need to be able to move the caravan on my own.
What I would say is that even on this very soft gravel it made moving the caravan relatively easy whereas without it moving the van was impossible.
If you are interested I want
How good is it? Well on a hard surface it is great. By hard I mean anything down to well compacted gravel. Unfortunately our drive is new soft gravel that hasn't yet bound together with dirt & as my wife has just had a new hip I need to be able to move the caravan on my own.
What I would say is that even on this very soft gravel it made moving the caravan relatively easy whereas without it moving the van was impossible.
If you are interested I want
Hi Chris
I am interested - can you email me details and contact details to jon.roberts1@ntlworld.com please?
Thanks
Jon
I am interested - can you email me details and contact details to jon.roberts1@ntlworld.com please?
Thanks
Jon
Hi all,
I have a Mr Shifta MK1 and I move a 6.5m twin axle with it, my drive is flat with a steep slope at the top, I reverse the caravan down the slope onto the flat and put the Shifta on to get it round the back of the house and down the side of my garage as there is not room for the car as well, a couple of shunts up to the house and back and it is away and out of sight in 5 minutes. I too have never seen a need for a mover on a caravan site and do not want to spend
I have a Mr Shifta MK1 and I move a 6.5m twin axle with it, my drive is flat with a steep slope at the top, I reverse the caravan down the slope onto the flat and put the Shifta on to get it round the back of the house and down the side of my garage as there is not room for the car as well, a couple of shunts up to the house and back and it is away and out of sight in 5 minutes. I too have never seen a need for a mover on a caravan site and do not want to spend
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