New investments

[bumbleebee23]

I have been touring in my Swift for several years now and I have been struggling to stop my jack legs from sinking into the soft ground. I did some research and I've found some amazing pads made by that stop the legs from sinking. They are mess free easy to use and small to store in the caravan when not using.

Anyone else brought any new gadgets ahead of season

 

[otherclive]

Strange how your first post endorses a commercial product! I use the standard steady pads which never give me any problems on soft ground. Often though they may need to be supplemented by something else to allow the van to be levelled fore - aft. That’s a number of lightweight levelling blocks, or possibly plywood. Either of these will spread the load even further with minimal weight.

£23 and 2.8 kgs each makes them a real asset! The yellow ones aren’t in stock and the black ones just don’t appear as the link goes through to the IPS web shop. Think I will stick with the conventional approach.

 

[bumbleebee23]

I found these while looking for new jack feet online and I am always having problems with wood sinking when I go touring and difficult finding something substantial so I wanted to see if anyone else has the same problem and recommend what I found.

 

[Dustydog]

What dimensions are they?

 

[bumbleebee23]

they are 300mm X 300mm X 30mm

 

[otherclive]

they are 300mm X 300mm X 30mm

And 2.8kg weight. Reading the website the description seems to be for a single pad! Used pads for the high lift jack on my Pajero when off roading but they weren’t feasible for caravan steadies given their weight and mine were an open grp mesh so mud came through the square matrix.

Four Wilco plastic chopping boards would steady a caravan. I keep one in my tool bag to support the Alko side lift jack.

 

[bumbleebee23]

yes i brought them singular but i got a discount on buying the 4. i have brought in the past and all got damaged as i keep mine stored through out the season, these have been affected by the weather.

 

[Craigyoung]

I've got 8 bits off offcuts off decking screwed together just slightly bigger than the Milenco pads for them to sit on and a one for the jockey wheel and two slightly longer bits for the tyres to sit on if necessary , Didnt cost a thing and never sunk yet ! 😛

 

[GeorgiePorgie]

For soft ground, in addition to my Milenco pads (& milenco stacker pads) I use 4 9' X 9' for the steadys & a 9' X 18' for the jockey wheel, all from an ofcut of 3/4' shuttering ply that I bought for 50p at the local timber merchants.

 

[emmerson]

And I thought an "investment" was something that grew, or got better.
Are these pads going to be worth more than their initial cost in, say 5 years time?
Oh, and I use genuine tree wood for my leveling blocks, all for free.

 

[Mel]

Never had a problem with Caravan feet sinking. We use some cheap plastic feet/pads. The last time we were on a grass pitch it was the legs of the metal folding step sinking. I was having to step up higher and higher! :dry: Anyway I went on a scavenger hunt around the site and found a stack of coir mats mouldering behind the shower block. Pressed a couple into service,; job a good 'un.
Mel

 

[Jaydug]

When I bought my van the previous owner had fitted Maypole pads all round. They don't need any storage because once they're fitted they stay there. Weight for all four is only a kg and new price is around £8 (including postage. They don't sink into the ground - at the moment I'm living in my van and the legs haven't been tightened since I wound them down in mid November.

 

[DrZhivago]

I I am always having problems with wood sinking when I go touring and difficult finding something substantial

:lol: Whether pads sink into the ground depends on their area, not what they are made of. Try 1" thick, 6" wide sawn wood planking cut into 12" lengths. Mine have never sunk into the ground, and if the ground were that soft your wheels would be sinking even faster and you have a serious problem.

If they are "affected by the weather" (mine have not in 4 years) throw tham away and cut yourself some more, rinse and repeat.

I reported this as spam BTW.

 

[Raywood]

I have used wooden pads for years but decided to smarten up the appearance with some plastic ones a couple of years back. I have managed to break a couple though so I might just stick with the wood in future.

 

[Anseo]

Don't see the point in these heavy pads, plastic chopping boards, decking or plywood will do the same job, I carry 6 No. 150mm X 150mm 19mm thick plywood pads, rarely use them for anything other than height adjusters, the already fitted plastic caravan pads work just fine in most cases.

I used to carry 200mm X 200mm X 19mm pads but found them overkill and never used, I'm thinking that to save weight and space, otherclive's chopping boards are the better option.

 

[Parksy]

I use short wooden blocks under the corner steadies which never sink into the ground.
I can only guess that the o.p chooses waterlogged swamp like pitches which should be rested to allow the grass to recover or that they have tried a sneaky advert.
I can't do much about the swamp like pitches except to recommend the reviews in the Travel Guides to help Bumblebee to choose more wisely.
I can do something about suspected sneaky unauthorised advertising however, and I've edited the original post and subsequent quotes to remove the name of the manufacturer / supplier.
I can also advise new forum members that first postings which look a lot like advertising are usually edited or removed altogether.