Which Motor Mover for a twin axle Bailey Pegasus Bologna S2

[Southy1]

Hi Everyone

I am due to take delivery of a Bailey Pegasus Bologna at the end of March and my wife is nagging (as usual) as she feels I will need assistance moving it. My reversing skills are pretty good and as of yet, I can't recall a situation where I wished I had a mover, however, I currently have a Pageant Champagne which is a bit lighter. Not knowing very much about movers, I thought I would put is out for comment. From everyones experience, which is best and where is the cheapest.
Thanks in advance.

 

[dougie201]

Hi southy.

I have a friend who has the Pegasus twin axle, and all he moves it with is the towcar. He says it is more responsive to moving esp when needing to reverse than his old single axle van. You will find it will also be more stable on the road when towing.

Dougie....

 

[Sproket]

Have a look on here to compare movers

 

[Martin24]

I have the powrtouch on my Coachman twin axle. Impossible to get our van on our drive without it, but if like nearly everyone else you are good at reversing and don't need a mover for tight situations I wouldn't bother.

 

[mealsonwheels]

There is only one mover for us and that is a Powrtouch mover. It is the best thing we ever got for our caravan. Once you have a mover, you will never be without one. We got ours when I received a spinal injury and couldn't haul the caravan around. They are great for taking the caravan to the tow car for hooking up - no shouting directions and waving arms, just one simple and quiet manouvre. Powrtouch will give you all the advice you need and their after sales service is second to none. They can cope with steep drives and we now use ours to put the caravan on its pitch with no hassle. Don't go for cheap. Better to wait a while and treat yourselves to a proper mover.

 

[Southy1]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I will wait and see how I get on without. If I struggle, I will go for the Powertouch, seems to get the best reviews and I am a sucker for good after sales service. Being in a service industry myself, I feel the service is almost as important as the product.
Thanks again. I do enjoy the PC forum, gives me hours of enjoyment and now I have bought a new van, it gives me something else to do when I can't sleep as I don't need to research caravans any more!

 

[andyp1]

I have a Truma TE on my twin axle - its been the best thing i have ever bought !
Andy

 

[ProfJohnL]

Dougie mentions he has a friend with a twin axle, and he claims it is easier to reverse than his old single axle.

I think his friend is associating the wrong factors when making that statement. The only difference that should affect the reversing turn in rate will be the distance between the tow hitch and the axle about which the caravan turns. and not the number of axles. Generally the grater the distance the easier it will be to control.

With a TA it is dependant on the relative loadings on each axle, and the height of the tow hitch all of which will affect which axle of the two provides the main turning point.

The number of axles is not relevant as you would have the same turning rate with a SA where the axle has the same distance from the hitch as the TA's effective turning point.

The jury is still out about forward towing stability of TA's compared to SA's.

If you read up the many hundreds of reader reports on this and other forums and in magazines, you will see that for the vast majority of readers that have movers, find them very useful and effective. The main down side is the loss of some user payload capacity because of the weight of the mover.

 

[Dustydog]

Dougie mentions he has a friend with a twin axle, and he claims it is easier to reverse than his old single axle.

I think his friend is associating the wrong factors when making that statement. The only difference that should affect the reversing turn in rate will be the distance between the tow hitch and the axle about which the caravan turns. and not the number of axles. Generally the grater the distance the easier it will be to control.

With a TA it is dependant on the relative loadings on each axle, and the height of the tow hitch all of which will affect which axle of the two provides the main turning point.

The number of axles is not relevant as you would have the same turning rate with a SA where the axle has the same distance from the hitch as the TA's effective turning point.

The jury is still out about forward towing stability of TA's compared to SA's.

If you read up the many hundreds of reader reports on this and other forums and in magazines, you will see that for the vast majority of readers that have movers, find them very useful and effective. The main down side is the loss of some user payload capacity because of the weight of the mover.

It is noteworthy that a TA is far heavier and requires more advanced planning when reversing. True it does move more slowly on the turn but unless you have a 4x4 with low ratio you stand a good chance of getting clutch burn.
IMO a mover should be a mandatory piece of kit on a TA. Anyone who says he / she can push it into place is talking b******s.
In regard to forward towing I have found over many thousands of miles there is "more forgiveness" than with a SA. I mean specifically cross winds are less dramatic and the suction effect of a National Express coach is less scary. Now this could all be part of my TAs quadruple shock absorbers , the ATC system doing its job abd / or the Al-ko hitch working well.
BUT for reversing , get a mover . It's best in the long run. There are numerous situations where the combined length of the towing vehicle and the TA make reversing impossible because of the lack of space.

 

[FrintonMike]

I have not long changed from a s/a to a t/a and find that with the t/a i have to do a "3 poInt turn " in our narrow cul de sac where as with the s/a I could spin it on its axis. This is not a problem but it does take longer to manoeuvre.
There is no way that I could get the t/a back into storage without the mover due to the restricted space. The s/a could be pushed into storage by a couple but not the t/a as it is so much heavier so I say get a mover and save your back and muscles.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I'm sorry Dusty, but there is no fact or evidence that suggests TA's turn more slowely than SA's. There are only two things that affects the turning point of the trailer when hitched, the first s is the distance from the hitch to the effective axle.and the second is the amount of power available to cause the turn. Neither should be problem for a suitable tow car.

However it is a different matter when using a motor mover, SA's will turn on a sixpence, where as movers on TA's do not have enough raw grunt to overcome the drag of the second axle which strongly resists turning. Consequently most TA movers use specialised controls that over come the drag by making incremental movements that allow the system between turning impulses.

 

[Dustydog]

Hi John
I can only speak as I find. If I turn whilst reversing the TA on grass there is considrable "scrubbing" which tears up the surface. Thus there must be a greater friction or resistance to the turn. I suspect my reference to "slowly" may indicate speed which isn't quite what I meant. Apologies for that.
My Powrtouch does turn with incremental pulses but only on one side at a time. I asked Powrtouch years ago why the motors couldn't be wired up to turn in opposite directions to aid the turning process. I'm still awaiting a reply.