Winching

[Tim_5120839]

I have to park my van on a gravel drive, I can get it most of the way up with the car, however I struggle to push it (Even with the wife and kids) into its final resting place. I was thinking about using a winch (You can buy for about £20) to pull it into place. Anyone have any experience of using a winch on a Caravan, also are there any winching points on Alco chassis ? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks Tim

 

[Rod_5041370]

The only really safe way of winching a caravan, other than attaching to the hitch, is to use a webbing strap around the axle.

This in itself is a chore, especially in the wet.

You'll have to save your pennies (lots of them) to buy a motor mover!

 

[benny1]

dont bother whith a cheep winch thy wont pull skin off a rice pudding the one i had my boy stoped by pulling back on it

 

[Rod_5128213]

My father used to have to winch his van into it's resting place up a steep drive. I made him a set up that was basicaly a heavy duty trailer winch on a 80x40 steel box section that dropped into a 100x50 box section conreted into the floor. He used to winch forwards with another fitting I made which consisted of a 50mm ball mounted to a steel plate with a hole in for the winch hook. This system worked very well and was very safe as everything was over the top. If you have to winch the van backwards the problem is where to attatch the winch. Obviously the chassis is strong enough by the corner steadys but you would have to put a spreader beam between the sling attatchment points to stop it trying to pull the chassis rails together.See if you have anywhere under the back where you could possibly fit a shackle each side to hook onto, if you have all you need is a sling at least 1.5 times the width of the rails with a hook each end and probably a steel tube the same length as the chassis rails are apart with an eye each end to pass the sling through to keep it apart and take any compression loadings off the rails. Hope you can follow this. Not touting for work in any way but I am involved in the manufacture of lifting slings and beams so if you want to proceed with this and get stuck contact me.

Rod.

Rod.

 

[RobRoy]

Hi Tim,

I used to use one of these cheapish winches to move my caravan up a slope. Cable round jockey wheel post and no problems whatsoever.

Two or three years ago I had two lawns and a flower bed removed, the area covered in rubble well tamped down and a good layer of red chips spread all over. Now I can single handed swing the caravan round from its parking place behind the house, back the car up to it, hitch on and drive out onto the drive and away. Brilliant - and two less lawns to cut!

Rob S.

 

[Tim_5120839]

Hi Tim,

I used to use one of these cheapish winches to move my caravan up a slope. Cable round jockey wheel post and no problems whatsoever.

Two or three years ago I had two lawns and a flower bed removed, the area covered in rubble well tamped down and a good layer of red chips spread all over. Now I can single handed swing the caravan round from its parking place behind the house, back the car up to it, hitch on and drive out onto the drive and away. Brilliant - and two less lawns to cut!

Rob S.

Thanks to everyone to the tips for using a winch, I will have a look at them and give them a try.

Thanks Tim

 

[Ewan_5130997]

The 'walk along' winch which attaches to the hitch works no problem. I use one to pull caravan up a small incline.

 

[Steve L]

I've used winches in the past and the manual versions are hard graft.

You can get quite cheaply a 12volt winch from Machine Mart which will easily pull most vans. Pulling from the back of the van would involve devising a sling system to either pull equally from thechassis by the back steadies or a long sling over the axle.

I'd go for using the back steady anchor points as you will get a more acurate direction of tow, and avoid any pendulem swing should a wheel get stuck.

Don't forget though to go for a bigger winch and higher rated slings rather than saving a few quid by having ones just wihtin capability.

Steve L.

 

[Rod_5041370]

There is no way that I would winch a caravan by using the steadies or the rear chassis points.

I would use two strops from each side of the axle. These could left in situ. by using bungee cords.

 

[Rod_5128213]

Rod, why not the rear chassis if slung properly? Assuming it's steel and of a reasonable quality it will have a UTS of at least 15 / 20 tons psi, and a yield of 7 / 10 tons psi. The van is only being pulled along a gravel drive (which can be done by Tim, his wife and two kids) so will not have any real loading. If the required force was very high they would have pushed the body off the chassis by now.

Rod.

(this gets confusing, it's like talking to myself)

 

[sparkes]

Couple of points

1, Alko say you must winch off the axle

2, If you have no experience of winching then buy a mover

Winches are dangerous tools. We use them while off roading and we take training for their use. When my cable became damaged recenly it was completly removed to make sure it did not hurt anyone.

Even a hand winch cable can kill if it whips after a snap.

 

[Rod_5128213]

Steve,

First, alko are going to say that aren't they. I'm not condoning just tying a bit of rope around the first fixed point that can be seen.

Second, did you change your cable because you didn't know the safety factor, therefore how much damage is allowed? Tell me the winch and the cable dia and I'll let you know your safety factor. Oh, by the way, the course you went on, I was an instructor years ago and you will find you have been instructed very cautiously (not a bad thing I hasten to add) but not viable in a business sense.

Offroading, do you trial, comp or challenge and who with? If you're local to me we may have met. I compete in a bright yellow 2 litre suzuki sj 410 (or should that be sj420) towed by a red 110.

Rod.

 

[sparkes]

Hi Rod, Sorry just seen the reply.

I think Alko state that because there is almost no way to gauge the point loads on the chassis at any given point. The winch cable had kinked and several strands had snapped. At the time I was recovery for the DOC national and did not want to risk any more recoveries. The winch is a superwinch EP9 that is chassis mounted on my 2002 face lift discovery. No competitions or trials for me, its used for recovery only with the odd bit of gardening thrown in for good measure.

I am currently waiting the new Plasma to replace the cable so I can splice it if needed.

Would be good to know if you have an event in the midlands sometime as I would be interested in going to have a septate

Steve

 

[hublock]

Hello Tim

I've winched my van in reverse up a sloping drive in the past.

The problem is the anchor points, and I used eye bolts positioned just behind the wheels attached to the chassis with steel angle brackets. A piece of conduit (not heavy pipe) with a steel bracket at each end and spacers to allow a good fit.

The bracket and the angle are the same size and sandwich the chassis member. The conduit acts as a brace to stiffen the chassis at the fixing points.

Attaching a cable accross between the eyebolts, and then attaching a second cable was very easy, worked very well, and I am sure this didn't put undue load on the Alko chassis.

Phone me if you like since it is difficult to describe fully.

Regards

 

[hublock]

Hello Tim,

My phone number is 01924 278338.

I used a "tirfor" mechanical device which was very slow work but I'm sure it will work well with other devices.

It does add some weight to your van but by using conduit it is not too heavy. You can calculate weight of parts quite easily.

Regards

 

[DavidW1]

Hi Tim,

I'm with Steve on the safety thing - one of the horror stories I remember from my aircraft crash and rescue training was about the damage an overloaded drag off winch cable could do to anybody standing in the way if it broke under tension; a flailing 50 ton cable could easily cut a man in half apparently. It follows that a similar event on a winched caravan could also severely spoil ones day, even if it was only a two ton cable.

There is also the possibility of the winch slipping or a cable break allowing the van to go back down the slope!

Personally I would have nothing to do with winching: the mover option is sensible, if it does start to come down the hill at least you can grab the handbreak but also consider a towball on the front of the vehicle if this can be fitted. I have seen this used to good effect in crowded caravn storage sites - reversing the c'van is much easier when you are driving forward and precise positioning is possible without any drama from slipping clutches or "turning the wheel the wrong way"

A refinement is to offset the mounting point of the front ball so you can see down the side of the van, this gives the ability to place within a few inches of fences or walls.

Scour the classifieds in the van mags cos I'm sure Ive seen front tow mounts for ordinary cars advertised.

 

[Bazz1]

Tim fit a mover, its safer and it locks the wheels when stood. Got to have a good battery,eg, 110Ahr. For a good job call Alan at Castleford Caravan Care Centre on 07751591799, he his mobile and comes to your house and will advise which one to go for and also service your van if asked, all at a reasonable cost, Bazz.

 

[Rod_5128213]

Hi Steve, Plasma rope will be a good choice and is suitable for your winch (it's not for a lot). It's not quite so hardwearing as a good steel rope but the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. As for the alko chassis spot loading, it is very easy to calculate the loadings. If you are using a 500kg winch then that's it (single line), that's the max the winch will impose on the chassis, if you check the data plate on a winch they are dramaticaly down rated for lifting because the winching rating is the most the winch will pull ( and that's on a good day with a following wind ). The most important thing would be to use some form of spreader if slinging with a bridle. If you check out midland offroad club web site it will give you forthcoming venues.

TIM, probably the best thing would be to swap the car for a 4x4 and just reverse it straight on .

rod.