Hi, bought a cheap 12v drill driver £9.99 to wind my stays up n down, but due to it being cheap it had the dreaded old ni cam battery so would perform well when fully charged but you have to drain it to empty before recharging, charge it at half drain and you get the memory kicking in so when you needed it, it would inevitably be flat, not only that but it was big bulky and had to take the charger with you, so invested in one of those tiny 3.5v lithium powered drivers and it works a treat charge it up at the start of the season and I haven't had to charge it up once yet, it's tiny, light and no memory loss,
Winding up stays
- Thread starter Smurff
- Start date
hi, I bought one of those Aldi specials @ 24.99 with the lithium battery must I am very impressed with it been brilliant mind you beware of the long socket comming off the winder nut it hurts doensn't it Kev
colin-yorkshire said:hi, I bought one of those Aldi specials @ 24.99 with the lithium battery must I am very impressed with it been brilliant mind you beware of the long socket comming off the winder nut it hurts doensn't it Kev
Eye Eye........... yes it does Colin
Had a thought today ( and that hurt as well) going to look into fitting the waste pipe to act as a guide to access the steady nuts.
Both sets of mine are a fair way under with the front ones at a slight angle.
already done it kev on front the grey pipe is cut level with the van so it looks ok and a slite angle to the pipe face so you can feed the drill on drill some holes in bottom off pipe so any road spray off cars rear wheels can drain out
Bought a piece of pipe the circumference of the long winder, put it over the rear stay nuts then bracketed to underneath of floor, hence no damaged arthritic knees, just a slight bend feed winder in and hey presto, I think it cost me £9.00 for pipes (white) brackets n screws and took 2 hours.
Our issue is that we charge up the battery on the 14v drill, but two weeks later it is almost flat and you are lucky to be able to wind down two steadies. As we have screw in pegs for the awning, it would be nice to use the drill. The Li-Lion battery drills are a bit expensive and around £80 or more so can't warrant a purchase of one yet.
I use an Axion 10.8 volt drill/driver from Axminster power tools. Well made bit of kit with more than enough power for leg winding etc. Comes complete with 2Lion batteries, charger, soft bag and a very useful torch. On offer at the moment for about £45
Mike
Mike
Parksy
Moderator
I use the Mk 1 bicep which produces a smooth even winding action and provides exactly the right amount of torque to wind down the steadies by the correct amount every time no matter what the pitch surface happens to be. Winding up the steadies is a simple matter with no potential for injuries and no need for recharging apart from the odd bacon sandwich now and again.
........so do I but with a bit of added wrist action
Less weight....nothing to go wrong... cheap to own..... although I could have had a couple off nice rechargeable drills that people have left on the rally field.
Must be a disposable item for some people!
Less weight....nothing to go wrong... cheap to own..... although I could have had a couple off nice rechargeable drills that people have left on the rally field.
Must be a disposable item for some people!
Parksy said:I use the Mk 1 bicep which produces a smooth even winding action and provides exactly the right amount of torque to wind down the steadies by the correct amount every time no matter what the pitch surface happens to be. Winding up the steadies is a simple matter with no potential for injuries and no need for recharging apart from the odd bacon sandwich now and again.
Ah ah !Gafferbill said:........so do I but with a bit of added wrist action
Less weight....nothing to go wrong... cheap to own..... although I could have had a couple off nice rechargeable drills that people have left on the rally field.
Must be a disposable item for some people!
So you both have....
A lightweight fixed gear winder with a variable speed input inc reverse
Parksy
Moderator
The winder might be lightweight but the ancillary equipment pack weighs a fair bit in my caseSproket said:Parksy said:I use the Mk 1 bicep which produces a smooth even winding action and provides exactly the right amount of torque to wind down the steadies by the correct amount every time no matter what the pitch surface happens to be. Winding up the steadies is a simple matter with no potential for injuries and no need for recharging apart from the odd bacon sandwich now and again.Ah ah !Gafferbill said:........so do I but with a bit of added wrist action
Less weight....nothing to go wrong... cheap to own..... although I could have had a couple off nice rechargeable drills that people have left on the rally field.
Must be a disposable item for some people!
So you both have....
A lightweight fixed gear winder with a variable speed input inc reverse
I bought a cordless drill from a well known discount caravan retailer. The battery couldn't be disconnected, it was fixed to the unit, and after not very long at all, it started to only have enough charge for one use - it wound the legs up before departure, then struggled to wind them back down when we got to the site.
I replaced it with a nice Black and Decker from the DIY shop and I've had no problems since. It even works for doing DIY as well!
I used to use the mk 1 bicep, but Mrs Gozza has a back problem which means she can't help with any of the physical caravan-setting-up jobs - so the more I can make non-physically-demanding, the more she can help and the less I have to do
I replaced it with a nice Black and Decker from the DIY shop and I've had no problems since. It even works for doing DIY as well!
I used to use the mk 1 bicep, but Mrs Gozza has a back problem which means she can't help with any of the physical caravan-setting-up jobs - so the more I can make non-physically-demanding, the more she can help and the less I have to do
Parksy said:I use the Mk 1 bicep which produces a smooth even winding action and provides exactly the right amount of torque to wind down the steadies by the correct amount every time no matter what the pitch surface happens to be. Winding up the steadies is a simple matter with no potential for injuries and no need for recharging apart from the odd bacon sandwich now and again.
I guess you do not suffer from arthritis and a bad back?
Parksy
Moderator
I sympathise with those who do suffer from arthritis and fortunately for me I don't, although I do have occasional back problems.Surfer said:Parksy said:I use the Mk 1 bicep which produces a smooth even winding action and provides exactly the right amount of torque to wind down the steadies by the correct amount every time no matter what the pitch surface happens to be. Winding up the steadies is a simple matter with no potential for injuries and no need for recharging apart from the odd bacon sandwich now and again.
I guess you do not suffer from arthritis and a bad back?
In my particular case a stroke robbed me of dexterity and strength from my right side and it's very much a case of 'use it or lose it', which is why I wind manually rather than with the cordless drill which sat unused in the back of the car until I took it back home and left it there.
It would be more difficult and awkward for me to use my walking stick and also to lug the drill around and to lift it to engage with the winder without falling over than to use the manual winder, which goes to show that everybody's circumstances can differ.
We tend to use the grand kids for the heavy chores, amazing how willing an 8 year old can be. When they reach the awkward teens just ask for the next one!!!
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