As we are in our 70 s thinking about when we can no longer push our camper around and looking into motor movers which would work out very expensive and decrease the weight we could carry in camper, someone suggested a motorised jokey wheel which is less than half the price of a mover and we could fit it ourselves just wondered what people’s thoughts on them are.
Absolutely fine on firm flat ground, but very little additional power, and wont cope with wet grass, gravel, or any kind of slope, unfortunately.
Jockey.
------------- XVI yes?
As well is two words!
How does a sage know everything about everything? or does he? or does he just think he does?
Remember, if you buy something you bought it, not brought it.
I believe motorised jockey wheels were the first kind of motor mover, but fell out of favour as main axle wheel movers were FAR more effective.
One of the biggest names in the MM market, Powrtouch started in business back in the 1990's only manufacturing powered jockey wheels, but no longer include one in their range nor have done for many years, which may say something!
DO NOT overlook the weight of a motorised jockey wheel! They are around 20Kg, you may have to manually lift that on the sliding column (as you do with an ordinary jockey wheel) if the screwed adjustment does not give sufficient lift height, or ground clearance! You also would normally have to have a portable battery of not insignificant weight and cost to power it when you need to use is, that'll be another weight you will certainly be carrying around, you could have a power connection to your on board leisure battery I suppose, but that'd be extra work and cost!
You are STILL adding that circa 20Kg to your trailer weight as you would with a axle mounted MM, so have lost circa 20kg from your pay load! A 'proper' main axle MM is only around another 10Kg, but giving infinitely better traction and ease of use.
CAN YOU accommodate an extra circa 20Kg on your trailer nose weight? Three max weight limits to take into account, the trailer chassis max nose weight, the car max nose weight, and the tow bar max nose weight. The lowest of those 3 figures is your MAX LIMIT! A main axle mounted MM has little or no effect on nose weight!
Traction on a powered jockey can be very poor, if on loose surfaces like gravel, wet grass etc. If trying to motor up an incline, the weight comes off the jockey and just compounds the traction issues! Equally, if trying to reverse up an incline, there can be insufficient traction on such a small tyre contact area to cope with the load. Trying to get the main axle wheels to go over a kerb, even out of a rut or pot hole may not be possible.
I do appreciate your views on cost and payload, but IMHO, a powered jockey is of quite limited capability, comes with a number of operational disadvantages, and is an absolute shadow of what a main axle MM would offer you. It's also not quite as cheap as it would appear, you'll need a dedicated battery for it or a suitable connection to on board leisure battery (either at extra cost!).
There are second hand MMs on the market at some saving on new costs, and Powrtouch for one have a 5 year transferrable warranty, with an excellent reputation for customer care, so some reduction in risk of buying S/H if under 5 years old.
I've got a Powrtouch MM fitted on my caravan, and couldn't cope without it. Van weighs around 1.3T, and I mostly use it solo, not overlooking that I'm nearly 70 too, I wouldn't just struggle, I just would not be able to shift it at all in many situations, as it is, nothing much stops me as MM copes with everything.
I'm in my 70s and wouldn't be without the motor mover on the caravan, also a powrtouch. I've had one for over 20 years now and they save a lot of back ache.
I bought a motorized jockey wheel for my pathfinder.
Cons:
- Unless the surface is very flat, and the ground is tarmac it wont work.
- You can't tow with it on as the wheel is too low to the ground. This means swapping it over with the standard jockey wheel when it's attached to the car.
Pro (the only one)
- It is very useful for maneuvering the camper into tight spaces - i.e. a small garage.
I gave up on it and now use a motorized winch for a third of the price.
A motor mover is a far better option, but costs more and also somewhat reduces the clearance under the camper.
Quote: Originally posted by msmcleod on 22/2/2025
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Pro (the only one)
- It is very useful for maneuvering the camper into tight spaces - i.e. a small garage.
......
'Proper' Motor Movers can give precise movement to probably as little as 10-20mm with skilled use.
They can also 'swing/rotate' the van in it's own length by driving one wheel forwards and the other backwards, giving excellent manoeuvring capabilities.
Those of us with the dreaded Alko wheel lock, NEED to place our vans with 1-2 degrees of wheel rotation accuracy (that translates to about 6mm of fore/aft van movement!) to get the lock body to align with the fixed chassis mounted receptacle!
.... at least my Powrtouch one does all that, I do believe that at least some of the competition are just as capable.
Quote: Originally posted by blueexpo97 on 17/2/2025
Absolutely fine on firm flat ground, but very little additional power, and wont cope with wet grass, gravel, or any kind of slope, unfortunately.
Jockey.
It depends on how much weight is on your jockey wheel as most are loaded with very little weight and you will find the powered wheel wont give much of a grip
We used e move units from tow sure and around £500 but we live on a slope and use it constantly ( These units fit behind the road wheels and dont need any drop plates so ground clearance is good too)
Look around for the prices as there are some good deals around. DIY able if your fairly compatent
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Topic: Motor mover
via mobile 17/2/2025 at 12:37pm
