Hi, How does anyone rate the Purpleline Hitchdrive caravan manual mover? I am very keen to get a caravan mover and I fully appreciate that the fitted Powertouch mover is probably the best, but I cant really justify spending nearly £1,000. The Purpleline Hitchdrive looks as tho' it would do the job OK, and at £250 the price is a lot more managable, There are also a couple of used ones on e-bay for about £125, but whilst I have seen many vans with the powertouch, on various sites, I have never seen anyone with the Hitchdrive. Maybe this speaks for itself! will it do the job OK? or would I be wasting my money? Any advice would be much appreciated. Regards. Mike.
A very major point to realise is that the tractive capability [grip] of all wheeled movers, hitch or using the van's road wheels is that it is ultimately directly limited by the weight on the driving wheel[s].
Thus the grip of the hitch drive is a fraction of that of the caravan's own road wheels.
So in reality if you are on a flat, level, dry and firm surface a hitch drive will have enough grip, but on that same surface two good people could also move the van with little strain.
If the surface is not as described it all starts going progressively wrong as the grip between wheel and surface is only going to amount to a 100 to 150 kgs even on a dry day. Whereas a typical van wheel carrying half the weight of the van the grip will be 500 plus kgs. If both wheels are driving it doubles the available grip.
So it all depends on what you expect it to do; if its moving a van that two cant easily cope with then save your funds for a wheel drive unit.
This is a regular topic on this forum. Have a look through the search - general opinion is that you are throwing your money away on hitch drives. Caravan movers such as the Powertouch (we have one) whilst being dearer are well worth the money and the benefits are superb.
I have had one. They are a complete waste of money. OK on level hard ground,but even then it's easier to manouver by hand as you cannot see where you are going & hand wind at the same time.On grass or gravel even with the tractor type tyres they have very little traction.
If you do your research you can get a motor mover for around £6 to 700 pounds fitted,I did
Thoroughly agree - complete waste of money! We had one, and got rid straight away, as it could not begin to move our caravan out of its storage pitch on a grassy slope.
I know that the Powrtouch ones are expensive, but I've never regretted getting ours.
Many Thanks everyone for all the sound advice. I must confess that you have all confirmed my worst suspicions. It seems that as with most things in life, "You get what you pay for".
I guess I'll just have to save up the shekles and go for a powertouch, when I can afford it.
Old Chap, I'd appreciate knowing where you think I could get one fitted for 6 - 700 quid?
Hi Mike,I phoned Powrtouch & asked about their reconditioned units I received a model 1 & it was fitted for £575 total as I said the fitter & myself are convinced it was brand new. I repeat get the lowest quote you can from any manufactorer & Powrtouch will match it
Why Powertouch? Every one, cheap or expensive seem to work very well.
I'm always annoyed by price matching such as practiced by Powertouch, because they are originally happy to screw you unless you go to extra trouble. They know what the competitors prices are, it's up to them to compete. The cheapest is normally Enduro, perfectly good but they treat you respectfully by giving you a better price straight off.
There is also another new one which is cheaper and initial comments on here are excellent, have a look at E-go movers.
we have a purpline hitch drive and its ok for what we want it to do, it pulls our caravan which wiegh 1300kg addmittedly you have to put a fair bit of effort into it, but it does do it. we have never had to use ours tho on grass so cant comment on that and the ground is fairly good where we are, slopes backwards tho. you have to stand on the footplate to gain added wieght to give more grip. now if i can do that anyone can.
i think for the price they do what they are meant to, its when you expect them to do things such as pull up hill and that sort of thing they fail, that is due to the person doing the handle winding tho and not the actual hitchdrive.
Many Thanks for your input. I do have a slight incline on my drive, and I would also need to use it to manoeuvre the van on various sites, with grass and gravel pitches, and judging by the comments made by others, I think on balance, that I would be wise to save up and buy a motorised wheel driven model. I suspect that as with most things in life, you get what you pay for, at the end of the day.
I think that what clinched it for me was the picture painted by Grampian91 and Old chap, of my having to stand on the footplate to get traction, whilst at the same time winding the handle with one hand and steering the van with the other, and not being able to see where I was going!
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Purpleline Hitchdrive caravan mover
