I need some advice about Caravans and Towing.
I have a wee sad story to tell first. I am a Joiner who does Handyman services in my local community for elderly folks and the like. Last year I had an accident and the end result of which has left me with 2 ruptured Discs in my lower spine. The upshot is lots of sciatic pain and pills in an effort to avoid a highly risky operation that has a low success rate and could mean full Paralysis.
Because of this I have been doing very little work but my condition has shown a very small improvement and in the last 2 months I have done some small tasks like hanging pictures and curtain rails.(Pain Killers all the way)
Anyway, to the point. I have 3 young kids and every year since my first was born we have gone camping in our tent. Our tent ,now some 10 years old, has a tear in the roof of the flysheet 2 foot long and as I have been advised the UV damage has made the whole tent pretty unstable and beyond economic repair.
We are trying to get a wee holiday for the kids but I feel that my Camping days are over because of the back issue. So I am now thinking Caravan for my backs sake rather than a new tent. I think my wife and I could manage to get together £500 for a Caravan and I still have my Ford Transit work van for towing. 2010 Model.
Here’s the advice part… I have never owned or towed a Caravan.
What should I look out for when going to view older Caravans? I'm bearing in mind that you get what you pay for.
And, what type of tow bar should I get and where would be a good place to get one fitted in the East Lothian/Edinburgh area?
You might struggle to get a 5berth caravan for £500 thats any good, it would be 1980s & now is a bad time for a bargain. Best time to buy a cheap caravan is end of season, say Oct/Nov. If you get a caravan that old you would probably have to factor in new tyres & also a service on the running gear wheel bearings/brakes etc for it to be safe to tow any distance.
Also you would need to check very carefully for damp in bodywork as serious damp would render caravan of that age as scrap. Forget about dealers, your only likely place for a bargain is ebay or a private seller.
Also some campsites don't like caravans towed by commercial vans so might restrict you further. For a towbar, any standard towbar will do the job. You might as well have an Al-Ko stabiliser compatable towball fitted even though probably won't be needed & stick with single 7pin electrics to keep cost down
Depending on how fit the wife is, and how old the kids are, you could consider a trailer tent of some kind. A caravan that big that will last will be much more than that.
What about a smaller caravan or Dandy and tents for the kids. Our two had many a happy evening in the tent once old enough.
I have moved the thread as advised Kelper, thank you for the advice.
Thanks for the replies Kimmie and RonPlatt...
Pretty good valid points RonPlatt. I get the message about the road worthiness, that's the bit that scares me!
Bad timing as usual... Came across the Van scenario just with a tent! and Damp, uh!. Yes a bit of serious research required. All the best and thanks...
Kimmie, ha! the wife is as fit as a fiddle and the kids are all 11+ big lads too. The eldest come to think of it could easily do his own thing... See the trouble your going to cause ha ha. I will look at the other options you mentioned, good ideas for sure. Thanks once again. Cheers...
I would agree with the above. You are going to find it very difficult to find a decent 5 berth caravan in your price range - you could end up buying someone else's problems with damp etc.
Check out the many threads on her about buying a caravan and what to look for - obviously the dreaded damp is the biggest issue.
I would have said putting up a trailer tent on your own would be quite difficult but I've never done it, so who am I to say? We find even a full canvas caravan awning is hard going for one person and realistically, is a two man job.
We bought our first caravan 4 years ago.
Cheap, gas was to dangerous to use, water didn't work, and had some damp.
I have bad back problems, althought painkillers every day so I get throught the working day.
I like screwing around on cars motorbikes etc, well, motorbike is in the shed and not being used since nearly 2 years, so may sell it.
Back to the van,
I removed all gas pipes and appliances, just the left the often top, replaced the actually often for a low watt microwave, new carpet, and dried the whole van out with a industrial dehumidify for 1 week.
Resealed the part with some help from a mate, and replaced the front panel where the water came in.
Well it taken me and help from some mates 2 month.
Then repainted the interior, new curtains and we went on a couple nice holidays untill we sold it for an newer one.
We paid for the 5 berth 380£ and it was a 1980.
The brakes and tyres where don't by a mobile mechanic for 80£ plus tyres.
With a budget maybe consider something big enough for you're needs but a bit work on it?
Not every damp considerd caravan is so bad it should get scrapped.
With a bit handiwork some vans can be restored to a nice home away.
To the water problem, we used a barrel with a mobile hand pump instead the normally water supply inside the van.
A light weight awning helps by putting up, I couldn't do the full heavy awning myself, and as my other half is disabled she wasn't a big help.
I did see a couple vans around, even twin axle 6 birth, with damp increase which would be repairable with a bit work, for less then 600£.
It's all about the budget, the space you got to do it up, the help you can get for repairs and the knowledge how to repair it successfully and cheap.
You are a joiner, at least you know what to do, so all you would need is someone which want to help you. Maybe you're kids?
If you involve them, the May value the van more as others which grow up by daddy's credit card?
Worth a think about it.
And btw, there is a lot help on this side if you struggle with advice.
It's all about the budget, the space you got to do it up, the help you can get for repairs and the knowledge how to repair it successfully and cheap.
You are a joiner, at least you know what to do, so all you would need is someone which want to help you. Maybe you're kids?
If you involve them, the May value the van more as others which grow up by daddy's credit card?
This says it all as far as I'm concerned!
Just back from caravan viewing. Went to check out a 1984 caravan today for £500.
Couldn't tell you the make or model because I soon lost interest. It was a real eye-opener on the whole topic of caravans, in fact I'm delighted that I took the venture.
As I met the seller guy today, he lived in a two story terraced house in a series of 4 rows consisting of 10 houses per row to form a large square. The part grassy square was intersected with parking bays and as I turned into the access road of the square there was a row of three caravans parked in bays side by side. As I approached I thought... I hope its the 1st one. It wasn't and I know realise the first one was worth a pretty penny... Anyway he opened the door and showed me in and wham! Childhood flashback of sorts. Sometime in my ancient past I must have been in a similar caravan and I felt a huge sense of being dated. Not me ha! The caravan... Any road after sitting down to take in the aura whilst the guy explained the various accoutrements, I could see no way forward here! Old metal sprung pull-out bed frames, sliding bits of chipboard in a dark oak look veneer to form mattress bases and seats. After a while I thought better not pass-up this opportunity to see what these old fellas are like. Damp Damp Damp ran through my mind. So I set to hands and knees and looked inside cupboard corners at the ends and sure enough the black death had come to reside! Daylight streamed through the long narrow holes at various points along the entire rear with of the caravan where the side met the floor... Cupboard shut game over! Not wanting to point this out to the guy... I went outside saying ah! the good old days to the guy, he laughed in a somewhat confused way... Upon reflection now! It is obvious to me that either the guy knew nothing about the rot or he was plain hard at it... I like to think the former to be true as the guy seemed genuine and nice. When I looked underneath I could see the rusty non-galvanised or badly needing painted rusty steel chassis. The plywood floor had buckled slightly at various support brackets as the entire upper van weight had taken it toll over the years.
The scrap yard was my thoughts...
Yes Tom sounds like a lot of work, good friends, a huge dollop of space and time and money required.
I now realise that Hundreds isn't going to buy me what I fantasised about... No it would be thousands for a clean, modern, safe, reliable of the shelf caravan with very little work required.
Back to the drawing board for a re-think.
Great advice Tom which has helped bring the caravan topic to a sharp conclusion...
Time of year, as I pointed out, sellers are going to want money for any old wreck. They will have been waiting for the sunshine before putting it up for sale. If you cannot find a good one now then forward plan for next yr. Old caravans on sale at end of season Oct until Xmas are usually for sale because owner just wants rid, so low bids on ebay or low cash offer & they will be happy to sell.
A caravan that will fetch £1000 now will be down to £400 in Oct. There are good ones about but you probably can't afford them now.
Yes that's right.
You pay 500 for a wreck now, I bought our old one in January, which was wet, cold, windy, nasty, the guy didn't even want to go out the house. Lol
So I got it cheap.
As I said a bit damp is ok, rotten is not.
My advise on my suggestion would be waiting untill summer so over and have a look then.
I sold our old van for 350, with good tyres, brakes done , new carpet, well 3 years old, may a bit damp again, new seatcovers, left tv and microwave with it.
It was an old van and I advertised it as such.
I know not everyone is as honest, and nice but the guys who bought it, just started caravaning, a young couple and he loved the way the caravan was decorated.
So I thought why not helping them to start.
I even gave advise on the towing and towed it out my garden for them, as it is very tight.
Had a postcard from them from Spain already.
I would say wait a bit and have a look then.
I didn't spend thousands on it.
All together with microwave, tv etc I had a caravan for 700£ in my garden we used for 4/5 years without any problems.
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Topic: Caravan and Towing advice.
