Hello all,
I’m hoping to get some advice regarding having a motor mover fitted to our Pennine Pullman folding camper. I’m asking in this forum instead of the trailer tent forum as I expect people in this forum will possibly have more knowledge of them.
We’ve had our Pullman now for 20+ years and it’s in excellent condition so after some thought of if to change or not change we’ve decided to keep it as we really enjoy it. However as we’re getting a little older it’s becoming a bit harder to push on a chock or around some uneven pitches
The chap who services our camper has suggested fitting an Easydriver mover. For a manually engaging one it'd be £995 and for an auto one it'd would be £1350. Both have 5 year warranty. I’ve no experience of these but just curious if this is reasonable or not? I’d certainly not be able to do it myself.
Also I wasn’t sure if I’d need a leisure battery or not if I had a mover fitted but the chap I use said I’d definitely need a leisure battery (we’ve never used a battery as always used electric hook up). He said he can supply and fit very good quality one to run a mover for around £150 incl VAT.
My question’s really are is it better to get a manual or automatic one?
Also regarding the battery that seems expensive and wondered if it would be cheaper to get the battery myself and if so which type of battery would I need?
And finally does anyone have any experience of the Easydriver models?
Sorry for the rambling but just trying to understand as much as I can really.
As usual thanks for any advice people take the time to share.
Regards
Antony
------------- Thank god it's Friday lets go camping
yes the battery he is charging you for is way overpriced, euro car parts are doing a 105 amp hr battery for £88, if you have a look on here it gives you a better idea of some prices, esp considering your only moving a folding camper compared to your bloke you would save about £300 so including the battery thats a saving of nearly £370! so a third of his price,
btw even tho you havent had a battery before you really should have something even a car battery, what are you going to do if the site had a power cut? no lights no water to name but a few things until the power came back on again, putting a leisure battery in place also gives you the option to use cheaper sites so a chance to make even more savings
You will definitely need a leisure battery to power any make of motor mover but you will get one much cheaper than 150 quid if you shop around. Some caravan accessory shops sell them for around 100 to 120 quid but you need to measure the size of the battery box first as although the batteries come in the same size depth they can differ in lengths and height. Remember that a leisure battery will need to be kept fully charged on a regular basis to avoid it giving up prematurely as once they become flat it is virtually impossible to get it active again so either the battery needs to be removed and connected up to a smart charger or connected up to the mains supply at home. Regarding a manual or automatic operation can depend where the camper is parked because if one side is near to a wall or fence then access to the operation lever will be virtually impossible so an automatic would be the best choice.
There are many makes of motor mover on the market but Easydriver is not one that I've ever heard of.
Looks like the manufacturer is Reich, Easydriver is the model.
------------- 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.
Easydriver are manufactured by Reich so the brand is good. I changed my powrtouch mover quite some time ago - my old one was manual with an actuation bar that allowed contact on both wheels. Engaging the manual motor mover was getting more difficult and of course you are pushing against a tyre and in my case 52psi tyre pressure. The automatic is much easier. Leisureshop advertise for sale at £1290 so supply and fit for £1350 seems reasonable.
Quote: Originally posted by clbewi on 23/5/2023
Manual movers operate from both sides.
I wasn't absolutely sure about this and thought that the manual lever was independent of each caravan wheel. The motor mover on our caravan is an automatic engagement and never had a manual one but at least it's an important point regarding the OP's question.
We got a 110AH leisure battery from Tayna Batteries to replace our deceased one. It was under £100 and delivered quickly.
Their website shows dimensions of all,the ones they sell. Our Bailey has an underfloor battery box so you have to measure.
Our caravan charges the battery when on a mains hookup or through the built in solar panel.
Our mover is a Powrtouch manual.
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
I have a manual mover on our caravan and it can definitely be operated from either side, and it's not that difficult either. I have back problem and I'm in my 70s and I can still work it without any problem. Unless you are severely physically restricted it is just a personal choice I would say.
Regarding the leisure battery, I assumed that was a fitted price. You can certainly but one for £100 or less but then you would have to fit it yourself, which would include installing the necessary wiring if it's not already there.
Manual movers only operate both rollers from either side if you have the actuator bar fitted, if not then you apply them individually.
A 110Ah battery would be well over the top for what is needed to move a Pennine, I think the max weight is 900 Kgs, if on EHU normally, as the OP said, then it can be recharged while on site. I used an old car battery to move my caravan for a couple of years.
I had a Pennine Pullman and it didn't have a fitted battery box.
One thing to consider is the weight of the mover and battery etc will eat into your max weight allowance which is only app 230Kg when empty.
saxo1
Glad you have no problem with using the lever. I could use mine but it was difficult. I had no physical restrictions 6' tall and reasonably well built. I asked a couple of caravan friends, the motor movers they had were operated from one side only. They found using the lever on mine much more difficult than their own outfits. I mentioned this to Powrtouch and they agreed and went on to say they were developing the automatic engagement mover, when my old powrtouch developed problems (it was over ten years old) I decided to upgrade and of course for me its much better. The bonus is that my wife, who does have medical issues couldn't use the manual but now she is happy to help.
I'm not sure this FC will have an onboard charger if its no battery. And its certainly no battery box to measure up for. I would go auto if the OP can afford it. Some manual movers are stronger than others to swing across. I'm not limp-wristed, but still had to use an extension bar on my last manual.Yes, you can get batterys for about £80, but how long are they going to last? I know there will be those that have one, and bought pre-decimalisation, but they will be few and far between. Buy cheap, buy twice!
Quote: Originally posted by 664DaveS on 23/5/2023
We got a 110AH leisure battery from Tayna Batteries to replace our deceased one. It was under £100 and delivered quickly.
Dave, off topic, but please can you double check your emails - we sent you a rather important and interesting one on 11th May, but we haven't had a reply yet
It's obvious now from the comments on here that motor movers vary enormously. I never knew that some movers could only be operated from one side, or that they needed an actuator bar to operate them from both sides. I have only ever had one caravan with a motor mover and that's the one I have now, so I assumed they were all very similar, apart from the fact that some engage automatically, whereas mine has to be actuated manually.
Clearly some manually activated movers are much harder than others. Mine is relatively easy for me and I'm not particularly fit or strong. I had great difficulty trying to get an air-awning up into the rail for instance. It was way too heavy for me and I had to give up with it in the end.
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Topic: Motor mover
via mobile 22/5/2023 at 10:13pm
