Hi there I have just brought my first caravan well pick it up on weekend it but its not got a moter mover on its a big 2 birth with end bathroom am I going to be able to move it on my own. I.e pushing it on to my drive and on site
How long is a piece of string?
How strong are you?
Is it level ground?
Are there any kerbs to be mounted?
What is the surface? (Lot harder on grass/mud/gravel)
How's your reversing skills?
Pushing a caravan up an incline, over a kerb or on uneven ground is almost impossible unless you can find a team of strong people. Husband and I can push ours on the drive but not up the dropped kerb.
------------- Jean
Sometimes a little rain must fall before you reach a rainbow.
The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow, but the rainbow won't wait while you finish the work.
As Dave and Cyn have said .... piece of string! Too many variables to do more than guess at a meaningful answer for YOU! But think you may have got the gist from comments.
Some context, my 4 berth van is quite light (1310kg MTPLM), I'm a big strong pretty fit bloke, and I'd seriously struggle (and expect to fail!) to move my van on my own on most surfaces other than level flat tarmac/concrete. I do have motor movers, purposely fitted before I took delivery so I didn't have to struggle on my own, so my efforts at manual moving are minimal, but enough to know it's not easy!
The manoeuvring handles are usually on the van body, the tow hitch, and especially the Alko damper lever if fitted, the jockey wheel stem and the handbrake lever are NOT intended to be used as leverage for manoeuvring and may suffer damage if abused!
SERIOUS concern! It's not just about moving it, it's ALSO about stopping it once it's moving!!!!! A little bit of momentum on a slope and you've got a runaway that YOU can't stop or control!
With the tricycle wheel layout and a castoring nose wheel, the van nose (A frame) can veer violently sideways if one of the main wheels hits an obstruction or bogs in soft ground! It's violent enough to hurt you if it hits you and even knock you off your feet, remember you've got probably well over a tonne of weight behind it! Even with a motor move fitted, a stalled main wheel on one side can cause the nose to kick out sideways to a degree, and it pays to stand clear!
Think it's quite rare to see people manhandling caravans these days, unless it's a quite old one, which tended to be a fair bit lighter.
As general advice, I'd err on saying you may struggle, on soft ground you'd probably fail. Slopes could be positively dangerous! Upside is, caravanners are generally a friendly bunch, and will likely volunteer a hand if they see you struggling.
Personally, obviously depends on budget, motor movers are worth their weight in gold for someone (like myself) who always has to manoeuvre the van by themselves. They come into their own when trying to hitch up as well, I've got a reversing camera on the car, which gets me pretty close to alignment, but with the motor mover it's millimetre perfect AND no damage to the car bumper!
Additional note for you to consider.
Recently had our movers decide to go on strike.
To manhandle it back into it's storage site took 4 of us and that's on a slight downward slope and hard surface.
Van weight around 1450 kg.
No mover, to me it's hernia territory.
I use a mover on my old, light, caravan but it was already fitted when I bought it. I can tow it off my drive, and reverse it in, but only if there are no cars parked in the wrong places. I don't think I could move it on my own these days, even though it does weigh just under a ton.
My caravan is under 1000kg - on a smooth concrete flat surface, I can move it okay. On grass, gravel, hardcore or incline - no chance.
Also if you are caravaning on your own, you have no-one to spot for you especially when reversing into restricted space, like a driveway or in storage yards.
Caravaning on your own, as I do, I'd say they are a priority for a more relaxing break.
Our old caravan was 1249kg and the two of us together were able to manoeuvre it by hand into our very narrow storage bay in the storage yard we used. It was impossible to reverse it into the storage space using the car as there was not enough room. The ground was tarmac and flat which made it manageable. However, our current caravan is 1550 and there is no way we could do the same so we have a motor mover which makes life so much easier.
Some serious pushing here leaning towards getting a mover.
However. My last van never had one fitted, single axle four berth elddiss. I managed no probs without.
The van we got now a twin axle coachman laser old model 2009 heavey. Came with movers fitted to all four wheels. Had the van around 10 years now. Yes you guessed it. Not once have I had to use motors.
In fact only time I have seen them move was when we bought the van second hand, and the chap gave me a demo how to use.
So unless you have serious bodily mobility issues, My advise would be try without, before buying something you may not ever use.
It does depend on where you go and where you keep the van. On the sort of sites we tend to go for we can usually get it on and off the pitch without needing the movers by just using the car, and usually I can do the same at home, but at home all it takes is one parked vehicle in the wrong place and there is no room to maneuver a complete outfit. There is a slight hump to get it up and over to get it off or back onto the driveway, No way we can push or pull it on our own, we would have to get several of our neighbours out to help. 20 years ago maybe we could have done it, but then 20 years ago we didn't have it.
I personally use a hand winch to pull mine up it position it's only a 2 berth and weighs in around 880kgs..the winch has a tow ball on the winch end and a hook on the other end...it saves a lot of effort and only requires slight effort on the handle..I keep it in the gas locker in case it's needed for anything else ..Gary
Hi, it depends on your drive ,if it's level and you don't have to get up a kerb you should be able to do it, but if it's up any slope you will need help
Quote: Originally posted by WOBBLE on 29/2/2024
Hi, it depends on your drive ,if it's level and you don't have to get up a kerb you should be able to do it, but if it's up any slope you will need help
We have a dropped curb, but the pavement is the high point. It's up to get it out of the driveway then down again onto the road. If you try to pull it out by hand you have a struggle getting the wheels onto the pavement, then once over the pavement you have to struggle to stop it running away with you. Vice-versa of course putting it back! Plus of course you have a 90 degree turn onto the road.
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Topic: Maneuver caravan
via mobile 28/2/2024 at 2:57pm
