Yet More About Movers.

[Top Banana Racing]

I have been reading with interest all the talk about movers.

I've also noticed mention more than once about them being 'more necessary' on CC sites. Why is this?

Having only been caravanning a few times (until this season starts!) I've always found it dead easy to just reverse onto the pitch, at worst only with 1 'shunt' have I been lucky with the room available? Or does the fact that I can reverse a 60ft Artic into a 66ft space help?

As a man who just loves his gadgets I'd have no problem with getting a mover if it's necessary but we store the van in secure storage so I don't have the 'steep drive' issue that many seem to have.

Your thoughts please, Ladis an Gentlemen.

[gmc15]

I normally reverse the van onto the plot but when we go to France it is sometimes almost impossible to do so because of the location of the plot. As we got older we found it difficult to man handle the van so we got a mover. I would say it is one of the best things we have bought for the van. We never worry about getting the van on any plot and tend to use the mover each time we set up.

I can also now hitch up the car and caravan by myself with ease which is great when there is no one to help.

I think they are not necessary but do make life that bit easier

 

Graeme.

[Guest John KS]

We don't often use our mover as I find reversing the van easy but like Graeme, we find it very useful occasionally particularly when abroad. Can't see why they are more useful on CC sites? CLs probably as they are often uneven.

You can manage without one, of course, but now we are older and more decrepid, it does help.

[klyne]

One of the issues with CC sites is that to reverse onto a hardstanding pitch you often have to cut across a small corner of grass. OK in the summer but in the winter it can get churned up which can cause a few wardens to jump up and down a bit! Also if you need to straighten up it often means going onto the grass opposite the pitch unless there is a handy hardstanding there. A mover solves all these problems. Sometimes there is just not room to reverse onto a pitch if the site is full, another advanatage of a mover. I have to say we use ours more to get the van in and out of the back garden.

 

David

[MauriceH]

although I have caravaned for nearly 40 years the one thing I still don't like doing is reversing

 

-- OK I can do it - but if push came to shove [no pun] I would rather unhitch and manoeuvre the van by hand

 

-- BUT now being nearly OLD [70] I have found that the mover over the past 6 years or so has made MY, or should I say OUR, caravaning much less stressful and easier. .

 

-- I have a Carver on a single axle.

 

You don't have to have a mover - but they are very handy for folks like me who need one

 

Maurice

[RogerL]

Top Banana Racing - the fact that you drive artics, presumably for a living, has a major bearing on your manoeuvring ability!

 

Officially the old CC regimentation of car + caravan facing the access road has been abandoned (although some wardens still insist on it). Caravans can be pitched at any angle provided the minimum safety clearances (of 6m between caravan facing walls and 3m between any unit of adjoining pitches) are maintained.

 

There are a number of CC sites where pitches are best used by parking nose in or sideways but it's often not possible to manoeuvre into these positions with the towing vehicle and without encroaching on adjoining pitches - in these circumstances, if the pitch isn't level or the caravanner not 100% fit then a mover is vital.

[Top Banana Racing]

Roger, no don't drive for a living, never have done apart from a brief 3 month spell 12 years ago, but I do have a Class 1 licence and like to go and practice occasionally (when there's no-one looking), keeps my 'eye in' as they say.

Thanks once again to the forum regulars who (as always) have come up with the answers, I know that this, our 1st full season, will be much better thanks to the advice gained from you.

I've already bought loads of accessories based on your advice and not bought an equal number for the same reason.

May even see you out there somewhere.

 

Regards,

 

Glynn.

Edited March 9, 2009 by Top Banana Racing

[Steven]

One of the issues with CC sites is that to reverse onto a hardstanding pitch you often have to cut across a small corner of grass. OK in the summer but in the winter it can get churned up which can cause a few wardens to jump up and down a bit! Also if you need to straighten up it often means going onto the grass opposite the pitch unless there is a handy hardstanding there. A mover solves all these problems. Sometimes there is just not room to reverse onto a pitch if the site is full, another advantage of a mover. I have to say we use ours more to get the van in and out of the back garden.

 

David

I echo all of David's comments, I have no problem reversing a caravan, the main reason we have a mover is with both Claire and I having back issues, we use it more to get the 'van on and off the garden.

 

GPS

[ian dunning]

Hi Glynn,

We have a mover so that I can move it about myself, at home, but rarely use it in site to position the 'van, only when I'm alone and don't want to be reversing when there's nobody to watch me back. I would hate to reverse into a pedestrian especially a child so it is a safety issue,

regards,

Ian.

Edited March 9, 2009 by ian dunning