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I can't hitch our van up on my own & I'm not great at reversing either.  It's getting a bit frustrating trying to work around OH shifts.  It'd be so much better if me & the kids could head off Friday afternoons & he could join us in the evening when he finishes work.

The problems I have are the weight of our van (new Coachman Festival (Amara) 5 berth) & with the tow car being a Shogun with spare on the back hitching up is a nightmare.  You have to wind the jockey wheel up, reverse up to the van, open the rear door of the car, wind the jockey wheel back down then manhandle the van onto the towball & lock the stabiliser before closing the car boot door.

I've even been looking at buying a tent so me & the kids can go off.  Bit daft really with a brand new van sitting there in storage.

Would a motor-mover mean I could manage on my own?  I don't want to spend that amount if it won't help much but am thinking it may also be useful when we go to France as have heard pitches can be awkward to get onto.

Hi

We had one fiited and don't regret it. Different reasons (Storage / Driveway), but while on a site the other day where the grass was wet & soggy (and a slope) . I motor moved the caravan to the car to hitch, and found out how easy it was to accurately place the hitch over the tow ball, easy! Most have some sort of slow start feature so its not a problem

A

A motor mover makes it so much easier to hitch up.  You can take the 'van to the car and make any adjustments easily with a motor mover.  Also it makes it a lot easier to get onto a pitch.  Last weekend we pulled up at a pitch and then realised that we weren't sure of where the pitch started and finished but accross from it was a well marked out pitch so motor moved the 'van over to it and pitched up.  Later on we saw that pitches occupant get told off because they hadn't pitched right!  Without the motor mover we probably would have stayed where we were.

Thanks all.  Now for more questions!

I assume there are differrent makes?  What does everyone recommend (pref not the most expensive!).  What kind of price range are we looking at?  Would it affect the caravan's warranty in any way?  Presumably we'll have to up the insurance aswell to cover it?

We have a Reich mover and are very pleased with it, we had it fitted for a different reason though as i suffer from some disabilities and hubby has arthritis in his knees so could no longer pull the van manually like we used to do last time we were owners. It does sound though that you struggle somewhat dur to the door configuration on your towcar, which a mover wont solve any problems with, and you may be better looking to change to a simpler to hitch up to towcar, as well as the mover.

I love your choice of van BTW, We have owned a Coachman before and would have no hesitation in returning to one if ever we decide to upgrade to a heavier car, although as we both get older lol we may end up buying a small motorhome simply for ease instead of all the hitching up ect!

Julia  

Thanks again!  Changing the car isn't an option - it's OH's baby & he's waited a long time to be able to afford it.  Messing with the jockey wheel & the rear door of the car I can do, it's the manhandling of the van that last couple of inches to the towball I can't manage (as well as reversing onto pitches which tends to take several tries!).  Can't try to reverse the car that last bit as if you go an inch too far the jockey wheel handle gets stuck & scrapes the door.

The van's great - just wish it wasn't so stupidly heavy!  Checked it against my car (2.2ltr Avensis) & it's 104% of the kerbweight!  Otherwise I'd just have had a towbar fitted to mine.  Still wouldn't have solved the getting onto a pitch problem tho.  I can do it eventually, just takes a while & I end up all worked up & embarrassed

Just got a quote from Riversway Leisure of £895 fitted for the heavy duty Powrtouch mover.  They're cheapest so far (our dealers price was £1190).  Are Powrtouch a reasonable mover?

We had a Purpleline Enduro fitted, which are not expensive, and no problems yet. I think the Towsure ones are rebadged Enduro's

Insurance we had to tell them. It was added to the caravan value, as its fitted to the caravan it didnt count as equipment or contents

A mover is the single biggest must have imo, Powertouch I'm told is fine by those who have one, we have a Reich but I think they are all pretty similar these days.

It's easy to hitch up on your own and get it wherever you want on the pitch, drive or what have you. It would certainly solve the problems you mention.

We always reverse up and hitch despite having a mover. Can't see that you can do that on your own (I wouldn't want to!!) so agree with your respondants. We have a Reich and its wonderful but I reckon that they are all much the same. Any modifications to the caravan need to be advised to your insurers. They just note and forget. Just one important point. It adds some 33Kg to your vans weight so that your payload is reduced by that amount so take that into account. Its about half a husband!!!

Phil

I don't have a motor mover.  I do have quite severe osteo arthritris, and wouldn't dream of moving our heavy caravan by hand.

With someone watching, I just back under the hitch.  A little practice makes it quite easy.  It just drops on, we don't even have to nudge it.

After many years of towing, I can do this myself, every time.  You just have to get out of the car two  or three times to see if it's where you thought it was.  With smaller corrections as you get closer, it's perfectly possible.

No problem on the pitches either.  It's partly a matter of professional pride, but I wouldn't want to be in a position where I couldn't do it.

A motor mover would be of no help to us, also it weighs a lot and is very expensive.

Jim