Hi all this is my first post, we are thinking about moving away from camping to a caravan,
The caravan we realy like the look of is a hobby but we have heard tales of some sites not letting hobbys on because they are used by travelling people as a permanent residence, can any body offer any advice or share there experience.
cheers Jim
------------- The impossible we can do at once, Miracles take a little longer
The larger model hobby caravans are 7m plus long and you cannot legally tow those with your average tow car. You need to have a commercial vehicle type/weight of vehicle i.e 3500kg or more. Whilst their width has been legitimised for towing in this last year many folk think that that also sanctioned towing them no matter what their length with ordinary cars/4x4s.
Its the longer Hobby caravans that may be barred from sites just because they are accompanied by commercial vehicles
Phil
------------- If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe
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I loved the look of the Hobby's when we purchased our first van 2 years ago. In the end we decided to stick to a UK van and went for an Elddis.
Our reason was i felt there was a prejudice against Most German vans and Hobby especially. I did a little homework and phoning around and found some sites don't accept them and its very difficult to insure one and some people just presume you are a traveller. Very good Vans though!
Quote: Originally posted by cwdc56768 on 13/3/2011
The larger model hobby caravans are 7m plus long and you cannot legally tow those with your average tow car. You need to have a commercial vehicle type/weight of vehicle i.e 3500kg or more. Whilst their width has been legitimised for towing in this last year many folk think that that also sanctioned towing them no matter what their length with ordinary cars/4x4s.
Its the longer Hobby caravans that may be barred from sites just because they are accompanied by commercial vehicles
Phil
second that.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
We have a small 4 berth Hobby caravan that we bought three years ago and we have never been refused access to a site. I can't even think of a site that asks you what make your caravan is! I usually do offer up that we have Hobby with the door in the continental side and we have never had a problem We are now selling due to giving up caravanning but will dearly miss the lovely build quality of our Hobby - fingers crossed we don't regret as I am sure we would not be able to afford to replace our Hobby with another van of the same quality if we decided to return to caravanning.
We nearly bought a Hobby as the design and build quality were excellent, the only thing that put us off was the dealer - he didn't seem interested in having our business. We bought another type of German caravan, with the door on the Continental side, and have had no problems at any sites. I find the xenophobia of some of the caravan-owning community both incomprehensible and disturbing.
------------- Il vaut mieux vivre ses reves que rever sa vie
With the door on the off side the foreign made vans tend to be placed at the right hand side of pitches so that the awning can be erected. This then can leave the van too close to the adjoing caravan which is parked to the left of the pitch so that their awning can be erected on the nearside. This can be in breach of site licence rules on spaciong between vans. Saw an example of this last time I was at Chatsworth. So picking an end plot may be essential
Phil
------------- If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe
or put your caravan in nose first which we have done on many occassions. I know someone is going to post about moving caravan quickly if there is a fire but when we all have our steadies down, and our hitch locks on and wheel locks on there is no way you can move a caravan in a hurry anyway. I agree with iwalini's post in finding it incomprehensible and disturbing how xenophobic some caravan owners can be, some to the point where they feel the need to try to scare people off continental caravans with what they claim to be substantiated stories. Folks we have never never had a problem with our caravan on any site and we have been going away somewhere between 5 and 10 times a year to different sites for the last 3 - 4 years.
i would go for hobby or burstner they ar good quality and are spacious inside ,i had a new burstner and our friend had a hobby ,unfortunately we were on a site that flooded and we both had our new vans written off ,i then bought a tabbert which i put on the site at my own risk as i couldnt insure it ,and although we sold it on which i regret constantly its still standing proudly where we left it with its new owners,many sites will allow they caravans ,but as phill rightly said the larger models need commercial vehicals to transport them,if you were on a seasonal pitch it would only need to be moved the once so there is that to consider,ive also not ever been asked what kind of van i have but i have noticed that some sites have a limit on caravan length so have that in mind,if its one of the smaller hobbys i cant see any problems good luck
Thanks for all the help, Going to start looking round to see what is for sale.
Maybee a hobby maybee something else,
The thing i liked about the hobby four birth is the fixed bed that you could get out either side.
Cheers Jim
------------- The impossible we can do at once, Miracles take a little longer
Ive got a Hobby VIP 575, I had no problem insuring it and have never had a problem getting a site, i always tell the site owner i have a Hobby and they are usually surprised i even mentioned it,
Our secure storage site no longer allows hobby's on, the owner claimed they attract 'the wrong sort of attention' . We have previously had a continental van with the door on the opposite side .It caused us problems pitching mainly on caravan club sites for the reasons already mentioned above . It's a shame as they are a well built caravan
I dont get it about problems pitching with the door on the wrong side, if you have a uk van and pitch on right of the pitch to erect an awning or space to park, with a continental you pitch the other side of the pitch to erect an awning or park,either way the van is closer to the next van on one side.