Which caravan mover?

MarkyRV
MarkyRV Forum Participant Posts: 2

Hi All,

Now that we have our nice new Bailey Pegasus Milan (new but not '"new"!), im on the look out for a caravan mover to make life easier as already my back is breaking moving it around.

Ive been doing alot of digging and ive heard good things about powrtouch and also reich. Im thinking about getting a local company to me called midland caravan movers to supply and fit. Has anyone had any dealings with them good or bad?

 

Comments

  • Wildwood
    Wildwood Club Member Posts: 3,581 ✭✭✭✭
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    edited July 2016 #2

    Cannot help on the fitting company but our Powertouch works well but it is a manual actuation and is hard work. If I fitted another I would go for the automatic version. If you are tempted by the manual type I would suggest you try one first if you can.

    Powertouch have a good reputation for service though if anything does go wrong and according to a survey are by bfar the most popular in the UK.

    Not sure if it will confuse you but we had a Pruple Line mover on the last caravan and that lasted six years with no trouble. Frankly I doubt there is a lot between the different makes but the actuation may be what swings you to any one type.

  • CaptainCaravan
    CaptainCaravan Forum Participant Posts: 33
    edited July 2016 #3

    Cannot help on the fitting company but our Powertouch works well but it is a manual actuation and is hard work. 

    Try motorcycle chain spray grease on the moving parts my power touch is very easy to actuate upto the point of the rollers pressing into the tyres and that's not too difficult.

    I'm a big fan of my power touch, I've watched other people using there's and a high pecentage seem to be harsh when starting were as the power touch has soft start. 

  • KjellNN
    KjellNN Club Member Posts: 8,668 ✭✭✭
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    edited July 2016 #4

    We have a Truma, also good.

    Truma actually now own Powertouch.

  • Tirril
    Tirril Forum Participant Posts: 439
    100 Comments
    edited July 2016 #5

    Agree that auto actuation (moves both drive cogs onto each wheel in one action) is definitely the way to go especially if you store your caravan near a wall etc as there may not be room to manually wind it on/off. Better still pay a little extra and get one that engages/disengages using the remote control. I have had both and would definitely not go back to using the manual wind on.

  • ALASDAIRLOW
    ALASDAIRLOW Forum Participant Posts: 7
    edited July 2016 #6

    I am got my first caravan last March, and have been 4 Times. I opted for the Automatic powrtouch evolution and it was the best decision ever. the fully automatic was a couple of hundred Pounds more than the manual but well worth the money.

    the remote control is easy to use and at a push of a button the rollers engage or disengage and parking/manoeuvring is a breeze. I certainly will always buy powrtouch

  • markflip
    markflip Forum Participant Posts: 177
    edited July 2016 #7

    @Tirril - manual engagement is only required on one side to apply both rollers (on my old enduro unit, anyway) and can be done from either side.

  • ATDel
    ATDel Forum Participant Posts: 335
    edited July 2016 #8

    Another fan of power touch. We had our original one for over 10 years, in the end the bearings went I replaced them and it still kept going. At 11 years sold it for just under £200.

    We now have a quad for the twin axle also a low touch and it is great. We have only had manual engagement, we don't find it a problem at all

    Kev

  • ocsid
    ocsid Forum Participant Posts: 1,395
    1000 Comments
    edited July 2016 #9

    Had a Reich for 6 years with no issues at all.

    Had a Powrtouch now for 8 years, had to replace handset at £80 about two years ago when a button failed.

    Both do the job as I expect they all do. Prefered the Reich's engineering and the motorunit maker they used. Only at the time of purchasing they had not a unit to suit my new van.

    Both have been manually applied, the Reich a wind on, the Powrtouch an over centre type, both applying to the two tyres together. 

    Not a fan of auto application only in not wanting the complication with inherent risks and not wanting to pay for a feature I don't need.

  • BeveleyCole1
    BeveleyCole1 Forum Participant Posts: 11
    edited July 2016 #10

    Having done lots of research we've decided on the powrtouch automatic, being fitted next week.

  • MrGarval
    MrGarval Forum Participant Posts: 120
    edited July 2016 #11

    Again like many posts afraid havn't had any dealings with 'your' proposed fitting company and again like many others I have the Powertouch and agree the auto version is just great. Also Powrtouch are very helpful and customer friendly if contacted by phone.
    Good luck.

  • HillClimb
    HillClimb Forum Participant Posts: 45
    edited July 2016 #12

    Ordered an E-Go Titanium which is being fitted this coming Friday by Autofix; so will provide first impressions soon after .....

  • Robster2007
    Robster2007 Forum Participant Posts: 38
    edited July 2016 #13

    I also went for the Titanium.

    Primary reason is I have a TA.  I was unhappy about the costs for an all wheel mover if I could get by with just driving two of the wheels.

    So far so good but the clincher is that this is then only upgradeable mover I could find, all the others you throw away/trade in your two wheel mover and bight four wheel mover, with the Titanium you just buy the extra twin mover and magicallynit is a four
    wheel mover.

    So far I am happy with just driving the two wheels but I know I have a fall back position!  :-)

     

    Robin

  • MichaelT
    MichaelT Forum Participant Posts: 1,874
    1000 Comments
    edited July 2016 #14

    We had a Truma SE on our caravan and would highly reccommend.  Had it on 3 vans never a problem and easy to use.  Powertouch have great servicd but they need it as most of the movers break down, better imho to go for one that would work 100% of the time
    with no need for customer service.

    Admittedly not the cheapest but lighter and compact.

  • HillClimb
    HillClimb Forum Participant Posts: 45
    edited August 2016 #15

    Had the E-Go Titanium fitted yesterday - only used it once so far to park up on site - very easy to use and accurate to place the van. Regarding fitting, I suspect that fitting is very regional and often subcontracted - so good or bad experiences are probably
    pretty random and a good mover installed by a good fitter in one region doesn't gaurantee a good fitter elsewhere. Very happy with our mover

  • Swifty 123
    Swifty 123 Forum Participant Posts: 100
    edited August 2016 #16

    Like Hillclimb, we recently had an E-go Titanium fitted and have been very happy with it, vey precise and a hec of a lot lighter than my old one which had packed in. Mobile fitter put it on at my storage place and he was very good. 

  • Skywalker1
    Skywalker1 Forum Participant Posts: 6
    edited August 2016 #17

    As Hillclimb and Swifty have previously mentioned I have just had my E-go titanium fitted by Autofix. Well pleased. They came out to my storage site and were done within a couple of hours. Now to try it out on siteHappy

  • 63ellsbells
    63ellsbells Forum Participant Posts: 138
    100 Comments
    edited August 2016 #18

    Had a Reich EasyDriver Pro 1.8 fitted by Midland Motor Movers back in May. Great piece of kit, very well designed and engineered. Looks nice and neat compared to some of the others around. MMM came highly recommended and their service was first class. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

  • Iain McL
    Iain McL Forum Participant Posts: 16
    edited August 2016 #19

    Powrtouch. Had ours fitted last month as our driveway is gravel. Can move it about with great ease. Think I might change the jockey wheel from plastic to air as it was digging into the stones. That said, the mover is brilliant and worth every penny. 

  • catherinef
    catherinef Forum Participant Posts: 647
    edited August 2016 #20

    Power touch for us too.  Their after sales support is also first class as I've been talking to them recently about a couple of points.

  • Greygit
    Greygit Forum Participant Posts: 167
    edited August 2016 #21

    We have a Power Touch system on ours also and very happy so far.

     

  • chris23
    chris23 Forum Participant Posts: 38
    edited September 2016 #22

    We also have a Powertouch evolution. Had it fitted to our 6 berth caravan for a year and its worked brilliantly for us. Ours is the manual one but its never been an issue engaging it - think someone else said it but see if you can try a manual one first
    as the auto ones are more money. I seem to remember paying around £900 for ours and that included fitting by our local fully qualified and certificated service guy.

  • MrRoute
    MrRoute Forum Participant Posts: 141
    edited September 2016 #23

    Just had our powertouch replaced with another. The original one was 12 years old and had been on  three vans, the only thing i had to replace was the rollers after 5 and a half years.

     

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
    1000 Comments
    edited September 2016 #24

    Does nayone happen to know if a manual Powrtouch can be converted to auto? Undecided I know how easy it is to engage it manually, but
    I like stuff that does it automatically Cool

  • martindf3
    martindf3 Forum Participant Posts: 65
    edited September 2016 #25

    Does nayone happen to know if a manual Powrtouch can be converted to auto? Undecided I know how easy it is to engage it manually, but
    I like stuff that does it automatically Cool

    Write your comments here...I took off Powrtouch classics yesterday . Out New Evolutions Autos are sat in conservatory ,to be fitted by powrtouch engineer tomorrow . But i would say to convert from manual to auto needs new ECU has an extension on the end
    for the actuation side  .A new remote .which alone ,I think , makes it cost prohibative . The old ones were only rated to 1500kg and our van is 1650kg and they were strugling to shift van on bad surfaces and I like the thought of pressing a button instead
    of running around with the wrench .

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
    1000 Comments
    edited September 2016 #26

    Does nayone happen to know if a manual Powrtouch can be converted to auto? Undecided I know how easy it is to engage it manually, but I like stuff that does it automatically Cool

    Write your comments here...I took off Powrtouch classics yesterday . Out New Evolutions Autos are sat in conservatory ,to be fitted by powrtouch engineer tomorrow . But i would say to convert from manual to auto needs new ECU has an extension on the end for the actuation side  .A new remote .which alone ,I think , makes it cost prohibative . The old ones were only rated to 1500kg and our van is 1650kg and they were strugling to shift van on bad surfaces and I like the thought of pressing a button instead of running around with the wrench .

    Thanks. I thought that cost might prevent it from being worth it. Confusingly, my remote seems to be the same one as for auto engagement.

  • martindf3
    martindf3 Forum Participant Posts: 65
    edited September 2016 #27

    Does nayone happen to know if a manual Powrtouch can be converted to auto? Undecided I know how easy it is to engage it manually, but
    I like stuff that does it automatically Cool

    Write your comments here...I took off Powrtouch classics yesterday . Out New Evolutions Autos are sat in conservatory ,to be fitted by powrtouch engineer tomorrow . But i would say to convert from manual to auto needs new ECU has an extension on the end
    for the actuation side  .A new remote .which alone ,I think , makes it cost prohibative . The old ones were only rated to 1500kg and our van is 1650kg and they were strugling to shift van on bad surfaces and I like the thought of pressing a button instead
    of running around with the wrench .

    Thanks. I thought that cost might prevent it from being worth it. Confusingly, my remote seems to be the same one as for auto engagement.

    Write your comments here...Have you checed all the individual prices on the powrtouch site ? might be worth it . I thought remote was different . The old ones are easy to get off, I just Ran the van up some planks with old movers . and then whipped them
    off ,saved 150 quid .

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
    1000 Comments
    edited September 2016 #28

     ......Have you checed all the individual prices on the powrtouch site ? might be worth it . I thought remote was different . The old ones are easy to get off, I just Ran the van up some planks with old movers
    . and then whipped them off ,saved 150 quid .

    I had a brief look ..... I'll probably keep what I have, I just wondered Wink

  • DSB
    DSB Club Member Posts: 5,666 ✭✭✭
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    edited September 2016 #29

    We now have an automatic Powrtouch too.  The mover is much better than our old one, however the rollers the one side didn't move on to the wheel on one occasion.  It needed resetting.  Just a few seconds to reset it and an hour to try and get the blooming
    plastic cover off.

    David 

  • Woody19
    Woody19 Forum Participant Posts: 43
    edited September 2016 #30

    Cannot help on the fitting company but our Powertouch works well but it is a manual actuation and is hard work. 

    Try motorcycle chain spray grease on the moving parts my power touch is very easy to actuate upto the point of the rollers pressing into the tyres and that's not too difficult.

    I'm a big fan of my power touch, I've watched other people using there's and a high pecentage seem to be harsh when starting were as the power touch has soft start. 

    Write your comments here...Powrtouch (note spelling) actually recommend Waxoyl as a lubricant and preserver.