Acceptable Payload - What’s Yours ?
Comments
-
It depends on what you define as an optional extra. For many batteries, movers, gas bottles, awnings are all regarded as essentials. Whilst the latter might be considered non-essential, none of the former can be realistically dispensed with. Therefore any payload should be in addition to such items, all of which are relatively heavy. Payload properly should be for extras such as TVs, bikes, and of course clothing and food. As for a definitive figure, I had 240Kg on my old caravan, most of which was eaten by the aforesaid essentials. I managed too use all of it for two of us.
2 -
Looking at all the stuff I have, and would like to take, I would say about two and a half tons!
3 -
I don't feel payload is considered by all owners as it can be a long process to fully understand what is and isn't included in the manufacturers specs. Especially when ' extra' is provided at the build stage. Just two extra bolster cushion/arms fir my van took away 4.5kg of payload. I don't believe manufacturers do enough to enlighten their customers of the importance of maximum-loading. Even experienced owners bicker over what constitutes payload v fitted extras.
To some extent car manufacturers have more information in their handbooks around individual axle loads, but again how many owners bother to read the data.
Having completed an excersize a few years ago, weighing everything in my van not fitted by the manufacturer, I was shocked to find I was at least 80kg over...... it was too easy when kitting out the van to 'include' a few kg here and there without thought. As an example we preferred to keep those cheap plastic Tupperware boxes to keep the cupboards tidy and crumb free. Only to find the total weight was near 2kg. I soon found stuff that was not essential to get below the payload.
Like cyberyacht it's all about what is an essential for you. But, you do need to take care when loading things just in case!
0 -
I have a spreadsheet with the MIRO and MTPLM, added on the stuff that is always in the van (motor mover, aquaroll, wastemaster, pots and pans, locker stuff...) then took that away from the MTPLM, what was left was my payload. About 40Kg, not bad for just clothes (it's a six berth)
2 -
no usually buy that when we get there and if not it's in the car.
Any other stuff like awnings or chairs goes in the car
2 -
Yes, but some do not take the payload capacity òf the car itself into consideration. I once saw a tow car with five adults in it along with every known accessory in the boot and packed around them pull on a site. It was on the 'stops' and a danger to occupants and other road users.
0 -
The bottom line is that most modern caravans have an inadequate payload allowance.
2 -
Are you looking for actual payloads?
Ours is 215 kg if you take off the 40kg for the mover from the MTPLM. We don't exceed it because it's plenty for us - but then our caravan is 18 years old and lightweight by modern standards.
We don't have an oven, for example, and I would estimate that would weigh 30 kg at least, a microwave probably 10 kg. That's why the available payload, these days, is so much less than ours - because of the heavy equipment already included in the MIRO.
1 -
My Eriba claims to weigh 820kg empty and has a maximum loaded weight of 1200 kg. - so with 380 kg to play with I have never bothered to weigh what we put in.
0 -
Well done LL....'payload' means nothing at all...we can all say our van has X or Y kg but, with even the best will in the world, manufacturers have a +/- 5% tollerance in the ex works weights...
so, an average caravan apparently weighing (say) 1500kg with a 'payload' of 150+lg 'might' actually weigh 1575kg and half your (neatly added to spreadsheet) 'payload' has disappeared....
the 'only' way to ensure you are legal and not overloading the van is to weigh it.....and if its 5% under (ex works) at least you know this too.
IMVHO.....there is no excuse for not knowing the real weight of your van, caravan or MH.
0 -
When the police stopped us and then weighed the van they said they would 'work' to a 5% tolerance. They also said that how much over we might have been would dictate their subsequent course of action and demands on us. Thankfully, although the van appeared overweight to look at, we were just under and continued on our way. Best to be on the cautious side and since then we've always travelled 'light' as far as accessories and non essentials are concerned.
0 -
my mantra is to put all the heavy stuff (including food) in the car and keep the van as light as possible (noseweight permitting). The only thing in the van is gas bottles, pots and clothes, then whilst I'm setting everything up outside, her indoors is putting all the food in the lockers. Same on the way home then all the lockers are clear for a good clean-up when we put her away for the winter (the van that is - not her indoors!)
1 -
Our average carried payload is always about 175kg including motor mover, battery, gas etc. Our only quandary is "what is our allowable payload?" It would appear that we have a choice of 3.
The specification and NCC plate for our 'van has an MTPLM of 1350kg but there are effectively three MiROs. The spec sheet which is 1138kg, the plate/ NCC certificate which is 1156kg and the weight checked at a public weighbridge which is 1109kg. These differences suggest payloads of 212kg, 194kg and 241kgs respectively, a difference between best and worst case being 47kg or about 48 bottles of wine!!!
We have opted to use the plated MiRO as that is what anyone checking our weights would use. It is also erring on the cautious side. The bottom line is why can't the manufacturers give an exact weight of the caravan as it rolls off the production line, a simple and cheap job to do but information which is invaluable to the buyer.
0 -
I think you’re missing the point LL. I’m not asking how to work out your allowed Payload, or how to weigh your van, or how to be legal. I’m asking what weight you actually load and carry. Only 2 posters have an actual figure, so does this mean people don’t actually know or don’t want to say !!
1 -
Just bought a new van with 155kg payload so it could be interesting, but I like to be legal so I’ll find a way !!! Stupidly my new van has a shallow battery box, so most 75 ah batteries won’t fit, meaning I need a 110 ah battery, which is significantly heavier regardless of the lower payload. The 110 batteries are longer but lower. Difficult no, inconvenient yes.
0 -
That's another aspect of design - inadequately sized battery/gas lockers.
0 -
i don't think most people care as long as they are under their mtplm and after quite a few holidays taking more or less the same every time they know what and what not to take. do you weight every item every trip down to the toilets rolls. a lot of caravaners have had weight plate upgrades to give them more payload and every single caravan is different as to what is already fitted. it isn't a competion to see who's payload is the biggest. if you know yours then well done and work with it.
0 -
When the police stopped and weighed us they gave me a ticket with the weights for each axel and combined weight printed on it. As we were traveling home at the time the next day I weighed all items onboard including us occupants. From this I could work out a list of contents which has guided me as to where to store items and what to consider leaving at home. Not a pleasant experience at the time, that escorted drive to the weighbribge I would not wish on anybody. Now I just look at the positives, cost me nowt for the service provided, no fine and a wiser understanding of the issues.
0 -
i don't think most people care as long as they are under their mtplm
But to know they are under they have to have a figure (how is up to them) so using the MIRO which is the only figure you can really use, will give them their used payload. So anyone who knows they are under must have a fair idea of what weight they need, ie an acceptable payload.
0 -
I work on about 80Kgs for bedding, cooking items and clothes.
In my humble opinion all you can really do is weigh what you put in so you keep within the MTLPM, I can`t see even a weighbridge with a relatively light caravan will be sufficiently accurate to be able to narrow it down to a few kilograms.
0 -
Over the 30+ years I have weighed everything that I put into the 'van and noted the weight, in more recent years on a spreadsheet. Consequently I now have a very comprehensive and fairly accurate list of the total weight of my additions to the MiRO. The sheet is self calculating so if I add more it gives me a total and, as importantly, if I take anything out it does the calculation for me. If I change the caravan I just alter the figure for the MiRO and also the MTPLM as I include this in the calculation which gives me a figure of how much under (or over) the maximum weight the load is.
Even for clothes, as I'm putting them in I just hold an arm-full and jump on the bathroom scales but even this only has to be done once as we always take a similar quantity of clothes on each trip and I'm never so close to the 'van's limit that a kilo or so either way is that important. Likewise with food.
One thing that I have done is to take out the unused upper bunk bed in the dinette. This gave me an immediate increase of 15kg on the available payload.
All in all it's a very easy process to weigh everything unless of course you just can't be bothered about safety limits.
0
