1st motor mover questions
hi all,
after a horrendously embarrassing attempt at an offsite rerverse at the weekend I’ve decided to get a motor mover. Question is which one?
I don’t want to break the bank and have seen some good deals on an emove 303 £645 fitted and a powrtouch classic £699 fitted.
My van is a 1500kg mtplm ace jubilee.
My concerns is whether these are going to be up to the job and able to cope competently with the low 1.5in curb outside my house and long granite chipped driveway.
Please help me to avoid an expensive mistake!
Comments
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Powrtouch classic for me, it copes with a van of your weight with no issues.
It has been around for years, is reliable and full spares are available. Powrtouch service is reported to be excellent.
1.5inch curb should be no issue and only issue with chippings is if they stck to the tyres but this applies to any mover and is generally only when you park hot tyres on the chipping then motor off at a later date. They tend to stick and grind in the rollers. Put a slab or plank under the tyres if parking up.
Not tried any other types.
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I have an Emove 303 fitted to our Sprite which has a mtplm of 1415kg. There was a Truma mover on our previous Charisma (1500kg mtplm) which had to be levered on whereas the Emove is a wind-on which is easier to engage. We have a slabbed driveway with a gravel centre. I changed the jockey wheel for a wide- wheeled one to reduce it digging into the gravel and I find it easier to reverse the caravan into the drive which has a 1 in 5 slope initially before levelling out. I didn't want an inflatable tyred jockey wheel because of problems I had with inflatable wheel barrow tyres. The other advantage that I have discovered since changing our towcar which only has around 15mm clearance between the rear bumper and the caravan's hitch. The Emover allows me to move the caravan about 5-6mm at any time which means I take the caravan to the towcar rather than reverse the car to the caravan, and I have not touched the car's bumper as yet. I use the mover with a 110amp battery in situ and the total reverse into the driveway is 20 metres. Hope that this is of use to you. Emove comes with a 5 year guarantee but I have not had any problems up to now, nor did I have with the Truma one over the years apart from the "levering it onto engage with the tyre and levering it off again"
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Their is one slight problem with a kerb quite so high. If you are not square on to the kerb when climbing and one wheel reaches the kerb first the caravan may tend to swing towards the side of the first wheel to make contact. . Soon solved with a couple of 3 foot long 9'' x 1'' pieces of planed board against the kerb. Planed as they will be slightly thinner than a full inch. 3 foot long to make them easier to place without faff. 9'' wide so that there is an easy transition. My powr touch movers (two) and present reich mover had no problem climbing a 2'' block but if it is on one side there is a significant swing.
When parked on stone, such as most hard standing, when leaving pitch I move caravan a foot or so forwards and simply run my hand over the tyre section that had been in contact with the pitch when sited. This knocks off embedded stone/gravel
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Powertouch has had a lot of positive reviews on here, some quite recent. especially in their service while under warranty.
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Thanks for everyone’s views it really is a great help!
I too have seen many great reviews of the power touch but wasn’t sure whether it would enough of a brute for my van. Also how well will it cope with weathering as the mechanics, springs etc appear to be exposed to the elements.
Those of you that have had these units. What is the real world speed of the units as the retailer quoted figures vary.
One other her thing I can’t find the answer to with these movers is that when you need to use do you need to open up the battery box and start playing with cables or can you simply wind on the roller and turn on the remote. I want something as hassle free as possible.
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I think the speed of the units is a red herring, as along as it moves the van it doesn't really matter? mine (a powertouch) is sort of slow walking speed and I slow it right down even more for the last few cm when hitching up.
On mine again, put the rollers on either by yourself or automatically, then you open the battery box where the master switch (might be) is positioned. This is turned on by a big red key (don't use it with the EHU btw) then switch on your remote and you're away. Don't forget to take the van handbrake off) More or less hassle free, the hardest part Is the engagement if you have a manual version, and I suppose not losing the remote, which is so easy.
Mine needed some adjustments after 5 years
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Powr movers have served us well. I’d go for the manual engagement model as the auto actuation version was the only one that gave us trouble.
You will need an isolator switch - the big red key - and most fitters will install that in the battery box. Check where the electronics box is to be fitted as well. We had one van where in was placed smack bang in the middle of the under bunk storage area and had to be moved to give us adequate storage.
As for speed, whatever it is it will likely be faster than you could push it.
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Movers have been around for years and moving vans far heavier than yours. However a mover is an aid and not a replacement for being able to manouever your outfit competently and safely. You will still find occasions you need to reverse your outfit and when engaging the mover, unhitching the van, moving the van, re-hitching is simply not practical.......I would also highly recommend a towing course with either the C&CC or C&MC.
However there are A lot of good comments above and Another 'plus' for powrtouch is they come to you for warranty work, unlike most who require the 'van or failed unit to be returned to their factory or agent.
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We have a Powertouch Classic (Manually engaging model) fitted to our Lunar Caravan MTPLM 1360. So far we are very happy with it I tend to reverse the van on to the drive first and then use the mover to get it positioned in to its space as it has to sit tight up against a wall so good to have the mover to get it close without it hitting. The mover does have to be switched on with the red key in the battery box but this only takes a few seconds. We use it on site when positioning the van on a pitch and it isn't the fastest but is powerful enough and as I say so far no issues.
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Flatboat I totally agree. When I bought my van( first one) a few years back I knew the size I wanted and both me and the wife went out and sat our B&E test before we even bought it as we felt it was needed for capability and legal reasons having passed our tests after the 1997 law change.
I have been doing ‘S’ shaped reserving through a gated hedge and around our tree for several years but have reached a point after a long journey that a mover may just save us from a divorce!
I also dont seem to handle the pressure of the caravan site eyes burning the back of my head when making a mess of it.
All very valid points and a lot of advocates of the powr models
thankyou all
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I had a Reich on my Avondale Dart and a Powrtouch on my Abbey Vogue. The speed of the Powrtouch is best described as glacial.
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I have a Powrtouch Evolution AWD system on our Barcelona which is a heavy van. The road outside our house is block-paved, so has those angled kerb stones - about three inches high. The van goes through a right-angled turn, nose first, to bring it off the road and in front of the garage. Although the jockey wheel does slide along the kerb edge to start with, it does get over it and the main wheels come over it as if it wasn't there. It then has to travel over a four foot wide gravel strip before getting onto tarmac and again, it copes with that with ease. Slow - yes - but that's the best way and when positioning to fit the wheel locks, I can move it in millimetre increments.
We had a minor problem with it a few months ago and a phone call to Powrtouch resulted in an engineer coming to the house who sorted the problem within minutes. So, overall, I am impressed both with the product and the after sales service.
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I have the same om my series 2 Barcelona and have had 2 control boxes changed most of the movers been stuck at home and on site in very awkward situations with people having to wait while i struggle to get it to move and a few fly comments because its supposed to be the best on the market ( at nearly 2 grand it should be)I will never have this make again. The only plus is the after service has been good. it is now out of warranty so god help menext time is fails.
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I see from the picture on the bottom of page 16 of the magazine that motor mover problems are a long-standing issue.
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Before I fitted a Power touch last year I looked at the technical dater for each one, The power touch is capable of going up a steeper gradient,
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Sorry to hear that dreamer. The only real problem I have experienced has been with batteries. The major problem when the engineer came out turned out to be merely a loose connection where the two negatives are bolted together between the control boxes. A common problem according to the engineer, usually caused by the original fitter failing to tighten up the nut sufficiently. The other issue has been with handset batteries. A couple of times - and always at the most embarrassing moment - the MM has either failed to engage or disengage - and it has been down to the handset battery failing. I now always carry spares in the van and try to remind myself to change it every six months or so.
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These batteries are a strange one, our first mover didn't need a battery change in 5 years, we changed van and new mover and remote and it 'failed' after a year but they has been alright since for four. (same usage in all years)
Like you we now carry spares, but the first time we took the battery out of the smoke alarm for a quick fix.
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Hi all ,
quick update to thanks for all your contributions.
I have finally made a decision! I have ended spending a bit more than originally planned but based on future proofing , speed, gradient ability and the warranty I have purchased a powrtouch evolution rather than the classic. I discussed it with power touch directly and they were great. Being fitted on the 27th July.
On a separate note once I mentally accepted my new budget I also considered the automatic remove em303a tried to contact them with a few questions and all I got repeatedly was a number not recognised response or disconnected call. I figured if it was this hard to give them £800 then how likely was I to get a good Aftersales service........!!!
just need to confine my 7yr old that he cannot drive our new radio controlled car!
thanks again all
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Just don't forget to disengage the MM and switch off the power before towing away!!
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