How many people cannot reverse their caravan ?
After reading on here that a person who had been caravanning a year couldn't reverse his caravan, it got me thinking that we don't see many folk reversing, they use the motor mover. So is that because of the convenience of using the mover or because they have never learned how to reverse.
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I would advise any caravan owner to take clubs towing course it will also cover reversing they will be be very lucky to never have to reverse when out and about, on site its a different matter if you have a mover fitted then use it life is so much easier for levelling, aligning the wheel for the lock and no burning clutches,on leaving it's a godsend from moving off the levelling system to hitching up the car I can do it so easily on my own no help from the wife with forward a bit right a bit etc and no fall outs.
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We both did a few practice reverses when we first got our caravan but that was over 25 years ago. Used the mover ever since and never had to reverse hitched ever.
I've notice that on site some do reverse a little way then use the mover but like many others we unhitch on the site road and use the mover from there.
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I'll only reverse if I have a second set of eyes. Even with the mover fitted, before we moved I always reversed onto the driveway at home after having parked at 90 degrees to it on the road.
Colin
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It surprises me how many ‘banksmen’ haven’t got a clue as to where to stand to direct the driver.
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Having watched a few, some of the signals and instructions interesting to say the least.🤔
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Yes, swatting flies springs to mind 😀
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When I had a caravan I used to have to reverse it into my back garden up a slight slope. It was a similar situation to reversing onto a pitch from a site road. I was quite proficient at it as time went by. Having said that I could make a real hash of reversing onto a pitch, sometimes it worked perfectly other times I was there for what seemed forever!! It does depend of so many different. How wide the site road is, are there parked cars preventing a full lock. Movers are really the answer to stress free reversing, other than buying a motorhome! Some people have an absolute knack of getting it right, my next door neighbour being one of them. He regularly reverses his twin axle down the side of my house and positions it exactly where he wants in in front of his house.
David
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years ago when we relied on the map I told him to turn left and we ended up going up a farm track which he had to reverse out of and another time we ended up in a private house, thankfully the owner allowed us to turn around in their driveway but it still meant reversing .
Talking about a 'banksman' again it's some years ago, a woman was shouting to her husband , reversing onto a pitch, but he had the car windows closed and she was shouting louder and louder with all the hand signals. I was laughing out loud , I couldn't help it , it was like a farce.
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I have not reversed a trailer for a few years now. When I was doing it I found the secret was to go through it in your head before you even started the engine to carry out the task.
I can imagine what a "mover" is but I have never seen one! They will not help you on a singletrack road where a numpty coming in the opposite direction insists that you reverse rather than them! I have had them do that to me on my motorcycle when I am riding downhill (with a sheer drop under my left foot!) and, of course, no reverse gear to take me back up the hill!!!
Chris
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On the basis, that even if I reverse onto a pitch, I invariably use the motor mover to 'fine tune' the position - these days I usually use the mover from the outset. On club sites, you invariably don't have the room to reverse anyway and 9 times out of 10, I'm too tired after a long journey to provide entertainment for those already on site
. On a Cl or CS, there's usually more room and position isn't that critical, so I might reverse in then.0 -
Motor movers are a invaluable tool on site and at home but on the road you do need to know how to reverse, I had to a number of times on narrow winding roads such as the Kingsbridge to Start bay road there are 2 vehicles you can meet which will not reverse public buses and tractors.
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That’s a little unfair. The bus and tractor drivers get sick to death of meeting holiday makers who clearly should not be in charge of a car and will not/cannot reverse even a small solo car. The professional drivers have a living to make and/or a timetable to keep to. I was full of admiration for the bus driver I followed through those villages on one occasion who reversed 3 or 4 times to let oncoming traffic through.
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It might have been said as a mere observation TW. I have no problems reversing for buses or tractors but White Van Man can sit there all day. That Kingsbridge to Torcross road is more scary than some of these back roads here in Wales.
I learnt to reverse a caravan from my very first day. I have to reverse it at home every time we arrive back. Not straightforward as it's around a corner, follow a curve then 45º onto hardstanding. I do use the motor mover when on the H/S but it's fiddly to get it parked exactly right plus it's too heavy to push.
We'll use the motor mover on site, even if it's only to finish the job.
I'm not bad with cars but remember hiring an A class Mercedes left hand drive in France for a weeks tour and just couldn't reverse it for love or money. Completely threw me. OH was in stitches. She said it was worse than her efforts. She doesn't like reversing.
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We have never had a mover fitted to our caravans, but all have been relatively small compared to most of today’s vans. OH had his HGV, and spent a while getting very big fire engines into and out of tight spots, so he was/is very good spatially. Far worse than a caravan to reverse is a four wheel, two hunters loaded horse trailer, but practise made him inch perfect. I confess to being next to useless at reversing a trailer, but I have learned to be a good banksman. OH taught me Fire Service hand signals, and I taught him to wind the windows down🤣 And not to yell at me🤭 We have to reverse our MH down a very narrow lane, and into a tight spot for parking at home. Between us we don’t often get it wrong.
PSV and HGV drivers fill me with awe at how good they are reversing and slow manoeuvring.
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Back at the beginning of time there were no motor movers, so we learned as we went along - though Club site wardens in those days were retired Colonels and Brigadiers who were best avoided, so we went elsewhere and it took some time before we learned the exactness of reversing to pegs.
By then we had a well oiled team of four teenagers who leapt out of the car, unhitched and pushed. It was impressive .But when one daughter went off to Jamaica pretending to work and another to Tahiti with a boy friend I had to re learn rusty reversing skills. I was never expert but got by for over 50 years in nine different caravans, plus an assortment of other trailers, without any of them having motormovers and without me setting foot in a school car park for a training course. We managed - without being preached at.
And of course my Dutch friends still travel Europe-wide in caravans without internal batteries, and therefore without motor movers either. And I doubt if they go on courses either.
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I sort of got the impression back in the 1980’s that Club staff hadn’t been Colonels or Brigadiers, but wanted to be, that’s why they were best avoided🤭
Those were the days, one little peg on a bit of grass, fire bucket by the door, and everyone had twitching curtains. We were always a bit of light entertainment on arrival, two early twenty year olds in an old pop top camper, with huge Rottweiler in tow, having to demonstrate our camping skills and outfit before being allowed to pitch up. But my OH couldn’t half reverse inch perfect🤣
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Oops I think you took my comment the wrong way TW, I have every respect for professional drivers and in no way expect them to reverse except in exceptional circumstances I was mearly pointing out the importance of learning to reverse as one day you will have to.
Moderator comment: Part edited
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"PSV and HGV drivers fill me with awe at how good they are reversing and slow manoeuvring"
thank you, on my bucket list when i retired was to get my Psv licence and drive coaches, my favourite route was Aberdeen to Inverness via the coast road, Peterhead, Macduff, Buckie etc, try reversing a 56 seater coach round the hair pin bend in the bottom of Buckie because some idiot coming down the hill will not give way. I drove coaches for 2 years.
have the luxury of a mover now on the caravan and having spent £1k plus for the privilage i use it as often as possible, although on at least 2 occasions i have reversed someone elses rig onto pitch because they were making such a hash of it, havent lost the knack.
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When you're at home or pitching at a campsite you've got the time to unhitch and use the motor mover, but if you've taken a wrong turning and you've traffic coming in the opposite direction, then it pays to be able to reverse quickly with the caravan attached. The first time that I had to was on a narrow road with a 40 tonne truck coming the other way. There was no way he was going to reverse so I had to, almost 100 yards into the nearest passing point.
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When I owned a caravan, motormovers weren't invented. You either learnt to reverse or sought the help of others to position your van when it was a bit tight . I agree with Arch and Lutz everybody should be able to do it or else they should not be on the road.
peedee
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I know! Even when MrsSF places herself in the right position I have to remind her to look up after a very near incident with an over hanging branch. Banksperson🤣 has to have their wits and eyes everywhere! My reversing camera is a good indicator of how that helping person is doing and how I need to 'advice’ them!
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We’ve never had a Motor Mover, considering it’s an expensive piece of kit we don’t need. But as a farmer my OH has been reversing trailers of all descriptions for over 60 years. But yesterday confessed he was the one who knocked the guttering off a shippon, while reversing the cattle trailer.
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I must admit I am quite good at reversing the caravan have even been complimented on it a few times on site. We live at the end of a cul de sac so when we come home with the van I have to drive right up to the end then turn 90 degrees and revere it to our drive over the years I’ve become quite good at it so on sites I normally manage. We do have a mover fitted though which is handy once the van is on the drive because we park it in the corner of our drive right next to a wall so the mover is great for this also handy on site to manoeuvre it around the pitch if need be
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I'm a farmer's boy so could reverse just as easily as going forward from an early age but on site tend to use the mover to save the grass on the opposite pitch. Touring Scotland at the moment and would be a bit stressed if I couldn't reverse into a passing place, doesn't seem to bother some of the numpties.
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Not really, takes seconds to unhitch and it’s done and away. We often unhitch in a lay-by close to destination and then drive separately for the last couple of miles or so. Practise makes perfect, bit like a formula 1 pit stop. Doesn’t worry us at all! What’s more is that we can do this and then go on to sites, destinations that cars and caravans cannot even attempt or think of attempting. There are some absolutely stunning remote places out there to be had if you can make it.
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