Touring Caravans.....

[GilesM]

Yep - the boss won!
I get that, imagine being in Cornwall these 2 weeks with pissing rain and 2 dogs - space, comfort, cosiness are the requirements and space to hang wet coats, dog towels and muddy boots. The win-win here was being able to get the VW which will be great for day trips and the odd overnight -though whether we'd survive one night all together in there is an interesting question! It will also share daily runabout duties with the C1 as required.
Have a 1 day towing course booked for next week which will be in a long vehicle pulling a long caravan around a mixture of roads as well as the usual manoeuvring stuff! Am giving it my best shot!

I understand, we get by with the small teardrop and awning, but much easier without the dogs, and after 35 years of small tents, a teardrop caravan with heater and a proper mattress is complete luxury.
Enjoy the towing course, I keep thinking it would be useful to go on one, are you able to use your own tow vehicle and caravan.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I understand, we get by with the small teardrop and awning, but much easier without the dogs, and after 35 years of small tents, a teardrop caravan with heater and a proper mattress is complete luxury.
Enjoy the towing course, I keep thinking it would be useful to go on one, are you able to use your own tow vehicle and caravan.

Different operators offer different training types - some your own rig, others theirs. Not so many use a caravan - many just a trailer.

 

[richardfm]

I figured that something that long demands a certain amount of respect on Motorway, A-roads, and Devon lane - be an idea to get it to it's new storage in one piece on the first day!

It's more than that e.g. allowing more distance for braking, taking corners wider than you would with just the T5. The towing course should also cover how to load the caravan correctly and how to hitch up, how to set up when you arrive on-site, how to reverse!
And probably more that I have forgotten

 

[Pale Rider]

taking corners wider than you would with just the T5.

We had a couple of bale trailers which had been converted from articulated lorry trailers.

One swung wide on corners and the other cut corners.

Not too much of a problem on a road with a bit of space, but getting them through gateways required some expertise - easiest thing in the world to take the nearside or offside gatepost with you.

I imagine a properly designed van and caravan would be relatively neutral in comparison.

 

[T4tomo]

We had a couple of bale trailers which had been converted from articulated lorry trailers.

One swung wide on corners and the other cut corners.

Not too much of a problem on a road with a bit of space, but getting them through gateways required some expertise - easiest thing in the world to take the nearside or offside gatepost with you.

I imagine a properly designed van and caravan would be relatively neutral in comparison.

I always found the big trailers were fairly predictable to drive and reverse with the tractors. The thing that used to do my head in was the short wheelbase trailer we used amongst other things to transport young calves. An absolute bastard to reverse.

 

[richardfm]

I always found the big trailers were fairly predictable to drive and reverse with the tractors. The thing that used to do my head in was the short wheelbase trailer we used amongst other things to transport young calves. An absolute bastard to reverse.

Yes, reversing a towed caravan is much easier than reversing with a short trailer

 

[Jameshow]

Does it make any difference it's FWD, is that any different to any SUV? Also it's a camper, it may have extra weight,

@Fab Foodie have you checked it's towing capacity?

Loads of utilities vans tow 3.5t plant trailers so I think vans are poor at towing is a myth tbh.

 

[Pale Rider]

I always found the big trailers were fairly predictable to drive and reverse with the tractors. The thing that used to do my head in was the short wheelbase trailer we used amongst other things to transport young calves. An absolute bastard to reverse.

Our converted bale trailers both had steering front wheels.

This and the pivoting tractor hitch made reversing a task beyond my moderate tractor driving abilities.

That one trailer swung one way and the other the other way added further complications.

Yes, reversing a towed caravan is much easier than reversing with a short trailer

I'm surprised you say that, not least because visibility will likely be better with the trailer.

Another factor for me would be that it doesn't really matter if you clout something with an old farm trailer.

But even a gentle slow speed shunt with a caravan could be costly to repair.

 

[richardfm]

Our converted bale trailers both had steering front wheels.

This and the pivoting tractor hitch made reversing a task beyond my moderate tractor driving abilities.

That one trailer swung one way and the other the other way added further complications.



I'm surprised you say that, not least because visibility will likely be better with the trailer.

Another factor for me would be that it doesn't really matter if you clout something with an old farm trailer.

But even a gentle slow speed shunt with a caravan could be costly to repair.

I'm talking about really short trailers, about 6ft. This sort of thing.

 

[Pale Rider]

I'm talking about really short trailers, about 6ft. This sort of thing.


View attachment 701298

Ah, I've never played with one of those.

I suppose with some cars you can barely see the ruddy thing, which would make going backwards difficult.

Presumably it's often easier to manhandle it, particularly if it's not heavily laden.

 

[Rocky]

I'm talking about really short trailers, about 6ft. This sort of thing.


View attachment 701298

That would be no good for @Fab Foodie - he wouldn’t even get his daily ration of rum in there.

 

[OldShep]

Our converted bale trailers both had steering front wheels.

This and the pivoting tractor hitch made reversing a task beyond my moderate tractor driving abilities.

That one trailer swung one way and the other the other way added further complications.

i struggled with them as a kid but by the age of 16 I’d cracked it. It eventually became my favourite trailer just because I impressed all who had failed with it.
Summer evenings back in the sixties on the village green, as kids, we had tractor and trailer reversing competitions. Used a little Fergie and a Ferguson trailer ( wheels at back) and it was how fast you could do it that counted. Changed days now imagine the uproar.
We've had a caravan for 40 years and they’ve all been easy to tow/reverse. The best entertainment on campsites is watching those that can’t reverse. The mover has been a godsend for a lot of people.
A few years ago at Boroughbridge the warden showed me to a pitch and said you’ll need to use your mover to get in there. Challenge on I threw it in in one manoeuvre at speed and got out the car with a smile. OK, he said you’re a HGV driver or farmer.

 

[T4tomo]

Summer evenings back in the sixties on the village green, as kids, we had tractor and trailer reversing competitions.

A staple of the Young Farmers Rally. The speed some of my older contemporise could do it, using the separated rear wheel brakes to flip to tractor round to stop the trailer jackknifing was a work of art, or an amusing disaster when they timed it wrong.

 

[Slick]

I'm talking about really short trailers, about 6ft. This sort of thing.


View attachment 701298

They are a nightmare to control, mostly because if by some chance you get a glimpse of it in your mirror, its already gone. I have a double axle trailer and you can see the wings 9n each side from a normal driving position and I could reverse it with millimetre precision.

 

[Pale Rider]

The best entertainment on campsites is watching those that can’t reverse. The mover has been a godsend for a lot of people.

A mover was going to be my first suggestion to @Fab Foodie as an essential accessory.

I've been told some people on campsites take an almost unhealthy interest in the skills of others.

My mate told me that earlier this year some bloke wandered across to his pitch and told him, sniffily, his awning wasn't correctly erected, and then told him how to do it correctly.

Rather jolts the notion of all chums together, sharing beers and the barbie.