Caravan motormover accessory guide

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Powrtouch motormover demonstrated at caravan show

Everything you need to know about caravan motormovers in a handy accessory guide

Maybe you need a hand with your caravan because of health and mobility issues. Perhaps you've the tightest of tight spaces to store your tourer at home, where it would be impossible to reverse into with a car. Or you might just want to make moving your caravan around as easy as possible... Why not? Treat yourself!

It could be a combination of all three, but whatever your reasons for taking an interest in a caravan motormover, there are a lot of questions to think of before pulling out your wallet, choosing and buying a caravan with one included or having one retrofitted to your own tourer.

Read on for everything you need to know about motormovers...

How a caravan motormover works

A chassis mounted mover works by taking 12 volt power from the caravan's leisure battery and using it to drive rollers that are engaged with the caravan's tyres to move the caravan.

Early movers used a grit coating on the rollers for good grip. This didn't always last too well and so today's movers use aluminium or steel rollers with serrations to provide the grip.

The rollers are normally driven through a series of gears as this helps to give good control and to keep the motors away from any space needed by shock absorbers.

Budget movers may use a chain drive to achieve the same effect although Reich's Move control Economy and Comfort models mount the motors inboard out of harm's way and employ long, direct drive rollers.

Virtually all movers are attached by clamps to the caravan's chassis. This avoids any drilling that would otherwise invalidate the chassis warranty. Clamping also allows movers to be transferred easily from one caravan to another.

The motors are wired to a control box that is often hidden away under a bunk. The box receives signals from a wireless handset by which you control the movement of the caravan. Some early movers used a handset with a plug in lead and one or two retain this as an option today in case the handset batteries fail.

Types of caravan mover

Single-axle motormovers

Movers for single-axle caravans are the simplest type of mover and the most versatile in terms of manoeuvrability. Because there is only one axle, the caravan can be turned within its own length. It can be moved forwards, backwards or at any angle.

Twin-axle motormovers

Twin-axle caravans are much harder to turn because one set of wheels has to go sideways, scrubbing the ground. This is great for stability on the open road but something of a problem for caravan movers when turning. The way that most deal with it is to 'pulse' the motor driving the inside wheel while continuously driving the wheel on the outside of the turn. This turns the inner wheel slightly and releases the pressure on the sidewall of the tyre. The result is a crabbing motion and a large turning circle.

Movers with some form of speed control can avoid the crabbing motion and turn smoothly - see "speed control", below. For a tighter turning circle and more power many manufacturers offer the option of a four wheel drive (quad) mover. This effectively comprises two movers that work together from one control handset.

Hybrid motormovers

Hybrid movers can be switched from single to twin operation and back and so can be fitted to either single or twin-axle caravans. This could be useful if you change your caravan but want to keep the mover. Examples include Royal's Hercules and Atlas models and Purple Line's Enduro.

Speed, control and manoeuvrability

Early movers had no form of speed control. The motors were either on or off. This made manoeuvring in tight spaces quite difficult and resulted in much stabbing of the handset buttons in an attempt to produce small movements.

Today virtually all movers feature some form of soft start. This allows the motor speed to build up over a couple of seconds or more, greatly aiding manoeuvrability. In addition to soft start, some movers also have soft stop, where the motor is braked gently to a halt. Examples include those from AL-KO, Reich and Truma. Powrtouch movers also have a facility that allows you to reduce the speed in 25% increments.

Infinitely variable speed control is available, at a price. Examples include AL-KO's Mammut and Truma's XT range. Unlike other movers the latter uses brushless motors fed by a variable frequency alternating current to give extremely precise control. So much so you can actually trap an egg without breaking it.

Manual versus electric engagement

Before a mover can be used, the rollers have to be engaged with the tyres. This may be done manually or electrically. Manual engagement takes the form of a lever with an over centre action or a nut that is rotated to move the rollers into position. A cross actuation bar may be fitted to engage both sides at the same time. This is useful if one side of the caravan is parked against a wall.

If you want to make life really easy, you can go for a model with electric actuation. These use a small motor on each side to drive the rollers against the tyres.

Some manual motor movers can be upgraded to electric actuation, for example those from Powrtouch. This does not always add weight as some components, such as cross actuation bars, are no longer needed.

Kronings movers have a feature that senses the pressure in the tyre and winds the roller into the point where a good grip is achieved. AL-KO's Mammut has a similar system.

How much does a motormover weigh?

Movers are heavy items that eat into the personal effects payload of the caravan. Weights range from around 24kg to 37kg for a mover operating on just one axle. This is a big variation so choose carefully if weight is an issue for you.

As you might expect, quad movers are around twice the weight of those acting on just one axle. The lightest we found was e-go's Titanium AWD at just 48kg; although this is without cross actuation bars so you would have to engage each of the four rollers individually.

Movers are rated according to the weight of the caravan they are designed to move. For the most part, this is not something that needs to be considered. However, if you have a caravan that's fairly heavy for its number of axles (say, more than 1500kg for a single-axle or more than 1800kg for a twin), it pays to choose carefully.

Leisure battery requirements

It can take a lot of power to move a caravan with typical currents in the 20-40 amp range but going much higher on gradients.

This means you need a sound battery with the capacity to handle all the manoeuvring you're likely to do. Think about how much power you'll need for what your motormover has to achieve. Remember that you'll need more amp hours where quad movers are fitted.

For example, Powrtouch recommend using a recommend minimum 85AH leisure battery for the Original Powrtouch Classic Mover, and a minimum 100AH leisure battery for the new Powrtouch Evolution Caravan Movers.

The exception to this is Truma's XT mover. The brushless motors are so efficient you can get way with a battery of just 38 amp hours, provided it is of the spiral wound type such as those from Optima. If you don't use your battery for off gridding, this offers a real potential for weight saving.

How much do they cost?

A single-axle mover will cost anything from £500 to north of £2000 for a high- end model. Twin-axle models may cost slightly more if designed for extra weight. A quad mover will cost around twice this amount, as everything apart from the remote control has to be doubled up.

Fitting is usually extra but is may be included if the manufacturer want to ensure fitment to his standards.

So easy, even kids can use them

We've tested motormovers with youngsters, who picked up how to get a caravan through tough turns and reverses with ease!

If you want more peace of mind, a five year guarantee is almost standard now, although a few manufacturers are holding out at two years.

As well as the length of the guarantee the other thing to check is what it covers. One which covers parts only could leave you seriously out of pocket, especially if you have to call someone out to fix it.

The best guarantees will get an engineer to you wherever you are on the UK mainland – it really does pay to read the small print first!