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WEIGHT LOSS - CARAVAN STYLE

This story happened on: 25/02/2013

We are in the process of purchasing a new caravan. Being seasoned caravanners, we have chose a slightly heavier van to get the layout we love and knowing we can trim weight to keep safe. Not such an easy task however.

Our current van allows 200kg essential habitation / personal allowance, but the new van only allows 156kg.

We spent a very enjoyable weekend away near Pickering 22nd - 25th Feb in our old van, thinking of life in the new one. However, Mr R & I spent most of Sunday afternoon, weighing all of our 'essential Habitation Equipment & Personal Effects' & arguing over 350g of sliced beetroot.

After weighing every item in the caravan which we call essential, we found we had 228kgs of Habitation Equipment & Personal Effects, 8kg over the allowance & over the MPTLM of our current van! All this for 2 adults & a border terrier. What a shock we got especially as we don't carry clothes & food in the van.

Now the challenge is to trim at least 72kg.

We have trimmed down 40kg but are still have a further 33kg to go. This will bring us to the MPTLM of the new van. Again without food & clothing.

We used to keep a lot of 'just in case' items such as bedding, place mats, cutlery & spares. If we had visitors, or a sleep over, we could cater for them. We also kept the caravan ready for holidays, with items such as various ground sheets, inner tents & spare camp chairs.

After this experience, I actually wonder how many caravans are overloaded without owners ever knowing.

We now have a weight list of 71 items including grouped items and a further weight list of 25 items we have removed.

40kg and counting - happy days...Happy

Posted on:
25/02/2013
Posted by:
Sandra R
Categories:
General
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7 comments

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TonyEc commented on 26/02/2013 14:38

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TonyEc

Commented on 26/02/2013 14:38

You don't mention the towing vehicle.  If very powerful it helps somewhat with a weight extension, but obviously not beyond the manufacturers recommendation. 

Sandra R commented on 27/02/2013 21:16

Sandra R profile picture Member

Sandra R

Caravanner

Commented on 27/02/2013 21:16

The MPTLM of the van we are changing to is 97% of the car kerb weight. We are quite comfortable with this as we don't tow with just a driver & fuel. There's always 2 in the car, dog & all clothes, tools, food etc. The total allowed gross train mass is 4210kg and we will be at 3337kg with the new van.

The new van has 156kg personal payload compared to 219kg in our current van.

This is where we have started to trim down. We always try for hard standing pitches, but for example, plastic pegs which cannot hammer into hard standing are 5kg lighter than the metal pegs you have to use for hard standing. 


sandave commented on 27/02/2013 23:13

sandave profile picture Member

sandave

Commented on 27/02/2013 23:13

hi sandra, like yourself just changed van to and am struggling to meet the loading margin.  I went back to the manufacturer to ask what allowance was made for 'essential equipment' within their calculations. their response: 16 kgs for two gas bottles and 4 kgs for water contained within internal tanksand thats it. this means in my case I can disregard one gas bottle when totaling our personal payload. I finally opted to have the van MPTLM replated to give me an extra 36 kgs which I can live with. this exercise was required so we can carry the wheelchair and other aids for my good lady. Again as with yourself the towing vehicle carries awning, dogs. and some heavier items. I hope that you reach your desired weight

regards.  

woodlanewanderers commented on 12/07/2013 08:17

woodlanewanderers profile picture Member

woodlanewanderers

Caravanner

Commented on 12/07/2013 08:17

I have just changed my van for a Bailey Pegusus 65 Verona. I have had it replated to 1500 Kg this gives me an extra 52 Kg.

My motor movers are 30 KG so I  have an extra 22 Kg payload.

The cost of replating by Bailey was £69

This I hope will keep me on the right side of the law.

 

TonyandPat commented on 04/11/2013 20:34

TonyandPat profile picture Member

TonyandPat

Caravanner

Commented on 04/11/2013 20:34

How do I get my van's MPTLM replated ?  I've never heard of this before.  We have a Sprite Alpine 2.  plated at 1164Kg.  What kind of change can I expect ?

jamesvanb commented on 15/03/2014 21:38

jamesvanb profile picture Member

jamesvanb

Caravanner

Commented on 15/03/2014 21:38

mind add spare tyre and mover  and microwave and the battery thay are all extras in and out side the van thay can add up to 100 kg

allan123 commented on 22/09/2016 20:10

allan123 profile picture Member

allan123

Caravanner

Commented on 22/09/2016 20:10

thats me for my sins,just been reading the comments about the payload limitations with new vans. Ihave just gone back into caravaning after 3yrs and with the new code of practice its a nightmare.

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