5TH WHEEL how easy (1 Viewer)

Scout

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I was wondering how easy it is to set up a 5er, for somebody whos not over fit and has hypertension.

Is the as much fafing around as a caravan, water waist etc

what about hitching up, the one were looking at has electic front legs
 
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2657

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They are not particularly physically difficult to set up, and hitch up, but lots of care is needed and a very methodical approach must be taken.

The electric front legs usually have adjustable sections which can be a little awkward, requiring a bending of the back or in my case a getting down on the knees. I have largely solved this problem by having some wooden supporting blocks made to place on the ground under the legs so that I can leave the adjusting portion in the same position. This also helps stability when set up.

Maneuvering on cramped continental sites can be challenging.
 

zaskar

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I was wondering how easy it is to set up a 5er, for somebody whos not over fit and has hypertension.

Is the as much fafing around as a caravan, water waist etc

what about hitching up, the one were looking at has electic front legs

In a nutshell, not quite as easy as a motorhome or RV (especially one with jacks) but MUCH easier than a caravan.........and I speak as someone with experience of all of them.:winky:

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Landy lover

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Personally I find it simpler - you have more room than a caravan especially if you have slides. You can make life easy by getting the special spirit levels that you stick on the side of the hitch and body near the switch which will make it easy to get level first time. If you are staying for more than a few days you will need to fill / dump tanks. With much care and planning we can go 10 days on Black 7 days on grey and about 4 on fresh water. Unless there is a dump point within reach of either a 3 inch pipe or a macerator then you will have to shut down and bring the slides in - hook up and go to a dump point. Then reset everything. We far prefer the 5'er to a caravan and find it easier - I know others who find the 5'er awkward - really personal choice.
 
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2657

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Re. tank emptying we were given a 'tote' tank of around 40 litres and found it almost unusable on most sites because they do not have ground level black disposal points.

Our solution was to purchase a 3" to 1 half" adapter and use an old aquaroll from our caravanning days. We are always on sites so use the facilities provided and do not have vast quantities of waste to dispose of so I empty twice a week without moving, nice and simple and easy.

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Landy lover

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Re. tank emptying we were given a 'tote' tank of around 40 litres and found it almost unusable on most sites because they do not have ground level black disposal points.

Our solution was to purchase a 3" to 1 half" adapter and use an old aquaroll from our caravanning days. We are always on sites so use the facilities provided and do not have vast quantities of waste to dispose of so I empty twice a week without moving, nice and simple and easy.

If we don't want to move we have a small Fiamma tote to allow us to do similar although being small means multiple journeys we also find it nice and light for lifting up to elsan points and it packs into a tiny space
 

bobandjanie

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I was wondering how easy it is to set up a 5er, for somebody whos not over fit and has hypertension.

[HI]Is the as much fafing around as a caravan, water waist etc[/HI]

what about hitching up, the one were looking at has electic front legs

Hi, the first thing is how are you going to use a 5th wheeler, if its staying in one place for a while providing the site is big enough and has fully serviced pitches I would say they are brilliant.
If you are moving before your tanks are full, and you have a drive over dump great.
If you are decanting everything not so good.
We thought about one, the driving no problem being an hgv driver, one thing that put us off was breakdown cover in europe.:Doh:
And best of all you have a truck to get about in.:Smile:

For touring you cant get better than a motorhome, but no transport and if you stay in one spot, getting rid of waste ect.

We now have a 6m panel van conversion, and a caravan for long stay.
Do we faff around with the caravan..................No Do we faff around with the awning ............Yes But no more than we did with any awning we put up.:ROFLMAO:

The pitch sizes here in Spain are 10m x 8m and the roadway are narrow , in fact we have only seen a couple of small rvs, no way would you get a 5th wheel on most pitches.
We pull up unhook the caravan, use a motor mover drive on the pitch, we have an on board 40lt tank and 2 x 40lt Aquaroll and a Wastemaster and they all roll along, never had it so easy. :ROFLMAO: But then thats long term, I would not want it on my back all the time, :winky: been there done that. :roflmto:
Well it works for us, you do see a lot of 5th wheelers in Spain but they do tend to leave them here................................. :winky: As we will with the caravan. :ROFLMAO:
First decide how you are going to use it, some love them and some cant get on with driving them.
Me a motorhome if your moving, and a caravan if your staying. :thumb: Bob.
 
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2657

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Hi, the first thing is how are you going to use a 5th wheeler, if its staying in one place for a while providing the site is big enough and has fully serviced pitches I would say they are brilliant.
If you are moving before your tanks are full, and you have a drive over dump great.
If you are decanting everything not so good.
We thought about one, the driving no problem being an hgv driver, one thing that put us off was breakdown cover in europe.:Doh:
And best of all you have a truck to get about in.:Smile:

For touring you cant get better than a motorhome, but no transport and if you stay in one spot, getting rid of waste ect.

We now have a 6m panel van conversion, and a caravan for long stay.
Do we faff around with the caravan..................No Do we faff around with the awning ............Yes But no more than we did with any awning we put up.:ROFLMAO:

The pitch sizes here in Spain are 10m x 8m and the roadway are narrow , in fact we have only seen a couple of small rvs, no way would you get a 5th wheel on most pitches.
We pull up unhook the caravan, use a motor mover drive on the pitch, we have an on board 40lt tank and 2 x 40lt Aquaroll and a Wastemaster and they all roll along, never had it so easy. :ROFLMAO: But then thats long term, I would not want it on my back all the time, :winky: been there done that. :roflmto:
Well it works for us, you do see a lot of 5th wheelers in Spain but they do tend to leave them here................................. :winky: As we will with the caravan. :ROFLMAO:
First decide how you are going to use it, some love them and some cant get on with driving them.
Me a motorhome if your moving, and a caravan if your staying. :thumb: Bob.

Exactement !! as the French would say.

We now leave our 5'er in Portugal and have a Hymer caravan for touring and visits back to the UK ::bigsmile:

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Scout

Scout

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thanks to all who replied, we have just been let down/beaten to the deposit over a m/h and I started looking on ebay and this poped up

Broken Link Removed

and it got me thinking, but being relistic o/h could not hitch it up if I wasnt about, so I think its back to the mo sales lists.
 
Nov 6, 2008
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We have a 30ft trailer and Dodge Ram. Our previous RV was a Winnebago 31ft.
We find the trailer better for us, a vehicle when we are pitched up, and easy to connect/disconnect. ~Methodical is the best way to describe hitching, and un-hitching.
I have driven artics for many years, and have seen drivers in a rush....... bish, bash, bosh, and pull away dropping the trailer on it's nose. Not nice.

Craig
 

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