New to MH's and new here on MHF (1 Viewer)

[Ridgeway]

Hello,

Another newbie reporting in for the early season rush.....

We are UK ex-pats living in Switzerland, near Lausanne and we've been here for 6.5yrs now. Avid campers (tent) before we moved out here with Scotland and Cornwall being our favorite destinations. We traded up to a tin tent when No2 daughter came along so that we could be more organized with our trips and also still go out early and late in the season. We have really enjoyed our Fendt Caravan and it has done us proud all over Europe. A Camping Car or MH for you guys has been on the cards for some time but the prices have always put us off. The appeal has always been, mobility and no fixed base camp, being able to carry more "stuff" and traveling safety. 2 key triggers happened in the last 12 months, firstly my wifes Aunt came with us to S. France from UK and unfortunately had an accident on the return leg, all were OK although the van and car were lost as were all possessions, this was a bit of a wake up call for us and got us thinking over winter. Also the CHF/€ exchange rates have really put some great deals on the table here. OK long story short..... were are about to sign for a Carado A366 with 6 berths to cope with our now 4 daughters and 1.5 dogs. Price seems very competitive for a fully specced 6 berth that is 12 months old with 8k miles on the clock, it will cost us just a shade under £30k, then with the trade in of our Fendt it's a reasonable 25k to change.

I'll have loads of newbie questions as I convert my way of thinking from caravan to MH and as we learn along the way. First trip is anticipated at Easter to Ticino (lake Majorie) and then the Alsace at end May (Ascension) followed by the usual trip hime to the UK in summer, in that case we'll go via Padstow so that I can teach the girls "crabbing" off the pier:thumb:

Thanks

 

[MikeD]

welcome

Hi
we are also newbies - welcome - the funsters are a friendly bunch, so I think by posting here you have made a good move
Mike

 

[DESCO]

A great idea but in view of the number of people involved do look at the max gross weight, as you do not want to be over weight. The weight has to cover everything including van, fittings, all goods and passengers.
Normal weight is 3500kg but vans that can carry more are available and some can be upgraded to carry more.

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[Ridgeway]

A great idea but in view of the number of people involved do look at the max gross weight, as you do not want to be over weight. The weight has to cover everything including van, fittings, all goods and passengers.
Normal weight is 3500kg but vans that can carry more are available and some can be upgraded to carry more.

Yes looked into that. Here we still have some tight restrictions on the weight limited to 3500kgs unless you have a full license i.e. what in the UK is more or less HGV status, pretty crap really as I still have my 7500kgs limit from my old UK license. The 366 can have a 3850kgs upgrade which is only about £200 although not sure what they do for that ? As the children are still small (3 under 6) we should manage the weight although it's always a challenge but having managed with a measly 230kgs on the caravan the MH should provide some extra weight capacity, especially as the caravans 230kgs was killed by the mover system......

 

[Wildman]

Hi and welcome to the fun, do check out the chatroom several people in there most evening from around 21.00hrs If you drop but Padstow be sure to give us a shout when passing North through Devon.
Regarding your van as already said do insist is is weighed and check the axle weights to find out what payload you have left. most 3500kg vans have very little to play with and these days axle weights are being checked everywhere. Campering as a Dutch friend calls it is different to caravaning, you are not tied to sites Aires in France and other countries offer alternatives to truely wild camping, neither of which is really available to a caravan. You will learn fast and most of the caravan savvy is transferable to there you go. Enjoy

 

[Terry]

Hi and welcome :thumb:
I am in there now Roger
terry

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[pappajohn]

Yes looked into that. Here we still have some tight restrictions on the weight limited to 3500kgs unless you have a full license i.e. what in the UK is more or less HGV status, pretty crap really as I still have my 7500kgs limit from my old UK license. The 366 can have a 3850kgs upgrade which is only about £200 although not sure what they do for that ? As the children are still small (3 under 6) we should manage the weight although it's always a challenge but having managed with a measly 230kgs on the caravan the MH should provide some extra weight capacity, especially as the caravans 230kgs was killed by the mover system......

in the UK it is simply a paper excersize, a bit of form filling, and no modifications/alterations are usually needed to uprate 2 or 3 hundred kg.

may be a different matter in Switzerland though

 

[Ridgeway]

in the UK it is simply a paper excersize, a bit of form filling, and no modifications/alterations are usually needed to uprate 2 or 3 hundred kg.

may be a different matter in Switzerland though

Yep here it's a full medical on an annual basis plus a driving test also annual, it's a light version of HGV, so a real bummer TBH.

I tend to keep tight control of weight as I list it all out although this does sometimes go to pot on the way back after visiting a vineyard