Genuinely curious

Treecol

Treecol

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Hello fellow funsters. So on our travels this week as we headed up the M6 we saw lots of motorhomes towing small cars. We're curious as to why that combination rather than car and caravan 🤔
Presumably it's so you can park the MH on site and pootle about in a car rather than lugging the MH about everywhere but can't work out why do it that way rather than a caravan as you have 2 x MOT, insurance and tax etc.
This isn't a criticism we are genuinely curious. Maybe we'll learn something! Thanks in advance.
 
We looked at towing a car but then downsized the motorhome. It works really well in so many ways.
 
We like the flexibility of going off solo, with a toad or with a motorbike on a trailer. With a caravan you have to have a car regardless and can’t take scooters or motorbikes. Sometimes we tow the toad and sometimes Sally will drive it behind depending on the distance or road.
Our toad is Sally’s daily car so we would have to tax and insure it anyway.
 
David and Sally said:
We like the flexibility of going off solo, with a toad or with a motorbike on a trailer. With a caravan you have to have a car regardless and can’t take scooters or motorbikes. Sometimes we tow the toad and sometimes Sally will drive it behind depending on the distance or road.
Our toad is Sally’s daily car so we would have to tax and insure it anyway.
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That would have been my answer too
 
We have a smart toad, and like others it’s my wife’s runabout. I don’t actually like towing much, I prefer a motor scooter on a fixed rack. (some can’t do this with payload issues).
As my wife is awaiting a hip operation and has trouble getting her leg over (the scooter), we have used the toad more lately, needs must.
Phil

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We have a tow car for the occasions we may spend quite a lot of time in Cornwall up round the lake district ,I would guess we use it on around 10 % of our trips ,the rest of the time it is parked up at home next to our bigger everyday car unless the wife and I want to go out separate then both get used , we bought it in May 2011 and it has only done 18k miles, it costs £20 per year road tax , insurance is just over £100 , and our son does the servicing , so does not cost a lot to keep on the road
 
Treecol said:
Thank you for answering. Still not sure why that combination rather than caravan, but thanks for your explanations.
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It's easy in my case. We have an 8M motorhome. My wife has a Smart car. That's it. We take the Smart on a trailer if we think we'll need it and otherwise leave it at home. We have no need or desire to own a larger car and the Smart was bought long before we thought of taking it on holiday. We, in common with many others on the Forum are ex-tuggers (in my case 20+ years tugging) with no desire to return to it. There's no comparison between towing a car (trailer or not) and towing a caravan.
 
Ok,
Treecol said:
Thank you for answering. Still not sure why that combination rather than caravan, but thanks for your explanations.
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OK simply as I can. We like the freedom and simplicity of a motorhome. Often we go away with nothing attached to the back. Usually when we can walk or get a bus into the places we want to.

Sometimes, if the weather is good we like to tow a motorbike so we can venture further field and return to our accommodation. No car means no parking or traffic jam issues and great riding in some lovely countryside.

Sometimes, like now in Cornwall we want to travel around a bit but as we are joining up with friends we want the option of using our small daily-use car to run around in. It’s small so not bad to tow. It’s dry if it rains. It’s got four seats if we need to take friends with us.

As for towing. I don’t really have to worry about it behind like I would a caravan. Done both so know what I’m on about.

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I tow a car behind the van so when I arrive on site it winds up the caravan owners and give them something to talk about, how they don’t understand why anybody would do that. It gives them hours of pleasure talking about it. Haha
 
We did a lot of research and decided on “A” framing a small toad as it gives a number of options. Short trip hopping across Europe with City stops, easier to do with just the motorhome, also quick stops in the UK. Longer trips, and longer stays in nice sites away from main activities we take the car and being a Fiat 500, can get down very narrow roads and park in teeny spaces in small villages. It is also a very cheap second car in the uk, rather than an expensive 4x4 which we would need (like) for a comparable size caravan.

Payload is also a huge plus. Our MOHO is 4.25t and has a huge payload. Set up at sites are a doddle compared to what I witness at sites watching tuggers, albeit you do get a bigger space inside in a caravan. Our MOHO is fully loaded with everything in it’s place, having discussed with tuggers, a lot needs to be carried in the towing vehicle if you are to observe payload weights (not everyone does….. until it all goes wrong!).

Towing an A frame small car is barely noticeable on either performance, van fuel consumption or overtaking on motorways. It is also a lot less tiring than towing a large caravan, particularly a single axle caravan.

Against: reversing in an A frame is difficult to say the least, and best to de-couple if you get stuck; going abroad - most EU countries do not allow A framing, I have been getting away with it in France, but suspect they just ignore it. If it was stopped I would get a trailer.

Positives (as above mentioned) plus no trailer to park on pitch (albeit not a comparison to caravanning).

Horses for courses really, Caravanning would give a bigger space and quality big car to travel around in, but having already made the decision with MOHO and A framing we are really pleased
 
You do need a lgv license to tow a toad.

How do the brakes work on the road? Electric / air??

Cheers James

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We don't tow, not sure I would like to as MHome is 7.8m long and we have to drive down single track road to get in and out of our village. Never wanted a caravan, love sitting MHome cab when driving. We will hire cars when possible or book sites with bus stop or train close by or pub and shops within 1 mile.
 
Jamesh said:
You do need a lgv license to tow a toad.

How do the brakes work on the road? Electric / air??

Cheers James
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Hi, you do not need an LGV (HGV) licence, although depends on the set-up. If you passed the test before (I think 1993 but havent googled to check), then C1 comes as standard, and covers A frame towing in our situation.

Brakes - our tow vehicle gets the brake light feed from the MOHO and a gravity sensor, it then activates the car’s vacuum servo, and a mechanical motor actuates a linkage attached to the car’s brake pedal, thus applying the brakes. Pressure dependant on settings. Works very well. (other types of Toad vehicles use different systems)
 
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Chazzer924 said:
Hi, you do not need an LGV (HGV) licence, although depends on the set-up. If you passed the test before (I think 1993 but havent googled to check), then C1 comes as standard, and covers A frame towing in our situation.

Brakes - tow vehicle gets the brake light feed from the MOHO and a gravity sensor, it then activates the car’s vacuum servo, and a mechanical motor actuates a linkage attached to the car’s brake pedal, thus applying the brakes. Pressure dependant on settings. Works very well.
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On overrun only the forward motion of the toad. As per caravan. No servos etc

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Correct - you don’t even notice the toad when driving the motorhome (until you have to reverse!)
 
Karon's car needed changing and so we found something she liked and then looked for one with a new A-frame. It is her daily car and so gives us the option if weather is crap or site is remote. Bikes are our first choice though.
 
Simon Meadwell said:
Each to their own. Personally i dont get it.
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That's why I asked. Still not sure but understand everyone has different reasons.
One day when we no longer have our much adored dog, we'll have a motorbike in the garage of our MH as that doesn't involve towing. My husband tows a huge trailer for work everyday and we started in caravans but were very keen to move away from towing.
Interesting thread, thanks all
 
If we are in a place for any length of time we hire a car. Some good value hires from local garages.
 
We take our Fiat Panda 4x4 on a trailer when we winter in Spain as we tend to stay in one place for three or four weeks at a time as we like to go out bird and wildlife watching, the car is our day to day car at home so it’s not stood around whilst away,
Before anyone quotes hiring it’s not always easy to hire and we also take our two dogs with us so dont have to worry about getting the car dirty etc.😊
we are all different and have differing needs😊
 
The simple answer to the op’s question is, I don’t like towing caravans.

I have towed trailers, boats, caravans and toads. Caravans usually weigh nearly as much as the towing car, which may be why they so often look unstable. I feel much safer towing a small car behind a much bigger vehicle. No intention of going back to caravan towing.

Also why drive a big car around for day to day use just so that you can occasionally tow a caravan. Buy a motorhome and run a small car.
 
Motorhome for comfort when travelling, and much easier to go away at short notice, plus i tow an MGB for fun when away for longer breaks, plus can't tow a caravan with MG :giggle:
 
Make the most of it while you can.

The golden age of toads will draw to a close. I don't think you can A-frame a small BEV or (hybrid) PHEV. That probably would need some kind of freewheel device in the transmission to disconnect the electric propulsion motor(s) from the wheels, for towing longer distances. Trailer-only in future, I guess. Or, the second driver will follow the MH in the EV.

Mind you I doubt if (when we can buy them) an all-electric MH could tow a car very far.

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