towing and launching a rib with a motorhome

Hugh Jardon · 03 May 2006, 14:17

we are thinking of chopping in the caravan and the hardboat for a motorhome and wondered if any of you have had experience in towing a rib with a motorhome and launching it with a motorhome!! it is going to be quite a long beast as we are going for quite a large 6 berth motorhome with a garage etc and i think it would be better with rear wheel drive for the slipways. anyone done this or got any experience? before we make the leap.....

tcwozere · 03 May 2006, 14:19

Install a winch at the back.. Can then just park at the top of the slip, and press a button..

Nauti Buoy · 03 May 2006, 14:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh Jardon

anyone done this or got any experience? before we make the leap.....

Don't leave the handbrake off!!

ADS · 03 May 2006, 16:31

Shouldn't be an issue although on slips a winch is the answer. Go for the biggest diesel you can afford, im sure some of the Mercedes chassis have some good common rail diesels in with a 6spd gear box.

Hugh Jardon · 03 May 2006, 17:17

yes looking at the merc with a 2.7 turbo diesel as that seems to have quite a bit of punch for hauling the crap around we usually travel with...

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADS

Shouldn't be an issue although on slips a winch is the answer. Go for the biggest diesel you can afford, im sure some of the Mercedes chassis have some good common rail diesels in with a 6spd gear box.

Alice · 03 May 2006, 18:22

Make sure what ever you do, that it's a rear wheel drive. My Old Man is a hardcore Motorhome nut. At the mo. he has a VW T5 2.5TDI camper and tows a caravan with it (he snores and this combo gives 2 bedrooms

). His biggest problem is traction offroad. I reckon the VW would be totally useless on a slip with a Rib behind it.
Some of these campers are scarey money. A newish merc is gonna be in the £50k+ bracket.

Hugh Jardon · 03 May 2006, 19:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alice

Make sure what ever you do, that it's a rear wheel drive. My Old Man is a hardcore Motorhome nut. At the mo. he has a VW T5 2.5TDI camper and tows a caravan with it (he snores and this combo gives 2 bedrooms

). His biggest problem is traction offroad. I reckon the VW would be totally useless on a slip with a Rib behind it.
Some of these campers are scarey money. A newish merc is gonna be in the £50k+ bracket.

the first six wheeler we looked at was 50k second hand, prefer to spend around 30-40k really if we can get a nice one, will sell the landy, the caravan and the hard boat to raise the cash

Scrumdown · 03 May 2006, 20:50

I seem to remember a mate of my dads telling me that his motorhome has ?? diff lock?? or somthing to help him when he is on slippy fields I am sure its not 4x4 but really helps him and he claims that his motorhome which is a monster hasn't been stuck yet.

Will try to find out the model - its only 18 months old -he also tows a car behind and a moped on the back rack as well - oh he's 78 as well!!!

Hugh Jardon · 03 May 2006, 21:14

cool the fords and mercs are rear wheel drive but the rest seem to be mostly front wheel drive like the renaults, fiats etc etc. have been told the front wheel drives can get stuck easily cos of not much weight over the front so if towing or launching or in a field then would be tricky i suspect

favorite is the merc unit but would go ford if i had to

would be good to know what he has that has a dif lock

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scrumdown

I seem to remember a mate of my dads telling me that his motorhome has ?? diff lock?? or somthing to help him when he is on slippy fields I am sure its not 4x4 but really helps him and he claims that his motorhome which is a monster hasn't been stuck yet.

Will try to find out the model - its only 18 months old -he also tows a car behind and a moped on the back rack as well - oh he's 78 as well!!!

Nos4r2 · 03 May 2006, 21:35

A tip-Don't buy one with an aluminium body if you can help it-they dent awful easily and are an absolute shit to repair due to the insulation behind it.
My mum and her husband have a rather nice fibreglass bodied merc based Hymermobil for that reason-small branches and stuff in narrow lanes knocked the shit out of their ally bodied Fiat.

Don't forget that a long motorhome will make reversing a trailer a bit difficult anyway-specially if it's got a big rear overhang.

Probably easier to decouple and launch/recover with an electric winch rather than trying to use the motorhome to pull the boat up the slipway.

Hugh Jardon · 03 May 2006, 23:18

thanks for the tip on the aluminium bodied ones, will bear that in mind, problem is finding the right vehicle at the right price in the right condition etc etc

is ok if you are buying new but if secondhand then is so tricky

many thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

A tip-Don't buy one with an aluminium body if you can help it-they dent awful easily and are an absolute shit to repair due to the insulation behind it.
My mum and her husband have a rather nice fibreglass bodied merc based Hymermobil for that reason-small branches and stuff in narrow lanes knocked the shit out of their ally bodied Fiat.

Don't forget that a long motorhome will make reversing a trailer a bit difficult anyway-specially if it's got a big rear overhang.

Probably easier to decouple and launch/recover with an electric winch rather than trying to use the motorhome to pull the boat up the slipway.

John Kennett · 04 May 2006, 07:43

John and Julie Lancaster, previous owners of Blue Ice, used a motorhome to launch and recover the RIB with no major hassles.

There are better vehicles for the job, but they tend not to be some comfortable to live in!

You'll need to pick your slipways reasonably carefully, but also bear in mind that you can often get someone with a 4x4 to drop the boat in for you in return for a couple of beers. We used to tow with a 7.5t Ford D Series camper, and never had any trouble getting help with launching.

John

Alice · 04 May 2006, 07:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Kennett

John and Julie Lancaster, previous owners of Blue Ice, used a motorhome to launch and recover the RIB with no major hassles.

There are better vehicles for the job, but they tend not to be some comfortable to live in!

You'll need to pick your slipways reasonably carefully, but also bear in mind that you can often get someone with a 4x4 to drop the boat in for you in return for a couple of beers. We used to tow with a 7.5t Ford D Series camper, and never had any trouble getting help with launching.

John

Ford D series! Not your average camper John!

I used to tow my hard boat with a Ford Eurocargo 7.5t. Wouldn't have known it was there and with diff-lock wet slips were not a prob.

Simon B · 04 May 2006, 10:45

Try and see if you can find an outfit that builds using Iveco as a base, I'm sure they do a 4 x 4 van and truck option.

Alan · 04 May 2006, 11:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Kennett

John and Julie Lancaster, previous owners of Blue Ice, used a motorhome to launch and recover the RIB with no major hassles.

There are better vehicles for the job, but they tend not to be some comfortable to live in!

John

Dang, you got there before me. John Lancaster had a Mercedes camper if my memory serves with petrol engine and LPG conversion. They towed Blue Ice over to Holland and I think down to the med with it. Towing was certainly no problem but launch and recovery requires a bit more thought. I once recovered Blue Ice at Levington slip for them using a Mondeo V6, lots of wheelspin, burning clutch smell and relief that it was a company car!

The ultimate RIB/Camper combo has to be Charles Blois who has a 10m twin diesel RIB he tows with a Unimog camper. He's been down to the Med in it which must be a slow journey at 40mph max speed!

Charles · 04 May 2006, 12:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan

The ultimate RIB/Camper combo has to be Charles Blois who has a 10m twin diesel RIB he tows with a Unimog camper. He's been down to the Med in it which must be a slow journey at 40mph max speed!

Well, he does have a lot of time on his hands!

Richard B · 05 May 2006, 15:12

And the former owners of Ben C's RIB (they've now got a 8.5m Tornado, also called "Intrepid") tow the RIB with a motor home. Quite a big Mercedes beast if I remember correctly.

Hugh Jardon · 07 May 2006, 22:09

would folks agree that the overall towing lenght of a motorhome and a trailer is 18m.

my boat trailer is around 8.5 m from tow hitch to lights/end engine protrousion and i am thinking of a 7.5 - 8.5 motorhome so hopefully will be under the limit by 1 m!

Rogue Wave · 07 May 2006, 22:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alice

I used to tow my hard boat with a Ford Eurocargo 7.5t. Wouldn't have known it was there and with diff-lock wet slips were not a prob.

Alice I must admit you really are my sort of girl.

You like good guitar players , have a Scorpion. buy containers and used to drive a truck!

Your not Dallas Alice are you?

do you ever get down to Southampton?

Alice · 08 May 2006, 08:32

I still like to paint my nails though Rogue.

You might see me down at the docks soon driving a six wheel unit with a 40ft skeletal trailer on the back pickin' up my container.