Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[gresham flyer]

You must have had this scenario in you life from time to time, especially if like me you just love purchasing non running garage or barn found vehicles.

You arrive with a trailer to collect the non running vehicle and you can move it in two possible ways...
Lots of manpower if there are people around.
Or tow the vehicle out of the barn to a place where you can load it on the trailer.
But what happens if there is only you and the seller.?

On arrival at your home you unload the vehicle from your trailer.
You then want to get it into your garage to try and get it running somehow and free off those dragging brakes, so you can move it around.

Very easy if you have a large yard to drive into with your trailer and tow vehicle or the terrain is very flat.

But what if you only have access for the vehicle you purchased or you live in hilly surroundings.?

This is where the other problem crops up....
it is Sunday teatime, there is nobody else available to move the car just you and the wife, lots of pushing, grunting and a near heart failure later you have your vehicle in the garage ready to work on it.

Now I have thought this through lots of times, you need a device to bolt onto the front of the vehicle which can help move it along somehow.
A caravan motor mover.?

Any ideas.?

G.F
_________________
Austin A30 / A35 Van.
Austin Devon.
Morris Minors.
Jaguars.
Rootes Cars.
MG.
Etc.



Viking Fibreline Caravan.
Cheltenham Sable
Shorts Built Vintage Caravan 1936.

[Rick]

Lately I've used 'erindoors' small 4x4 to good advantage, I'm not sure that a caravan mover would have the power to overcome dragging brakes on a medium/large vehicle, but I could be wrong. For at home, how about a quad bike? or are they pricey? (I've no idea).

RJ
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Rick - Admin
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[MikeEdwards]

I've seen these trolley devices that sit under each wheel, intended to be used for moving stuff around that can't be driven, or in tight spaces where it's better to be able to push them sideways. Would need a decent flat floor, though, and they're horribly expensive given that they're a square of box section with four casters on them.

Caravan mover might work, though a car would weigh quite a bit more than a caravan I think.

[D4B]

get 3 old skateboards and a sheet of 8x4 19mm ply.....

only works on tarmac though

[kevin2306]

the tow hitch style caravan movers (had one for a caravan once) struggle to move caravans unless the ground is flat and snooker table smooth in my experience, so i doubt they would cope with a car.
i have used a tirfor hand winch with good results and the can be lashed to any solid anchor. slow going but they are strong and dont require power (other than muscle power)

kev

[D4B]

Yes on a more serious note you need something with bigger wheels than my
skateboard mover....

how about a towing dolly:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/car-towing-dolly-recovery-spares-repair-/161247814026?pt=UK_Recovery_Tools&hash=item258b1e618a

[gresham flyer]

I have made some really good vehicle skates to move vehicles around the workshop.

I purchased 16no good quality large swivelling castors from Newark Autojumble for £30.00.

Cut some 18mm ply square boards, mounted the wheels on each corner, then screwed 50mmx 50mm timber around the perimeter.

The vehicles do not roll off, I have moved a large Bedford CF van with them.

These are ideal for indoor use or on good flat surfaces, not any good for gravel, stone or muddy driveway`s though.

As for moving a non runner into my workshop, I have towed a car with a smaller vehicle into the workshop, then reversed out after moving the towed vehicle to one side. This is ideal if there are two people around, not good on your own.

I did not really think a caravan mover would be ideal, but something like it.

I am sure the eccentric inventor chap from the TV programme Last of the Summer Wine would have soon knocked up a prototype and then got Cleggy, Compo and his chums to road test it down Throttlebottom Hill.



G.F
_________________
Austin A30 / A35 Van.
Austin Devon.
Morris Minors.
Jaguars.
Rootes Cars.
MG.
Etc.



Viking Fibreline Caravan.
Cheltenham Sable
Shorts Built Vintage Caravan 1936.

[Farmer John]

A Towing Pole. That is the answer. Can be whatever length suits, 3ft to 20ft long. A clevis at each end with a half inch bolt for a pin. This will enable you to shift a vehicle in and out of a building as often as you like, tie the steering wheel and no helper required. Depending on length this pole could be from one inch to three inch diameter tube, round or square.
Remove the bumper from the accessible end of your latest acquisition and bolt on the simplest towbar you can come up with, 2 inch tube bolted to the brackets with a tongue bolted to that. Welded is good too. The tongue need not be central if the entrance to the building is awkward. If you need to keep the ball on the towing vehicle use a trailer coupling on one end of the pole, or if really miserly make a coupling from flat bar to lock under the ball.
The Brakes. No touching whatsoever until you can be sure that they will not stay on. Put a block of wood under the pedal or take out the pedal and the handbrake lever. Vehicle might have sat for twenty years and the wheels will turn freely until the pedal is pressed, but if the handbrake has been left on it may well stay on.

John

[peter scott]

Over the years I've helped a friend on many occasions to trailer wrecks around the country. He NEVER spends enough money on trailers and that has given rise innumerable adventures the worst of which I won't tell you about but apart from
trailers with:

punctures but no wheel brace,
no ramps,
no hydraulic oil in tippers,
defective winches,
no brakes,
broken wiring and light boards
wiring that's too short for tight turns,

Getting wrecks off trailers has had its moments:

Tying the wreck to a fence post and driving the trailer out from under it because of seized brakes.

Trying to support a chassisless body on a couple of scaffolding poles whilst driving the trailer from under it.

Peter
_________________
https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[mid]

i've a winch mounting plate mounted to the floor of our garage - an elecric winch clips onto this and i can pull the car into the garage up the sloped driveway... it still needs 2x people at the moment, one to run the winch and one to steer the car, but there are remote upgrades available for the winch i have which would make it a 1 man job

[Peter_L]

I had several rawlbolts in the far end of the garage floor. Select the position, attach the snatch block and pass a rope from the "non runner" go around the snatch and back along the floor to the tow vehicle.

[D4B]

[gresham flyer]

All these ideas are jolly good.

But what if you want to move a vehicle around a yard, or it is parked up 100yds or so from your garage and you need to come in at an angle etc.

I still think you need a remote driven devise that can move a dead vehicle.


I have moved vehicles up a slight slope with the starter motor before now, but you risk burning the motor out.

Solid poles are very good, they make very professional towing devises when towing a vehicle on the road.

I think they are the law now.?

G.f
_________________
Austin A30 / A35 Van.
Austin Devon.
Morris Minors.
Jaguars.
Rootes Cars.
MG.
Etc.



Viking Fibreline Caravan.
Cheltenham Sable
Shorts Built Vintage Caravan 1936.