Prospective MH purchaser

[Brian Kirby]

Exy - 2018-12-12 8:24 PM..................In response to Brians comments above I doubt we will ever leave NI in it as we plan to use for Extended weekends and possibly a fortnight once a year, just like the caravan. Regarding your mention of a British layout I would have to say we have looked at a LOT of different motorhomes just recently and were amazed at how slim most continental purchasers must be as the front lounges are extremely tight for space and we do NOT like fixed tables or drop down beds or bunks etc. (everyone to their own and all that of course) HOWEVER both my missus and I were totally blown away by just how much space there was inside the 76-2. I can only suggest you actually take a look for your self as in my experience once you park up the more space the better. It could be argued of course there is too much space for two Average Sized adults (5'6" & 5'4") and one Staffy cross.…………….. :-D

My point regarding size is just that the larger the inside space, the larger the external dimensions. If only someone really could make a Tardis! :-)

 

Some buy huge vans and love them, and I'm happy for them. But, I suspect that they are largely constrained to main roads and motorways when driving. We much prefer secondary roads and minor roads, and the villages along them, so we are prepared to compromise on inside space (within reason! :-)) in order to get more compact external dimensions. Since we also mostly use our vans abroad, we spend most of our time either out and about, or just outside, so lounges are not a priority. As you rightly say, each to their own.

[Exy]

Derek Uzzell - 2018-12-13 8:26 AM

 

Exy - 2018-12-12 8:24 PM

 

...Just on another note we used the little blue dumpy gas bottles in our caravan and I didn't refill them more than twice each in over 15 years despite using the spare one for BBQ'ing, not sure how we managed to remain so thrifty because my good lady does like her heat...

 

:-D

 

A Bailey Advance 76-2 is fitted with a Truma Combi 4E combination air/water heater (a Combi 6E would be better given the motorhome’s large interior space, but that appliance is more expensive).

 

I don’t know how familiar you are with this Truma appliance, but it’s decidedly gas-hungry when heating air and, consequently, Truma advises that propane always be used to meet that demand.

 

“Little blue dumpy gas bottles” suggests 4.5kg butane containers and - if you do buy a 76-2 - you’d be wise to swap those canisters for (usually red) 6kg propane bottles. It does depend on when you’d be using the 76-2 as, although a Combi 4E’s 230V air-heating 1.8kW capability will provide background heating using a campsite electric hook-up, in cold weather you’d need to use the Combi on gas, and in really cold weather that gas should be propane.

 

We had two of the little dumpy butane cylinders, sold one with the van and use the other with the portable BBQ at home.

 

You are quite right however as we really intend to be hooked up most of the time BUT we may have a go at this wild camping malarkey as Donaghadee is a short distance from us and my missus wouldn't tolerate being cold at all.

[Exy]

pagey - 2018-12-13 9:38 AM

 

so it seems you want a caravan with an engine

 

 

Derek Uzzell - 2018-12-13 10:31 AM

 

Isn’t that the definition of a motor caravan?

 

(lol)

[Exy]

Brian Kirby - 2018-12-13 5:43 PM

 

Exy - 2018-12-12 8:24 PM..................In response to Brians comments above I doubt we will ever leave NI in it as we plan to use for Extended weekends and possibly a fortnight once a year, just like the caravan. Regarding your mention of a British layout I would have to say we have looked at a LOT of different motorhomes just recently and were amazed at how slim most continental purchasers must be as the front lounges are extremely tight for space and we do NOT like fixed tables or drop down beds or bunks etc. (everyone to their own and all that of course) HOWEVER both my missus and I were totally blown away by just how much space there was inside the 76-2. I can only suggest you actually take a look for your self as in my experience once you park up the more space the better. It could be argued of course there is too much space for two Average Sized adults (5'6" & 5'4") and one Staffy cross.…………….. :-D

My point regarding size is just that the larger the inside space, the larger the external dimensions. If only someone really could make a Tardis! :-)

 

Some buy huge vans and love them, and I'm happy for them. But, I suspect that they are largely constrained to main roads and motorways when driving. We much prefer secondary roads and minor roads, and the villages along them, so we are prepared to compromise on inside space (within reason! :-)) in order to get more compact external dimensions. Since we also mostly use our vans abroad, we spend most of our time either out and about, or just outside, so lounges are not a priority. As you rightly say, each to their own.

 

Where do you get one of these Tardis's?

 

I have to say the size is worth considering and we did notice the width on the Swift Hire van which was 2.3M and about 2' shorter.

 

My biggest concern would be fitting it into a lot of the caravan sites we frequent, I seem to remember the caravan just about fitting.

 

All advice so far has been most helpful and everyone has an opinion which is as it should be.

 

One of the great things about NI is the relative lack of traffic compared to England for example and the roads are as a result a little less frantic.

 

Just out of interest is there a handy link that takes you to these MH's with generous payloads, more generous than 700kg for instance. Presumably they will also indicate whether the manufacturer is a responsible sort of outfit.

 

 

[Exy]

Brock - 2018-12-12 1:41 PM

 

I don't know if Motorhome Craic will have the answer about NI pitch sizes. In Britain the smallest pitches tend to be 6m so anything longer than that and the number of pitches reduce slightly until you hit the 8m/RV size where the number of available pitches drops noticeably. I expect Exy will have plenty of pitch choices in Britain.

 

There are some Bailey motorhome reviews on Fun:

 

https://motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/forums/bailey-motorhomes.231/

 

Thanks Mr. B

 

Just joind MH Craic :-D

[colin]

Exy - 2018-12-13 9:52 PM

 

 

Where do you get one of these Tardis's?

 

 

 

In the US it's very popular to have the inside bigger than the outside, even though they already have large RV's. It's starting to catch on in Europe.

https://www.lippertcomponents.eu/category-eu-slide-outs/

 

[david lloyd]

In reply to the original question regarding the size of the motorhome and site pitches we have had (and still have) Motorhomes of up to 7.4 metres long but have only ever experienced serious difficulties in getting onto a pitch in Spain. As many will know some Spanish sites are rather constricted and I well remember shuffling the (7.4m long) Chausson backward and forward to get it parked lengthways on the pitch at Calpe as it certainly wouldn't fit simply driving in or reversing in.

 

On the trip down to Spain in winter we always take the N roads rather than motorways and often divert to find suitable stopovers. Again, never really found any significant problem on smaller roads.

 

However, I do agree with some of the comments regarding advertised payloads, the actual weight of everything we carry and, most importantly, the effect of payload on axle weights as opposed to MTPLM limits. Having fallen foul of that with the Chausson on a light chassis (rather than the maxi chassis) it was a costly mistake but one I have learned from. Now have another 7.4m motorhome but this time on the maxi chassis and plated at 4250kg so can be more relaxed about payload.

 

David