Weighing your motor home

Bigplumbs wrote:I honestly think that there is a massive amount of overthinking and way over the top weighing and calculating going on with many of you. Do you not think you are rather obsessed with this. How many commercial van drivers out there weigh their vans !!!!!

I am going to be one of the 39%.

You started this thread and poll, you said, out of interest. However, you are now criticising and being rather rude about the people who have responded and voted in a way that doesn’t fit with your thinking. That’s not interest but is perilously close to an action which has no place here.

I have never weighed mine formally because I have never been able to find a weighbridge within reasonable distance, or even en route. However, I have noted the weight recorded on front and rear axles whenever the van has had an MOT. I also, admittedly on just one occasion, weighed everything that went into the.van for a long trip. It was then a matter of arithmetic to work out that I had plenty of capacity within my 3500kg, even allowing for bringing back more than a few bottles of wine. But I have not been able to check that, fully laden, my individual axle weights are definitively ok but I firmly believe they are.
It's not easy to find weighbridges!
EDIT
Having written the above I went right through the thread. I am amazed at the number of posts from folk who think it is easy to find a weighbridge. As I said above I have not weighed the van from idleness. I tried several reasonably close Council depots/tips near my previous home- including the Council depot where my MOT was done. I've also researched possibilities en route and have only discovered the one in Chartres - which I have never passed at.a suitable time. I do need to do some research around Ellesmere though.

inspiredron wrote:I have never weighed mine formally because I have never been able to find a weighbridge within reasonable distance, or even en route. However, I have noted the weight recorded on front and rear axles whenever the van has had an MOT. I also, admittedly on just one occasion, weighed everything that went into the.van for a long trip. It was then a matter of arithmetic to work out that I had plenty of capacity within my 3500kg, even allowing for bringing back more than a few bottles of wine. But I have not been able to check that, fully laden, my individual axle weights are definitively ok but I firmly believe they are.
It's not easy to find weighbridges!

But Ron I think you would agree that if your Nuevo's capacity was only 3300 kg and the rear axle only 1900 kg and you had an after market tow bar fitted of unknown weight that you were proposing to extend it to fit a luggage rack to carry an inflatable dinghy and outboard motor, which is how the OP started all this nonsense on a different thread, you would find a weighbridge somehow.

Can I suggest you  take a trip to your local council  landfill site where your dustman take the non-recycled waste. They weight every wagon . Our local tip leave the display on 24 hrs, so when the dustman finish their shift and the site is quiet, anyone can drive onto the scale platform (the whole site is on a local industrial estate and therefore not behind locked gates) and you can drive on one axle at a time and whole vehicle and simply look through the office window and note your own figures.

Bigplumbs wrote:I honestly think that there is a massive amount of overthinking and way over the top weighing and calculating going on with many of you. Do you not think you are rather obsessed with this. How many commercial van drivers out there weigh their vans !!!!!

I am going to be one of the 39%.

Commercial van drivers don’t tend to put bike racks on the back of their vehicles, which I believe is where you started this whole saga.

I’m not quite sure what you’re trying to achieve, other than to alienate people who’ve given well intentioned responses to your original question. This isn’t Facebook, it’s a friendly forum designed to provide mutual support among AS owners. 

Tim

No - I would never get into that position! When I ordered my new van in 2011 I specified that it had to be 3500kg and NOT the standard 3300kg. And on numerous occasions you might have seen my freshwater tank being emptied while sitting in the ferry waiting lines at Calais to make the hill on the A20 out of Dover easier and more fuel efficient
And I don't believe in hanging things off the back of the van. Luckily we don't want to carry bikes. I towed caravans for nearly 30 years so am familiar with loading patterns and particularly the effect of different noseweights. And it is VERY easy to feel the difference in handling of the van if your back axle is not well balanced with the front.
Proper weighing is a good idea but common sense is a more important prerequisite. 🥺🥺

Paulmold wrote:Can I suggest you  take a trip to your local council  landfill site where your dustman take the non-recycled waste. They weight every wagon . Our local tip leave the display on 24 hrs, so when the dustman finish their shift and the site is quiet, anyone can drive onto the scale platform (the whole site is on a local industrial estate and therefore not behind locked gates) and you can drive on one axle at a time and whole vehicle and simply look through the office window and note your own figures.

Thanks, Paul - in Sutton the area was locked out of tip hours to stop fly tipping and trade waste being dumped for free and they didn't let private vehicles onto the scales.  I haven't checked at Oswestry which is only 6 or 7 miles from me but will next time I go there. I certainly don't mind paying  - but I wouldn't drive 30 or so miles each way when the van was loaded ready for a holiday, or divert significantly on the way to Dover or a site - not unless  thought I might be over the top.

The results of the poll speak for themselves So far 43 % never weigh and 80 % plus either never weigh or have done it zero or 1-2 times. I suspect those that dont use forums also never weigh or do so infrequently QED

Paulmold wrote:Can I suggest you  take a trip to your local council  landfill site where your dustman take the non-recycled waste. They weight every wagon . Our local tip leave the display on 24 hrs, so when the dustman finish their shift and the site is quiet, anyone can drive onto the scale platform (the whole site is on a local industrial estate and therefore not behind locked gates) and you can drive on one axle at a time and whole vehicle and simply look through the office window and note your own figures.

Round here they are recycling centres and never seen a weighbridge they are also locked so no point

Bigplumbs wrote:The results of the poll speak for themselves So far 43 % never weigh and 80 % plus either never weigh or have done it zero or 1-2 times. I suspect those that dont use forums also never weigh

Perhaps some of those who never weigh are like inspireron - due to the way they load their van, they are confident they are within its legal limits as I was when I started using my Nuevo.  Others may own PCVs where, like commercial vans, there is a lower risk of exceeding an axle limit due to their relatively short rear overhang and longer wheelbase.  However, I would say in all cases there is a need to know the maximum axle masses likely to be used to determine the optimum cold tyre pressures about which much has been written.  This is particularly so for A-S coachbuilts like yours where the actual front axle mass will be nowhere near its MTPLM.  If you are not familiar with this I suggest you start by studying the TyreSafe website which is sponsored by all of the major tyre manufacturers:

https://www.tyresafe.org/motorhome-tyre-safety/

but please don't start a thread on this as there is already plenty on the Forum about it which you can read if you do a search.

inspiredron wrote:

Paulmold wrote:Can I suggest you  take a trip to your local council  landfill site where your dustman take the non-recycled waste. They weight every wagon . Our local tip leave the display on 24 hrs, so when the dustman finish their shift and the site is quiet, anyone can drive onto the scale platform (the whole site is on a local industrial estate and therefore not behind locked gates) and you can drive on one axle at a time and whole vehicle and simply look through the office window and note your own figures.

Thanks, Paul - in Sutton the area was locked out of tip hours to stop fly tipping and trade waste being dumped for free and they didn't let private vehicles onto the scales.  I haven't checked at Oswestry which is only 6 or 7 miles from me but will next time I go there. I certainly don't mind paying  - but I wouldn't drive 30 or so miles each way when the van was loaded ready for a holiday, or divert significantly on the way to Dover or a site - not unless  thought I might be over the top.

Sorry I should have said the entrance to the tip is gated and locked out of hours, it's just the scales that are outside the gates. My local is at Buckley.

Bigplumbs wrote:

Paulmold wrote:Can I suggest you  take a trip to your local council  landfill site where your dustman take the non-recycled waste. They weight every wagon . Our local tip leave the display on 24 hrs, so when the dustman finish their shift and the site is quiet, anyone can drive onto the scale platform (the whole site is on a local industrial estate and therefore not behind locked gates) and you can drive on one axle at a time and whole vehicle and simply look through the office window and note your own figures.

Round here they are recycling centres and never seen a weighbridge they are also locked so no point

Not all rubbish is recyclable so there must be a landfill site somewhere unless your council is shipping it out to Thailand or elsewhere.

Paulmold wrote:

Bigplumbs wrote:

Paulmold wrote:Can I suggest you  take a trip to your local council  landfill site where your dustman take the non-recycled waste. They weight every wagon . Our local tip leave the display on 24 hrs, so when the dustman finish their shift and the site is quiet, anyone can drive onto the scale platform (the whole site is on a local industrial estate and therefore not behind locked gates) and you can drive on one axle at a time and whole vehicle and simply look through the office window and note your own figures.

Round here they are recycling centres and never seen a weighbridge they are also locked so no point

Not all rubbish is recyclable so there must be a landfill site somewhere unless your council is shipping it out to Thailand or elsewhere.

The recycling centres deal with many types of 'rubbish' The landfill sites are closed to the public. Gone sadly are the days where you went to the dump and had a rummage around the tip

Bigplumbs wrote:

Paulmold wrote:Can I suggest you  take a trip to your local council  landfill site where your dustman take the non-recycled waste. They weight every wagon . Our local tip leave the display on 24 hrs, so when the dustman finish their shift and the site is quiet, anyone can drive onto the scale platform (the whole site is on a local industrial estate and therefore not behind locked gates) and you can drive on one axle at a time and whole vehicle and simply look through the office window and note your own figures.

Round here they are recycling centres and never seen a weighbridge they are also locked so no point

Should you ever wish to confirm your obvious expert knowledge of MH weights, you can find weighbridges in Suffolk here.

https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/community-and-safety/suffolk-trading-standards/find-a-weighbridge/

PLOUGHLIN wrote:

Bigplumbs wrote:

Paulmold wrote:Can I suggest you  take a trip to your local council  landfill site where your dustman take the non-recycled waste. They weight every wagon . Our local tip leave the display on 24 hrs, so when the dustman finish their shift and the site is quiet, anyone can drive onto the scale platform (the whole site is on a local industrial estate and therefore not behind locked gates) and you can drive on one axle at a time and whole vehicle and simply look through the office window and note your own figures.

Round here they are recycling centres and never seen a weighbridge they are also locked so no point

Should you ever wish to confirm your obvious expert knowledge of MH weights, you can find weighbridges in Suffolk here.

https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/community-and-safety/suffolk-trading-standards/find-a-weighbridge/

 
Thanks looked at that a couple of days ago

Last word on this eternal drone.....

All scrap metal yards have weighbridges. Calibrated as the outging trucks may be overweight.
Mine is both local and excellent
Endex

Bigplumbs wrote:The results of the poll speak for themselves So far 43 % never weigh and 80 % plus either never weigh or have done it zero or 1-2 times. I suspect those that dont use forums also never weigh or do so infrequently QED

I’m not quite sure what you’re trying to demonstrate but in any case I wouldn’t read too much into your poll. It has too small a sample size to be statistically significant.

Tim

Kemerton-bath wrote:

Bigplumbs wrote:The results of the poll speak for themselves So far 43 % never weigh and 80 % plus either never weigh or have done it zero or 1-2 times. I suspect those that dont use forums also never weigh or do so infrequently QED

I’m not quite sure what you’re trying to demonstrate but in any case I wouldn’t read too much into your poll. It has too small a sample size to be statistically significant.

Tim

I recon the sample size is large enough and it gives a very good picture, Maybe a picture that some don't like but a picture none the less 

Shades of Bolero Boy here. Walk away. Nothing to see here.

Totally agree, as I said above...Eternal Drone and Endex (military abbreviation for the end of an exercise!!)

If the outcome is that he carries his rubber dinghy and outboard in a small cargo trailer rather than loading it onto his tow bar, some good will have come from this.

I don't give a damn what he does!

jwells wrote:I don't give a damn what he does!

As long as it’s not being disrespectful to others.

IanH wrote:Totally agree, as I said above...Eternal Drone and Endex (military abbreviation for the end of an exercise!!)

Wait until he start posting Drone videos flying over the peaceful club sites you are on.

He is almost a Yorkshireman. You can always tell a Yorkshireman, but you can't tell him much.