Clarification should probably be made at this point. We have no plans to purchase a motorhome. I’m simply going through the planning process.
It appears many motorhome manufacturers de-rate the maximum allowed weight of their products to 3500kg as this is the max allowed weight to drive a vehicle on a car licence in the UK and EU. However there is a caveat to this. UK drivers who obtained their car license prior to 1997 (can’t remember the exact date) were automatically provided with a C1 class licence enabling them to drive a heavier vehicle.
In many instances it is possible to ‘up-rate’ the motorhome’s maximum load capacity without doing any physical modifications to the vehicle. A qualified engineering company can do this and provide a new plate for the vehicle. Of course if the total weight of the vehicle is increased beyond 3500kg then a C1 license will be required.
I next visited the Ford UK website to check the load specifications for the Ford Transit single cab/chassis. Unsurprisingly there are many variants. The basic vehicle is front wheel drive and has a maximum load of 3500kg. The heaviest load is almost 7 tonnes with the vehicle having rear wheel drive and dual wheels at the rear. More research on the Bailey Adamo motorhome identified it was front wheel drive. I suspect Bailey have used the base model Ford Transit. This is logical as they would be looking for the cheapest option. I considered whether it might be possible to replace the existing rear axle with a dual wheel one. However after looking at photos of the Adamo it suggests to me dual wheels wouldn’t fit in the rear wheel arches.
My conclusion is it may be possible to increase the Adamo load capacity, but it would probably involve engineering modifications. Next step is to revisit mobile internet options.
Lock Down
The State has come out of the three day lock down, however some restrictions are still in place. More information has been made available about how COVID escaped from hotel quarantine. Apparently a Victorian resident had returned from overseas and completed 14 days hotel quarantine in Perth. He was tested for COVID on day 12 and was negative. On day 14 he was released into the community. He then spent five days in Perth travelling around basically sightseeing. Unbeknownst to him and the authorities he had contracted COVID after Day 12 from a couple in the hotel room opposite his. As a consequence he spent five days in Perth as a super spreader.
I’ve previously mentioned the risks associated with using hotels as quarantine facilities. In my opinion this incident confirm their lack of suitability.
The couple who were infectious with COVID had returned from India. The annoying part of this (to me) was they had gone from Australia to India to get married. The Federal Government has been quite clear that citizens are not allowed to travel overseas except for essential reasons. There are couples in Australia who have delayed their wedding day multiple times because of quarantine restrictions and yet this couple were allowed to leave. The media are also reporting there are a number of Australian cricketers participating in the Indian Premier League. They will have been allowed to leave Australia and now some want to return. To me; cricket doesn’t seem to be essential travel.
I do accept John Jenks comment in a recent post where he suggests we should be more proactive regarding obtaining the vaccine. I’ve probably been too passive expecting to be contacted by the relevant authorities. This morning I emailed my GP surgery to enquire about the vaccine and they phoned me back at noon with the offer of an appointment for 8am tomorrow.
Sawdust Extractor
The sawdust extractor project has been paused as I need to buy some hinges and a hose connector. Whilst lock-down is over we have decided to wait another couple of days before venturing away from the house.
The dust cyclone and filter bag have been fitted. I’ve also temporarily propped the steel rubbish bin to the base of the cyclone. My plan is to hinge the white timber base under the bin in a trap door style arrangement. The fan electrics have been re-wired which enables me to now operate the extractor from inside the shed.
Whilst this project has been paused I was fortunate enough to receive a small package in the post today. This will enable another paused project to proceed. The carbon brushes on my old woodworking router had worn away and I couldn’t find a supplier in Australia. Eventually I found one in the UK, but they wouldn’t ship to Australia. Our youngest son in Manchester kindly bought them and they arrived today.
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I now have something to continue with.
2 comments :
Here in Australia an ordinary car licence allows you to drive a vehicle up to 4500kg, so good there. It would probably be worthwhile getting the GVM upgraded, especially if there is no modification needed. We recently had the GVM upgraded for our Ford Ranger tow vehicle from 3200 to 3500, but that involved new suspension, including springs. Engineers costs including a new plate $660, but this gives us peace of mind that we are fully legal when loaded.
Hi Catherine,
I researched 5th wheelers in the UK whilst we were narrowboating and came to the conclusion they would be great for touring Oz but too large for UK/Europe. Both the UK and Europe now have numerous in-motion weighbridges but into freeways along with numberplate recognition cameras. Your probably far more likely to be caught overloaded there than in Oz.
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