Newbie Questions

The primary reason for twin axle caravans or MoHo for that matter is that they can chew the surface up while maneuvering.
Not for any particular attraction to any ethnic group.
The self same group tend to go for Hobby caravans as well.

MoHo's will tend to be much more expensive than Caravans because they are subject to VRT unlike a Caravan, however with a Caravan you will also need to tow it with a vehicle that is able to tow and control it which may mean sitting a B+E license and changing the tow vehicle, which is in itself and expensive proposition.

Awnings are great but in Irish conditions their use is marginal due to winds commonly encountered here.

You need to work out what you need and what you want and for a first timer it is not an easy task.
How many people do you need to sleep?
Do you want permanent beds or are you happy to make them up every evening?
There are a million permutations and a van or caravan for most of them.
If you give some more info it might be easier.

Superfoods wrote: »

Thanks for the responses. I have never heard the term MoHo, then again I am very new to this. I guess the twin-axle just gives more space? as it is longer?

It would be 2 adults and 4 children. Preference is the double bed is fixed.
Would like to take bikes with us, potentially on the back?

Really plan is family holidays, loads of trips down along the coast, kids are sporty, I kind of do surfing(badly) but also diving etc. Have SUV to pull so that is not an issue and can pull.

My thought is awning would give the space outside and just use the interior for sleeping/storage etc. Eat food etc in the awning.

Budget, really my max is 8k. Not a huge budget but that would be maxed for everything. I would like to spend about 1k on proper awning so if it doesn't come with caravan then 1k on the caravan. This is all based on looking at awning online new.

Check your licence.
Going into larger caravans with decent sized tow vehicle and you will need a BE. Maybe you have that already and that’s grand.

It’s done on weights.

The max load capacity of your car plus the max load capacity of the caravan can’t exceed 3500kg for a regular B licence.

You mentioned bikes on the rear of a caravan, that’s a bad load design and can quickly cause stability issues.

We went with a caravan when kids were small as they have more “stuff”. Now they are older were looking into a campervan. As for heading to the shops, now they are older we often do that on bikes anyway just to be out and about.

Superfoods wrote: »

Thank you for response.

Ok I have a regular B license. My car weight is circa 2,000kg. So probably better sticking to a single wheel? the car has a max pull capacity of 1500kg I think.

I am not sure how to bring bikes, it is something we would want to do. Are we better trying to transport in the caravan?

You’ll need the BE, the rules can be a bit confusing but essentially pulling anything more than a small car trailer needs BE. People chance it all the time and I know a good few farmers pulling cow boxes and horsey people pulling boxes that don’t have it, but people do get caught. It’s not worth it being worried about a checkpoint each time u haul. Test is a pain in the arse, it’s basically the full test again with a trailer. U have to get a learners permit, take the theory and all that first.

My parents treated us to the full spectrum of holiday accommodation options when we were children - hotels, b&b, self-catering, small tents, big tents, caravan and motorhome. They eventually settled on a motorhome for the same reason I did: wanderlust! If you're the kind of family that likes stop-and-stay holidays, a caravan is probably the better option: you don't need to buy a second engine if it'll spend all of your holiday parked up. On the other hand, if you get itchy feet once you've been in a place more than a few days and want to move on, then a MH is definitely worth considering.

It's also worth thinking about how your children's sporting/cultural interests will evolve over the next decade (5 years is a really short time-frame!) - a MH makes for a really useful temporary base if you're attending events away from home at the weekend; even more if you (or the children) get involved in anything that moves from one location to another.

We bought ours 15 years ago (2 parents, 4 children) and it still fulfils numerous roles: traditional "holiday" accommodation, picnic HQ for days out, supermarket shopping during heatwaves (no messing about with coolbags, no mad rush to get home to the freezer), home-from-home when I'm working away, festival fan-van, off-piste accommodation for locations (photography excursions, etc.); and very handy for transporting 4m rolls of carpet, 5m joists, pot plants, house-moving boxes ...

Superfoods wrote: »

https://www.rsa.ie/en/RSA/Your-Vehicle/About-your-Vehicle/Example-of-non-Dup/Trailers-/Advice-and-Checks-for-Trailers-/

Does this mean, I need to make sure the car and caravan is not over the 3500kg?

A category B driving licence authorises you to drive a car, van or 4 x 4 which has a maximum mass (as specified by the manufacturer) of not more than 3,500kg and is designed and constructed to carry no more than eight passengers in addition to the driver. You may tow a trailer with a maximum mass (again as specified by the manufacturer) not greater than 750kg, or where the maximum mass is more than 750kg, the combined maximum mass of the towing vehicle and the trailer is not greater than 3,500kg.

So it means the DESIGNED weight of both can’t go over 3500kg

So if your caravan weighs 1300kg but was designed to be 1500kg max then you must use the 1500kg fixture.

Similar your car might weigh 2000kg, but if it’s maximum designed weight is 2500kg you must use 2500kg.

It’s the designed not the actual weight that matters.

bikes inside an old caravan are ok, but there is almost guaranteed damage to the van as things WILL move..... we have 4 bikes that go in the car roof rack.

as to single or twin axle.......

twins are SO much more stable on the road.

Singles are easier to manhandle on the pitch.

I'm disabled so can't haul things around, but then I grew up on a farm and have been driving and reversing trailers for nearly 40 years, so that isn't an issue for me!

we've been twin axle for 6 years.

never had an issue.

so long as you don't have 12 kids in a white transit, you'll be grand!!