Payload Opinion Please

Ashypants

Ashypants

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further to my previous post about brochure weights and downplating - the van we are looking at has been on a weighbridge - 1/2 tank diesel, full tank of water (100l ish), Gas bottle - no driver. The weight came in at 3160kg - leaving 340kg payload for me, the wife, and 2 year old, plus ‘stuff’ - food, clothes, awning, pots & pans, camping chairs & table, Caracas, bikes etc. Is this sufficient or way under for week/weekends away? We are not planning on touring for longer than 2 weeks at a time - wouldn’t need to have 100% full water tanks all the time.

Cheers.
 
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EX51SSS said:
Ah right.. Tbf, I didn't assume and thought it prudent not to
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Yeah pretty much using sites with the odd britstop / pubstop / Aire overnighters - but assume I can just fill up with a watering can there any way....travelling without water would take current payload up to 440kg.
 
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pappajohn said:
Why oh why do folks keep saying 1/2 tank of diesel ?

You may be on your limit with half a tank but what do you do after that......half full every time you refuel.....how do you know it's half full.....or you may brim the tank and get pulled a mile further on and be over your limit....you can't simply dump 1/2 tank of fuel just to get below your max weight.
Get weighed with a full fuel tank then you know it won't put you over.
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Dont think it’s a big deal - diesel weight is relatively easy to calculate at 0.832kg/l. Standard Fiat tank is 60l so If the fuel gauge shows 1/2, Assume 30l left. 30 x 0.832 = 25kg.

So a full tank would be 50kg.

Unless I’ve got my maths wrong - it is late, I’ve been pondering payloads all day, and I’ve had a beer :-)
 
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As I said on your other thread it is just about doable but not really practicle, you really should be looking for a van with 600kg payload.
Our last van had over 500kg we gave up trying to run at 3500 and upgraded and we are lightweights the pair of us weighing in at 115kg. We do always travel with full water as we rarely use sites.

Have you thought about a slightly older better quality van, they are few Hymer models on the Ford chassis with 900-1000kg payload.
 
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Ashypants said:
Dont think it’s a big deal - diesel weight is relatively easy to calculate at 0.832kg/l. Standard Fiat tank is 60l so If the fuel gauge shows 1/2, Assume 30l left. 30 x 0.832 = 25kg.

So a full tank would be 50kg.

Unless I’ve got my maths wrong - it is late, I’ve been pondering payloads all day, and I’ve had a beer :)
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Not you maths but the size of the tank it's 90 Lt

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90 litres of fuel on my Fiat X250.

Full tank around equals 75kg

ie: around 15% of my payload.
 
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Ashypants said:
Dont think it’s a big deal - diesel weight is relatively easy to calculate at 0.832kg/l. Standard Fiat tank is 60l so If the fuel gauge shows 1/2, Assume 30l left. 30 x 0.832 = 25kg.

So a full tank would be 50kg.

Unless I’ve got my maths wrong - it is late, I’ve been pondering payloads all day, and I’ve had a beer :)
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It CAN mean the difference being allowed to continue your journey or being made to unload enough goods to get you under...and then theres the financial implications of overloading.
 
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pappajohn said:
It CAN mean the difference being allowed to continue your journey or being made to unload enough goods to get you under...and then theres the financial implications of overloading.
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Ah yes, in the grand scheme of payload I agree. I thought you were challenging why the van was only weighed at 1/2 today though - hence why I was saying the figure could be extrapolated.

I’m with you now :-)

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Like you @Ashypants I am restricted to 3500kgs no choice , it's tight but as we use sites and don't wild camp we restrict water to a bare minimum and fill when on site , keep extras to a minimum and in summer months depending on journey distance only half fill fuel, it's a pain but needs must.
We also tow car so use it as a trailer for any extras.
 
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My license has been restricted as well cant keep it under 3.5t either so i will run with 5% overload think you can get away with that but time will tell over 5% believe it is a fine based on % overweight

My last van must of been running well overweight but never checked it or got stopped so was very lucky
 
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Personally, I would look at a panel van conversion with a better payload. Coachbuilts use a lot of their weight on their construction.
Waters not important if you are stopping at sites or pubstops etc but for wild camping youy need the capacity. If we are stopping where water is available we travel with 1/4 of a tank.

But you do need to be able to have a full tank of diesel.
 
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Water and to a lesser extent fuel requires some management at the best of times.
I would imagine that running on half tanks would quickly become tiresome and possibly expensive.

With a full tank of fuel, we can travel about 300miles before it's time to refill (not in the red but getting close).
Imagine filling up every 150miles, that's every 2-3 hours if you're on a run.
If wandering in Scotland, rural France or Spain, half a tank of fuel doesn't cut it.
You could end up sat in a layby searching for the nearest filling station.

Queueing for water at an aire. Waiting 10,20 minutes isn't that uncommon.
Limiting you're fill up means you'll be topping up more frequently and likely increasing your costs (jeton costs the same whether 20 or 100 litres).
With some spare capacity, you can be a little more selective with fill-ups. Queueing less often, grabbing the chance to fill up for free when the opportunity arises.

There's little worse than needing fuel or water, sod's law says you'll be caught short when there's nothing easily available.
It's far easier to run everything at full and top up when the opportunity arises.

My opinion, get the C1 entitlement and buy a van with enough capacity / buy a panel van @3500kg / just ignore any weight concerns and take your chances (as many choose to do, knowingly or otherwise)
 
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Your budget is 35K it would cost less than 1k to get your C1 and would make life so much easier and open up a vast choice of vans to you. We tried to keep under 3500kg gave up and it was the best thing we ever did going to a 45000kg van with over 1300kg payload. Nice not having to think or worry about what we put in the van and not constantly worried about being overweight.
 
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Lenny HB said:
Your budget is 35K it would cost less than 1k to get your C1 and would make life so much easier and open up a vast choice of vans to you. We tried to keep under 3500kg gave up and it was the best thing we ever did going to a 45000kg van with over 1300kg payload. Nice not having to think or worry about what we put in the van and not constantly worried about being overweight.
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Easy enough to get entitlement until a medical restricts you to 3.5t which is my problem spend 35k on a van get restricted you wont have to worry about weight limits you wont be able to drive van
 
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kaasbroodje said:
Water and to a lesser extent fuel requires some management at the best of times.
I would imagine that running on half tanks would quickly become tiresome and possibly expensive.

With a full tank of fuel, we can travel about 300miles before it's time to refill (not in the red but getting close).
Imagine filling up every 150miles, that's every 2-3 hours if you're on a run.
If wandering in Scotland, rural France or Spain, half a tank of fuel doesn't cut it.
You could end up sat in a layby searching for the nearest filling station.

Queueing for water at an aire. Waiting 10,20 minutes isn't that uncommon.
Limiting you're fill up means you'll be topping up more frequently and likely increasing your costs (jeton costs the same whether 20 or 100 litres).
With some spare capacity, you can be a little more selective with fill-ups. Queueing less often, grabbing the chance to fill up for free when the opportunity arises.

There's little worse than needing fuel or water, sod's law says you'll be caught short when there's nothing easily available.
It's far easier to run everything at full and top up when the opportunity arises.

My opinion, get the C1 entitlement and buy a van with enough capacity / buy a panel van @3500kg / just ignore any weight concerns and take your chances (as many choose to do, knowingly or otherwise)
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Get a C1 is easy advice but many individuals including those restricted following loss of grandfathers rights do not have that option so economy and careful management of trips is a must.
 
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...anyone mentioned individual axle weights yet :whistle:?

May just squeak the overall weight, but overload an axle.
 
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A lot of motorhomes are overweight but look ok as against a few motorhomes that almost wipe their rear end on the road and are clearly overweight or shot suspension

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Why talk of keeping the water topped up? Why not carry as small amount. We set off with 30 litres in the tank and a full kettle. We add 10 litres a day to the tank for washing etc. all cooking and drinking is from a 10 litre collapsible tank and we use perhaps 5 litres a day. So even if we don't find water every day we still have 24 hours reserve. On fuel, we fill up and do 400 miles before thinking of filling.
 
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WillH said:
Why talk of keeping the water topped up? Why not carry as small amount. We set off with 30 litres in the tank and a full kettle. We add 10 litres a day to the tank for washing etc. all cooking and drinking is from a 10 litre collapsible tank and we use perhaps 5 litres a day. So even if we don't find water every day we still have 24 hours reserve. On fuel, we fill up and do 400 miles before thinking of filling.
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Run similar to you always have 20lts water spare but i do more wildcamping than sites only go on site for water top up and dumping waste
 
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mfw said:
Easy enough to get entitlement until a medical restricts you to 3.5t which is my problem spend 35k on a van get restricted you wont have to worry about weight limits you wont be able to drive van
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Getting restricted is a bit of a worry if one is thinking of changing one's MH, especially if one of the resaons is to get more payload,plus an island bed so 1/2 metre longer and a bit more weight.

We have a MH at 3850kg and I have just renewed my C1 for the third time. With this MH we probably could just manage to go back down to 3500kg, but with our style of touring - wilding/Aires and liking Scotland, Pyrenees etc. we would be pushed finding fuel, water etc. running on part tanks.

I have a hankering for a Morelo but the thought of sinking €150,000+ into even a secondhand one with only the guarantee of 3 years does concentrate the mind.

Thinks? Could I get my Dr. to fill in a D4 undated - wonder how much she would charge £££££ ?????

I wonder if there is a market for a close-coupled MH rig which one could integrate on arrival? Only need to drop the coupling, back up the MH to the trailer and open two sliding doors. Just have the bedroom and garage in the trailer-section. :D

Geoff
 
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Or what about a 750kg Trailer for the longer trips......adds 400kg to overall payload immediately
 
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But that is the same £1000 as a class C test---that will last 35 years

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nicholsong said:
Getting restricted is a bit of a worry if one is thinking of changing one's MH, especially if one of the resaons is to get more payload,plus an island bed so 1/2 metre longer and a bit more weight.

We have a MH at 3850kg and I have just renewed my C1 for the third time. With this MH we probably could just manage to go back down to 3500kg, but with our style of touring - wilding/Aires and liking Scotland, Pyrenees etc. we would be pushed finding fuel, water etc. running on part tanks.

I have a hankering for a Morelo but the thought of sinking €150,000+ into even a secondhand one with only the guarantee of 3 years does concentrate the mind.

Thinks? Could I get my Dr. to fill in a D4 undated - wonder how much she would charge £££££ ?????

I wonder if there is a market for a close-coupled MH rig which one could integrate on arrival? Only need to drop the coupling, back up the MH to the trailer and open two sliding doors. Just have the bedroom and garage in the trailer-section. :D

Geoff
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With a B+E licence gtw of I believe 11000kgs so if a 3500kg mohome has adequate plated towing capacity could pull a trailer or caravan :D
 
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If you could get a small trailer worked like easy lifter hydra tail or the parts it would make life easier short and manouverable suspension and swivel is what i mean fixed manouverability rather than flexible rear end
 
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