Pushing a Dandy Destiny around

Hi,  we love our Dandy Dash but could use some more space, especially when we don't use the awning.  

Our current thinking is that a pale blue destiny at 198cm width would be our best bet for space but wonder if we can get one into our 7 feet wide garage.  

Also,  we have a mild incline on the approach to the garage.  It does not look too bad but it does make pushing the Dash a little awkward.  

I wonder if anyone has experience of pushing a Destiny around and whether they get one through a 7 feet wide garage doorframe or similar.

(Generally, 3 of us would be pushing it)

Thanks!

Hebden_Endomorph (North Manchester)

The overall width is quoted as 205cm which is about 6'9" so not much clearance. Our designer pushes OK on a slight slope but I use the car to back it up the drive. Unloaded it is 395kg against the destiny 530kg so not a lot in it.
I find we can steer it quite easily by pushing on the right point but I'm not sure I'd fancy pushing it through a gap only 3" wider.

Peridot on here has a toilet destiny, even heavier, and has fitted a motor mover and battery to get his in the garage.

You can get a jockey wheel motor mover I think which may help.

I had an early 90's Destiny at 700(ish)Kg and I also have a slope up to my garage. With my door I had 5cm clearance each side. The slope rises 10 inches in just over 3 feet, putting it at 1:4.

You may not be able to back it in even if you are good enough at reversing as it will ground with the hitch at tow ball height. It does depend on how steep the slope and how high the tow ball is. If the slope is not steep enough to ground and depending on the tow vehicle you could have a second detachable towball on the front. I have seen this on farmer's landrovers so they can unchitch the trailer, turn round and hitch up again at the front and see what they are doing as the push the trailer into a barn. Not really practical for regular cars though.

The solution I came up with was to buy a Stanley chain hoist that is rated 1000 Kg for a horizontal pull as well as for lifting. You can order them with varying lengths of chain. I bought one with a 5m lift. I think I paid £130 for it, which was quite a lot, but then the alternative was to pay to store my Dandy and that would have been twice as much per year. I bolted a couple of plates to the concrete floor at the back either side of the door centreline. Each one had some thick nylon rope with a loop at the end. The theory being that if one plate or rope failed there was a backup. The hook on the hoist block goes on both loops and live hook went to a second pair of loops that were tied to the A frame. I did not want the chain to be stressed on the edges of the frame. You can then stand in the garage and by pulling on the continuous chain loop slowly winch it in. the hoist has a huge mechanical advantage, so the actual pulling effort is low, but you do have to pull an awful lot of chain through. because you are in the garage and above the Dandy, it will not run you over if anything slips. you can also steer it with one hand while pulling chain through with the other hand. It moves so slowly that the 5cm clearance each side is not a problem.

There are a couple of sites I took the destiny to that did not allow cars on the filed and in case it rained, the hoist was a handy backup to help me drag the Destiny back to the car with a couple on 18 in 'tent pegs' to uses as a ground anchor.

I have since sold the Destiny and bought a much smaller 4/5. I still sometimes use the hoist even though with a run up I can just get the 4/5 in on my own. With a helper pushing as well no hoist is needed. Obviously the 4/5 has a lot more clearance so I am confident getting up some speed before hitting the ramp. With just 5cm each side on the Destiny, that was never an option.

Another tip may be to replace the jockey wheel. I did not do this with the Destiny, but did for the 4/5 and it makes hauling it about on grass much easier as well as smoothing out the bumps for my run up.

Remember about grounding as well. I had to get the front really low on the jockey wheel to prevent the back from grounding.

Hope this helps.

I think I might get a tape measure out as well.
navver is quoting 205cm which is the width of the Dark Blue Destinys, Light Blues are quoted as 198cm in Riva's specifications [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] but are quoted as 194cm in a late 90's brochure also there was an option to have them made at only 191cm but goodness knows how many of those were made.
So I'd suggest a tape measure when buying.
From memory Mike uses some form of winch to wind his 6 up his drive.
From my own experiences a strap winch is more than capable. Something like this [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] one of only a few hundred Kg capacity is adequate as you are pulling not trying to lift the Destiny.
I'd use something like pipe insulation if you have a thin metal edge on the frame of your garage door as I've had a trailer tent jump when pushing over a lip in the floor.  This resulted in a cut to the side of the cover.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I have one of these.well over the required limit aint it Kevin    but the difference in price isnt much and you get a longer cable with the higher load units.i extend the reach of mine with a tow strap,got this sort so i could break all the rules and put an extension handle on it to make the work easier and i dont have to bend down,the only problem is if you extend the reach of cable you may have to stop half way and remove the extension as it will not all go on the drum.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

You might find a cheap puller like that in the reduced section of your local Aldi if they still have any left.
Wonder why I remember you using a winch or puller to draw your 6 in?       (Private joke between us Chris)
A puller would work and I'm always into over engineering. It's just that I've used a strap winch quite a bit over the past few years and I thought the winding motion was easier than using a puller

The biggest problem I had with mine was not having enough space in front of the garage to line the Dandy up straight. Trying to 'steer' it into the garage, up a slight incline, and with only a few inches clearance was just impossible. The motor mover is terrific, but it adds a lot of complexity and weight onto an already very heavy unit.

I would have thought that provided you can line it up correctly, three of you should be able to get it 'manhandled' into place without too much difficulty.

We had a slight incline on our last drive with a double garage. But, the garage had 2 doors. I'm not sure if these were slightly narrower than the normal sized garage door, but the destiny used to scrape ever so slightly against the mechanism/hinges on the inside of the garage door. I had to duct tape the metal hinges so they didn't scratch the wheel at arches.
Anyway, it was that tight and on an incline, but my 10 year old and 13 year old lads and myself managed to get it in there with a bit of huffing and puffing. Just as long as it was lined up first.

Very helpful.

Sounds like I can start looking for a bigger Dandy and should be able to get it in my garage wth a bit of care and planning.

I can't post pics yet but there are a few companies that sell a sort of trolley so campers can be wheeled about and stored on there side . Obviously if your having trouble pushing it then lifting it onto its side may prove difficult , perhaps you could use one of the winch systems suggested to get it on the trolley . Incidentally a good old fashioned double block and tackle and a bit of rope will half the weight by 50% .

Not sure I'd want to put 3/4ton of destiny on its side. The side frames are for the small trailer tents. A winch is a good idea to haul it up the drive and through the door.