HAVAGO
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Posts posted by HAVAGO
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Simple parralelling is I believe a hangover from the days when your car batteries were of the same chemistry as you would have in your van, that is no longer the case. So my belief is the optimal solution for best long term benefit is DCDC charging.
Spot on John,
good sound advice.
Cheers
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Got a phone call from my mate last night.
Tony! The moment I read the first line I knew you were kidding,
I was told you don't have any mates.
hahahaha kidding!
Safe travels.
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We bought our covers from this company, I must say they are absolutely excellent to deal with.
They advised us of every process through to delivery, very courteous staff.
/>http://www.4wdwheelcovers.com.au/Cheers
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Hello Gary and Kaye,
After picking our van up in June 2009 we have enjoyed many miles and many great moments with really terrific people.
Judy and I put a lot of time into the planning before having our Kedron built and we will always remember the many great people who gave us their opinions of likes and dislikes.
Today Honestly, Judy and I would not change add or remove a thing in our van if we were to build another.
I think Judy still holds the award for the most drawers and cupboards in any Kedron van built.
Our inverter is wired to run everything in our van as if we were on mains power.
Best of luck and safe travels.
Regards
Greg and Judy
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Hi Trish & Carl,
I and a group of friends
Sorry to have to do this, But! yes always a but! I thought it was my duty to bring to everyone's awareness the typographical error in Glen's reply above which could be misinterpreted as if to believe Glen has a group of friends.
Everyone should recognize the correct interpretation of the above.
As Glen per say does not have any friends, he is paying an assembly of other peoples friends to accompany him. :shutup:
Sorry mate didn’t want anyone especially Nev, Rod, Bob and the others getting the wrong idea.
............................................................................................................................................................
Hi Trish and Carl
Sorry for kidnapping your post but felt I should clear up any misconceptions.
Judy and I do hope you have a safe and enjoyable trip. :thumbsup:
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gave me the warm and fuzzies
a little weight on the screw top
falls in what ever angle you are on.
Hmmm! Good to see you guys made it back safe and sound.
Judy and I can't wait to catch up and you can explain these quotes of your's to us. :thumbsup:
Cheers from
The HAVAGO Team
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I also have a personal theory, unsubstantiated by any facts, that the stresses caused by towing vans like Kedrons, over arduous terrain has a cumulative effect on the tow vehicle and that if or when a failure does occur it is not due to the last thing that you traversed, but is a result of all that has gone before it. I might be way off the mark, but I am reminded of the old adage "the straw that broke the camel's back"
Cheers
Russ
Russ you are so correct in your theory, how many times have I seen one of the boys blow an axle, diff, tailshaft or worse when doing light work.
Then we sit down and go back a few days or even weeks to when the rig was put under extreme strain such as taking of fully loaded from a standing start on a range or dragging through bull dust or sandy tracks for example that was when it all started.
Towing our off road vans with 4wd vehicles, the only difference is the percentages.
Cheers
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G'day Havago
Yes in bowen. I'm keen do do something to get rid of the hyland and the pic of 1000lb WDH shows the shaft as having a moulded curve towards the bussines end. My 750lb Hitch is on the limits of suggested capability and I want to retain WD bars for higher speed bitumen running. I will struggle to reduce pin weight to below 300kg. I would certainly be interested in buying a good 2nd hand hitch. Thanks for the reply.
Cheers Mick
Mick, PM sent with my number.
Cheers
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I know I said I would bow out of this post BUT! :laugh:
"I believe," could be proven wrong and happy to accept if proven beyond doubt.
I believe all ADR rules on tow couplings are drafted as on road use, not off road use.
I also believe Joe McGinnes suggested in his opinion and he would advise you consider the 3.5 tonne hitch as a 3 tonne capacity when you go off road because of the extra stress applied to the coupling when traversing our off the black top country and with this, his advice for using the 6 tonne hitch with our heavier vans for purely safety sake and peace of mind.
He was talking of all hitches in general not only his.
As we all are aware if your van weighs 3 tonne or more you have minimal safety margin using a 3.5 tonne tow coupling off road let alone on the black top especially with some of our roads.
All 3.5 tonne rated hitches including the 3.5 tonne McHitch are legal for 3.5 tonne whether or not all these couplings are totally safe off road is another question you need to answer for yourself.
I have chosen to shift my full reply to this post to the members section for a more indepth discussion, no offence to the readers.
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Mick are you presently in Bowen?
I might be able to help you out with a hitch already set up to take the 6 tonne McHitch and will accept your RockTamers.
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Hello Mick,
Most all hitch recievers in the 2 to 4.5 tonne range, are all the same size in dimensions.
Sometimes you made have to grind/round ever so slightly the edges of the input shaft to make it a comfortable fit.
The only trouble you may run into is the location of the lock pin hole, this sometimes stops you from fitting different attachments such as the tamers because there isnt enough room left between the hitch and your reciever.
A tape will quickly take care of that issue.
Hope I haven't confused you with my merry go round answer, head not working to well at present. :laugh:
Cheers and Safe Travels
Greg and Judy
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Greg I am happy that you are delighted with your McHitch and it obviously satisfies your requirements. There is a multiplicity other couplings with varying price cut off points and various features. All couplings have owners who swear by the superiority of their choice; that's human nature. You have not inilitially appreciated the fundamental difference between our coupling and a Hyland hitch. You are reluctant to accept that prior information I have posted is factually correct or alternatively to point out to me why I am incorrect in my assertions about the safety and performance of our coupling.
We are confident that our coupling will establish its reputation as more and more users enjoy its benefits. I do not see you playing a role in that process by being given a coupling gratis. You are most welcome to purchase one of our couplings.
Inventor I appreciate, and hope others have also enjoyed the post.
In our 32 years of road transport and my 56 years of lifes trials and tribulations, I have learnt never to say “never”
We have had many Truck and Trailer manufacturers value our assessment of their products which in turn helps other operators to appreciate an unbiased report and therefore enabling them to make an informed decision.
Yes! The McHitch satisfies my needs, after all Inventor it is the only true off-road tow hitch on the market at present that has the capabilities to do the job for our situation legally and safely.
Having said that I must admit, yes I am very satisfied with its user friendly operation.
I am always willing to consider, discuss and try new components as they are released.
I believe in keeping an open mind and am willing to learn something new everyday as we do.
The offer is still open if you want to send your hitch for us to evaluate, giving our readers an unbiased opinion on its capabilities.
Our part in this post has come to an end.
Cheers and Safe travels to all. :Australia:
Greg and Judy
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Hello Grahame and Wendy,
Judy and I have been in the transport industry for 32 years now and we have converted all our trucks and trailers to LED lights, they are not infallible unfortunately some will fail, especially if the housing is damaged.
I must say though you ask any of our men, which would they rather have bulbs or LEDs ?
LEDs will win out every time.
We do a lot of cartage with road trains out West and up the Cape over very corrugated roads, the small percentage of failures far out way the problems you have with the old bulb holder and bulbs.
We don't use combined tail/blinker/stop lamps, we use single lamps and we carry one blinker and one tail/stop lamp which makes it much cheaper to replace and easier to carry.
We supplied Kedron all the lights that were fitted to our van.
A failure will happen although very rare to say the least.
Remember there are two elements we are dealing with Human and Mechanical one would think we could control them.
Sorry not to be. :laugh:
Stick with the LEDs they use less power, so more power going into your batteries.
Safe travels. :Australia:
Cheers
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I am pleased to see that some good discussion is occurring. I will try to address the comments raised since my last post.
Havago thanks for answering my question about you’re considering relocating the position of the tow-pillar on the weight distribution receiver.
Inventor, you appear to have misinterpreted my reply to your post:
I did (did - being past tense) consider when I first received the McHitch, but after putting the McHitch through a rigorous tryout over 6000 klms on varied terrain, I found no good reason to do any modifying what so ever.
Too add to my reply a McHitch after 60,000 klms was stripped down and inspected to show absolutely no wear or damage.
The rest of your post is in your opinion and you are entitled to that without malice, your rationalization as to how you achieve the higher capacity of your tow-pillar merely strengthens the justification one should definitely consider the McHitch for utmost strength and dependability more than ever as to the off road capabilities for heavier vehicles and safety.
There can always be a "But!" as long as its not my but being kicked :laugh:
But! As I said Inventor, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating"
Mr McHitch was so confident he sent me the hitch to use/abuse and report on its pros and cons which I did honestly.
If you are confident send me your hitch and I will give everyone a fair impartial report on its pros and cons.
Cheers :Australia:
Greg
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Hello Rick and Lea,
Sorry to hear it is giving you a hard time, mate I have a certain fix... Don't unhook! sorry feeble attempt at humour.
Our hitch being the first "Big Yella Fella" is still straight cut and as I said our grandson gets it every time first go.
If we were closer we could get together and discuss it over some rough red to keep out the cold. :thumbsup:
Hope we catch up soon.
Cheers
Greg and Judy
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HAVAGO, perhaps you may respond to the same question regarding any connection to the McHitch?
Chris
Chris, fair comment.
I can honestly say apart from being a satisfied customer I have no affiliation what so ever with McHitch, I have never met Joe McGinnes but I put that very high on my bucket list. :thumbsup:
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HItch-Ezy tows on a tow-pillar not a tow-ball and therefore does not have slop and associated noise or the need for adjusting screws to remove said slop. Does Havago believe that the durability of our o-ring sealed, case hardened, large diameter tow-pillar will be inferior to the durability of the vertical axis of rotation present in a McHitch coupling? If the answer is yes then please include an explanation of how you arrived at that conclusion.
I personally like the fact that the McHitch does not spin on the pin like most other hitches, not having to worry about a greasy pin getting contaminated with dust and water forming a grinding paste causing premature wear.
Inventor you ask me to comment about your Tow-pillar.
My main concern after looking seriously at your tow pillar I believe you are using a 7/8" shank for convenience sake replacing any 50mm ball attachment, yet it is rated to 5 tonne.
All other hitches rated above 3.5 tonne use a 1 ¼" shank.
I also believe your locking device relies on ball bearings in a groove, do you feel confident it will survive some of our outback tracks let alone our so called bitumen roads.
Please advise if I am wrong.
I would obviously like the opportunity to explain the merits of my invention and to dispell any misconceptions about how our coupling works.
I ask! "Have you taken the time to try the McHitch"?
I would hope your comments about The McHitch are not based on here-say alone.
It does not paint a good picture when you try to make your product look better by being negative about your competition.
They say "the proof of the pudding is in the eating"
Maybe you would like to send me your hitch and I will give a fair unbiased report on its pros and cons.
Cheers :Australia:
Greg
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Inventor declares that he is the joint inventor of Hitch-Ezy. The wording of my opening post indicated a desire to have consumer feedback on various couplings and stimulate debate about the merits of all options.
The name "Inventor" was chosen to indicate my background and I felt it was self evident that I had invented one of the listed options.
Opening such a debate was intended to create greater awareness of our new coupling but it also carried the potential downside of promoting one of the other listed options. Thus far the posts have demonstrated great satisfaction with the relatively recently developed McHitch coupling. Never the less I would encourage members to look at the merits of all options.
Awareness and a discussion and of the advantages and disadvantages of all available options is in my opinion a healthy exercise. Knowledge never hurt anyone.
As an inventor you want to be aware of practical problems a variety of users may have experienced with any of the various couplings.
I totally agree with all above, also nice to know who we are debating with.
Havago in a post on April 3 2010 said "If you look at the reciever hitch you will see now with this coupling it hooks on at the pin as all coupling but the pivot is back at the universal so when the WDS bars are fitted the bars are actually fighting the uni because they are pivoting approximately 6 inches forward of the trailer pivot. I am going to move the tow pin forward on the reciever hitch so as to align the uni pivot and the WDS bar pivot." I'm interested in the outcome of that thought. Is it on a thread I have not read?
After putting the McHitch through a vigorous tryout over 6000 klms on varied terrain, I found no good reason to do any modifying what so ever.
Havago's statement " I have looked at the Hitch Ezy coupling closely, it appears to be a copy whilst modified/upgraded version of the Hyland hitch exactly same principle" is not accurate. Hitch-Ezy utilises a patented locking on method that is totally different from anything previously disclosed. The mechanism is easier to operate and the sleeve neither jams going on or coming off. The only commonality with Hyland is the utilisation of a similarly sized yoke. McHitch also incorporates two yokes but that hardly makes it a copy of a Hyland.
Inventor when I look at the Hyland hitch and your hitch the only difference is the locking mechanism and the 5 tonne capacity.
The barrel and head pivot is exactly the same principle.
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G`Day All
We also have a Mc Hitch used with WDH bars ,whilst I agree with Greg (Havago) on most points of the hitch,we still find it to be a bit of a mongrel to hitch up on occasions. If it is not exactly lined up on the pin it refuses to go on,but with a lot of swearing (mostly from Lea of course) and kicking it will go on. I believe McHitch has acknowledged the problem and has made a slight modification to fix it,which we will investigate whilst house sitting in NSW.
Cheers
Rick & Lea :smile:
Rick I can see where you are going wrong.
Mate just get it close, push down on the front of the screw head and lower the jockey wheel it goes on first time every time.
Willing to help anyone, just don't try to hard. :thumbsup:
Ps: Mate as to McHitch acknowledging a problem and modifying, the only modification I am aware of is they put a 45 degree chamfer on the locking tabs making it easier to locate. There were times when people were fighting the hitch and making it hard to lock home.
Cheers
Greg
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The following links on the Campertrailer site suggest there is a new kid on the block to compete with McHitch's rating for heavier vans:
Inventor are you connected to the Hitch Ezy hitch being the inventor or maybe a reseller.
I have looked at the Hitch Ezy coupling closely, it appears to be a copy whilst modified/upgraded version of the Hyland hitch exactly same principle.
A much better version for sure as it is rated at 5 tonne, still using the old principle of the hitch pivoting on the pin even though it states the o ring will keep out dirt and water.
It will definitely do the job for the lighter van owners who are presently happy with the Hyland hitch, but in my opinion it has a long way to go to match "THE McHITCH"
Cheers
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I have heard that McHitch does not engage smoothly if initial alignment is a bit off target. Apparently the down forces on the coupling's engaging sleeve, as you lower the jockey wheel, are not directly applied to the sleeve as there is an intervening articulation. As a consequence the engaging sleeve wants to tilt about the universal's horizontal axis if there is any initial resistance from slight misalignment. The tilting in turn impedes continued engagement and the angle of tilt increases with further lowering of the jockey wheel. Also lots of steps involved and parts to be lost or pilfered.
I must totally disagree, when lowering onto the pin you put slight weight onto the head tilting it forward and it hooks up every time no matter what angle you are at. Our 6 year old grandson gets it first time every time.
I dont understand "lots of steps involved and parts to be pilfered" ??.
Remember this "Locks only keep honest people out" If someone decides to take your hitch or part thereoff no matter which one you are using it will vanish.
Al I can say is try it before you make a decision based on someone else's say so.
My understanding with the McHitch is that it's not really suitable with weight distribution hitches due to the pivot point location.
We had a Hyland and had no problems with it in 5 years although the van was below 3 tonne.
Cheers
Darryl
Correct Darryl, in its standard form without modification it is not suitable due to the pivot location in relation with the hookup point as I first pointed out when they became available.
But! If the tow vehicle and van are correctly weighted/loaded you do not require weight distribution bars.
I never used them with my Hyland hitch and never had an issue and most are finding with the McHitch they don't need to use them anymore.
Cheers
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I have used most of these not all, they all do a job and have their good and bad points.
There is only one coupling I will use from this day forward "The McHitch".
The McHitch being very user friendly, so easy to hook up and unhook from any angle.
It is a total hook up once attached, absolutely no movement or possibility to come loose.
Our 23' Kedron ATV weighs in at 4.2 tonne, with the capacity of the 6 tonne McHitch makes it legal, safe and a pleasure to tow.
IMO the only coupling meeting every criteria of the true meaning OFF ROAD COUPLING is The McHitch.
Regards
Greg and Judy :thumbsup:
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Being a statuary write off makes it extremely hard to re-register.
Before auction, conversed with Transport Department, also a certified engineer regarding putting it back on the road and was advised of all the red tape involved.
Van wasnt really that bad, It sold for $20,000. :confused:
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When we designed our van, we spoke with many good people and got advised many ways.
We fitted Heike hatch over the front Kitchen and two auto fanatstic hatches one over the table and one over the bed.
18 months on no dust no water absolutly would not be without the Heike hatch.
Cheers
Position available for a couple in North Qld
in Around the Campfire
Posted
Just trying to help someone out.
If anyone is interested in this position please message me and I will pass on contact numbers.
There is a position available for a couple to look after and run a Service Station and Shop at Mount Surprise.
Immediate start.
Cheers
Greg