Reasonable payload?

5899 Views 10 Replies 11 Participants Last post by ob1, May 25, 2009

Hezbez

Discussion Starter · May 25, 2009

Our Bessie E460 has a payload of approx. 605kg. Is this a reasonable amount for a 6.32m 2 berth?

The reason I'm asking is I'm currently packing for our first longish trip away (18 days) and I'm wondering if I'm overdoing it.

I understand the correct thing to do would be to go to a weighbridge, but I don't think we'll have time to do this.

Thanks

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ingram

· #2 · May 25, 2009

That seems quite a good payload to me, compared with some others at less than 400kg.

You could try weighing the stuff as you load it but that'd be a bit of a ***. Some of the heaviest weight may be clothes: it would be if you were taking my wife with you!

Don't forget the combined weights of the both of you, less the 75kg ( I think) allowance for driver already taken into account.

Just don't take too much

Harvey

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Rapide561

· #3 · May 25, 2009

Payload

Hi

605kg is a fair old chunk to be honest. It is over half a metric tonne.

A quick look at the Swift website indicates that the 620 KG is available after the water tank is 90% full, fuel is 90% fuel and a 75kg driver is on board.

To give you a sort of comparison, my van has a payload of 835 kg, and despite having some heavy items like a satellite dish, aircon, Denby dinner ware and enough pairs of Jeans to open a shop, I am well within my limit.

I think you would really have to pack in the beer (weighs 8kg for 24 x 330ml cans) at Calais to get anywhere near your limit.

Your safest plan though for peace of mind is to weigh it. There are weighbrdiges all over the place, such as tradingi standards offices, the local tip, a steel works, quarry, haulage yard etc.

Your thing to remember is balance the weight though - ie not to overload one axle.

Russell

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goldi

· #4 · May 25, 2009

Good morning 605 kg is well over half a tonne , is 605 kg after it is filled with water and fuel because this is what sends the weight up? which the leaves food and chairs etc, my guess is it is going to be ok after all half a tonne
of grub is a lot .any way have good trip.The best way to find out more accuratly is to fuel up and fill the tanks with water then go to a weighbridge put the front axle on the weighbridge then drive the whole vehicle on you will then know what the rear axle weighs then compare these with the plate on the vehicle.Trading standards have alist of certified weighbridges which i suppose you can get on the netOccasionally vosa has purges ondifferent kinds of road vehicles but i hav not heard them focusing on motorhomes

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Grizzly

· #5 · May 25, 2009

Don't forget that if your van has had lots of goodies fitted then they all come off your payload- eg bike rack, sat dish, air con, solar panels etc.

We always take far too much with us and we reckon we're pretty economical and low tech. Go back over what you've put in and ask yourself if you really could not live without it....!

If you do go over a weighbridge - and it is a good thing to do- then get a certificate. Always handy if you are pulled over abroad- though I've only heard of 2 people who have been.

G

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philoaks

· #6 · May 25, 2009

We've got a Bolero 630EW with a quoted payload of about 530kg.

From that payload we've added (subtracted!) a towbar, bike rack, spare wheel and safe, all quite chunky items.

We recently loaded up for a week in Ireland complete with enough clothes to cope with every situation, a tandem on the bike rack and a full tank of fresh water.

Just before leaving we went to a local weighbridge and discovered that we were well in with 160kg to spare!

To be honest, if you are concerned then your best bet would be to find the time to load up and pop to your nearest weighbridge, there may even be one enroute.

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bognormike

· #7 · May 25, 2009

Get it checked at a weighbridge - it's not worth the risk of getting done!
Especially get the axles done separately, you may be OK overall, but distribution of the weight could cause problems.

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UncleNorm

· #8 · May 25, 2009

Hi Hez! We must stop meeting like this! :roll:

Now then, listen... Our Coral has a payload of 620kg. How did we cope with caravan payloads of 200kg? :roll:

So whilst Our Coral was empty, straight from the handover, I weighed it. 2,960kg... no driver, a little water, a little fuel, and the additional spare wheel. So I'm down to 540kg payload.

But this motorhome was set up by Adria for the Oct07 NEC and has cruise control, cab aircon, second airbag, extra rooflight, silver finish stuck on... I presume all this extra weight comes off the payload?

Since the handover, we've added a second battery and a solar panel...

Last September, I weighed her in 'travel trim', ready for a month in Scotland. I had 310kg spare on the front axle, 100kg spare on the back axle BUT only 60kg spare on the MAM!! And I still needed to accommodate my sister, her belongings, oh, and AuntieSandra! :roll: :wink: I drained some of the fresh water and left it at that. But I bet I was 100kg over the 3,500kg MAM.

Since then, we have both been through the lockers and removed as much as possible, but, come Thursday/Friday, before we leave home, I'll treat Our Coral to the weighbridge treat, just for a fiver. If I need to adjust, I still have time to do so.

I have never been stopped by VOSA. The longer we go without the inevitable happening, the more likely it is to happen!! (Just like my random breath-test before last Christmas!!)

Fill in the metaphoric hole BEFORE you fall into it. "How did I end up in this hole? How do I get out of it?"

Going now, jobs to do for Amboise!

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loddy

· #9 · May 25, 2009

Mine has a payload of nearly 3000 kg, I weighed last week before the MOT and even being nearly fully ready to go abbo (walkabout) I still have 1200kg allowance, don't tell her indoors or she will pack more shoes

Loddy

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tony50

· #10 · May 25, 2009

REAsonable payload

I would weigh it, complete ,then front axle then rear axle , but don't forget the plated weights on the vehicle plate for front and the rear axle probaly exceed the Gross weight , also manufactuers of Motorhomes often state in small print + or - 5% . I was shocked when I weighed my 2nd Motorhome to keep it legal my wife would have had to sit at the rear .I went to court (waste of Time )on behalf of a Brewery years ago and they were fined for 3 offences overloaded front + rear + axles + overweight overall.
When packed my Rapido 992MH has 900 Kgs Spare .

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ob1

· #11 · May 25, 2009

UncleNorm said:
Hi Hez! We must stop meeting like this! :roll:

Now then, listen... Our Coral has a payload of 620kg. How did we cope with caravan payloads of 200kg? :roll:

So whilst Our Coral was empty, straight from the handover, I weighed it. 2,960kg... no driver, a little water, a little fuel, and the additional spare wheel. So I'm down to 540kg payload.

But this motorhome was set up by Adria for the Oct07 NEC and has cruise control, cab aircon, second airbag, extra rooflight, silver finish stuck on... I presume all this extra weight comes off the payload?

Since the handover, we've added a second battery and a solar panel...

Last September, I weighed her in 'travel trim', ready for a month in Scotland. I had 310kg spare on the front axle, 100kg spare on the back axle BUT only 60kg spare on the MAM!! And I still needed to accommodate my sister, her belongings, oh, and AuntieSandra! :roll: :wink: I drained some of the fresh water and left it at that. But I bet I was 100kg over the 3,500kg MAM.

Since then, we have both been through the lockers and removed as much as possible, but, come Thursday/Friday, before we leave home, I'll treat Our Coral to the weighbridge treat, just for a fiver. If I need to adjust, I still have time to do so.

Uncle Norm - I think the reason you are having so much trouble with your weight is because Adria do not comply to the EN1646-2 payload standard. If they did your realistic payload would under 400kg I believe, and then you have to deduct all the rest of the goodies, your wife, awning, etc, etc.

Converters payload figures are a minefield of misleading information unless they conform to a standard, they literally quote what they like. For instance Autocruise, in pre Swift days, used to boost their payload figures by not including the weight of things like gas, etc.

Anyone buying a motorhome should ask if the stated payload figure is to EN1646-2. If it's not then start to wonder why - the reason normally is that to do so would show up a poor payload capability.

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