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Mobility for ancient anglers


Vagabond

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Have owned Volvo estates since about 1983, present one is to be scrapped before its next MOT in 2018

 

What I need is a robust petrol-powered vehicle capable of carrying a heavy mobility scooter and the ramp necessary for retrieving it. (I'm looking at a Tramper mobility scooter) My angina has been largely - but not completely - resolved, only to find that an arthritic knee is limiting how far I can walk. I'm trying to improve muscle tone, but at age 83, am only just about holding deterioration at bay. I'm determined to carry on fishing , so an all-terrain scooter seems a good bet.

 

I drove a Landrover Disco 3 in Namibia for a month and quite liked that, so a Disco is a candidate. looking at the Si6, also the Volvo XC90T6, The motor trade seems obsessed at the moment with off-loading their diesel models, so are not much help.

 

Any advice from anyone with experience of similar vehicle problems is welcome

Edited by Vagabond

 

 

RNLI Governor

 

World species 471 : UK species 105 : English species 95 .

Certhia's world species - 215

Eclectic "husband and wife combined" world species 501

 

"Nothing matters very much, few things matter at all" - Plato

...only things like fresh bait and cold beer...

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poor volvo ,drop it off in my drive and i will love it back to health

chap next door scrapped his 740 (high end stuff!) because he dented the wing .After i saw it taken away i asked if it was going to be fixed and was appalled when he said scrapped.i asked why didnt you put a new wing on it (new in my head is second hand) didnt know you could he said !

he must have seen mine being rebuilt it was on'y 50 feet away with far more damage than a dent on the wing ,mind you seeing him take a week to clean my neighbours on the other side gutter and hearing his swearing trying to mate a cast iron one to a plastic one probably a mere wing would be far above his capability

 

an old guy that used a scooter down the pond had a trailer for it so the car itselfs size was unimportant ,on arriving he put down the ramp and drove off complete with a trailer on the scooter for his tackle .

Edited by chesters1

Believe NOTHING anyones says or writes unless you witness it yourself and even then your eyes can deceive you

None of this "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" crap it just means i have at least two enemies!

 

There is only one opinion i listen to ,its mine and its ALWAYS right even when its wrong

 

Its far easier to curse the darkness than light one candle

 

Mathew 4:19

Grangers law : anything i say will  turn out the opposite or not happen at all!

Life insurance? you wont enjoy a penny!

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

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I'd have thought that a full size 4x4 would be a good choice, though some of the van derived cars like the Kangoo might be a bit lower to the ground?

 

I think someone should design a vehicle which has the mobility scooter as the driver's seat, and a mechanism to propel it out of the side and onto the ground. During this operation, the Thunderbirds theme should be played over loudspeakers.

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Hi Vagabond, sent your post to a friend who suffers from MS, he also likes to get out and about off the trodden path but for birdwatching.

 

I cannot post a copy of his reply, messenger does not have a copy facility....

 

Gist of it is what wise old Chesters said....

 

He struggled to combine a 4x4 with a all terrain scooter, something to do with the ramp and rear axle but solved it by purchasing a tramper scooter that gets him all sorts of places, from his photos and video I quite believe it! Coupling the purchase with a tow bar and one of Tramper's own make, purpose built trailers complete with ramp.

 

When out shopping or whatever he sticks to a light weight scooter and leaves trailer and all terrain at home.

 

Added bonus is that when he considers a change of vehicle he only has to fit a tow bar.

 

Hope this helps.

"My imaginary friend doesn't like your imaginary friend is no basis for armed conflict...."

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I used to put my wife's mobility scooter (TGA Breeze Midi 4) in the back of our BMW 320 estate. It just fitted, although I had to alter the basket on the front to avoid stripping the headlining on the car.

 

Once the scooter was in, and the ramps were stored next to it, it was impossible to get a wheelchair in, I could have put the wheelchair in first, but the scooter would have had to be removed to get the wheelchair out. There was also barely enough room left for a weeks shopping, (even without the wheelchair).

 

I sold the BMW and bought a van and then had an electric hoist fitted.

 

A decent set of ramps take up quite a bit of room, a better solution is to have the rear of the vehicle converted to open up as a ramp.

 

I'm not a fan of 4X4s ans so have very little experience of them but they don't look to me like the ideal vehicle to take a scooter, often having a high rear end and also often quite short inside.

 

Whilst my wife's scooter is quite capable of bimbling around the New Forest, if I was getting one for myself for fishing I would definitely go for an all wheel drive model.

 

On very uneven ground, the wife's frequently becomes a three wheeler as one corner lifts from the ground.

 

I've not tried one of these but they look quite capable:- http://www.electrokart.com/ranger.htm

 

We bought the wife's scooter from Mobility Giant, virtually new, but about 1/3 of the price. http://www.mobilitygiant.co.uk/

 

 


I think someone should design a vehicle which has the mobility scooter as the driver's seat, and a mechanism to propel it out of the side and onto the ground. During this operation, the Thunderbirds theme should be played over loudspeakers.

 

There's a girly around my way who has an adapted three wheeler motor bike with just such a feature, she drives her scooter in from the back, pulls up the drawbridge (ramp) and is away, driving the bike from the scooter.

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Thanks for the input guys. The trailer option sounds a good idea. One Tramper, one trailer to carry it, both camper van and car fitted with towbars. Sounds good, flexible and avoids expensive conversions. Will explore that further

 

Chesters, the Volvo has just passed an MOT, but the list of items that will need attention before the next MOT is chilling. "A millstone around ones neck" comes to mind or white elephants ...... Its now 19 years old and I have had my money's-worth out of it.

 

 

RNLI Governor

 

World species 471 : UK species 105 : English species 95 .

Certhia's world species - 215

Eclectic "husband and wife combined" world species 501

 

"Nothing matters very much, few things matter at all" - Plato

...only things like fresh bait and cold beer...

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Talking of ancient anglers i curse the day i flogged my zundapp bella and sidecar ,pistons are far easier to buy now than 1984 ,i miss her she made italian scooters look like toys

Search your garage and pop it in Vagabonds volvo he knows where i live ,free tea ,no money though ?

I used to have 10 at one time ,triumphs ,lambettas ,dirkopp dianas you name it it rusted away in my shed still got my bella key though

Edited by chesters1

Believe NOTHING anyones says or writes unless you witness it yourself and even then your eyes can deceive you

None of this "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" crap it just means i have at least two enemies!

 

There is only one opinion i listen to ,its mine and its ALWAYS right even when its wrong

 

Its far easier to curse the darkness than light one candle

 

Mathew 4:19

Grangers law : anything i say will  turn out the opposite or not happen at all!

Life insurance? you wont enjoy a penny!

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

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still got my bella key though

 

Not much use on it's own though is it !! :lol:

 

I've still got a boot key for an old upright Ford Pop, it's a great tool to keep in your pocket when the painters have taken all the door handles off.

Edited by ayjay
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