Fitting an Al-Ko Kober Mammut caravan mover

SOME MONTHS AGO I had the chance to try out Al-Ko Kober’s new caravan mover, the Mammut, and was very impressed with it – especially the fact that it fits without any loss of ground clearance.

What my test didn’t reveal, however, was some other unique features which I only found out about when I visited AL-KO’s headquarters to see a Mammut being fitted to one of our long-term test caravans, a Coachman Amara 570/6.

The Mammut is designed to fit directly to any Al-Ko chassis manufactured from April 2010. These chassis have the mounting holes for the two drive units punched in them and are identified by the letter M stamped on them. The mover can be fitted to caravans with chassis made before April 2010 but require an additional crossbeam which mounts under the chassis members. However, the loss of ground clearance is still only 50mm – much less than with any other movers on the market.

Aftermarket fit

The major downside of the Mammut is its price – £1498 as an integral fit, and £1625 for an aftermarket fit. As a result, I suspect that Al-Ko will have a job competing with other models as far as the aftermarket is concerned and will not find it easy to break into the OEM market until such time as there is a twin axle version available. Currently only AS Caravans is fitting it as standard on its three models – all of which are single axle. When Al-Ko is able to offer a mover for twin axles, I am fairly certain that all the main manufacturers will think seriously about fitting Mammuts to their top ranges.

Fitting the Mammut to the Amara took about three hours, the job being done by Tom Kelly, one of Al-Ko’s service engineers. Having retro-fitted a number of movers over the years I was impressed at how easy the job was, even allowing for the fact that Tom was very experienced in doing it. I should perhaps point out at this juncture that the Mammut is not available for DIY retro-fitting, the job having to be done at one the company’s appointed dealers around the country.

Although Tom had the advantage of a lift, it isn’t an essential piece of equipment, the unit being easily fitted with the caravan on the ground.