Rv entry for person on walker

They do make narrow lifts specifically for motor homes. Not cheap, but much easier than unloading steps, moving them around, and reloading them.

Here is one.

Here is another.

Man..that is a good question. There must be many with similar thoughts. I guess the biggest things is going to be the money. A lift is far safer than most anything else..and it's not just the going up..she has to come down too. I was trying to 'see' a ramp' type affair and that just doesn't work. You'd need 15 ft of ramp to get a gentle enough angle and again..she has to come down. I am thinking a lift...but at 94..that's a big chunk of cash.

Another thing that comes to mind is her stability. You can't have her taking a header off any kind of mickey-moused lift. She needs to be sitting down for the lift..up or down.

Good luck.


Gary Haupt

A friend of ours has a unit similar to what BB posted but it's a seat that raises up and swings into the doorway. It bolts to the outside of the rig and I'm guessing it was $1,000 or $2,000.

Coach lift makes a seat that might work

Thanks Charles that is what our friend must have. Lift seat

I installed a Burr Handi-Lift on our 5th wheel when my 90 year old Dad became wheelchair bound. He still enjoyed RVing with us and we enjoyed having him.

The lift made it a breeze to get him in and out of the RV. Here's the website:
http://www.burractuators.com/lifts/handy_lift.htm

I'm a shade tree mechanic and weekend DIY projects around the house and RV. The lift took a weekend to install. I did have to reinforce the wall where it is mounted. The total cost was around $1500 about 6 years ago. I spoke with someone who had one installed and their total was around $3500.

We also ended up using a bedside commode for my Dad since there are steps to get up into the bathroom in our 5th wheel.

Another option depending on the height you have to raise her is to use a Hoyer Patient Lift. I used one to get my dad up into our truck and another RV'er started using one instead of the Burr Handi-lift because he needed it for the truck and the trailer to get his lady in and out. It was just easier to use the hoyer to move her from one vehicle to another. You'll see the Hoyer Patient Lifts on Craigslist for about 300 used but in good shape.

georgelesley wrote:
...Mom is 94 and uses a walker and we are wondering if there are any ideas how to get her up and down the steps. DW and I can assist her so the use of a walker for that purpose would not be needed....
We are thinking of moveable step pads to make each step about 1/2 normal rise. One of us would steady her and the other would move one pad at a time and raise her up a bit at a time. Any other ideas?

I have mobility issues, but can get myself up and down the steps with good assist handles firmly attached to the RV. Backing down/out is easiest for me.

I can stand for short times, just cannot walk far without rollator or cane. When people have tried to help me up or down in various settings, those well-meaning but unskilled attempts have resulted in some strained muscles or other smallish injuries to either me or them.

Maybe try out Mom's abilities on the actual MH steps before buying any new equipment? If she can haul herself both up and down, with one of you below as a spotter but not touching her, that would be best.

Wow, thanks guys. Lots of choices. The Coach Lift looks like the Cadillac of the bunch and is priced accordingly. We wil take tiger4x4 advice and see what she can do first.

I did have a ramp idea. I could put a ramp on the ground and the other end on a large platform or stool like a stairway landing. She could then stand there and I could move the ramp to the entryway or to another platform higher than the first. I could run the ramp parallel to the mh and then angle to the entry as needed. Tedious and time consuming, but much cheaper!

As was suggested above, one of our FMCA friends has added half height blocks about 1/3 of the step width to the right side of the entry steps. She is wheelchair/scooter bound but can enter and exit the rig with his assistance.

At times in past years we've had either my wife's sister or our then teen aged granddaughter traveling with us, both then wheelchair bound. A Hoyer Lift worked well for transferring them from standard chairs or scooters outside, to the narrow transport chair we used inside the coach. We used a hinged sheet of 5/8" marine plywood on the ground by the stairs to give the lift a solid surface to roll on. The more difficult task was getting either one on and off of a shower chair for bathing in the tight confines of the RV bathroom.