Have you tried "forcing" it off with the jockey wheel? We had an original Westphalia stab and it was different (but similar) to yours. If all else fails, lower the jockey wheel and wind the handle so that the rear of the car and front of the van lift (go steady and do it slowly! If your on a slope put your hadbrake on!) Give it a go it might just do it.

Brian, myself and others have suffered a lockeed on / off stab but with later models. I hope that helps

My old Puck came with one of those funny looking hitches as a lose spare so unfortunately I cannot advise as we never used it. I have had issues with my previous Familia which had an ALKO 1300, that used to get stuck now and again and it needed me to put my weight on the tow bar whilst Mrs poptop kept the hitch handle in the open position, with the Jockey wheel extended and a bit of bouncing on the tow ball used to release the hitch.

Yes I had the same problem but with different gear to yours. Will try and find my post, it was back in autumnI think

Quote: Randa france wrote in post #17

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OK. I think I can confirm that it is a Westfalia SSK 1. See photo below.



Randa

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We did get it off eventually LOL I had visions of having to take the caravan to work...
The shop is recommending the Alko AKS 3004. more expensive than the AKS 1300, which in turn is more expensive than the AK300. Any opinions or preferences? We're booked in for the 20th Feb.

I think you'll find that a lot of new caravans being manufactured nowadays come with the AKS 3004 as standard - certainly the Eriba's

I would'nt rush out and buy one without knowing what the problem is, it might just be "user error" we have all been caught out by something unusual at certain times, try putting it on and taking it off while at home and you have time to explore the problem

I have had the AKS1300 and now the AKS3004 on my Familia 320s, the two hitches are rated for different weights of caravans. The AKS1300 can be used on vans up to 1360kg and the AKS3004 for vans up to 3000kg.
The AKS 1300 is designed to suppress sideways snaking, the AKS3004 also reduces the sideways snaking but it also has a secondary function of reducing the pitching.
The 1300 can have problems if you unwind the friction handle too much and it will jam the pads in the open position, there is a trick to release these and it is on ALKO s website and also on this forum.
I cannot say if I have noticed a great deal of difference from the 1300 to the 3004, I have always loaded the van carefully to avoid the donkey (pitching) problem.