How to back up a pivoting axle trailer

[aircommuter]

Like someone said it is similar to pushing an airplane. I put my airplane in and out of my hangar for years and since the tail hangs out past the rear (main) wheels you just turn in the direction you want the tail to go. Just go slow and stay ahead of it.

 

[Baldbigears]

I just got an utility trailer with two axles. The front axle pivots.
The tongue is A-Frame. It looks just like the photo attached.
While I am normally pretty good at backing up trailers -without pivoting axles- I find this one is just about impossible to back up. I don't know if it's because the tongue is too short or if it is the double pivot point that screws me up.

So for those of you whom own one of these how do you back them up?
Do I need to lengthen the tongue?DO I need to rig it so I can tie the 3-points lower arms to the tongue or do I need to fit something to lock the tongue at the 0 degree position when backing up?

Thanks in advance.


View attachment 849621

With a fixed axle trailer if you grab the bottom of the steering wheel the trailer goes the direction of the steering wheel. With your trailer the opposite is true. Grab the top of the wheel and the direction you turn the wheel the trailer should go.

AS someone stated it takes practice and a lot of room.

 

[MossRoad]

Yes Exactly

So think about that for a bit...

If you fix the tow bar so that it cannot pivot at the pin on the tracktor drawbar, the drawbar isn't going to be able to steer the steering linkage on the wagon anything but straight. The front wagon wheels don't pivot independently of the tow bar. The tow bar steers the front wagon wheels with linkage.

Make sense?

 

[prairiegirl]

I just got an utility trailer with two axles. The front axle pivots.
The tongue is A-Frame. It looks just like the photo attached.
While I am normally pretty good at backing up trailers -without pivoting axles- I find this one is just about impossible to back up. I don't know if it's because the tongue is too short or if it is the double pivot point that screws me up.

So for those of you whom own one of these how do you back them up?
Do I need to lengthen the tongue?DO I need to rig it so I can tie the 3-points lower arms to the tongue or do I need to fit something to lock the tongue at the 0 degree position when backing up?

Thanks in advance.


View attachment 849621

It's been a while and I was never very good at it, but the main thing was to not even try to turn them, but just straighten them out forward and back up again.
Tying them up is heresy

 

[Ztill]

I just got an utility trailer with two axles. The front axle pivots.
The tongue is A-Frame. It looks just like the photo attached.
While I am normally pretty good at backing up trailers -without pivoting axles- I find this one is just about impossible to back up. I don't know if it's because the tongue is too short or if it is the double pivot point that screws me up.

So for those of you whom own one of these how do you back them up?
Do I need to lengthen the tongue?DO I need to rig it so I can tie the 3-points lower arms to the tongue or do I need to fit something to lock the tongue at the 0 degree position when backing up?

Thanks in advance.


View attachment 849621

Hi, So steering axle trailers take exactly the opposite action to steer verses a two wheel trailer. You have to think entirely differently. The easiest way to do this is to think you are holding the hitch in your hand. Then steer it with the hitch of the tractor. It’s hard because you first have to be fully competent with backing up a two wheel trailer. Part of the secret is to travel slowly and start fully straight, then as you start backwards make only small changes in the hitch tongue position.
Backing four wheel trailers quick separates the patient from the impatient.

 

[airbiscuit]

It's already been said a lot of different ways. With a trailer, if you want it to go left, you turn the tractor right (the opposite way). With a wagon, if you want it to go left, you turn the tractor left (the same way). You have to go slow, a little goes a long way, and you almost have to start counter correcting before the turn is done.

 

[Brendanspapa]

I don't own one currently, but have used plenty of them. That's a wagon, BTW, not a trailer. Anyway, yes, lengthening the tongue can help by making steering adjustments have a less dramatic effect. Similar to backing a long trailer, the longer the distance from hitch to axle, the easier it is to control. Think of the pivot point of the tongue of your wagon the same way you think of the center point of the axle/axles on a trailer. It's the same thing as backing two trailers at the same time. You'll break something for sure if you try to lock the tongue. As has been pointed out, all of this is easier if you have a hitch on the front of your tractor, rather than the rear. Really though, this isn't something you can learn from reading. You have to just learn by experience.

One key thing is that you must be able to see the tongue. That really is the key to understanding what the response of the rear wheels is going to be. I have done this many times in the past, and have always watched the tongue so as to understand what the wagon is going to do.

 

[Yamezz]

It's a dog trailer.

Dog Trailer

 

[sadman13]

This works like a semi-trucker hauling doubles, you now have two pivot points. Normally with a trailer the pivot point is where the trailer is attached to the hitch and when you back up you turn the steering wheel in the opposite direction of where you want to turn, in this case you will want to turn the wheel in the direction of the turn since the first pivot point will turn the opposite direction and the second will turn in the direction wanted. You should still try to pull forward enough to back in a straight line and if it starts to veer off too much, stop and pull forward and straighten out and as others have said practice, practice, practice.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

This works like a semi-trucker hauling doubles, you now have two pivot points.

Well, there are actually three when pulling doubles with an OTR tractor.

There's the 5th wheel on the tractor, then the pintle on the first trailer, and then the 5th wheel on the con gear.