Trailering

[MossRoad]

I got mine from St. Joe Material handling, because they were just down the road. As I recall, it was about $200.00 per 20 yard tri-axle dump so that's about $10.00 yard delivered. It would have been cheaper with a semi, but they couldn't get it in there because of a tight curve on the drive. Did you ever get a soil survey of your property? You might have some base material already on site. Mine showed a pocket of gravel just beneath the surface exactly where the State said I had to cut my road into a hillside. It worked out perfect. I cut through the hill and dumped the topsoil to the side, then spread the gravel over the area where I wanted the road. Packed it down and poured the slag over the top. When we build, I'll lay down some fabric and put more slag over that.

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[cp1969]

I use two chains, one binder(we always called them "boomers"), and two clevises.

One clevis through the drawbar and the chain with no binder passes through it. Another (smaller) clevis goes through a hole in the front frame area, chain goes through it. Putting tension on this chain with the binder tightens both chains.

I've used nylon straps before, but if anything sharp comes into contact with them, they can wear out in a hurry.

 

[RobS]

So far I've got some Processed Road Gravel for $9/delivered ton via an excavating buddy. I think I can get it cheaper through Michiana Aggregates on 12 but I had some delivery snafus with them when I put in my second culvert.

I probably do have some useable material on-site as everything is fairly sandy. Just not ready to dig a pond right now and I don't want an eye-sore outside our new house windows /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[MossRoad]

Yeah, Hey honey, I'm going to dig a big hole right in front of the house. It will save us a thousand bucks in gravel and it will only take me a few months if I work a few hours every night after work. And it will only add a hundred or two hours to the tractor. Been there, done that, but had fun doing it!

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[Turfman]

Thanks for the information, that's essentially how I do mine.
Kevin

 

[cp1969]

While we're on the subject of trailering, how do y'all hook up to your trailers when you're by yourself?

I've come up with a method which works, but maybe there are better methods which we can share with each other.

Mine works like this: I lower the tailgate, then I lay a 2x4 that I've made into a 'gage' pole along the centerline of the truck bed, protruding beyond the tailgate a marked distance. The distance it protrudes is the distance from the edge of the lowered tailgate to the jack; so when I back up so that the 2x4 just touches the jack, I'm there: on centerline and over the ball.

 

[Egon]

Trailer hook up:
With great difficulty if by myself. Greater difficulty if someone not familiar is helping. I've always got a camper on to help visibility.
Egon

 

[Bird]

Charles, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. Unfortunately, it won't work for me because the jacks on the front of both my trailers are far enough forward that they would be under the tailgate and they're taller than the tailgate when it's down, so I have to do it with the tailgate up. If you do it frequently enough, though, it gets pretty easy to judge where you are, and if you don't . . ., well, I seldom have to get out, look, and move the truck a little bit again more than 3 or 4 times./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

When we were living full time in a 5th wheel travel trailer, I was pretty experienced in backing it; however, if it was dark, when I put the truck in reverse, the backup lights reflected off the white front of the trailer and I couldn't see the back end of the trailer in the mirrors. There was a very simple solution. The truck had a good CB radio in it, so I went to Radio Shack and bought just about the cheapest kid's walkie-talkie they had (on CB channel 11). Then when I needed to get that trailer in a tight spot and couldn't see, I put my wife behind the wheel, told her she could just put both hands on the steering wheel, close her eyes, and listen to the CB. I just stood behind the trailer and told her on the little walkie-talkie which way to turn the wheel and when to stop. It worked like a charm.

 

[RobS]

It's all in the mirrors. I've gotten quite good at this, even amazing myself lately. Next time you unhook, before you pull forward without your trailer take a really good look at where it is in your mirrors (I've got really wide trailer tow mirrors). I can back up til the hitch bumps the tongue, pull forward about an inch and I'm usually only an inch or two off side-to-side. I can bump it that much with my foot.

Of course, now that I've said this I'll really botch it next time /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[jhburke]

I put a CB ugly stick on the tongue of my trailers and I can back up until I bump the hitch. I have a bad back so I can't do a lot lifting and shoving to hook up. 3 out of 4 times no problem hooking up. JIM

 

[RocketJSquirrel]

I have pretty good luck doing it like this:
-Get lined up and back up to less than 3 feet.
-Size up the remaining distance, get back in the truck.
-Hang my foot out the door, find something the same distance straight back from my foot.
-Back up till my foot is at the marker.
-Get out again and repeat as needed.

Usually the second or third move puts me where I need to be.



-RJS

 

[DFB]

A little more... a little more... just a little bit more...BANG!!! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

As much as my wife is the typical Cowboys Wife (thanks for the link Bird) guiding trailer hookups is just not her forte, So I prefer going it alone. My technique is very similar to the one RJS just described.

Get lined up and backup as close as possible, judge the distance left, get back in the truck, leave the door open, pick two reference points, I usually use the bottom inside corner of the truck door as one and one on the ground to match the estimated distance left, then watch along the ground till ya line up the two points for the proper distance moved.

DFB

 

[MossRoad]

I used to work at an airport and had to stack hangars with as many planes as possible. It is similar to trailering in that you can't see the back of the plane in relation to the hangar walls. We would do what the RocketJSquirrel suggested. Take a look at how much further you have to go, get back in the seat and look at a point on the ground past your foot, then drive that far forward or backwards. Also, you can use shadows or reflections in cars or windows if light enough. I liked Bird's suggestion about the cheap CB.


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