When helping some one back there truck up to a trailer do you

[hacknchop]

My brother in law has a sign that says "sometimes I wakeup grumpy but if at all possible I let her sleep in" .

[Chuck White]

When I'm about to go out on a sawjob, I always hook-up in the morning!

Mainly because my truck is loaded with everything I need to take with me and I don't want it all covered with dew or rain!

When I hook up to the mill, I'm in and out of the truck 2-3 times max.

[terrifictimbersllc]

Unfortunately, she doesn't like to be told what to do or how to do it which make 'helping' somewhat difficult. 

:D :D :D  priceless

[WV Sawmiller]

"My brother in law has a sign that says "sometimes I wakeup grumpy but if at all possible I let her sleep in" . "

Hack,

    That's funny. I think I will use it (any time my wife is not around!).

[4x4American]

jim u oughta get some grease on that ball!

[Jim_Rogers]

jim u oughta get some grease on that ball!

It used to get some but then it would get all over my leg. Now it won't cause my leg can't hit the ball.

Jim Rogers

[Ianab]

Ian
A screen shot of the trailer tongue and ball getting close would be great to see. (hint.. ;) )

One better

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRdigZTDTMs

You can see a camera should reduce tail light damage  :D

[47sawdust]

Garrison Keillor used to to have a fictitious sponsor on the Prairie Home Companion called 'Mon Back Brother's Moving,just back up until you hit something,take a look ,and make an adjustment.We use that technique all the time.Yes, the license plate is no longer readable.
I like to carry a 5 foot stone bar to tweak the trailer when I get close.

[isawlogs]

Ian.... thats just plain ole cheatin'      But I like it !!   

[thurlow]

As bad a cussin' 'fit' as I've ever heard involved hitching to a trailer (he was partly cussing me and partly cussing the situation).  I've been hooked to a LOT of trailers on the farm.......back before I retarred.  We usta cut a lot of custom silage w/a pull-behind 2-row cutter w/a trailer behind that;  usually would cut 60-80 loads per day for weeks on end;  also pulled hay wagons, cotton trailers, grain trailers, etc.  When I'se in my 20s, I pulled a load of cotton to the gin (one of multiple loads per day);  you'd pull across the scales, wait for the weigh-man to wave you forward;  pull out onto the yard and un-hook and then drive over to the other side of the yard and pick up one of your empty trailers;  most of 'em at the time were 8 ft wide and 24 ft long.  So.......I pulled onto the scales and waited;  the weigh man came out and we visited for several minutes (he was a personal friend);  was at least 5 minutes and could've been much longer. We could see the lot where the empty trailers were kept and watched an older man trying to hitch to a trailer;  he musta been in and out of the pickup at least 25 or 30 times.  Finally someone pulled in behind me and so I pulled off,  unhooked and drove over to get an empty.  One of my trailers happened to be sitting almost right beside the old man's;  I backed up, got out and............it was one of those times when I hit it perfectly;  just picked the tongue up and dropped the pin in.  The lot was just dirt and someone had driven across it when it was muddy,  leaving a set of ruts;  both front tires of the trailer the old man was trying to hook to were sitting in the same rut and the tongue wouldn't move a half an inch.  I walked over, picked the tongue up on his trailer, he backed up, I dropped the pin in and he was good-to-go.  I'd known him forever, but not well; not sure if he knew my name or not.  He got out to thank me before driving off and said something like, "Man, you're good."  Being something of a smart-mouth, I said, "Well, Mr. Hershel, this ain't the first trailer I've ever been hooked to."  His face got red and he started in, "This ain't the first trailer I've ever been to hooked to either,   G**d***, &*%*&%%%&%^#@#@$%%#!@#$%$, etc, etc,."  He cussed until he absolutely ran out of breath;  it was kinda entertaining after-the-fact, but I was scared at-the-time.  I slinked (slank?) back over to my pickup, got in and drove off.......

[sandsawmill14]

I just hide behind a tree or the log pile and wait for them to stop moving :D :D smiley_devilish

[beenthere]

thurlow, good recount there.  ;D
Trailers or wagons? Wagons have wheels fore and aft, with the forward ones steering. They are much harder to back up when hooked to a picker, baler, or combine.  Trailers much easier, IMO.

[sandhills]

Doing custom silage pulling around a wagon behind a 2 row cutter is about is about as much fun as pouring cement or laying block in my mind.  I've had countless times trying to back the whole mess up to get around a corner in the field and it's not fun, thurlow, if you got it mastered my hat's off to you!  A few years ago after a bad drought we started chopping in July and finished in October, I can hit every wagon most generally on the first try hooking up, but backing everything around stuff is still a challenge.  :D

[thurlow]

thurlow, good recount there.  ;D
Trailers or wagons? Wagons have wheels fore and aft, with the forward ones steering. They are much harder to back up when hooked to a picker, baler, or combine.  Trailers much easier, IMO.

terminology/definitions/identifications:  depends on where one lives;  have found many times that words/phrases used in one part of the country/world mean something else elsewhere  8).

Around 'HERE', a wagon is either a child's toy or something pulled by animals (I know I used the word in the earlier post.....wrongly);  a trailer is pulled behind a vehicle/truck/tractor, etc.  A four-wheel trailer has a steerable front axle, nearly always around HERE they're 5th wheel type, 'though there are a few auto-type steers around (the 5th wheels track much better).  A tandem wheel trailer has multiple axles mostly centered (slightly to the rear);  2-wheel trailers, gooseneck trailers, cattle trailers, grain trailers, fencing trailers, garbage trailers, etc.  I'm aware that what 'we' call trailers are known as wagons in much of the country.  The cotton 'trailers' I was speaking of have a steerable axle in front and one or two fixed axles in the rear.  The guys I hang with on Yesterday's Tractors often point out the error of my ways. ;D

[thurlow]

Doing custom silage pulling around a wagon behind a 2 row cutter is about is about as much fun as pouring cement or laying block in my mind.    :D

I don't know .  When everything was working right, which was most of the time, running a silage cutter was one of my favorite jobs on the farm;  we used A-C cutters (760? 780? been a long time).  They used a 'cut-and-throw' "J" knife and you could hear the thing 'moan' from a long way off.  Our trailers (as I've defined them) weren't that big........about 7 x 14 ft w/about 4 ft high sideboards.  We used 'false' endgates to pull the silage out thru a swinging rear endgate.  When the corn was just right......to put the right load on the tractor (typically a 4020D) and the machine....in the right gear, we'd often cut 8 loads per hour.  We had a man riding the back of the machine/front of the trailers;  I'd give him the 'nod', he'd pull the pin;  I'd pull forward and the tractor with the empty trailer would whip in behind the machine.  The man on the ground would pull HIS pin; he'd move out of the way;  I'd back up;  he'd drop the pin and off we'd go.  The guy on the 'hauling' tractor did his own hooking and off to the pit or silo he'd go.  Generally speaking, we kept one man at the pit on a tractor with a rear-mounted blade, one or two men on the ground at the pit and between 1 and 3 tractors hauling......depending on how far it was from the field to the pit.  Things had to be RIGHT to hook to a trailer, fill it with silage and unhook from it..........every 7 and a half minutes;  LAWD, I loved it.  We quit silage in '86 when the state ran a by-pass highway thru the bigger of our 2 trench silos;  went to all big round bales of hay...........

[sandhills]

Yes that's much the same way we do it but without the middle guy to unhook though.  A few years ago I used to have at least 3 haulers and they tried to keep up so we could just pull alongside, but the year I mentioned we cut over 600 acres and a lot of it was miles from the spots we were piling it, it gets really old looking backwards for that many acres, especially when you're really not cutting anything anyway.  Right now I have a 1486 and a 3950 cutter but spent many, many days running a 4010 with a 3800 behind it  .

[oros35]

Worst thing I have to hook up to and back up is my Deuce 1/2 army truck and a M105 1 1/2 ton army trailer. The trailer is narrower than the truck so you can't see it when the canvas is on the bed (which is almost always).  The mirrors shake so bad everything is blurry.  The 6x6 doesn't turn well to begin with and to make it worse it doesn't have power steering.  Only good thing is it's geared low enough. 

The trailer is so much shorter than the truck you have no chance to correct it if your off.  Pull up and start over.  The only way to back it up is to get it weaving from mirror to mirror.  It's impossible to back something up straight you can't see! 

[Jim_Rogers]

So, I'm getting ready to take the sawmill on the road to do a job in a nearby town tomorrow.
I needed to hook it up to the SUV to pull it out of its current working position.
I set up my rake and backed right up to it.

I pulled the "T" handle on the front outrigger and the hitch missed the ball:



 

I hate it when that happens.

The tongue weight was too much for me to lift and the jack handle wouldn't work with the outrigger that far into the bracket. So I had to think of an easy way to lift it back up again.
I could always get out the floor jack and jack it up enough for the outrigger and jack handle to work, but that would be a lot of work to do it.
I remembered that when they showed us how to fold up the mill back in 94 that the trainer used a pair of vice grips on the rod to hold the head in a position where the tongue weight was very light and he could roll the mill around their shop with very little pressure.
I moved the sawmill carriage off the travel pin back towards the rear end a bit and attached a set of vice grips to prevent it from sliding back down hill.
Like this:



 

This made it so that the tongue weight was very little. I just picked it up and set it on the ball. Very easy.

After moving the mill, I disconnected it from the SUV so I could load it up with all my "travel tools".
Then I had to re-connect to the mill to be ready to "roll out" tomorrow morning.

I set up my rake to the correct spot so that I could see the mill hitch point in my rear view mirror and backed right up to the mill. When I do this the rubber bumper around my trailer hitch hits the rake handle and I know I'm there. This time it knocked the rake over.

Like this:



 

I like it when this happens.

Jim Rogers

[Magicman]

I always went to the outrigger next to the loaded and used it to lift the front end back up.  I used that outrigger many times when the front outrigger was still too high to allow the hitch to rest on the ball.

Matter of fact, even with FAO's, I still use that outrigger occasionally when the tongue end is very low.

[Jim_Rogers]

I always went to the outrigger next to the loaded and used it to lift the front end back up.  I used that outrigger many times when the front outrigger was still too high to allow the hitch to rest on the ball.

Matter of fact, even with FAO's, I still use that outrigger occasionally when the tongue end is very low.

Good tip, I'll remember that.

Jim Rogers

[Chuck White]

Well..... about 2 years ago (Christmas) Sheila got me a rearview (back-up) camera and about 2 weeks ago my son and I hooked this up!

The lens mounts right on the top bolts of the rear license plate and shows the trailer hitch ball on the view finder, in the cab of the truck.

The transmitter is hooked up to the back-up light wire and it's mounted behind the left tail light.

The receiver is on a suction cup mounted on the instrument panel, forward of the steering wheel.

Whenever the truck is shifted into Reverse, the camera is activated.

Works very well.

[lumberjack48]

When turning around a semi on a logging job, i told the driver to watch me, nothing else. I walked in front of the truck while he was backing up, i turned my arms like i had hold of the steering wheel, nothing to it.