A friend of mine is suppose to get her new F150 this month. I want to hook it to a wagon and see if it can handle backing that up? "Who knows the difference between a wagon and a trailer?"

 

wagon has a wheel on each corner.
trailer has an axle under it usually around the center point

 

Yes, and the front axle steers. A completely different animal to back up compared to a trailer!

 

What we do on the farm is have a hitch on the front of the tractor to push the wagons backwards if we're putting it in a tight place. So, rear steering on the truck would accomplish the same thing!

 

The longer the trailer, the easier it is to turn it where you want it

Usually guys like that big mouth can't back them up either....lol

Tom and I have been backing trailers up all our lives, and probably have more miles in reverse than most people do pulling them forward.

 

I've backed many a hay wagon and trailer inside of barns to unload them. Hay rides weren't much fun for me. I had to load them, then unload them. Todays kids don't understand that. Today they're loaded with a front end loader, but the bales are round and weigh about 1000lbs a piece!

 

i had a guy ask me one time how to back a trailer up. i told him if he had to ask, it was beyond his capabilities and he should look for another job.
and he was a "professional" over the road pilot.

 

There's more and more people out there that drive semi trucks that do not know how to back up a trailer. I will admit, I've moved car haulers around and never had a problem backing them up. I've tried backing up a semi truck, and for some reason, having that 5th wheel over the axles messes me up. I'm sure I could get it with a little practice though. Those car haulers have a stinger hitch behind the rear axle which makes it more like a bumper pull trailer or a trailer behind a farm tractor.

 

It's funny when you are the low boy operator for the company
They call you to come to the job site, some OTR truck driver is there, all jammed up, and they can't get anything done
You jump in their rig, and take 2 seconds to put it where it goes
It takes the truck driver's jaw longer to close that it takes to put their truck where it belongs!

Back in the 80's I worked for a company rebuilding dams. they would bulldoze a 10' wide path through the woods, 5-6 miles long back to the dam.
I would have to back the trailers in there to unload them, there was no room to turn around.
Better be out of the way when I was coming backwards, I was in 4th gear 4th speed doing about 40 mph with the air horn blowing, and I was NOT stopping for anyone!

My days off, there were no deliveries to the site
I was young and cocky......

 

i remember those days very well also.
mack mud stick transmission with 5 reverse gears. could do 45+MPH in reverse.
guys used to really get freaked out when they saw a dump trailer coming at them 40 MPH in reverse.
then there were the porkchops that figured if i could do it with a trailer they could do it with their tandems.

one of the other drivers in my company and i were responsible for quite a few blown transmissions, rears and dropped or twisted driveshafts. the non drivers could not figure out that they had to get off the throttle when you hit a soft spot and glide through, then mash on it again once you hit hard-pack.
they would stay in the throttle all the way through and once they hit the soft spot something would fall out from under the truck.

 

Yup, and they were too Stoooopid to shut off the jake when backing

I got to see more than one flip out of the seat, and crack the windshield from the inside from having the Jake on 3!
Seat belt? no shuch thing in a big truck then!
Glass was a sandwich then, and could cut you up!

Dumptruck driver.......just take off the "p"

Those were fun times before the "CDL" thingy

 

dumbest thing i ever did was going from the trailer to a tandem mid day because they wanted to service the tractor.
jumped in the tandem and went to back up to the stock pile in the yard.
turned the wheel, and backed into the loader.

and i know you know what i am talking about, i am sure you probably did it a few times too!!

 

LOL..NEVER!!!!!!

Right in front of the safty director.
P'd in the cup right there on the spot!