Help with backing

[jeff6898]

Own my 1st boat a 16ft bass boat. Never had to back up with a trailer of anykind before. I am having the hardest time. Kedep jack knifing everytime. ANy helpful tips that might help me out?

 

[obezag]

Re: Help with backing

It can be frustrating in the beginning. If you're in a truck lower the tailgate if you have clearance, SUV open the rear hatch. The more you can see the better. Make small corrections. If you get out of shape, stop, pull forward to straighten out again and then continue. If you can find an empty parking lot or even a long driveway, practice going very slowly to get the feel for backing up. You will figure it out. Practice, practice, practice.

 

[Bass Tracker TX17]

Re: Help with backing

Find someone you know thats real good at it. Or talk to someone you see moving a trailer around. There are lots of little tricks that people use to move a trailer. Practice is as practice does. The more you do the better you get like obezag said. Once you understand the concept and the things to look out for it goes much easier. It's not hard per say. just a little confusing at times.

 

[CatTwentyTwo]

Re: Help with backing

If you put your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel, you can turn the wheel in the direction you want the trailer to go. It made it much easier for me.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Help with backing

to clarify, this is just a little different movement of the hand, in the direction

If you put your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel, move you hand in the direction you want the trailer to go. this is the basis of backing a trailer. do not over steer, just roll slowly. practice makes perfect. short trailers are much harder to back than long trailers. hated my jet ski trailer.

 

[JB]

Re: Help with backing

1.Take it to a deserted parking lot on a weekend or at night. Practice, practice,practice.

2. Put a front ball on your vehicle for use when parking, launching or retrieving the boat.

Both methods worked well for me.

 

[scoutabout]

Re: Help with backing

I heartily second the hand on the bottom of the wheel approach as well as moving real slow. Had a local marina owner compliment me (city slicker that I am) last summer when he saw me back a trailer through a maze of parked vehicles into a tight parking spot on his property following just those two principles.

Told him if I knew he had been watching I would have for sure ended up hung up in a tree. That's the other thing of course. You can do it alone in an empty parking lot with your eyes closed but come Saturday at the ramp under two dozen watchful (and impatient eyes)-- all bets are off!

 

[Titanium48]

Re: Help with backing

to clarify, this is just a little different movement of the hand, in the direction

If you put your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel, move you hand in the direction you want the trailer to go. this is the basis of backing a trailer. do not over steer, just roll slowly. practice makes perfect. short trailers are much harder to back than long trailers. hated my jet ski trailer.

That works for me if I'm trying to back up in a straight line, but if I'm backing up around a corner I like to think of it as "set and follow". First set the angle between the tow vehicle and the trailer, then steer in the opposite direction to follow it around the corner. Once "following", the hand at the bottom of the wheel method again works to control the radius of the turn.

I know there's really nothing fundamentally different about the mechanics, but once the angle is set it does require a fairly large steering correction to avoid jacknifing, so I like to think of it as two steps.

 

[dorelse]

Re: Help with backing

I find it best to not worry about the truck...I just turn completely around, looking out the window, and 'driving' the boat where I want it to go. Small corrections as needed. I don't 'think' about where I need to go, I just steer the trailer to where I need it to be.

I thinks its very difficult to use the mirrors to back up, but since I'm high in the truck, with a smaller boat, I can see pretty well as it is.

That probably doesn't make any sense, but I'm an old farm kid, so backing this stuff up is second nature almost.

Just practice, you will eventually get the hang of it. Just have confidence that once your brain & hands figure it out, you can become proficient at it pretty quickly.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Help with backing

People who have trouble backing a trailer make two fundamental mistakes. 1) they wait too long to make a correction. In other words the trailer is already out of shape before they attempt to correct or they make a correction when it's not needed. You need to make too much of a correction at that point so you simply need to start over. 2) For lack of a better term they "saw" wildly at the wheel hoping the trailer will go where they want it. Whether you use the hands at the bottom of the wheel and use the mirrors, whether you simply look over your shoulder or stick your head out the window and drive backwards or any other technique is not important. What you practice and what works is what you should do. Just don't continually change techniques as you will never become efficient at any of them.

 

[Shizzy]

Re: Help with backing

practice practice practice. I just got my boat a few weeks ago. I keep it at my friend's house which is real close to a boat launch. its a launch out of the way that sees little use so its great for practicing, since im not in anyones way. I have been putting the boat in and out of the water every day or so since I got the boat. I have pulled a trailer before, but never backed up a boat. each time I do it I get a little better and gain a little more confidence. again go slow, make small corrections and try to "feel" what your truck needs to do to make the trailer go where you want.

 

[DRIFTER_016]

Re: Help with backing

I find it best to not worry about the truck...I just turn completely around, looking out the window, and 'driving' the boat where I want it to go. Small corrections as needed. I don't 'think' about where I need to go, I just steer the trailer to where I need it to be.

I thinks its very difficult to use the mirrors to back up, but since I'm high in the truck, with a smaller boat, I can see pretty well as it is.

That probably doesn't make any sense, but I'm an old farm kid, so backing this stuff up is second nature almost.

Just practice, you will eventually get the hang of it. Just have confidence that once your brain & hands figure it out, you can become proficient at it pretty quickly.

I do it the same way.
I also park my 8 foot wide trailer in a 10 foot wide building which is alot trickier than backing down a nice wide ramp.

 

[dorelse]

Re: Help with backing

Yeah, I should clarify, that I look through the rear window, not out the side window.

 

[bassman284]

Re: Help with backing

I find it best to not worry about the truck...I just turn completely around, looking out the window, and 'driving' the boat where I want it to go. Small corrections as needed. I don't 'think' about where I need to go, I just steer the trailer to where I need it to be.

I thinks its very difficult to use the mirrors to back up, but since I'm high in the truck, with a smaller boat, I can see pretty well as it is.

That probably doesn't make any sense, but I'm an old farm kid, so backing this stuff up is second nature almost.

Just practice, you will eventually get the hang of it. Just have confidence that once your brain & hands figure it out, you can become proficient at it pretty quickly.

This is the key: drive the trailer, NOT the tow vehicle.

30 or so years ago, I was making my first attempt to back a semi trailer into a slot and making a real hash of it. An experienced driver came over and said, "don't drive the tractor, drive the left rear wheel of the trailer. Put it where you want it and the rest of the rig will follow."

Obviously you need to know that the space you're going into is wide enough for your tailer, but other than that, you don't care about the right hand side of the vehicle. It will stay the same distance from the left side as when you started.

I you have a line to follow, put the left wheel on the line and keep it there. In any case, you need a target. If you start making big corrections, you've lost it and need to pull forward to get it back on track. Particularly, if your left wheel moves to the left of the line you're following, stop and pull forward. Any time you can't see the left wheel, pull forward and start again. As experienced as I am at backing, I still have to pull out and retry from time to time.

 

[jeff6898]

Re: Help with backing

Thanks everyone who replied with advice. I will be going to a schools parking lot and just practice every weekend.

 

[Shizzy]

Re: Help with backing

bassman, thats really good advice

 

[twag4]

Re: Help with backing

Goto wal mart and buy a toy tractor and a toy two wheel trailer. (not the kind you ride but the kind you push by hand) They have one that has a 4 wheeled cart. Cart will not work. They have a John Deere tractor about 8-12inches long made by ertle that steers with the steering wheel. Play with it backing a 2 wheeled trailer such as a hay bailer or whatever, and it will teach you how to do it. My ten year old son learned that way I found out. He can back up my tractor pulling an implement.

 

[NolaZach]

Re: Help with backing

Get a camera, see below.

 

[cribber]

Re: Help with backing

It can be frustrating in the beginning. If you're in a truck lower the tailgate if you have clearance, SUV open the rear hatch. The more you can see the better. Make small corrections. If you get out of shape, stop, pull forward to straighten out again and then continue. If you can find an empty parking lot or even a long driveway, practice going very slowly to get the feel for backing up. You will figure it out. Practice, practice, practice.

This works if you've never backed a trailer before, especially if your trailer is obscured in your mirrors and can't see the trailer wheels in your mirrors. Low and slow with slow steering wheel movements. The biggest thing to remember if it gets out of shape, don't get frustrated. Just stop, pull forward slowly until the trailer is lined up straight behind you and then start backing up slowly. As others have said, practice and you'll get a feel for it and look like a Pro in no time. Been there...

 

[greggholmes]

Re: Help with backing

here is my WORK tow rig

http://www.boeingimages.com/boeingCSharpSite/browse/ImageDetail.aspx?Ne=1464&Ntt=Photo|777&N=4294966573&Ntk=AssetType|GlobalSearch&R=9202