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

Started by ozarkgem, January 28, 2015, 07:54:14 PM

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ozarkgem

spin your  arms in circle indicating which way you want the steering wheel moved or do you just point you finger the way you want the hitch on the truck to move. When I am backing up, I always use the mirror and when  some one starts the big circle moves I slam on the brakes and explain to them I have no Idea what they are telling me and just to point the direction you want the ball to move. I know which way to turn the steering wheel.
Mighty Mite Band Mill, Case Backhoe, 763 Bobcat, Ford 3400 w/FEL , 1962 Ford 4000, Int dump truck, Clark forklift, lots of trailers. Stihl 046 Magnum, 029 Stihl. complete machine shop to keep everything going.

Larry

Real men don't need helpers.  They just tuck it in and jump in and out of the cab 50 times....or use a backup camera. :)
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

sprucebunny

I'm with you !!

My x husband used to do the circle thing all the time and it drove me crazy. Now we just crack up laughing and no one helps much  :D

( He loves his back up camera. I jump in and out a lot !! )
MS193, MS192 and an 026  Weeding and Thinning. Gilbert Champion sawmill

POSTON WIDEHEAD

The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

Dave Shepard

When I'm hooking up to a trailer I tell people to get out of my mirrors so I can see the trailer. I can put the hitch under the ring with just the mirrors.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

JohnG28

Never saw anyone "turn the wheel" outside the truck. I/we always point in the direction the truck/hitch needs to go.
Stihl MS361, 460 & 200T, Jonsered 490, Jonsereds 90, Husky 350 & 142, Homelite XL and Super XL

JB Griffin

Quote from: JohnG28 on January 28, 2015, 08:57:26 PM
Never saw anyone "turn the wheel" outside the truck. I/we always point in the direction the truck/hitch needs to go.


x2
2000 LT40hyd remote 33hp Kubota with 6gpm hyd unit, 150 Prentice, WM bms250, Suffolk dual tooth setter

Over 3.5million bdft sawn with a Baker Dominator.

WmFritz

~Bill

2012 Homebuilt Bandmill
1959 Detroit built Ferguson TO35

sandhills

I hate people trying to back me up to anything, especially when I'm driving the semi with the cattle pot on, dad is the king of the "turning the steering wheel thing", just let me have my mirrors.

Brad_S.

I am a member of a 4 man team at work and we hook up trailers all the time.
Pointing the way you want the ball to go is what we use. Pointing emphatically means cut it hard! Pointing and then holding your thumb and index finger up means turn slightly. Hand and fingers straight up and aligned while motioning back and forth means straight back. Clenched fist means stop.
There is one final finger gesture that is often used that I am sure you are all familiar with.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." J. Lennon

reubenT

yah,  just the point method is all i ever do.  But then I'm more often doing it myself without company,  and being the professional backerupper that my friends all claim, I usually hit it pretty good the first time or 3.
   Oh but my first attempt at the driving test in a semi truck n trailer I failed the backing part.   I aren't perfect.   Had to go practice on the test site and get in mind the exact moves to make,  then I did it fine for the tester.   

Just Me

 I hitch myself mostly, and pay absolutely no attention to my wife if she is back there. I let her wag her hands and think she is helping, but really........

What I do find annoying is the "Things are somewhere behind you Mirrors" that come on trucks. What the heck were they thinking? I have to change out the one on my 2014 F150 to flat glass. Can't back up a trailor worth a hoot when turning that way.

Larry

coxy

the pointing works ok but if im by my self ill take the dozer or skidsteer and just put the trailer on the hitch with them if there not there its in and out in and out  :D :D

Chuck White

I usually hook up to the mill by myself.

After a few years of doing this, you tend to be a little more efficient at it!

With a helper, POINT.
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

WV Sawmiller

In Afghanistan and Iraq the more commonly accepted methods we used with the military/contractors were to just point one arm in the direction we wanted the driver to go and make "come on" motions with the opposite hand. For straight back we "come on" with both hands till reached the spot then cross wrists for stop.

My biggest annoyance in Africa when directing a load in place were "helpers". Everyone wanted to get in the act. If driving, I'd stop and tell others to get out of the way as I was only watching one guy and I'd identify who it was. Worst were gate/security guards who would jump between me and the driver and start directing without ever knowing where I was trying to put the load.

Smart trailer drivers put a ball hitch on the front bumper, get close then change from rear to front hitches and push the load into place. I drove a tractor trailer truck for a while and found it is much easier to back a 53' trailer into a spot than a 6' utility trailer because you can see it moving sooner and have more time to react. My 4' cart behind my 4 wheeler is handy but jackknifes before you know it.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

blackfoot griz

I agree with WV Sawmiller. The most difficult thing I have to back up in my splitter. You can't see it until it's nearly too late.  My solution is to stick a chunk of pipe in it as an indicator of where it is in the reverse mode!

jueston

most everything usefull i know i learned in the army...

i point my entire arm in the direction i want the hitch to go, and then motion backwords with the other hand. then cross my arms in front of my body when i want the driver to stop. of course if the person has never seen the hand signals they might not be obvious.

personally i just get out and check a couple times, when someone tries to guide me from the ground i only look at them to make sure i don't hit them...

90% of the time, i can line it up perfectly only getting out to check one time... the last 10% it takes me 10 tries  :D

4x4American

haha!  I just watch my mirrors and can usually get it pretty close.  Often times if it's real close, I'll just swing the hitch over the ball if I can and lower the hitch so that its resting on the ball, then I wiggle truck around til it locks on.  If you do that don't take the jack off, just wind it up quite a bit.  It's easy hooking up to my gooseneck trailer, can look at the ball right through the window.
Boy, back in my day..

pineywoods

X2 on the front hitch. Put one on my pickup, can't beat it for maneuvering a trailer into tight spots. Friend just bought a new ford pickup. It's got a backup camera built into the tailgate.  That's cheating  ;D
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

Dave Shepard

Most difficult thing to back up? A PTO generator with a 4' hitch to axle length and one flat tire. :D
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

JohnG28

I'll drop the tail gate too to get a better idea where the hitch is. Makes it easier to spot the tongue of the trailer a little more.  Back up camera would be pretty nice. Are they adjustable so you can point it at a certain spot backing up?
Stihl MS361, 460 & 200T, Jonsered 490, Jonsereds 90, Husky 350 & 142, Homelite XL and Super XL

beenthere

Difficult yes.

Once as a kid, drove downhill in a fenced, dead-end farm lane with a JD G, a 2 wheel hay baler behind, and a 4 wheel wagon behind the baler. Backing up that combination was a slow process, I recall.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

terrifictimbersllc

Most customers don't know that one can usually push the woodmizer tongue from side to side easily, and spend a lot of energy trying to point which direction.  What can I say they're trying to help.
DJ Hoover, Terrific Timbers LLC,  Mystic CT Woodmizer Million Board Foot Club member. 2019 LT70 Super Wide 55 Yanmar,  LogRite fetching arch, WM BMS250 sharpener/BMT250 setter.  2001 F350 7.3L PSD 6 spd manual ZF 4x4 Crew Cab Long Bed

4x4American

I think BT takes the cake with the hardest thing to back up...that must've been interesting to say the least.
Boy, back in my day..

sandhills

Quote from: beenthere on January 29, 2015, 01:11:52 PM
Difficult yes.

Once as a kid, drove downhill in a fenced, dead-end farm lane with a JD G, a 2 wheel hay baler behind, and a 4 wheel wagon behind the baler. Backing up that combination was a slow process, I recall.
I know your pain!  We usually chop a couple hundred acres of silage between us and the neighbors, anytime you hook up a wagon behind an implement, behind a tractor backing out of spots is tuff.  I do have power steering though  ;).

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