Reversing a trailer - how to practise?

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peter2407

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I have 3 trailers - little one for going to the tip (maybe 6' length, short attachment bar); laser dinghy trailer and a RIB trailer for a 21' RIB (brake back trailer with a fair overhang/bar). The car is an Audi with a reversing camera (not sure if it still works with a trailer)

First question - is practicing with one the same as the others, ie the little trailer is easy to rig up etc but are the techniques the same for small/medium/large trailers?

Any other tips please?
 
peter2407 said:
I have 3 trailers - little one for going to the tip (maybe 6' length, short attachment bar); laser dinghy trailer and a RIB trailer for a 21' RIB (brake back trailer with a fair overhang/bar). The car is an Audi with a reversing camera (not sure if it still works with a trailer)

First question - is practicing with one the same as the others, ie the little trailer is easy to rig up etc but are the techniques the same for small/medium/large trailers?

Any other tips please?
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The bigger the trailer the easier it is. The little one will do the same as the largest, but very much faster. The easiest trailer I ever had to reverse was a glider one.
 
Following Jumbleduck, the further the trailer wheels are from the hitch, the easier it is to back. I learned when driving grain trailers behind a tractor on a farm. A little camping trailer is almost impossible to back far, an articulated HGV lorry is easy. My approach is to think mainly about the trailer and where you want it to go, then use the car to manoeuvre the hitch accordingly.
 
The techniques are the same for the sizes but as JD points out the small trailers react much faster.

Tip - when reversing straight make frequent small movements of the steering wheel to keep going in the straight line, don't let the trailer wander too far before correcting.

I would practise with the bigger trailer first in a big carpark at night when it is empty.
 
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I work on our club boats ribs and ferries, and have done quite a bit moving boats up to about 25 feet around our dinghy park, which can be very tight.
As has been said, small trailers are the hardest, especially if you cant get sight of them. When trying to reverse straight by the time they come into view of your rear view mirror they have usually swung too far. When reversing something low and short I try and clamp a bit of wood upright on it so I can see which way its going.
A good tip given to me many years ago for reversing is to hold the steering wheel at the bottom with one hand, then move the wheel the way you want the trailer to go. If it does start to go awry pull forward and start again.
Quite often there will be helpers around who don't do towing but are full of advice like left hand down a bit, keep her coming, while another is shouting right hand and down and watch the near side of your truck on that dinghy.
The only bit of verbal advice I listen for is STOP, I get out of my truck and evaluate the situation for myself.
 
As others have said, the longer the trailer, the easier it is. For a smaller trailer, where you can't see the trailer itself in your mirrors, then a useful trick is garden canes fixed to the rear corners so you can see them when looking over your shoulder. Never be afraid of taking your time, trying to move too quickly leads to bent bits on the car and trailer....... Practice somewhere open, using some traffic cones to mark where you want the trailer to go. Have a look at the HGV test requirements: if you can do the manoeuvres required by the test, then you should be able to make a boat trailer do what you want.
 
I've got a little trailer, which is very difficult to reverse. I mounted a 1 metre white pole on the rear nearside corner of it, which makes it much easier to see where the trailer is when reversing. My bigger Ifor Williams trailer has a steel ramp at the back, so it's easy to see where the trailer is.
 
I frequently tow a 2 1/2 ton plant trailer behind a large panel van, so i can only use the side mirrors (no windows) and i have managed to get it into some pretty tight places. We had a small 1/2 ton trailer, total nightmare.

Your local supermarket carpark once its quiet and as someone else said snaffle some cones from somewhere and dont be afraid to pull forward and start again
 
chrishscorp said:
Your local supermarket carpark once its quiet and as someone else said snaffle some cones from somewhere and dont be afraid to pull forward and start again
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Or unhitch and do it by hand. I once had to take my glider trailer through the town of Thirsk and the only way to get it through the right S bend before the market square was to unhitch, swing it round by hand and re-couple. Shame it was market day ... quite a lot of traffic ...
 
All good so far + lots for holding the bottom of the wheel.....
Dont over think it, you will scramble your brain.
Dont start learning on an uneven surface, bumps will make a mess of your day unless you are a ninja reverser.
 
chrishscorp said:
I frequently tow a 2 1/2 ton plant trailer behind a large panel van, so i can only use the side mirrors (no windows) and i have managed to get it into some pretty tight places. We had a small 1/2 ton trailer, total nightmare.
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Exactly what I use to do with my 6m RIB trailer using the Fourtrak 4X4. Even though it had windows I found it a lot easier using just the door mirrors. Mind having a front mounted tow ball was even better for getting in to very narrow spaces! :encouragement:
 
I've found the most difficult reversing situation is down our slipway without the boat on. As you go onto it, the trailer disappears from view and generally reappears in one of the mirrors sticking out at right angles. I've never managed to devise a solution to this but a cane attached to the trailer is a good suggestion to keep the blighted under control.
I think as has been suggested, practising on an empty car park is the answer. It can't be that hard can it?
 
It tends to go wrong when pride kicks in. If it goes wrong, pull forwards far enough to straighten everything. Although you will be going the wrong direction, it is far easier and quicker than trying to recover the situation by excessive reverse steering.
 
Strangely it seems easier to control a trailer in reverse if your car has a decent rear overhang, probably because you dont get much sideways movement of the hitch with a small steering input if the overhang is small.

When I bought my first caravan I owned a Vauxhall Carlton. I drove the outfit home and had to reverse the caravan into my drive between the gateposts. I did it at first attempt, and I know it was beginners luck and after measuring the clearance realised that I would never want to do it again. The Caravan was 6ft 10 inches wide, and the brick gateposts were just over 7 feet apart. I had less than an inch each side after allowing for the hinge pins projecting from one post. After that I demolished one post, widened the drive and put a new post up giving myself room to park the caravan and drive the car past it to the garage.
 
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Norman_E said:
Strangely it seems easier to control a trailer in reverse if your car has a decent rear overhang, probably because you dont get much sideways movement of the hitch with a small steering input if the overhang is small.
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That's true, but many towcars have very short overhangs. I use a 4x4 which has less than a metre's overhang (axle to towball), and it can be quite interesting.
 
pvb said:
That's true, but many towcars have very short overhangs. I use a 4x4 which has less than a metre's overhang (axle to towball), and it can be quite interesting.
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I towed the glider with a VW Type 2 (camper van) which also has a short overhang ... I think the length of the trailer made up for it. As others have said, I like to think of pushing the hitch around. I have never found the "hands on the bottom of the wheel" stuff at all helpful, though some people swear by it.
 
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