It can happen to you....

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by EdColorado

You can't turn an Escape around on a two lane wide road with minimal, or no, shoulder.

You can, but it requires unhitching, manually pivoting the trailer (especially tough with tanden axles), and hitching back up facing the other way. No, I haven't had to do it...

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

You can, but it requires unhitching, manually pivoting the trailer (especially tough with tanden axles), and hitching back up facing the other way. No, I haven't had to do it...

You can even turn an Escape around on a single track in the middle of nowhere, if the “adventuresome shortcut” that you’re following is bisected by a 50 foot washout down the hillside. But only if you have 4WD and off road skid plates, if you do it where we did.

[EdColorado]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

You can, but it requires unhitching, manually pivoting the trailer (especially tough with tanden axles), and hitching back up facing the other way. No, I haven't had to do it...

How many people can lift up the hitch on a 400- 450# tongue weight trailer on a crowned road and keep it safely under control while turning it around?

Basically none.

Even if you put a wheel on the jack,
As soon as that heavy trailer gets rolling, there is no stopping it. It’s going exactly where it wants to go in spite of what you might want.

It’s not something I would feel comfortable trying.

Ed

[Tford]

My TA was just an inch above 10’ at the King antenna point, I switched to the smaller mast antenna so if I had to I could pull it into my enclosed shop. But since then I’ve built a higher enclosed storage bay and just recently swapped the springs over the axle (high lift position) since my new tow is higher....but this thread has reminded me to get that new measurement! Highway clearance numbers are hopefully correct, but motels and others I know are not necessarily correct.....from experience with a covered car trailer, fortunately I stopped soon enough to only crinkle some trim strip, but the stated height was a good 4” lower.

[dfandrews]

Originally Posted by EdColorado

How many people can lift up the hitch on a 400- 450# tongue weight trailer on a crowned road and keep it safely under control while turning it around?
Even if you put a wheel on the jack,
As soon as that heavy trailer gets rolling, there is no stopping it. It’s going exactly where it wants to go in spite of what you might want.
....Ed

We have done exactly that, to u-turn at a dead end road (Thanks to Google; never trust it again!).
We turned our 17 using the jack wheel. To maintain control we hooked up the safety chains, and used the vehicle to slowly pull the trailer around via the chains,and still maintain control. We did it in a couple of moves, repositioning the tow vehicle each time. Emphasis: slow, and incrementally.

[EdColorado]

Originally Posted by dfandrews

We have done exactly that, to u-turn at a dead end road (Thanks to Google; never trust it again!).
We turned our 17 using the jack wheel. To maintain control we hooked up the safety chains, and used the vehicle to slowly pull the trailer around via the chains,and still maintain control. We did it in a couple of moves, repositioning the tow vehicle each time. Emphasis: slow, and incrementally.

Well, should I ever find myself in extremis, I’ll give it a try like that with my 21’.
Thanks

Ed

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by EdColorado

How many people can lift up the hitch on a 400- 450# tongue weight trailer on a crowned road and keep it safely under control while turning it around?

Basically none.

Even if you put a wheel on the jack,
As soon as that heavy trailer gets rolling, there is no stopping it. It’s going exactly where it wants to go in spite of what you might want.

It’s not something I would feel comfortable trying.

Ed

All valid.

You do need a tongue jack wheel.

With a single-axle trailer the size of an Escape 17' you won't likely have over 400 pounds of tongue weight, and manually moving the trailer certainly can be done... but it is difficult to push on anything but an ideal surface and can be difficult to control if not level. Manually maneouvering small trailers is so common that European trailers routinely have a handle on each corner of the body for this purpose.

The control problem with tandem axles is that if the tongue wheel can roll easily the trailer can roll away. This is an awkward combination with the most effective method to making the trailer able to rotate, which is to lower the tongue as much as possible to unload the trailing tires (so they can skid sideways) and the tongue jack wheel (so it rolls more easily), so it nearly balances on the leading axle. I've only rarely tried to turn a tandem-axle trailer manually, and only enough to line up the coupler with the hitch.

I'm not suggesting turning a trailer this way as something people should plan on doing, rather than choosing a more suitable route, but using the tug as Don suggested certainly makes it a more viable option if stuck.

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by EdColorado

How many people can lift up the hitch on a 400- 450# tongue weight trailer on a crowned road and keep it safely under control while turning it around?

Basically none.

Even if you put a wheel on the jack,
As soon as that heavy trailer gets rolling, there is no stopping it. It’s going exactly where it wants to go in spite of what you might want.

It’s not something I would feel comfortable trying.

Ed

It's not that hard. First you have to have a tongue jack wheel.
https://www.amazon.com/Curt-Manufact...gue+jack+wheel

Second, you chock the wheel that you don't want to move front and back and place a chock a foot in front of the wheel that will move. That will keep the trailer from taking off on you.

Get sideways on the tongue and shove it around. When the moving wheel gets to the chock, move it up another foot and do again.

I've done this to turn a trailer around on a steep driveway and it works. Just keep after the chocks or the trailer will take off on it's own.

[gbaglo]

At what point do I collapse from a heart attack?
I have shifted my 17B with the jack wheel on perfectly smooth surface of my carport. At a campsite on packed gravel, it went nowhere.

[EdColorado]

Interesting ideas about dealing with a making a U-turn in tight quarters. Always a possibility.

I would suggest this to be a two person procedure.

One to do the grunt work and the other standing by with 911 programed into speed dial.


Ed

[rotorbudd]

I have a receiver on the front of my truck and if I ever get to the point that I'll have to do a long, long back up I'll just hookup to the front and drive that sucker back.
I learned that 40 years ago in the Black Forest of West Germany when I had to back a water trailer with a deuce and a half for about 3 miles on a single lane track.

[KMG]

Before I sold my business I drove a truck and trailer for delivery and installation of railroad crossing signals. I found my self stuck in downtown Toronto and couldn't make the turns due to narrow roads. I had to back into a loading dock blocking all lanes of traffic. Unhitched while still blocking all lanes and went around two city blocks and back up to the trailer from the other side. Re hitched and unblocked the road. With traffic it took an hour but there wasn't another option.

[War Eagle]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

I'd think there aren't many bridges with a weight limit as low as 3 tons, but now I'm going to make sure the weight sign "registers" in my brain when I approach an old bridge. I've been paying attention to the clearance signs, fortunately, but didn't think I'd have to be concerned about the weight. Nice Lazy Daze, btw.

We have quite a few old bridges like that in our area, and rather than the County spending the money needed to fix/replace them, the inspectors just keep lowering the weight limits. It can make for wasteful (time and money) school bus routes. Every once in awhile, they just close and abandon a really old bridge, which really ticks off the people affected.

[War Eagle]

Originally Posted by EdColorado

... As soon as that heavy trailer gets rolling, there is no stopping it. It’s going exactly where it wants to go in spite of what you might want. ....

You can always pull the emergency brake pin to activate the trailer's brakes. If that doesn't stop it, then you've got more problems than you thought.

[War Eagle]

Originally Posted by KMG

Before I sold my business I drove a truck and trailer for delivery and installation of railroad crossing signals. I found my self stuck in downtown Toronto and couldn't make the turns due to narrow roads. I had to back into a loading dock blocking all lanes of traffic. Unhitched while still blocking all lanes and went around two city blocks and back up to the trailer from the other side. Re hitched and unblocked the road. With traffic it took an hour but there wasn't another option.

What was your total length on that rig, Kevin? I had an uncle who haul hay back in the 1970's/80's with a 52' flatbed trailer he pulled with an extended frame Peterbilt. The whole thing stretched out to 72' (slightly illegal at the time) - and I thought that rig looked long. But I swear, your's looks longer. Maybe it's just the photo angle.

[War Eagle]

Camper u-turn. This is why newbys should first practice in an open area. Note the video is nearly 5 1/2 minutes, and it's sped up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIHrzcrB_3E

[KMG]

Originally Posted by War Eagle

What was your total length on that rig, Kevin? I had an uncle who haul hay back in the 1970's/80's with a 52' flatbed trailer he pulled with an extended frame Peterbilt. The whole thing stretched out to 72' (slightly illegal at the time) - and I thought that rig looked long. But I swear, your's looks longer. Maybe it's just the photo angle.

Good eye. 74' combined length (44' trailer). A little long for a few states but I was never ticketed. The setup was nice on the job site. It gave us a climate controlled break area with a rest room.

[Hilola]

Speaking of bridges, I'm sure you've all seen this video of "Gallopin' Gertie!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw

[Mike Lewis]

Replicas of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge were built across the country before the problem was realized. One goes to Deer Isle in Maine (it's still there), another one crossed the Penobscot River nearby. After the Tacoma accident the other bridges were retrofitted with various types of bracing. More modern suspension bridges have vents in the roadbed to keep the roadbed from acting as a wing, which is what caused the problem with "Galloping Gertie".


"Engineers of Dreams" is a great book on bridges by engineering professor Henry Petroski.

[Merlin]

Well unhitching to turn around is something I've never heard anyone doing until now. Hats off to those who pulled this off. So I can see this as a necessity on rural roads (don't ask) but the unhitching part is new to me. I'd have to really be stuck to attempt that.


Ok, so I'm surprised that the 5th wheelers have not chimed in. I've done a few 2 lane u-turns with a "5th wheel like" setup that I have. Just needed a couple of feet of shoulder on either side. It's pretty easy.