How much does your TAIL SWING.....

[Dollytrolley]

So..........How much does your Tail Swing?

 

Seems that truck / tractor layout(s) are all over the map here on the forum and "theories" abound about where the "Sweet-Spot" is regarding wheel base and or hitch location relative to said wheelbase..........

 

Obviously some folks have applied Math, Physics, CAD, VooDoo, and WAG plus consults with Madime-Cloie to arrive at nervanahaa-aa ............

 

Being....... undecided.........the operator of the Dollytrolley has .........decided to not decide too much about the perfect layout and simply make the layout pretty much .....adjustable about 8 feet.........

 

When the Dollytrolley was acquired it had a very basic 12 ft wood bed with the basic RV fifth pin mounted centered between the tandems on a 252" avg wheelbase........

 

The Dollyhauler 30ft tt toybox is your basic 12K tandem cheep toybox that we try to keep in the 9K range gross with about 1,000 to 1,200 on the hitch ball......

 

With the 12 ft bed I built a U-frame drop receiver hitch off the end of the tractor frame about 3 ft behind the centerline of the rear driver axle.

 

The end of frame hitch was not a great location and the short axle to hitch arm did not making sharp turns much fun.....

 

The second configuration used on the Dollytrolley is when we remove the 12 ft flat bed and then mount the 20 ft Morgan cargo box with roll-up back door and 4 ft curb-side door. Obviously the hitch on the 20 ft box is waaay back...........about 13 Feet aft of the tandem avg centerline..........

 

Now before folks start fainting and over-dosing on Dr. P. just take a stroll around the RV park and start measuring motor homes...........MANY motor homes have 13 feet behind the rear axle and some have even more........

So.......what are my thoughts about short versus long tail-swing.

 

I tend to prefer Long-Tail swing.......sorta

I like the way the trailer closely tracks the truck track on most turns.

I do have to be VERY careful that the large outside-turn-swing does not hit other vehicles or objects when turning moderately or sharply.........sharp turns can scribe the rear corner of the box 3 FEET outside the truck wheel tracks.

 

Inversely the backing up of the trailer is vastly improved by the fairly responsive nature of the large tail-swing being able to make fairly large trailer turns with fairly small truck movements.

 

The large tail-swing allows me to load considerable masses at each of the load-arm and this tends to make the old Shakers air-suspension much more active and the ride is MUCH better.......everyone is amazed at the difference ….......with the truck riding better the hitch and the trailer rides better as well …..win/ win.....

 

Obviously the shorter 12 foot flat bed is a better fit in a crowded parking lot.

 

The shorter rig allowed towing a longer RV while remaining at the legal 65 ft RV combined limit in most states. With the 20 ft cargo box and the 30 ft Dollyhauler we are just at 64 ft 8 inches......just legal....

 

The best thing about the 20 foot cargo box is also the worst thing..........a lot of cargo space......and sometimes too much space.......

 

Often we fill the 330 gallon water tote into the front left corner, then load a TON of Dolly-hay on the shelf above the tote then a TON of horse tack and tools and camping gear and generators and, and.......then I load the Honda quad through the curb-side door and then I load the Suzuki Samaria through the rear roll up door and then slide the 16 ft X 18” wide fiberglass arched ramps in flush with the wall next to Sammy and still have almost 2 feet to walk along side the Sammy........

 

The downside of the cargo box is that you do not know how many friends you have until a “few” of them want something moved and want to use the truck.........I tell them thats what U-Haul rentals are for.........Dollytrolley is registered as a motor home and it is best to just haul ONLY our own “treasures”

 

Our one-horse removable module that we install in the Dollyhauler makes it so that we are not ask to haul other folks horses so we have a iron-clad case that we are 100% private RV use as a HDT.

 

The basic Dollytrolley with the small M11 Cummins and a 12 K front axle has never been loaded above 9 K on the steer and with the 20 ft cargo box I can carry a fairly large load aft of the tandems and still keep the steer axle / tires fairly light and of course loading the tandems is just making the ride better.....win / win.......

 

So what is your tail-swing ?

 

Drive on.........(Watch your......tail)

[CrazyCooter]

Mine is right at 7' axle to center of hitch. Another funky dynamic is the Ti front cap on the 5er that is 6' in front of the hitch.......Pretty easy to take out the fuel island in a tight station if not paying attention!

[GlennWest]

Yes, tail swing cost me a scratch on my Teton last week. We a lot longer now and I turned a little too soon. My hitch is 150" from back of cab

[sclord2002]

Just last week, as we were lumbering down the highway on the way back home to SC from Colorado, I was talking to my wife about this. I have developed a pretty good feel for the off-tracking of the trailer tires but I do not have a good feel for tail swing. I have had her watch when I thought it might be a problem and , so far, we have cleared everything. I do know that coming out of a jack knife position, it swings like crazy while trying to rip the tires from the wheels and the axles from the frame. I try hard to keep out of such extreme maneuvers but you know what they say about the unexpected [that you don't expect it]. Maybe I need to make a little wooden truck and camper to scale and go play in the sand box with it. I sure don't know how to CAD it !! I would be happy to provide my dimensions if someone wants to do a CAD simulation before I do a real-time crunch. I'm a little concerned that my wife will be just out of mirror view jumping up and down, waving her arms and yelling as I merrily mangle a rear corner of the trailer and who-knows-what-else. Be safe [and drive as straight as is practical].

[Steve from SoCal]

Charlie,

 

When you pulled out of my shop I was watching as you turned to the left. I don't know if you recall a white and orange trailer to the right of your trailer, you cleared it by inches!

 

I am not used to the huge swing on my Teton, all my other trailers have far less rear overhang. To get my Teton where I park it I have to use my forklift, truck is too long and pin too close to rear axle.

 

Steve

[sclord2002]

Wow, Steve....I'm glad that I cleared it. I thought that I would have room to spare on that trailer. just goes to show that I really do need to get a better handle on the tail swing in relation to the tightness of the turn. On another note.....thank you for your hospitality, the tour and for knowing where to get that great BBQ. We really enjoyed our visit with you. I don't suppose you would believe that I knew that I would clear that trailer by mere inches, would you ??? Nah, I didn't think so.......Sometimes I just get lucky. Now to the sandbox to play with my little wooden truck and trailer...... Charlie

[Dollytrolley]

Mine is right at 7' axle to center of hitch. Another funky dynamic is the Ti front cap on the 5er that is 6' in front of the hitch.......Pretty easy to take out the fuel island in a tight station if not paying attention!

 

Yes, tail swing cost me a scratch on my Teton last week. We a lot longer now and I turned a little too soon. My hitch is 150" from back of cab

 

Just last week, as we were lumbering down the highway on the way back home to SC from Colorado, I was talking to my wife about this. I have developed a pretty good feel for the off-tracking of the trailer tires but I do not have a good feel for tail swing. I have had her watch when I thought it might be a problem and , so far, we have cleared everything. I do know that coming out of a jack knife position, it swings like crazy while trying to rip the tires from the wheels and the axles from the frame. I try hard to keep out of such extreme maneuvers but you know what they say about the unexpected [that you don't expect it]. Maybe I need to make a little wooden truck and camper to scale and go play in the sand box with it. I sure don't know how to CAD it !! I would be happy to provide my dimensions if someone wants to do a CAD simulation before I do a real-time crunch. I'm a little concerned that my wife will be just out of mirror view jumping up and down, waving her arms and yelling as I merrily mangle a rear corner of the trailer and who-knows-what-else. Be safe [and drive as straight as is practical].

 

Charlie,

 

When you pulled out of my shop I was watching as you turned to the left. I don't know if you recall a white and orange trailer to the right of your trailer, you cleared it by inches!

 

I am not used to the huge swing on my Teton, all my other trailers have far less rear overhang. To get my Teton where I park it I have to use my forklift, truck is too long and pin too close to rear axle.

 

Steve

 

Wow, Steve....I'm glad that I cleared it. I thought that I would have room to spare on that trailer. just goes to show that I really do need to get a better handle on the tail swing in relation to the tightness of the turn. On another note.....thank you for your hospitality, the tour and for knowing where to get that great BBQ. We really enjoyed our visit with you. I don't suppose you would believe that I knew that I would clear that trailer by mere inches, would you ??? Nah, I didn't think so.......Sometimes I just get lucky. Now to the sandbox to play with my little wooden truck and trailer...... Charlie

 

 

Ya know folks...... Charlie jokes about the little wooden truck and the sandbox and he is really very close to what is a real teaching tool that can help us with our rigs...........

 

Indeed there is a couple of computer programs that "simulate" the interaction of a truck and trailer in various wheel and tail-swing tracking but to tell the truth the computer that really counts is....... really between our ears....it just a fact of day to day truck & trailer operations......

 

Perhaps a another "Grumps" chapter of truck life might be useful here.......

 

As a "kid" I was a "child-slave-labor-victim" in that I had "equipment-chores" such as changing oil / filters/ tires/ brakes etc.....and as such I had to move all kinds of equipment around various locations including a very large log dump on the back side of a large saw mill near our truck yard.......

 

Now "Grumps" was pretty "grumpy" when it came to equipment scraping into things and when equipment bumped into other equipment he became way more than "grumpy" because he contended that even the most "inept-operator" simply had to know where his "machine" was at EVERY point in time.........Gulp and so...........BEFORE I was "allowed" to move ANY "equipment" around I HAD to PROVE to "Grumps" that I could drive forward, backwards, and even sideways AND "knew" where my wheels AND tail-swings were at ALL times.......so here is the important point..........."Grumps" used Charlie's-truck-in-the-sandbox method .........sorta........"Grumps" would make me drive around and around and around a LOT in the back of the log dump with a bunch of old oil cans placed in evil-patterns and if I ran over a oil-can I was subject to the wrath-of-"Grumps"..........once I got to where I did NOT run over the oil cans then "Grumps" turned up the heat a bunch in that I had to hang drag-chains at the tail-swing points and then start the whole torture all over again........"Grumps" would not just let me drive around willy-nilly, Oh-no I had to get out and look and study all of the tire tracks AND the drag-chain marks and ........IF .....any of the drag-chain-tracks were on the WRONG side of the oil can from the tire tracks it turned out that I was on the "Walk-of-shame" and "Grumps" was.........."grumpeer-even-more............

 

Once in a while I would get "Grumpy-myself" and this never turned out very well because I would "mention" that he had placed the oil cans into a too-evil-of-a-pattern and that the truck and trailer could not make the track through the oil-can-maze.........real bad dare on my part.......”Grumps” would get that evil grin on his face and pour a full cup of coffee into his Stanley Stainless Thermos Cup and then crawl up into the cab of the truck and then with the coffee in one hand drive the truck through the oil can maze and then STOP and then still with the coffee in one hand.......”Grumps” would back up through the oil can maze.........then still grinning......”Grumps” would get out of the truck and say........”well Einstein, just follow my tire tracks and.....the oil cans will be safe...(ya like I could even follow his tire tracks)........

 

As a dumb-kid I was sure that soon I would get to be better at getting the rigs through the oil-can-mazes but....... it really never happened...... I was just several million miles short on the moxie needed to beat “Grumps” but......after a while I actually came to value the lessons out in the log yard in that maybe I could not out-drive “Grumps” but....... I was able to get by without running into things and at the end of the day that is a pretty good lesson to learn......

 

Log yards are not everywhere anymore and most that still exist are behind locked gates so I take the Dollytrolley out into the local state owned gravel yards and make tire tracks and run over a few empty antifreeze jugs........the only thing missing is.......”Grumps” grinning and backing-up with a coffee cup in one hand and a Camel hanging out of the corner of his mouth and making tire tracks...... for me to follow..........

 

Drive on.........(How did “Grumps” do that......)

 

[forxlr8n]

Now before folks start fainting and over-dosing on Dr. P. just take a stroll around the RV park and start measuring motor homes...........MANY motor homes have 13 feet behind the rear axle and some have even more........

 

 

Most shouldn't ever pull a trailer either, just saying. monkey see monkey do isn't always the best practice.

 

My comment isn't for HDT just those motor homes that weld/bolt in a 3" channel to add 6 extra ft to the RV.

[GlennWest]

One other item that got me is my hitch is at the end of my truck. My Teton responds almost instantly to any turning. I had with the dually a latency before Teton moved.

[peety3]

The second configuration used on the Dollytrolley is when we remove the 12 ft flat bed and then mount the 20 ft Morgan cargo box with roll-up back door and 4 ft curb-side door. Obviously the hitch on the 20 ft box is waaay back...........about 13 Feet aft of the tandem avg centerline..........

 

Now before folks start fainting and over-dosing on Dr. P. just take a stroll around the RV park and start measuring motor homes...........MANY motor homes have 13 feet behind the rear axle and some have even more........

 

The large tail-swing allows me to load considerable masses at each of the load-arm and this tends to make the old Shakers air-suspension much more active and the ride is MUCH better.......everyone is amazed at the difference ….......with the truck riding better the hitch and the trailer rides better as well …..win/ win.....

 

The basic Dollytrolley with the small M11 Cummins and a 12 K front axle has never been loaded above 9 K on the steer and with the 20 ft cargo box I can carry a fairly large load aft of the tandems and still keep the steer axle / tires fairly light and of course loading the tandems is just making the ride better.....win / win.......

So..........How much does your Tail Swing?

Sure would be nice if you'd pick one topic, one thought, and tell one story with it, preferably with a 50% discount on the return key. Sure, motor homes might have a 13' tail, but they're also limited to a bumper hitch, which limits the weight (and weight transfer possible). I'm not impressed that you seem to have a goal of keeping the steer tires light...you WANT weight there for steering control. Those long "load-arms" you brag about give you extreme ability to mess up your weight & balance - yes, remaining as a tandem rig gives you a lot of latitude, but it also means a lot more ability to screw it up. But hey, it's your rig, your call.

 

I've learned a lot in my not-so-many years on this Earth, and I've learned to respect the law, as it's more often than not based on sound logic. At least with respect to weight laws, braking capacity, etc., I believe this to be true. I think back on some of the fire trucks I've driven, and just shake my head: a ladder truck that we'd all say was "singled", weighing in at 47k (fat steer tires but still ~20k on the front, not sure it was legal by the weight-per-inch-of-tread rules, and 27k on the drive axle, well over the 20k for a single axle limit). A rear-engine fire truck that got sent back to the factory because the rear axle was overweight, which necessitated a new axle, which screwed up the driveline angles and it always dripped axle lube as a result. A platform ladder that was 73k on three axles...the front was so heavy it had dual power steering units (yet it still had massive steering problems, and unfixable alignment issues so the tail tracked 6" to the right of the front). Ugh.

[Dollytrolley]

Sure would be nice if you'd pick one topic, one thought, and tell one story with it, preferably with a 50% discount on the return key. Sure, motor homes might have a 13' tail, but they're also limited to a bumper hitch, which limits the weight (and weight transfer possible). I'm not impressed that you seem to have a goal of keeping the steer tires light...you WANT weight there for steering control. Those long "load-arms" you brag about give you extreme ability to mess up your weight & balance - yes, remaining as a tandem rig gives you a lot of latitude, but it also means a lot more ability to screw it up. But hey, it's your rig, your call.

 

I've learned a lot in my not-so-many years on this Earth, and I've learned to respect the law, as it's more often than not based on sound logic. At least with respect to weight laws, braking capacity, etc., I believe this to be true. I think back on some of the fire trucks I've driven, and just shake my head: a ladder truck that we'd all say was "singled", weighing in at 47k (fat steer tires but still ~20k on the front, not sure it was legal by the weight-per-inch-of-tread rules, and 27k on the drive axle, well over the 20k for a single axle limit). A rear-engine fire truck that got sent back to the factory because the rear axle was overweight, which necessitated a new axle, which screwed up the driveline angles and it always dripped axle lube as a result. A platform ladder that was 73k on three axles...the front was so heavy it had dual power steering units (yet it still had massive steering problems, and unfixable alignment issues so the tail tracked 6" to the right of the front). Ugh.

Good morning Peety,

 

Indeed you bring some....."spice"....to the subject(s) this morning.

 

Not to drift too far from the subject(s) .....but today I have to drive down to the center of Portland and spend most of the day with the mom-n-laws elder-care-lawyers so.......maybe I will come back and be some kind of expert of sorts on the subject that you touched on regarding the respect of the LAW......

 

You bring up a few things for me (and others) to "chew on" so stay tuned........

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

Drive on.........(so how good is a $450 / hour lawyer?)

[Star Dreamer]

Trailer tail swing is much more a problem than truck tail swing because you limited on how tight a turning radius you have on the truck. With the trailer you can do a jack knife and litteraly pull the trailer in a tight circle using the inside tires as a pivot point. I do not recommend this. On our triple axle trailer that maximum swing equals 17'6", almost double the 102" trailer width. The best way to reduce swing is to always be moving forward while gradually turning which reduces the impact of the swing instead of turning sharply. Avoid hooking up your trailer with the truck already turned and not in a straight line as you will immeaditily start swinging the back of the trailer as you try to move forward or be sure you have space to allow for the swing.

 

Dave

[Randyretired]

Our HDT has 9' from the center of the tandem axles and the hitch. The truck pulls good and is stable. The tail swing is noticeable but with in reason. However the feel of the truck makes me feel that more might be to much. We have used this setup for about 10 years now and it has served us well but I wouldn't want to go longer.

[Dollytrolley]

Sure would be nice if you'd pick one topic, one thought, and tell one story with it, preferably with a 50% discount on the return key.

 

Good evening Peety.....

 

Having spent most of the day in a glass room with lawyers all around..........I have to agree with your statement " Sure would be nice if you pick one topic and tell one story" well today I went to address ONE SUBJECT and at the end of $3,800 of lawyer fees the ONE SUBJECT seemed to lead to TWO SUBJECTS and those turned into TEN SUBJECTS...........sorta subject creep..........seems subject creep happens......

 

Peety you typed:

Sure, motor homes might have a 13' tail, but they're also limited to a bumper hitch, which limits the weight (and weight transfer possible).

 

You are correct that many motor homes are pulling with bumper hitch and some are towing very large "stacker type trailers" that are large or larger than many fifth wheel trailers.

 

Peety you typed:

I'm not impressed that you seem to have a goal of keeping the steer tires light...you WANT weight there for steering control. Those long "load-arms" you brag about give you extreme ability to mess up your weight & balance - yes, remaining as a tandem rig gives you a lot of latitude, but it also means a lot more ability to screw it up. But hey, it's your rig, your call.

 

You know Peety........ I had no idea that I might or NOT impress you......it's likely that my typing is the most "impressive thing about me" and likely everything else about me would really NOT impress most anyone.......as far as my goals of keeping the Dollytrolley front axle in the 8k to 9k range this has worked very well and I have had ZERO "steering control" problems and a moderately loaded tire is a far more reliable tire than a highly loaded tire ....... my goal of no tire exceeding 80% rated load has served us well....

 

As far as my "Brag" of long load arms...... this statement simply is false......I AM a expert on weight and balance and have calculated several THOUSANDS of weight & balance solutions in LIFE-CRITICAL aviation, marine, trucking and critical-lift-crane operations AND I have NEVER had adverse weight & balance incident on my watch. I have ZERO "mess-up's" with weight and balance with the loading of the Dolleytrolley because it has a dedicated LIVE data spreadsheet that calculates my loads BEFORE I load the truck AND trailer.

 

Peety you typed:

I've learned a lot in my not-so-many years on this Earth, and I've learned to respect the law, as it's more often than not based on sound logic. At least with respect to weight laws, braking capacity, etc., I believe this to be true. I think back on some of the fire trucks I've driven, and just shake my head: a ladder truck that we'd all say was "singled", weighing in at 47k (fat steer tires but still ~20k on the front, not sure it was legal by the weight-per-inch-of-tread rules, and 27k on the drive axle, well over the 20k for a single axle limit). A rear-engine fire truck that got sent back to the factory because the rear axle was overweight, which necessitated a new axle, which screwed up the driveline angles and it always dripped axle lube as a result. A platform ladder that was 73k on three axles...the front was so heavy it had dual power steering units (yet it still had massive steering problems, and unfixable alignment issues so the tail tracked 6" to the right of the front). Ugh.

 

I have to agree with you that some Special-Use-Rigs can be a real pig to drive with less than ideal weight distribution(s) but that is the name of the game in special use rigs much of the time. Your special use rig examples really illustrate why often we see these rigs with super-low miles for sale in the used truck market.......almost no one would drive these pigs unless they had no other choice.

 

As far as my original post regarding tail-swing it is a subject that can and often does involve other dynamics in truck and trailer operations so it is natural that some related subjects will likely be valid subjects to consider.

 

Drive on..........(truck and trailer operations can be......"interesting")

[Steve from SoCal]

Peety,

 

You may not realize it but the Dolly driver, myself and a number of others here that operate aircraft HAVE to calculate weight and balance for every flight. From confirming that the Cg is within the the envelope to determining the amount of runway required, knowing how much and, where the weight is SOP.

 

While Dolly may ramble a bit, he is well schooled on Newton's laws.

 

Steve

[Dollytrolley]

One other item that got me is my hitch is at the end of my truck. My Teton responds almost instantly to any turning. I had with the dually a latency before Teton moved.

 

Great point Glenn.

 

With the typical pickup fifth wheel hitch centered or near to the rear axle you effectively have almost no tail-swing so.......a common "scrape & bump" incident with pickup fifth-wheelers is the FRONT-SWING uh-ho where the driver is having to turn the pickup hard while concentrating on looking at the mirrors / backup cam and fails to notice the front-swing of the truck and makes unwanted contact with objects near the front of the truck.

 

Drive on........(uh-ho......where is the front of the truck?)

[peety3]

Good evening Peety.....

 

As far as my "Brag" of long load arms...... this statement simply is false......I AM a expert on weight and balance and have calculated several THOUSANDS of weight & balance solutions in LIFE-CRITICAL aviation, marine, trucking and critical-lift-crane operations AND I have NEVER had adverse weight & balance incident on my watch. I have ZERO "mess-up's" with weight and balance with the loading of the Dolleytrolley because it has a dedicated LIVE data spreadsheet that calculates my loads BEFORE I load the truck AND trailer.

 

Heaven forbid I chime in with some opinions....several of you folks have too much compressed gas sitting next to your keyboards for your own d... good. You're not going to scare me off, but keep it up too much and I'll fire right back.

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Come on gentleman, this might be one of those times that you need to agree to disagree.

[Dollytrolley]

Heaven forbid I chime in with some opinions....several of you folks have too much compressed gas sitting next to your keyboards for your own d... good. You're not going to scare me off, but keep it up too much and I'll fire right back.

 

Shucks Peety,

 

After spending most of the day yesterday in a glass room being hammered by a bunch of Elder-Lawyers your post was a breath-of-fresh-air........

 

For the most part your opinions were right on the mark......so have a cool Dr. P and enjoy the ride.....

 

As for me..... late last night I poured a glass of wine and sat out on the high-deck and watched the tugs tail-swing around a few large cargo ships and then head them down the Columbia River full of wheat and logs bound to China and Japan.......shucks trucks are not the only tail-swingers.....

 

Drive on.........(keep the swing under......control)

[Dollytrolley]

Come on gentleman, this might be one of those times that you need to agree to disagree.

 

Georgia,

 

Right on.

 

Drive on.....(try to not get too....heavy)

[rickeieio]

Come on gentleman, this might be one of those times that you need to agree to disagree.

I'd love to sit around a campfire and egg these two on. But then I might become a target.....

 

Good debate makes for great ideas. Keep it up.

[Dollytrolley]

I'd love to sit around a campfire and egg these two on. But then I might become a target.....

 

Good debate makes for great ideas. Keep it up.

 

Rick,

 

You build the campfire........I'll bring a couple of the mom-n-laws elder-lawyers and......we'll throw them on the fire....(lawyer joke)

 

Seems like the "swing-thing" can lead to a bit of spice in the debate......who would have guessed that geezers could be so lively

 

Back to the thread it seems that most of the "swing-training" is a on-the-job thing without much thought given to going out to the "back 40" and making a few figure-8's and then looking where the tire tracks and tail(s)-swing..........maybe farmers have it made with those easy to drive farm rigs...(ya right....) after all, if ya hook the gate or tear the corner off the barn just dial 1-eighthundred-fix-tha-farm......right?

 

From my haying days on the uncles ranch I recall a lot of "sporty-ranch-rigs" that were a handful to keep in the ruts (or out-of-the-ruts) at times

 

Whats your favorite "tail-swing"?

 

Drive on........(how wide is that .......is that combine?)

[Scrap]

No way man, always carry a pitchfork and bail off a piece early to do your opening round on the other side of the hill from the other guy. You can stretch and splice a fence and pile a monster pile of tumbleweeds in front of it that you can blame on the wind for a good year! I can't say it has been without incident but 50ft - 60ft of drills and rodweeders have been natural most of my life. The 80ft sprayer I keep failing at. I gotta autosteer it. Not that I do it often, but hat thing has been my limit.

 

I demo'd a couple of those new mini excavators with the tall skinny weight (not sure what they're called) and they are pretty cool. You couldn't hit anything if you tried! Was looking at a line of CAT 325F's the other day and see they are doing that to the big ones too. Seems like with a truck a guy ought to be able to CAD his front turn circle, map his follow circle, and design his bed tail to get a similar effect. They make those rubber posted marker lights that'll give you some leeway width wise now.

 

Years of Long Loggers and Grumps never poked a radiator?

[Dollytrolley]

No way man, always carry a pitchfork and bail off a piece early to do your opening round on the other side of the hill from the other guy. You can stretch and splice a fence and pile a monster pile of tumbleweeds in front of it that you can blame on the wind for a good year! I can't say it has been without incident but 50ft - 60ft of drills and rodweeders have been natural most of my life. The 80ft sprayer I keep failing at. I gotta autosteer it. Not that I do it often, but hat thing has been my limit.

 

I demo'd a couple of those new mini excavators with the tall skinny weight (not sure what they're called) and they are pretty cool. You couldn't hit anything if you tried! Was looking at a line of CAT 325F's the other day and see they are doing that to the big ones too. Seems like with a truck a guy ought to be able to CAD his front turn circle, map his follow circle, and design his bed tail to get a similar effect. They make those rubber posted marker lights that'll give you some leeway width wise now.

 

Years of Long Loggers and Grumps never poked a radiator?

 

Scrap,

 

And all this time I just thought that you was just one of those pretty faces with the shiny patent-leather-pimp-side-zipper-trucker-boots at the big-time trucker shows........now we find out that maybe you know what the South end of a North-bound cow looks like........just a farm-kid at the core??

 

That "monster-pile-of-tumble-weeds" is a work of art when it is hiding a 1/8 mile of down-fence AND the weeds are woven in such a way to stay in place no matter witch-way-the-wind-blows.........

 

Of course farm-kids when they grow up simply are able to master anything that moves because farm equipment has every type of ....tail-swing, front-swing, side-swing, top-swing, bottom-swing and all-swings ever imagined and sooner or later it seems that you will have to drive this mess down a busy highway for a few miles with not much more than a dirty old red shop rag or two wired to the overhang(s)........

 

I am not sure loggers, farmers or ranchers should be allowed to operate a RV because most RV's just seem to fit the average road much better than the "odd-sized" farm and log equipment that they are used to. Over-size and odd-size is just the way this equipment is built so these folks just assume that tail-swing-overwidth-overhung-overweight.....is just a fact of life.....and it is.

 

Drive on.......(give the farmer the .....right-of-way)

[Dollytrolley]

 

Years of Long Loggers and Grumps never poked a radiator?

 

Scrap .....you been peeking again......

 

Funny you mentioned "Grumps" poking the radiator ......

 

The day "Grumps" laid the ole "needle-nose-54 KW" in the ditch and pitched me through the passenger-side-windshield the shutterstats were wide open and that darn radiator got packed FULL tight with Pumice (Pumice is a Central Oregon Volcanic stone so light weight it floats in water, Pumice is the active abrasive in Lava brand hand soap).

 

Of course as the old KW cooled off while laying on it's side in the ditch the shutterstats closed and further entombed the radiator in more pumice.

 

Of course being a child-slave of a gypo-logger the next day after the wreck I was given the job of removing the shutterstats and getting the packed full-of-pumice-radiator out of the truck and then when the radiator was taken down to Lars Stinely radiator shop, I was given a tiny radiator-fin-comb and started my very short career in apprentice-radiator-repair-slave.

 

For the most part "Grumps" was pretty careful NOT allowing anything to poke the trucks because he or (his child-slave....me) had to fix whatever got poked......

 

Drive on.......(what is a ......shutterstat)