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| http://www.walmart.com/ip/Brine-Field-Cones/23703540 |
There is absolutely no substitute for serious, focused, dedicated trailer backing practice. Whether you area new to owning a single axle trailer or maybe your trailer has sat idle for many months, this practice.
Always have on hand at least four small orange cones, These are not the heavy, hard cones used by road construction crews. The cones we are talking about are very small, lightweight and collapsible.
The small cones are made to be safe for use in children's soccer games. If a child falls onto one of the cones, the child will not be hurt. The cone will simply collapse. Such cones are sold in most sporting goods stores. Wal-Mart has the best deal on them about $8 for four 9-inch cones.
Simply find a large, empty unused parking lot with few light poles or other obstructions. Use the four cones to create a mock campsite or parking spot. Spend about an hour practicing the art and skills of trailer backing. Make notes that you can review.
If possible, have a spotter help you. The spotter should be wearing an orange vest and carrying an orange flag. That way if stray traffic happens into your practice area, the spotter can wave them off and keep you safe. (For more about the orange vest and flag see this blog post.)
Below are links to various articles on trail backing. Read them all and print them out if you are truly serious about learning the ever-useful skills involved in trailer backing.
No two applications of trailer backing are ever the same. Each time you back up a trailer is a unique experience unto itself. Remember to always, always, ALWAYS scout the area into which you plan to back up. Look for loose debris in your path, check left, right and behind for fixed obstructions. Check the radius through which the tow vehicle will turn. And NEVER forgot to look UP for tree branches, wires or other stray obstacles overhead.
Once you have practiced backing up in a zero-stress practice environment, doing the real thing under pressure will be MUCH easier. It may not be fun, but it's going to be a lot less stressful than it would otherwise be.
Trailer Backing Links
Don't let the name of this website fool you. It is brim full of incredible advice. This is an especially useful article:
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2012/02/06/how-to-back-up-a-trailer-like-a-man/
The purpose of including this short 1:45 video is simply to show a typical practice area setup. The video is from a foreign country where the steering wheel is on the right side of the vehicle. As such, the video isn't very useful but seeing the practice setup is instructive.
https://youtu.be/CDTvoA_uEik
The U-Haul company has probably had to teach more people about trailer backing than any other company in the world...ever. Here is their introductory 2:48 video. It contains a very nice wheelbarrow analogy and helps people focus on the hitch ball--which is really a vital piece of awareness.
https://youtu.be/jo0MLjY8ppU
This particular forum thread has a lot of really good advice.
http://www.scampowners.com/forums/training-backing-trailer
We will post other online advice resources as we find them.
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