A possible uk road train?

Video 2 gives a good idea of how tight they can turn

Credit to the driver, because that looks like a GIT to reverse

Think about how versatile it is. The full lot for trunks. The back trailer could be hooked up to a unit to do mulit drop or trunk plus you have the box riged to also do multi drop.

waynedl:
Credit to the driver, because that looks like a GIT to reverse

Not really. (Git to reverse, that is!)
In fact it will be a bit easier to reverse than a standard A frame drawbar.
Longer trailers are usually easier to reverse than short ones, as they don’t “break out” so quickly and therefore the reverse is easier to control.

The only thing that this driver has to do is to ensure that he gets the whole rig dead straight on the dock in order to be able to open the “run through” doors and drop the internal ramp between the unit and trailer.

I always wondered why they didnt go for a set up similat to what they have in scandinavia, seems a lot better then the B-train Denby had and Roadtrain Stan Robinson had come up with, only one articulation point is surely a better idea.

Inselaffe:

waynedl:
Credit to the driver, because that looks like a GIT to reverse

Not really. (Git to reverse, that is!)
In fact it will be a bit easier to reverse than a standard A frame drawbar.

Yeah, but A frame draw bars are also a git

waynedl:
Yeah, but A frame draw bars are also a git

Horses for courses, fella.
I’ve been driving A frames for about 20 years, but sit me in an artic or tandem and I will invariably reverse like Stevie Wonder until my addled brain works out which way to turn the steering wheel thingy

That looks like a lot of fun

Inselaffe:

waynedl:
Yeah, but A frame draw bars are also a git

Horses for courses, fella.
I’ve been driving A frames for about 20 years, but sit me in an artic or tandem and I will invariably reverse like Stevie Wonder until my addled brain works out which way to turn the steering wheel thingy

so give us a clue about how to reverse an a frame please.

Inselaffe:

waynedl:
Credit to the driver, because that looks like a GIT to reverse

Not really. (Git to reverse, that is!)
In fact it will be a bit easier to reverse than a standard A frame drawbar.
Longer trailers are usually easier to reverse than short ones, as they don’t “break out” so quickly and therefore the reverse is easier to control.

Having reversed 28 foot,40 ft and 45 ft artic trailers that’s true believe it or not and an A frame drawbar outfit is not much more difficult to reverse than an artic although the standard present lenghth drawbar trailers are a bit more difficult for exactly the reasons Inselaffe gave there.

nickyboy:
I always wondered why they didnt go for a set up similat to what they have in scandinavia, seems a lot better then the B-train Denby had and Roadtrain Stan Robinson had come up with, only one articulation point is surely a better idea.

No they’ve both got two points of articulation but the A frame drawbar is more practical because it can handle more weight than a B train type artic outfit and even a proper roadtrain like Stan Robinson’s would’nt be impossible to reverse with 3 points of articulation.

glenman:

Inselaffe:

waynedl:
Yeah, but A frame draw bars are also a git

Horses for courses, fella.
I’ve been driving A frames for about 20 years, but sit me in an artic or tandem and I will invariably reverse like Stevie Wonder until my addled brain works out which way to turn the steering wheel thingy

so give us a clue about how to reverse an a frame please.

Use the opposite steering inputs that you’d use for the artic but not as much lock and a lot more often.Unless it’s a Stan Robinson roadtrain with a tractor/semi/A frame drawbar set up with three points of articulation then it would be the same direction inputs as the artic but still not as much lock and more often

Reversing an A-frame

1. DO’NOT take a long shunt forward to get a nice straight run back on the door, you’ll only screw it up and have to take another cut at it.
2. When taking the inevitable next cut at it, just pull far enough forward so that the front trailer axle and truck are lined up to start steering where you want to go.
3. Concentrate on steering the front trailer axle, rather than the trailer as a whole.
   (This seems daft but it’s the easiest way of explaining it)
4. Learn the ‘Point of No Return’, of your rig. Once your bent beyond this point, you’ll never get it back.
5. Practise, practise, practise. When you think you’ve got it, practise some more.

Once you get half way decent at doing it, you can reverse back straighter for longer. Then you can take a longer shunt forward and you’ll take fewer and fewer cuts at it.
After a month or so, it’ll get fairly easy. A reverse will start to become ‘a challenge to get on the bay in 1 and a cut’, rather than a ‘hope I get it on in under 10’, .
BUT you’ll always have the days when you start to wonder if you’ve actually learned anything in the last few weeks.

I started playing with A-frames when I was 12 or 13, reversing two farm trailers hitched on a tractor.
It takes me at least 2 shifts to get back into reversing them something like.
A few more shifts to begin to feel reasonably confident.
I’ve never felt as if I was getting good at reversing them.
I’ve never done more than a few months at a time on an A-frame trailer set-up though, the last time was around 12 years ago.
I always enjoyed my time driving A-frames, they follow really well around bends and are very stable.
Then there’s the extra challenge of getting it on a door in 1, and the look a proper, knowledgeable driver gives you when you do , or even if you just do a decent job of it.

always liked watching the continentals reversing them when out there,also watching them strip a trailer,the tilt types.