im talking a wagon n drag up north tommorow im a bit nervous as i never done it before .do u have to pull out more because of trailer or does it just follow the same line as the rigid tyres?. also whats reversing like would you say its easier or harder than a artic ?
not done much but shunted them about the yard a bit. reversing is weird but u will get used to it. if u have reversed a 30’ trailer with a single axle u no it turns much quicker and it can get away from u. wagon and drag is worse, the slightest turn sends it out. theats if its drawbar. if its an a-frame its apparently worse, nigh on impossible, never tried it tho.
Depends if its a caravan or an ‘A’ bar set-up ? Normally you can stick closer to the kerb on corners . If you have an ‘A’ frame just get the nearest Swiss to reverse , they’re usually pretty good at that sort of thing . If its a caravan then its the same as an artic to reverse .
In the C+E reverse post via the link in my signature has a video of a W&D reversing
–bob–:
not done much but shunted them about the yard a bit. reversing is weird but u will get used to it. if u have reversed a 30’ trailer with a single axle u no it turns much quicker and it can get away from u. wagon and drag is worse, the slightest turn sends it out. theats if its drawbar. if its an a-frame its apparently worse, nigh on impossible, never tried it tho.
Our company driving test for A frames was reverse it in an S through a series of cones about a truck and a half’s length apart finishing up in a box nearly the same width.Then reverse it through 90 degrees onto the dock between two artic 45 footers and it’s even more difficult with picking up demounts.The impossible just takes a little bit longer that’s all.
ROG:
In the C+E reverse post via the link in my signature has a video of a W&D reversing
Most of the driving schools round here only use caravan jobs to train and test on I just feel sorry for those blokes when they get a job using ‘real’ ones.
But in UK the 'real ’ ones aren’t real at all . Unless the tow-bar is 2m then they are v. difficult to reverse with any precision .
harry:
But in UK the 'real ’ ones aren’t real at all . Unless the tow-bar is 2m then they are v. difficult to reverse with any precision .
The ones I used were all German A frame outfits used all over Europe to the same spec with the same firm just registered wherever they were based and precision does’nt come much more precise than the distance between the legs of a demount.
German ,Swiss have got it right . Their construction & design laws for W+D are worked out .In UK its up to the buyers or makers fancy .There is no clear conformity ; some are long ,some are short tow-bars,nothing uniform .( wrong word but… ) On SCA I drove a W+D where the front axle of the trailer was a fifth wheel dolly . Take that up & down the Blanc in the snow & that’d make yer boots fit . 
harry:
German ,Swiss have got it right . Their construction & design laws for W+D are worked out .In UK its up to the buyers or makers fancy .There is no clear conformity ; some are long ,some are short tow-bars,nothing uniform .( wrong word but… ) On SCA I drove a W+D where the front axle of the trailer was a fifth wheel dolly . Take that up & down the Blanc in the snow & that’d make yer boots fit .
The yanks and Canadians and the showmen here have been using dollys for years to link up artic trailers to rigids and other semi trailers.I don’t know if it’s the length of the A frame which is so much of an issue as the different types of prime mover like overhang and swing?.I always found that it was much worse with the lifting tag axle up and therefore more overhang and tail sweep than with it left down.My guess is that reversing is actually easier with a long bar as possible and short overhang on the prime mover.But I’d prefer a wagon and drag up there coming down the Blanc in the snow ,wether it’s got a fifth wheel dolly or a turntable,than a 4x2 Unit and Tri Axle Trailer anytime?.
?
i think its a caravan twin axels right in the middle i trained on a 20 ft ex rank hovis trailer single axle right at back so am i looking at the same charateristics as that when reversing?
Beats me . But if its caravan you can stick close to the kerb on bends & reverse the same as an artic…you cracked it ! Have a nice trip . The ride is smoother than an artic …
harry:
A couple of mine .
As it happens the truck was an old Maggie D, 3 ax auto diff-lock, altho it was v.unreliable when it was going it would go up & down the French side like a train .You never needed chains .The trailer was a 2 ax contraption .
Thanks Harry now those photos are what I call trucks but I’d have ordered the prime movers in 6x4 configuration not 4x2 and that typical Italian 6x2.I’ve got a photo of an old Italian 55 tonne tanker in 8X2 spec with a 4 axle trailer somewhere which I took over there years ago.I drove an old bonneted Maggie 6x4 gritter and snow plough years ago when I was on the council.I thought it was a lovely motor.We also had Atkis and Foden 6X4’s as well.Can’t beat double drive in crap weather.My first artic unit was an old 1979 2800 with the 12 speed constant mesh box and it went like a train so I liked the photo of the DAF prime mover.I’d have preferred to be driving that wagon and drag outfit on international instead of my artic on uk night trunking anytime though.
–bob–:
if its an a-frame its apparently worse, nigh on impossible, never tried it tho.
as in everything practice makes perfect, drove A frames for years for several companies and there is not a better ride around once you have got the knack of reversing them
Vascoingles:
–bob–:
if its an a-frame its apparently worse, nigh on impossible, never tried it tho.as in everything practice makes perfect, drove A frames for years for several companies and there is not a better ride around once you have got the knack of reversing them
As Vascoingles has posted Practise is what counts
and once you have it down to a ““T”” then you will never wish to change
You’ll love it Chris, usually tracks where the unit goes does not cut in like an artic, although slight tendency to cut in on sharp corners. As for reversing snaps quicker so take it slow and make sure you have enough room in front as you swing the unit around, as for the ride no more nodding dogs.
What you driving?
howatsi:
You’ll love it Chris, usually tracks where the unit goes does not cut in like an artic, although slight tendency to cut in on sharp corners. As for reversing snaps quicker so take it slow and make sure you have enough room in front as you swing the unit around, as for the ride no more nodding dogs.
What you driving?
Another caravan job.Anyway it still goes where the ‘prime mover’ goes about as well as the real thing.It’s units which do the nodding.But those caravans can sway just like those things which they go camping with if they’ve got a good load up especially down hill and you’ve got to watch the load distribution on the trailer or you’ll get it too light at the coupling or too heavy on the drive axle if you’ve already got a load up to the weight limit of the drive axle/s on the prime mover.Why don’t they just stay with proper ones?.
howatsi/ian its a daf 85 4 wheeler 360 goes n pulls like a train but as it turns out they managed to get it all on rigid so didnt get to try w n d anyway but thanks all for advice guys
Gave up trying to upload a photo of a proper one so I’ll e mail it to the moderators and maybe they’ll do it for me.