Wagon `N` Drag

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

Hi Guys,
I have a sniff on a job driving a wagon and drag flower truck. Now at present I like to think I now know what my current artic can and cant do. Question is, is a wagon and drag a lot different to an artic ? Can you spin them round on a mini roundabout etc. What are your thoughts?

2

Drove Wagon & Drag for years and found them no more harder than an artic, if anything better as you could put the drag in places you couldn’t put an artic.

If your experienced with artics you’ll find it’s a much easier life :wink:

3

Not a hope of getting one round a mini roundabout, i’ve never driven an artic in a professional capacity, only on my test and training. Had a brief stint driving a wag and drag for a month on the pallets for chep, because they can hold 80 more pallets than an artic trailer they are popular. I am very much a newb to driving big trucks, so can only offer my own experiences as follows… those of experience feel free to shoot holes through it.

Had difficulty turning them round in most yards/RDC’s where artics can simply swing round. ASDA didcot and sainsburys basingstoke were two that could get very interesting. Early learning centre Swindon almost gave me nightmares.

You can’t let the unit and trailer get a more acute angle between them than 90 degrees otherwise you will start them munching into one another, or best case, will not be able to straighten it again without going forward.

Most people in yards etc have no idea of what a wag and drag is/isnt capable of, so you will often be sent in places “yeh no worries mate” only to have to reverse out or ask for a few marshalls to help you with a difficult blindside (this probably isn’t exclusive to wagon and drags, but they basically need more space for everything).

Reversing… the trailer can go from one way to the other very very quickly, so while learning you will often get an embarressing snake effect going one way then the other, over correcting, much to the amusement of those around you.

They are long, so a full 18.75 metre won’t fit in the bays at motorway service areas without over hanging, same goes for average bays at RDC’s. Chances are wherever you put it, you could well be obstructing someone, so expect to get yelled at. Reversing off the road into yards etc the very back of the trailer seems a long long way away, especially in the nearside mirror.

Plus points would be, that the trailer follows more closely round corners than an artic would due to it being half the size, so once the rigid is round, you don’t need to allow a great deal more space to get the trailer round.

Mine was flatbed, so easier to keep tags on what each corner was doing whilst empty. Multiply the frustrations dealing with boxed varieties, or in my particular case stacks of very badly aligned pallets.

Having said all the above, thanks to the experience, I would be far more happy taking a job driving one now, than an artic.

4

The one I sometimes drive also has a Moffett on so is very long. As the coupling is in the middle ,driving forwards is easier than in an artic e.g roundabouts as you are not dragging a long trailer. Reversing is the same principle as an artic ,you just turn your wheel at a different time as your pivoting point is in the middle rather than behind the cab.
Driving forwards you have to imagine you’re in a rigid (so no screwing it round)and when reversing you are in an artic.
Oh, and if its a flower wagon just dump it in the middle of the High Street like the Dutch do.

5

I almost forgot, may just be me, but compared to a trailer and artic unit, they are a right bugger to couple.

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WildGoose:
Most people in yards etc have no idea of what a wag and drag is/isnt capable of

I’ll second that - I took one to a biscuit factory in Leicester once. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Where do I turn round mate?
Him: Just screw it round here.
Me: There’s not enough space there, I’ll never get round.
Him: Of course you will, everyone turns round there.
Me: No chance, this is a wagon and drag, not an artic, it won’t go.
Him: I know what it is mate! You’ll get round fine.

Anyway, long story short there was no way it would go and once tipped I ended up reversing all the way back out of the site onto the road.

Apart from the fact that you can’t just screw them round like an artic I haven’t found wagon+drags to be any more difficult to drive than artics.

Paul

7

Ive only be driving one since july last year, for more years than i care to remember i have been on artics.i now drive a car transporter wagon n drag.
Just take your time and pratice if you find a quiet place to do so.
otherwise its fairly easy just alow for a different way of doing things than in artics.

8

As long as it’s not an A-frame, I still have nightmares about them.

Now an expert will come on and say how easy they are :unamused: :unamused: :unamused:

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Sorry Edward, but A frames are easy :exclamation: No I’m only kidding they are without doubt the hardest thing ever for an artic driver to reverse, BUT if you remember that you’re NOT in an artic then they’re ok, not the easiest things to jacknife in to a small turning but just as manouverable as any other lorry, they follow so nice though, as long as the prime mover gets around the trailer will follow.
As for the caravan type, no idea as I’ve never driven one, I’d imagine a big long front bit & a little short trailer means you need to be quick on the steering though :cry:

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At the hospital where I work, we pull small trailers behind an electric tug. Over time I have got used to reversing with one, or even 2 trailers. Now I know the vast difference in size means alot of difference in performance when reversing (e.g the W+D will handle differently), however, the basic idea is the same (2 trailers = same as A-Frame). I can now, 95% of the time, reverse with 2 trailers no hastle. This will mean I will have a basic idea if ever I was to drive A-frame trailers. However, I would still require alot of practice I feel.

Sorry I am of no help. I dont have a Cat C yet, yet alone a C+E.

Cheers

NB

11

NewBlood:
Now I know the vast difference in size means alot of difference in performance

Cheers

NB

Sure Does :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink:

12

Course you can’t spin round .Its got a longer wheelbase yer pillock! Try to fink…?

13

Im OK going forward with an A frame but reversing!! I am having flashbacks and the sweats just thinking about it :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth:

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newmercman:
As for the caravan type, no idea as I’ve never driven one, I’d imagine a big long front bit & a little short trailer means you need to be quick on the steering though :cry:

gentle rather than quick :wink:

15

With a modern drag (not A frame) they are easy going forwards and id say easier going backwards than a artic. But as has been said you need a turning circle the size of a small county to spin round!
As for coupling not that bad just best to be dead straight and have eye go straight into pin, not ride up the oiuter shroud even only a little. I tend to find that way pin drops in every time first time. Helps though if you have previously dropped the trailer, winding legs till eye just lifts off shroud plate, kind of floating position.

16

wag and drag is easy to couple after a few times of doing it first few times can be tricky but its like all things practice makes perfect…and some evan extend the couple head when going round corners making the whole lot a bit longer

17

Wagon and Drags asre real nice to drive. They follow you beautifully and behave pretty much as you want them to.
But beware over bending them on reverse.
They dont fold in half like an artic and you can come unstuck if you bend them too far.
I speak from experience. :blush:

18

I drive a wagon and drag for the shop where everything is bought from a big catalogue… :unamused: :unamused:

I moved onto these from an artic and i find they are brilliant…i do demount work so there is a lot of coupling and uncoupling involved…and jumping in and out of the cab…as long as the outfit is on level suspension,wind the landing leg all the way down,dont leave a gap like you would when uncoupling an artic and as long as the prime mover and trailer bodies are all in line down the sides it all should couple back together with no problem…just make sure that you prime(reset) the coupling or it wont lock back together again …the turning circle is the biggest bugbear,you will need as much room as if you were driving just the rigid on it’s own…as for reversing,just use small movements…place a hand at the top of the steering wheel and use that to guide you,not full turns as the trailer will cut it quicker then you will be used to when driving an artic…hope this helps… :laughing:

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topboy trucker:
dont leave a gap like you would when uncoupling an artic

I wish people wouldn’t leave gaps when they uncouple artics, it makes picking them back up more awkward and is completely unnecessary now everyone has air suspension on their drive axle.

Paul

20

repton:

topboy trucker:
dont leave a gap like you would when uncoupling an artic

I wish people wouldn’t leave gaps when they uncouple artics, it makes picking them back up more awkward and is completely unnecessary now everyone has air suspension on their drive axle.

Paul

I dont uncouple an artic like that…i wind the legs to the floor and once the pin is clear of the jaws of the fifth wheel i lower the drive axle suspension and drive out and reset it once completely clear…but i know what you mean…it causes damage to the wheelarches(scuffs etc) when they are dropped too low…but i was just referring to NOT leaving a gap if that is the way that he uncouples an artic because if he does that with a wagon and drag he will encounter problems when trying to couple back together as the coupling will not be at the correct height…i have seen a few of our trucks having new couplings fitted to the prime mover due to constantly being battered by the drawbar hitting off them when the driver has missed the coupling… :unamused: