Trailer Tongue Too Long?

[airshot]

This came across my news feed this morning



View attachment 411940

Those work well for launching in shallow ramps but definitely not suited for highway use !

 

[airshot]

No substitute for lots of practice.
Why I now do not use the trailer. Simply have the marina do the put it away & put it in the water. Worth the money.

I don't have any rack/ launch facilities any here close to where I fish....not cheap in my area !!

 

[harringtondav]

Thanks for the input.
My new truck/trailer is much longer than the previous where I could thread through obstacles easily when backing.
Prior to 15 years ago we would trailer each summer weekend. Now with a river house and boat lift, its twice a year with the same obstacles.
Learning curve flattens as you get older. I'll adapt.

 

[airshot]

About 30 years back, when I was teaching my three kids to drive, there were requirements to get your license. One was driving thru one winter with learners permit...yep they learned how to slide and bring it back out. Second was to learn to drive a stick and start up on a hill. And the third was to back up a trailer, didn't need to be real good, just know how to do it. After all these years and teaching my two grandkids how to drive....no one has any at fault accidents, and they can mostly drive any car they get into. Usually, once you learn it, it stays with you ....

 

[flashback]

first thing I learned was how to smoke the tires, until I found out how much they cost. LOL

 

[tphoyt]

My sister was supposed to take me for my drivers test and never showed up so my girlfriend took me in her car. I had hadn’t driven a stick yet but I somehow managed to pull it off.
I still have not been able to get my daughter to learn. It’s a never ending battle. I taught my son and he only has one arm yet my daughter is afraid to learn and I don’t get as she fly planes for a living.

 

[Pmt133]

I got my girlfriend to be able to drive around a parking lot in about 5 minutes. Having 400 hp and about the same torque helps.

 

[airshot]

I taught a lot if my kid's friends back when they were learning. Most of the parents did not have nor know how to drive a stick. I always told my students....if you follow my instructions to the letter, You will be driving a stick within 15 minutes...but ...you have to follow my instructions ! Gotta learn the point where the clutch pedal starts to engage, gotta keep practicing that point until it becomes second nature...about 15 minutes then your good to go.

 

[redneck joe]

I've had to park and retrive my stick shift sportwagen from valet parking most times.

 

[Jeff J]

If you really want to confuse someone, sit them behind a 3 on the tree shifter. It seems to baffle even experienced stick drivers!

 

[roscoe]

Learned “stick” on Honda trail 70 at 10
Went out and found a ‘66 rambler classic 550 with a 3 on the tree , 11,000 miles, in 1979.

First thing I had to learn when learning to drive, parallel parking with an 1970 olds 98.

 

[dingbat]

Both daughters could “heat” a diesel, drive stick and back trailers in their early teens compliments of farm life.

Can’t imagine how many miles they put on the golf cart riding the “paths” they made around the property before they got their license

 

[Jeff J]

Farm life was different. No one batted an eye at the eight year old driving the pickup on the highway to get to the field to spend all day driving a tractor.

 

[redneck joe]

Gotta admit, looked at an old three on the tree truck a couple weeks ago and had to asked where to start...

 

[Horigan]

One of my first cars was a Peugeot with five on the tree. An extra challenge was the linkage was sloppy.

 

[Lou C]

different environments, different skills acquired
when I was a new driver I often had to drive into NYC, so I learned how to stay alive on the old West Side Highway, the FDR Drive and the Belt Parkway. Hint: don't slow down, ever unless absolutely necessary!
The environment also dictated the proper vehicle, mid 70s full size GM with heavy steel chrome bumpers mounted on shock absorbers, or a FoMoCo full size. Nothing smaller.
These aren't ours, but we had one of each, same colors even....



now this was how you cruised the roads in big bad NYC back in the day....

 

[dingbat]

Farm life was different. No one batted an eye at the eight year old driving the pickup on the highway to get to the field to spend all day driving a tractor.

Rest assured, local authorities (MCPD) didn't tolerate underage driving when I used to hot wire dad’s VW to go field hooping 55+ years ago...lol

Certainly not tolerated by Howard Counties Finest (HCPD) when the girls learned to drive around the property around 2012.

 

[Jeff J]

I’m sure my folks and I would have gotten an earful from law enforcement had they caught me. That would have been about 1974 (when no one cared yet if you smoked pot or drove drunk). There would not have been any threats about not getting a license until turning 21. Sheriffs department drove out that way twice a day on a very predictable schedule and one of those was around midnight. Never seen them early morning or late afternoon when I was on the road. I got my school permit when I turned 14 but still wasn’t legal to drive myself to the field until I was 16 unless I was driving the tractor.

An eight year old in a tractor was perfectly legal back then. That changed a few years later when under aged farm kids started cruising main street driving tractors.

Now kids drive around town on golf carts and ATVs.

 

[airshot]

I’m sure my folks and I would have gotten an earful from law enforcement had they caught me. That would have been about 1974 (when no one cared yet if you smoked pot or drove drunk). There would not have been any threats about not getting a license until turning 21. Sheriffs department drove out that way twice a day on a very predictable schedule and one of those was around midnight. Never seen them early morning or late afternoon when I was on the road. I got my school permit when I turned 14 but still wasn’t legal to drive myself to the field until I was 16 unless I was driving the tractor.

An eight year old in a tractor was perfectly legal back then. That changed a few years later when under aged farm kids started cruising main street driving tractors.

Now kids drive around town on golf carts and ATVs.

And those little scooters that only go 25 mph.....non of them obey any traffic laws !!

 

[matt167]

If you really want to confuse someone, sit them behind a 3 on the tree shifter. It seems to baffle even experienced stick drivers!

Nah. 3 on the tree is easy. Ford had a 4spd on the column and many brands in Japan had 5spd column shift for their domestic market utility trucks. I wouldn’t even attempt one of them