Parking - in the new day an age - Rant

[ovrszd]

Lots of boat yards and marinas have custom hitch balls mounted on the fronts...also seen them being used in camper /trailer lots...

for some free entertainment search YT for "boat ramp boat backing" etc...some funny stuff...

The 4th of July is a great day for spotting at public boat ramps...

I saw one where a young man set up shop on a boat ramp. Comfy chair, cooler, beach umbrella. Sign that offered to back your trailer. Can't remember what he charged. Busy man.

 

[MossRoad]

Speaking of things in the back of the rig. Rolled a Bronco, when it came to rest, a big knife stuck thru the front wind screen, between the two front seats.

Yikes!

 

[MossRoad]

Not just GM products. Seems like nobody puts decent backup lights on anymore. Or maybe they never did, but it's more noticeable now that vehicles all seem to have tinted windows.
I've had to wire in an external light on all of mine.

All of my GM cars had great looking backup lights.... they looked great, but didn't work all too well.

The more I use backup cameras, the more I like them. Not for trailer backing, but for regular vehicle backing.

 

[turnkey4099]

My grandfather had a tow ball mounted on the front hitch of his jeep for moving trailers around. You don't see much of that anymore.

I did that to my rider mower for moving the log splitter and small dtrailer around the woodlot. Very handy.

 

[MossRoad]

I had always planned to add a second camera on the trailer and use the second input for the trailer camera. (Mine will actually take three; I had planned to use the third for inside the trailer to keep an eye on the horses. On the do list, but not there, yet.)



I agree. It is usually the first thing that I do. On one of my trailers, I added LED reverse lights on the back, so I could see where the back of the trailer was going. I have them set up to illuminate the far side, i.e. crossed, so when turning, at least one of the lights is lighting up where the trailer is heading. If I were doing it again, I might use an LED light bar. I have the lights switched so that they can be on for work lights at the back of the trailer, or on via a relay and the reverse signal.

All the best,

Peter

I think about doing that to my car hauler every time I come home late and night and have to back it into the driveway. Maybe one of these days.

 

[Jstpssng]

When I built the front bumper/grill guard for my Ford I added a receiver hitch. It holds a chain box or a hitch receiver. Also holds 4 125lb suitcase weights.

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Nice... tractor!!!!

 

[ovrszd]

Nice... tractor!!!!

Thank you. She's not quite a Queen. But definitely a Princess.

 

[rontaki]

Lots of boat yards and marinas have custom hitch balls mounted on the fronts...also seen them being used in camper /trailer lots...

for some free entertainment search YT for "boat ramp boat backing" etc...some funny stuff...

The 4th of July is a great day for spotting at public boat ramps...

"Waitaminnite... ain't the boat spoesta be in the water?

 

[/pine]

We used to buy "select" cars from a local garage that we would enter in the local demolition derbies ...after one derby we found a bag of reefer and a fancy roach clip that had been stuck up in the dash of a station wagon...

Also found a beyond repair (but looked ok) Iver Johnson five shot revolver that had been under the seat of an old buick...

 

[WinterDeere]

I saw one where a young man set up shop on a boat ramp. Comfy chair, cooler, beach umbrella. Sign that offered to back your trailer. Can't remember what he charged. Busy man.

I can't even imagine the insurance and liability implications.

I grew up on and around boats, and used to race ramp-launched sailboats every weekend. I've spent some hours at the boat ramp.

I've seen two full rigs go out into the water, and many close calls. The best was a full-size van with trailer, the entire 50-foot rig going out into the bay off the Surf City ramp in NJ, sometime around 1986 +/- 2 years. Watched the driver hop out of the van, and the rig started to roll back. He hopped back in, did some fiddling, and I thought all was good. But then when he hopped out the second time, I watched the full rig of van + trailer go cruising backward into the bay. Amazing.

Watching folks who only use their trailer 2x per year in spring and fall is always an exercise in frustration. Some people just can't figure out how to back a trailer, and don't practice enough at home. You can always pick out the racers who use the ramp every weekend, from the cruisers who use it twice per year, and not only by the way they handle a sailboat.