Trailers: Tips for Backing Up, Driving, Maintaining?

[Glenn MacGrady]

I'd be interested in any tips on how to drive, back up, maintain or otherwise use canoe trailers.

I have confessed that I am the world's worst trailer backer-upper. I am the Jack of jack-knifing. Miss the boat ramp by feet, or go wildly crooked, or back into a tree. One of the problems is that the rear window of my full size van is so far back compared to a pickup truck or SUV, so small, and so high that I can barely see any of the canoe in my rear view mirror when the canoe is on the trailer, and can't see any of the trailer when the canoe is off, especially when the trailer is angled downward on a launch ramp. When the trailer shows up in my side mirrors, it's usually already side-angled too much.



I have learned the trick of steering with my hands on the bottom of the steering wheel and am slowly improving, but I still feel incompetent. Fortunately, the aluminum trailer is so light that I can lift and reposition it even with the canoe on it, but that is so klutzy.

I'm wondering if there's something vertical like a flag I could stick on the trailer, which I could see in my rear view mirror. The canoe is centered on the trailer arms, so that sort of interferes with that idea.

I'm also wondering about driving and maintenance. For example, should I change out the 8" wheels for 12" wheels, a fairly expensive proposition? If I did that, could I use one of the 8" wheels as a spare, or would that result in pulling a harmfully lopsided trailer with the spare on? How often should I grease the wheels?

Any other experiences with, or even horror stories about, canoe trailers in this thread may be useful for me and any future trailer owners.

 

[Ruttrowe]

I use the orange fiberglass driveway markers on my wood splitter. I placed them so you can see them in the side mirrors without them you can’t see anything until it Jack knife’!

 

[Boatman53]

If there is not something commercially available I think I would take a chunk of wood and drill for a snug fit on a driveway marker and then screw or epoxy a rare earth magnet to the wood. Use the magnet to mount to the trailer when needed. Make two, one for each side, maybe on the fenders.
Jim

 

[Cheeseandbeans]

Agree with the flag or side markers on the trailer.

I would consider larger tires if traveling at highway speeds or long distances.

I typically grab the trailer wheel hub when I stop to check the temperature. If it starts to get hot than you have a bearing issue. I typically carry grease, tools, and an extra bearing. Not to mention a jack, spare, and tire iron specific to the trailer lugs.

Bob

 

[Boatman53]

I too touch the hub every time I stop.
Jim

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

magnet

Don't think magnets would work as the trailer is all aluminum and the fenders are plastic. Some sort of quick attach/remove flag or stick does make sense.

 

[Ruttrowe]

I used u-bolts like you would use use on cable, to attach the driveway markers.

 

[Boreal Birch]

Once you get the driveway markers installed, practice just using your mirrors in your driveway. Just like any other skill practice makes perfect. Practice at home takes a lot of pressure off the driver to preform. Practice, practice, practice.
Practice makes for perfect.

 

[Robin]

First you need to get some cowboy boots, wallet with a chain, cut the sleeves off your tee shirt and curl the bill on your baseball cap, throw in a Johnny Paycheck 8 track and you would be amazed how well that works.
Better yet, get a bungee cord and bungee a pole or even a sapling with easy to see colored ends that are visible from your mirrors. Make sure they stick out far enough so you can see some movement and follow up quick enough to keep both ends in the mirrors.
I taught 3 guys to drive tractor trailers and they all had a hard time learning to follow up before it was too late.
If you can’t see a reference point it’s almost impossible to back up.

 

[canube]

Open your back doors for the view of where you want to go... I lift my cargo hatch on my Jeep Cherokee and it's very easy to see where I want to go

 

[yellowcanoe]

The backup camera on our new truck is a godsend.. We can hit the exact dot on the ground that we want to. However I doubt this would be of use to you. I feel for you as we had a sailboat trailer with the same issue. We never knew where it was when backing it empty. Worse this was usually at 5pm when there was a veritable audience of dozens waiting their turn n the ramp. Now we were we.. There were two.. Rather than screeching and yelling directions it was easier just to pick the trailer up enough in the water to reorient it. One, you have not that luxury.
You know that correcting early is the key but when you are driving blind you can only see late.

So can you mount bike flags on the cross bar.. sticking out just enough to see that you are in the middle and see both. The clue that you are crooked of course is you see only one.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I would consider larger tires if traveling at highway speeds or long distances.

That sounds sensible. On the other hand, the 8" wheels are rated for highway speeds. Plus, 12" wheels and their tires would probably make me have to back deeper into boat ramp water, and the increase in height would make it a little more difficult to lift the canoe off and on the cross bars.

I'll probably just live with the 8" wheels through next season to see how it goes, but I don't think the trailer could take dirt roads with ruts and washboards. I have to creep along my driveway.

Open your back doors for the view of where you want to go... I lift my cargo hatch on my Jeep Cherokee and it's very easy to see where I want to go

This was suggested to me by a fisherman who watched me after he backed his trailer easily with his SUV hatch up.

It's doable but somewhat inconvenient for me in my van. The space between my back couch/bed and the rear doors is where I permanently store much of my canoe and camping gear. I would have to remove all that. Then, because my couch back also sticks up high, I'd have to recline it down into bed mode, which would necessitate moving other things around in the van interior. I will try it eventually.

So far, I have had some success in finding human assistance at boat ramps. As I've aged, I've moved through three distinct stages with respect to people offering canoe loading help:

1. Well into my 60's I was highly insulted if anyone offered to help me carry or load a canoe onto my high vans. "No thanks, buddy, I'm strong and have been doing this all by myself for decades." Self-reliance defiance . . . was I.

2. Okay, I'll accept help if offered, but I ain't ever asking.

3. "Hey, friend, would you mind giving an old guy with a bad back a helping hand with this heavy 1895 canoe. My cardiologist and orthopedist would really appreciate it."

 

[Roybrew]

I put bearing buddies on my wheel hubs. Not a guarantee, but they help.
Roy

 

[memaquay]

Short, smallish trailers like yours are probably the worst. My 30 foot travel trailer backs up like a champ, I can put it on a dime, even when I'm not wearing my wife beater. My boat trailer is harder, mainly because I OVER CORRECT. Yup, a big trailer's response to over correction takes a while to happen, a little trailer reacts immediately. So just make tiny movements of the steering wheel before givin er on the gas.

As far as seeing it, just buy a new truck with a back up camera. My wife just bought a new Ford Bronco, it has a full trailer package and a big back up camera, it might become the preferred boat hauler this summer.

 

[lowangle al]

First you need to get some cowboy boots, wallet with a chain, cut the sleeves off your tee shirt and curl the bill on your baseball cap, throw in a Johnny Paycheck 8 track and you would be amazed how well that works.
Better yet, get a bungee cord and bungee a pole or even a sapling with easy to see colored ends that are visible from your mirrors. Make sure they stick out far enough so you can see some movement and follow up quick enough to keep both ends in the mirrors.
I taught 3 guys to drive tractor trailers and they all had a hard time learning to follow up before it was too late.
If you can’t see a reference point it’s almost impossible to back up.

So Robin, are you saying that the saplings can stick out horizontally to the sides and that you don't need anything sticking up vertically? This would be easier to do if so. In addition, couldn't Glenn substitute some paddles for the saplings, preferably bent shafts?

 

[yellowcanoe]

Given Glenns setup a couple of saplings , duct tape, and a couple of rags should help.

Or a double blade paddle taped to the rear crossbar..

 

[ppine]

Go out to a large parking lot on a Sunday. Set up some orange cones and practice. Hand on the bottom of the wheel.
It is hard to see out of a van. Do you have good side mirrors? It helps to lower the tail gate on pick ups. Now I have a back up camera for the first time which is also helpful.
Go slowly and get it right. Going too fast is a big problem. Practice with no one around and perfect your technique.

 

[Robin]

So Robin, are you saying that the saplings can stick out horizontally to the sides and that you don't need anything sticking up vertically? This would be easier to do if so. In addition, couldn't Glenn substitute some paddles for the saplings, preferably bent shafts?

Yes, horizontally. Looking at the picture, I would lay it right across the fenders so it sticks out one foot on each side, maybe more if needed and snug it up with a bungee.
I’d tie some hi visible surveyors tape to each end and maybe a foot or so in I would tie another round.
Learn to follow up or “correct” before it’s too late buy watching the tape. Your initial “set up” is important, try to set up as straight as possible before backing, and try to avoid backing up on the blind side.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

just buy a new truck with a back up camera.

This wins the award for the least likely solution in the Magic Bus household.

A new truck costs more than my annual income and first house. The last new vehicle I bought was in 1999, and it will remain the last.

Even if I had the money, I would have to convince the Secretary of War to buy a truck, of which she hates all kinds, to pull a waste-of-money trailer, to tote a completely unnecessary 13th canoe (plus three kayaks) . . . yeah, that's a negotiation likely to be highly successful. Plus, even she probably suspects an aftermarket backup camera can be installed on any vehicle easier than Robin's 8 track tape player.

I'm not sure how useful a backup camera would be, in any case. I don't find the one on my Merc to be useful at all, even for the vehicle itself, and still prefer to look over my shoulder.

But Mem is correct that a small trailer seems easy to throw out of correction and equally easy to over-correct. Practice makes sense, of course. I can practice on my own property or, more realistically, on any one of several empty boat ramps nearby. Rags and sticks and tape and bungee I can afford and handle.

I could put one or both of the vertical struts back on the horizontal arms as visual cues, but it or they would interfere with the way I slide the canoe on the front and back arms and flip it over. (Picture from my seller.)

 

[Roybrew]

You could install a hitch on the front bumper. I've heard of people doing that because they drop our lakes so far down in the off seasons, it's a long way down some ramps, and it would be easier to see your trailer. Just a thought.
Roy