It does take a certain amount of skill to back up with a trailer. I think it’s safe to assume that none of the tricks of backing with a trailer are going to work for Burl. That happens. What really bothers me is the size of the boat compared to the weight it will be tasked to carry. Instant sinking.
Love the reverse print on the bumper stickers.Are those so people won’t back into the rear of the truck?Or are those so one of the girls can ride facing backward in the trailer and read them while she is applying lipstick?
A few years ago, I watched a huge delivery truck in the San Francisco Financial district…. where there are three or four narrow lanes in each direction, carved out of what should be two….loads of heavy city traffic with no let-up…pedestrians everywhere…
I say delivery truck cos I don’t know what to call it…. I’d say “a double semi,” but I think it was built a little lighter than what you see on the highway…All I know is there was a long second trailer hitched to the front one…I think all full of newspapers cos it belonged to the SF Chronicle.
It drove just past a tiny alley, in the rightmost lane, and stopped, till the cars behind had given up and gone around it, Then when a red light had stopped the next batch from driving up behind it, it backed up, turning the corner, perfectly, into the alley… backwards… in seconds.No mistakes, no back and forth, or re-dos.
I was in awe…. but when my friend saw the look on my face, she said “Oh they do that all day.”Whoa!
Meanwhile…. nothing says Illinois to me more than a gazing ball like the one Burl just knocked over.
My childhood memories are full of them… huge, blue or green, mirrored glass orbs, too heavy to lift…and it didn’t matter, as we were forbidden to touch them anyway…Sitting on concrete pedestals,in the middle of the otherwise unadorned front lawns of my Illinois aunts and uncles…
To my elementary school mind, beautiful and mysterious relics of some otherworld civilization that had obviously inhabited Peoria long ago.
Hope Burl didn’t break theirs…of course, it’s 2014, not 1954, and these are the Pennys..so it’s probably plastic.
I know watching him try to back out is hilarious. And surely in the end he’ll get out and disconnect the trailer and push t to the street and hook it back up. But for even more fun, imagine any two of those walruses in that tiny boat.
(The trick is to either use the mirror or turn around and look back, but never both. Once you start looking back and forth, you’re doomed.)
I have to say the smaller the trailer the harder it is to back up. I’ve gotten good it backing my 8’ trailer, but it took a few tries to begin with. The longer the wheel base the easier though. When I pulled a 16’ trailer backing it was a breeze.
to make it easier to back up a trailer, put your steering hand on the bottom of the steering wheel and turn the wheel in the direction you want the trailer to go.
Cheeze-whiz, THAT little bathtub toy? Hey, just unhook it, ONE (or, O.K., maybe two) of you walk it out into the street and back aways, then back out of the driveway into the street, pull the ’lil Smurfs-boat up behind and hook it back up!! Tah-Daaaaaaaaah!!
Failing that, just load it into the trunk and tie the trunk lid down with a couple bungee cords!! Snark! SNARK!!
I don’t know much about trucks… so I hope we’re talking about the same kind…the first trailer looks like part of the truck, but can bend … the second one is obviously hitched on.
I’d seen people back up something like that in a straight line, but never around a corner… it seemed impossible.However… I watched this one with my own eyes…. and after a few minutes, he pulled it out of the alley, in a right turn, and drove on down the street.
I was sure my friend either hadn’t noticed there was another trailer behind, or just didn’t like to act impressed by anything…maintaining her suave big-city “cool” at all costs.
After all, she worked there, in Embarcadero Center, and we were sitting outside having coffee on her lunch break…. so she might be recognised.
OR… maybe it was always the same driver, repeating his trick each time.
Looking for a picture of one but can’t find one…. but just to be fair…. I’m pretty sure it was smaller than the double semis I see.
Maybe a long box truck with an equivalent trailer behind, though I thought I remembered it also bending right behind the cab ..but that could be wrong.
Last Rose Of Summer Premium Member over 9 years ago
You all should watch my husband back the trailer into a camping space. You should watch him, I can’t!
mikie2 over 9 years ago
It does take a certain amount of skill to back up with a trailer. I think it’s safe to assume that none of the tricks of backing with a trailer are going to work for Burl. That happens. What really bothers me is the size of the boat compared to the weight it will be tasked to carry. Instant sinking.
ellisaana Premium Member over 9 years ago
Love the reverse print on the bumper stickers.Are those so people won’t back into the rear of the truck?Or are those so one of the girls can ride facing backward in the trailer and read them while she is applying lipstick?
SusanSunshine Premium Member over 9 years ago
A few years ago, I watched a huge delivery truck in the San Francisco Financial district…. where there are three or four narrow lanes in each direction, carved out of what should be two….loads of heavy city traffic with no let-up…pedestrians everywhere…
I say delivery truck cos I don’t know what to call it…. I’d say “a double semi,” but I think it was built a little lighter than what you see on the highway…All I know is there was a long second trailer hitched to the front one…I think all full of newspapers cos it belonged to the SF Chronicle.
It drove just past a tiny alley, in the rightmost lane, and stopped, till the cars behind had given up and gone around it, Then when a red light had stopped the next batch from driving up behind it, it backed up, turning the corner, perfectly, into the alley… backwards… in seconds.No mistakes, no back and forth, or re-dos.
I was in awe…. but when my friend saw the look on my face, she said “Oh they do that all day.”Whoa!
SusanSunshine Premium Member over 9 years ago
Meanwhile…. nothing says Illinois to me more than a gazing ball like the one Burl just knocked over.
My childhood memories are full of them… huge, blue or green, mirrored glass orbs, too heavy to lift…and it didn’t matter, as we were forbidden to touch them anyway…Sitting on concrete pedestals,in the middle of the otherwise unadorned front lawns of my Illinois aunts and uncles…
To my elementary school mind, beautiful and mysterious relics of some otherworld civilization that had obviously inhabited Peoria long ago.
Hope Burl didn’t break theirs…of course, it’s 2014, not 1954, and these are the Pennys..so it’s probably plastic.
Olddog1 over 9 years ago
The shorter the trailer, the more difficult it is to keep it straight.
SusanSunshine Premium Member over 9 years ago
The picture didn’t post…try again….
MeGoNow Premium Member over 9 years ago
I know watching him try to back out is hilarious. And surely in the end he’ll get out and disconnect the trailer and push t to the street and hook it back up. But for even more fun, imagine any two of those walruses in that tiny boat.
(The trick is to either use the mirror or turn around and look back, but never both. Once you start looking back and forth, you’re doomed.)
shamest Premium Member over 9 years ago
With Burl mirrors backup cameras cones signs autobacking system nothing helps
miscreant over 9 years ago
I have to say the smaller the trailer the harder it is to back up. I’ve gotten good it backing my 8’ trailer, but it took a few tries to begin with. The longer the wheel base the easier though. When I pulled a 16’ trailer backing it was a breeze.
rk911 over 9 years ago
to make it easier to back up a trailer, put your steering hand on the bottom of the steering wheel and turn the wheel in the direction you want the trailer to go.
orbenjawell Premium Member over 9 years ago
Cheeze-whiz, THAT little bathtub toy? Hey, just unhook it, ONE (or, O.K., maybe two) of you walk it out into the street and back aways, then back out of the driveway into the street, pull the ’lil Smurfs-boat up behind and hook it back up!! Tah-Daaaaaaaaah!!
Failing that, just load it into the trunk and tie the trunk lid down with a couple bungee cords!! Snark! SNARK!!
Bargrove over 9 years ago
Sorry, but his directions were wrong. He should have turned the steering wheel to the left to have avoided the mess he got in the first time.
SusanSunshine Premium Member over 9 years ago
Peter Gerlach… That was what I thought!
I don’t know much about trucks… so I hope we’re talking about the same kind…the first trailer looks like part of the truck, but can bend … the second one is obviously hitched on.
I’d seen people back up something like that in a straight line, but never around a corner… it seemed impossible.However… I watched this one with my own eyes…. and after a few minutes, he pulled it out of the alley, in a right turn, and drove on down the street.
I was sure my friend either hadn’t noticed there was another trailer behind, or just didn’t like to act impressed by anything…maintaining her suave big-city “cool” at all costs.
After all, she worked there, in Embarcadero Center, and we were sitting outside having coffee on her lunch break…. so she might be recognised.
OR… maybe it was always the same driver, repeating his trick each time.
SusanSunshine Premium Member over 9 years ago
Looking for a picture of one but can’t find one…. but just to be fair…. I’m pretty sure it was smaller than the double semis I see.
Maybe a long box truck with an equivalent trailer behind, though I thought I remembered it also bending right behind the cab ..but that could be wrong.
friedclams over 9 years ago
I always wanted to tip over a gazing ball, and I’m thankful I can do so vicariously through this comic!