Tips for pulling the BIg A$$ Trailer

[Cowgirl]

I am about to throw in the towel on the big a$$ trailer. I just upgraded from a year 2003 2 horse bumper pull (Hawk) that was fantastic, but too small for my current big lugs. I decided to go for a 2+1 gooseneck. It is a reverse load haul and the horses seem to really like it (from a loading perspective, as I’ve done a massive amount of training to load) but I have only hauled a horse in it once. It scares me to death. Today, I was practicing in my parking lot and could not do a right turn into my driveway to back straight down the driveway and turn right again to park the trailer on the other side of the parking lot facing the other direction. I managed to park the rig where I wanted it, but had no lines of trailers honking horns at me while I took my time. It took time and I ended up doing a U turn and parking it that way (multiple forward and back to get it just right). I have crashed this trailer twice (replaced both a running board on one side and a fender on the other). Fortunately, I was only practicing and there were no ponies involved. I cannot learn how to drive this thing. I am not a newbie–i pulled my bumper pull everywhere for 22 years. When I was a teenager, I pulled a Stidham 2 horse with a Buick Skylark through Chicago.

Is it the gooseneck giving me trouble or the length? I cannot decide. I am taking a horse to a clinic in September and am terrified of driving that thing. I am afraid to turn out of my driveway (one of the accidents was taking out my front fence corner turning into the driveway–the other one involved a sign in a parking lot I was practicing in).

I have learned to take it slow, get out and look, over and over. But it can’t help me learn how to turn and back this thing up. I am very close to trying to sell it and get another bumper pull. Is that where I should be headed? Are some people just not able to drive a trailer like this?

Trailer is a gooseneck 2+1 (my dream trailer)with DR, side load reverse facing and is 30.6 feet long tip to tail, and the footprint is 23 feet. I think my bumper pull was 17 feet so it shouldn’t be a stretch to think I could drive 23 foot in a goose. I find the goose so hard to drive (and everyone told me the opposite). I took it to be fixed in June, about 15 miles away, down a highway, through a town, up a county highway, and threw up when I got home AND unhitched and drove off without unplugging the electric (which meant I gerry rigged something and paid a mobile trailer repair $300 to replace the electric plug). Please help or tell me to just sell the gd thing as I will never learn to drive it.

[skip99]

I did this switch last year, but kept my new trailer to 19ft on the floor since our barn shares a driveway with our house and it is a tricky driveway. I probably could have gone up to 21’ knowing what I know now but that would have been my max lol. It is about 3 or 4 feet longer that my old BP. Is it wider than your BP was? That has definitely been more of a challenge for me on some of our back roads than the length.

Right turns - you have to bring the truck left to go right. Remember that the wheels of the trailer will track inside your truck wheels so by swinging out you reduce this - think about how tractor trailers usually have the warning that they take wide right turns here. Watch tractor trailers make right turns to visualize how far left they go in their right turns.

Backing up - I find the trailer reacts more on a delay than a BP. This means if you’re backing up and turning you need to do a little more to get the trailer wheels headed where you want them but then you have to start straightening out the truck. I like to think the truck pushes the trailer into position, and once the trailer is headed where you want it to go the truck needs to then follow the direction of the trailer. This works for me but you may have to find your own way to think about it.

Forgetting to unplug the electric - well that can easily happen with a BP, too, if you are distracted

Do you have any trusted drivers in your network? You may need to see someone else drive it to gain some confidence.

Also I very slightly cracked a fender too, mostly because I was being a bit careless backing around my driveway. Fortunately not badly and some touch up paint means I don’t even notice it, but the first whack hurts the most.

[Bonnie2]

You are on the right track to practice! It’s the only way to get better. First, forget everything you know about driving a (bumper pull) trailer. Get some rubber trash cans and set them up in your practice area. Then be patient with yourself while you test out all the wrong moves, treat yourself like you would your 16 yo daughter. It will get better. The big trailer was great to work out of but once we quit showing seriously we traded the big gooseneck back for a 2 horse bumper pull and I was glad to see it go!

[endlessclimb]

You need to swing wider, and keep the truck straight longer before going into the turn. I make people in the left turn lane pee their pants I get so close to their front bumper when turning right.

The way it makes the most sense to me - the trailer tires are trying to get where the FRONT wheels of your truck are. The trailer is taking the shortest path to get there.

When you turn right into your driveway, is it quiet enough of a road that you can wait to take the entire left side of the road to turn in? That’s what I have to do to avoid dropping into the culvert.

Turning with a gooseneck should go like this (slowly, of course) - keep going straight… keep going straight… keep going straight… FULL LOCK TURN

[beowulf]

@Cowgirl

Trailer is a gooseneck 2+1 (my dream trailer)with DR, side load reverse facing and is 30.6 feet long tip to tail, and the footprint is 23 feet.

Stop driving it like it’s a BP. Remember everything you learned about turning around a BP and – figuratively – throw it out the window.

Remember your rig, while so much larger, now has a better turning radius and will turn sharper than a BP. The rotational “angle” has changed to be closer to you, the driver – so you need to delay on the point of turn. Don’t take your driveway at the same angle you took it in the BP, for instance.

It is probably both… 30.6 feet is not a small rig. Even 23 feet is a big change. For every additional foot your rig has, you’ll want to think half a foot wider of turn, and, a second longer of going straight before turning. Give your wide girl a wide berth

Just practice! It is a big step up from a 2 BP to a 2+1 GN. It’s totally normal to have some growing pains.

Take turns wider than you need to, and take them slower than you need to. I see GN drivers get in trouble because they take a turn too fast - I don’t mean they’re speeding - but the faster you go, the less time your wheels have to correct as the trajectory of your towing vehicle changes.

The more you do it the less anxious it will make you. Remind yourself you’re a tough Cowgirl who has driven thousands of miles in a BP.

[awaywego]

Have you been in the truck as a passenger with someone else driving a gooseneck? I never pulled a bumper pull and went straight to driving a gooseneck, and it kinda felt like I had been doing it all my life, because I had been a passenger so long. I really think it helped me in knowing how wide I need to take turns.

[NancyM]

If you like the trailer, and your horses like the trailer, it is up to you to learn how to drive it and manouver it successfully. It’s different from a bumper pull, and it would help if you had some coaching from a pro driver. Then take your time and PRACTICE. The longer the deck, the slower the reaction. Professional drivers say… the longer the deck, the easier it is to back up. Take it SLOW, get out and LOOK. Be patient. It gets easier. Then you will never want to go back to a bumper pull.

[saddleup]

Don’t be so hard on yourself. I’ve pulled a gooseneck for 20 years and just this week I had my farrier back my trailer up my friend’s driveway because she has a lovely brick mailbox and it made me nauseous to think of hitting it by mistake. And I’m a good backer!

Your frustration is normal. Just take it slow.

[PonyApocalypse19]

@Cowgirl

Today, I was practicing in my parking lot and could not do a right turn into my driveway to back straight down the driveway and turn right again to park the trailer on the other side of the parking lot facing the other direction.

Were you trying to back into your driveway from the right? This is a very tough move because you lose sight of the end of the trailer. I was at a horse show and was backing my trailer into a camping spot and there was a pro truck driver there that had just parked their big rig. He told me - and I’ll never forget it, back in coming from the left and go farther forward than you think you need to start. I’ve parked coming from the right before, but I’ve been hauling this GN more than 10 years so I know my length and have good spatial awareness with it. That being said, I will purposely do a u-turn or come from the other direction so I can approach a spot from the left. This way I can easily see where the tires are tracking and make sure I’m on the trajectory I planned for.
As for turning, you need more space than you think because the trailer is slow to react. You will need your truck to travel at least half a vehicle width wider (the longer the trailer - the more space you need) to get your trailer to clear. Like if you’re turning right and there’s a right turn lane - you may need to put half of your rig in the straight lane in order to make the right turn without going into oncoming traffic.
It might be worth asking around if there are any CDL instructors that would be willing to give you some tips or sit with you. They’re used to teaching people and may be able to explain things in real time so you can correct on the go.

[Djones]

Do you have any big empty parking lots you could practice in? Better still, a flat dry field?

I pull a 32’ trailer and find it easy, but I grew up riding shotgun with my trainer pulling a similarly sized trailer.

Go straight longer than you think you need to, then turn.

Swing wide. When I leave my driveway to turn right onto the road, almost the whole truck is ON the road before I start turning right. Scares my husband but my driveway is too narrow for me to do it differently, meaning I can’t get far enough over to the left before I turn right. When he pulls the trailer he almost hits our mailbox every time. He doesn’t go straight long enough before turning.

Backing up, if I know where my driver’s side of the trailer is, I know where the other side is, too. It’s OK that I can’t see it on a curve so long as I surveyed the area first and know it’s clear. If the visible side is where i need it to be, so is the other side. This is a hard skill!! Give yourself grace and take the time it takes.

If you have friends who are good haulers, ask for a couple hours of help and time. Set up soccer nylons or other squishy targets to build your confidence.

[Djones]

And the best video ever…

Backing up a Horse Trailer: How to get over your T.R.A.

[Amberley]

Is it the same truck too? If you are used to a 2WD truck there is a sharp learning curve backing up a 4WD truck! And yes the gooseneck takes a different track than your bumper pull did- it’s like pushing one of those Rubbermaid wheelbarrows with two wheels instead of an old fashioned single wheeler with long handles. Someone told me that 30 years ago and it really helped me envision how the gooseneck would react when I backed it up.

[endlessclimb]

@Amberley

If you are used to a 2WD truck there is a sharp learning curve backing up a 4WD truck!

Whut. Did you mean SRW versus a dually? There’s literally no difference so I am not sure how either 2WD/4WD/SRW/DRW matter.

[Demerara_Stables]

What everyone else said, but I’ll add my experience going from a 2h bp to a 36.5’ gooseneck.

First, I had to add base rock to the side of the shared driveway that turns onto my property because it just wasn’t wide enough for me to stay right and make the turn without hitting the fence. When I pull out of my driveway to turn right, I’m all the way in the left lane with the truck to avoid dropping the trailer in the ditch. I took my turns about 5’ too wide for the first 6 months because I wanted to be extra sure I didn’t hit anything. I also scouted out everywhere that I was hauling to before I hauled there until I got comfortable driving the rig. Hell, I still don’t even go to the one diesel station in town with the trailer attached because it gives me the heebeejeebees. When I’m hauling, I either make sure I don’t need to fill up, or I fill up at a truck stop. There are very few regular gas stations that I’ll attempt with the full rig. Luckily I don’t have a lot of long hauls, but I plan my routes when I do. If I’m going somewhere that I can’t scout ahead of time, I look at Google maps satellite view and street view to get the lay of the land; this has saved me more than once!

Like everyone else said, practice, practice, practice, and do it slowly!

[Cowgirl]

Nope I never have, but my friends who have goosenecks told me I will love it and never want to go back. I did not crash my bumper pull into fences when learning to drive it, like I have done this monstrosity. I am sure the horses like this trailer 100x better than my bumper pull–it is roomier, it has fans throughout (and a solar panel so I can run the fans when the truck is off). They love the reverse ride–no problems loading or unloading. I will keep trying and I have learned to go slow and be patient and I did once back it all the way into my barn (hail protection). It is wider than my BP. The trailer was custom for me–there is a special door between the +1 stall and tack room so that I could use the +1 to tack up, or to unload tack into a wheel barrow. I have a camera system. I added water bucket hangers. I could do a long haul if I wanted. I bought a new truck to pull it. No issues hooking up. The issues are turning and putting it where I want to. And my nerves.

[Cowgirl]

I also scouted everywhere I’ve taken it!!! I have to go to a private stable for a clinic next month and I have already taken it there and am begging the barn manager to help me turn it around. When I had to take it to a repair place an hour away, I made a dry run in my car first and begged the repair place to turn it around for me.

I had taken it to a school parking lot to practice when I first got it and got stuck with nowhere to be able to get out. I took out a running board and a sign trying to make a hairpin turn. Two teachers came out of the school and helped me get it out of there and the janitor agreed to fix the sign without contacting my insurance. The driveway (where I took out a corner of my fence and the fender on one side) is a problem because the driveway is over a culvert and can’t be made wider (probably could for 10s and 10s of k). However I am on a quiet country road. My driveway is 14 feet wide and has an electric gate. I kind of wish I kept my old trailer (which was sold the minute I told someone I might sell it), but the horses were definitely stuffed into it like sardines in a can. It was bought for my first dressage horse, which was a 15.3 hand tb/wb. My current monsters are bigger (16.2-17 hands) and wider.

[Djones]

Are you willing to just drive it around? I’ve moved my big trailer very little on the last 2 years, I can appreciate that you’re a little spooked.

Do you want to figure it out, or do you want to sell it?

[cutter99]

@Cowgirl, you’ve gotten a lot of good advice here, and I’m going to add my 2 cents.

One of the biggest things you can do is slow down, take a deep breath and center yourself.

A gooseneck does pull, turn and back much differently than a bumper pull, and contrary to the statement above, 2 wheel drive versus 4 wheel drive does not make any difference. I can honestly say I would never go back to a bumper pull, as once you get used to the difference, a gooseneck offers so much more room than a bumper pull and pulls so much nicer.

One question I would ask about your truck is do you have an 8’ bed or is it shorter, shorter as in do you have to worry about knocking out your back window? Do you have plenty of clearance between your bed rails and the gooseneck? Are those things you are worrying about, especially with backing and turning?

I would attribute the electric cord incident to nerves, distractions and worrying about what you were doing. This is where slowing down, breathing and centering yourself will help greatly.

Your trailer sounds absolutely lovely, and if it is your dream trailer, you will learn to drive it. Asking for help here is a great place to start.

To make you laugh, here is a story about when I started towing. All my life I wanted a truck and trailer. I wanted to be able to go anywhere, anytime, under my own steam, with my horse. When I was in my 20s, a friend found a 2 horse straight load bumper pull with a 4’ dressing room, that was 5 years old, barn stored and never had a horse in it, for half the price of a new trailer. I bought it, without even having a truck.

Now I worked for a Ford dealer. Every sales person knew exactly what I needed to be able to tow safely and was on the lookout for the perfect truck for me. We finally get one traded in and I take it to have the brake box installed, and make sure everything is set up to tow.

I hook the trailer up to the truck, put my small child into her car seat in the back seat and head out to practice. I do fine on the back roads, and head to a four lane divided highway thinking if I can handle the back roads, the highway should be a piece of cake!

The first tractor trailer blows by me at 55 mph, and I thought both my child and I were gonna die! The sway on the trailer was so bad I swore I was never going to tow anything ever again. And I had just made a huge mistake that cost me well over $20K (this was over 30 years ago), and what was I now going to do with a truck and trailer I could not drive.

Luckily, I remembered that my trailer guy who had installed my hitch had told me to call if I had any problems or questions. I called him told him I was ready to sell everything, and his response was you need a weight distributing hitch and sway bars.

He installed them, and I have been going ever since. Now, I currently have trailers with 25’, 20’ and 16’ on the floor. Honestly, I don’t even know they are back there. I do go everywhere, much to my husband’s dismay when he sees my diesel bill every month. It did happen overnight, but it happened!

You can do this! Go enjoy your wonderful new trailer! Congratulations and safe travels!

[4horses]

Everytime I read something like this, I’m glad I still have my trusty little bumper pull. I have thought of upgrading but I know how to drive my bumper pull.

There are times when I wish I had a gooseneck. I’m just not sure about how nerve wracking it would be to drive a gooseneck.

[Cowgirl]

Yes, I’d like to learn, but the learning curve seems very daunting.