European Tag A Long Trailers

[Bob Horrell]

The guy that brings me all my aggregate material has 6 transfer dumps and he and most of his guys are real good a backing them. A lot of times they have to back around a corner to leave the job site.
We have a truck/transfer race at our local county fair and the owner has entered every year for over 20 years. He has won something like 14 times and held a record for 8 years. One of the things they have to do in the race is back the truck and transfer through a set of rails that are only one foot wider than the rig without touching the rails. He has even shifted in reverse while backing through the rails - that's how fast he nails it once he is sure he is straight. His son, who is 20 now, started driving one of his dad's trucks at 18 and he also competes in this race. He has been real close to beating his dad - this year he was only 0.3 seconds behind him. Of course, he has been backing his dad's trucks in the yard since he was about 13 years old.
It just takes practice, like anything else and some people just have a knack for certain things.

 

[Squizzy246B]

Squizzy246B is the 1st axle fixed or does it swivel? That what I think for them to be so popular overseas they must be able to back them up .

Yep, the first or front bogey swivels...that makes it a dog trailer. If the bogey was fixed (no axles at front just axles in the middle), or in a Tag, then it would be a pig trailer.....But I couldn't find any pics of my old Pig Dog (Bull Terrier Staffy cross ).

They are popular here for Owner Operators because they can run 14 odd tonnes in the 6 wheeler with no trailer, small jobs, cleanups, restricted access etc. Or, they can run the same load as a semi (tractor) with the dog trailer. Some rigs are even running 4 & 5 axle (Superdogs) with a Gross combination of 50 tonnes under new laws.

Bob, I'd love to see that guy reversing his rig in a race. We have one guy here who swears by his old Mercedes Truck and he runs a 3 axle dog trailer. He pulls up on the road and reverses the rig straight in at 90 degress to a pad or wherever I want it..never miss..or I should say never hits a peg (grade stake). He's got both drive diffs with lockers and he leaves a lot of newer rigs for dead on a building site.

 

[Squizzy246B]

Thanks for the pics Big Iron, heres some trailers built local in my state;

http://www.haulmore.com.au/Custom Built.htm

I have no peciunary interest in this company....honest...but I would like to spend some cash with them if I could afford it:crying

 

[Electra_Glide]

Bob, I'd love to see that guy reversing his rig in a race.

Probably not the same guy that Bob is talking about, but there's a pretty good video on YouTube. Also shows how a transfer truck works for anybody who's never seen one in action (which included me until I saw this video...not somethin' we see in Western PA).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urKuWgtBYxI

This one has some doubles backing at the end of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyWcgdydDzY

Note that no cones or stakes were harmed in any of these maneuvers...:thumbsup


Joe

 

[sbrem]

here are a few more backing videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaeH_mdKDDo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xGRv0oTK3Q&mode=related&search=

 

[Tacodriver]

I have a question for you Nac do those trailers have any way of transfering any weight to the drive axles on the truck? It seems as though any hill or slippry surface would cause problems unless the truck had a load on it.

 

[Nac]

No because the tounge pivots up and down so no weight is on the truck.

 

[cat320]

So with that type od sysytem you could tow with less of a truck because no weight is actually on the rear end?

 

[Nac]

Yes exactly.

 

[imjustdave]

In my own case, I've got a Chevy 3500 4WD crewcab, long wheelbase, single rear wheel pickup. I want to pull a trailer that can handle a JD 110 TLB, and all the attachments. I've got a car hauler trailer, but it is really overloaded, so I'm looking for a more substantial trailer. I could get a 12000/14000 GVW bumper pull trailer, and probably do fine - The truck can pull it, but it could lighten the frontend of the truck if I get too much weight too far forward on the trailer. Have considered getting a gooseneck trailer, but then I've got to deal with the hassles of removing the cap over the bed all the time. The right answer for me is to trade the truck for a dually flatbed, and get the gooseneck, but I'd hate to trade the 2004 I've got.

Enter the full trailer into the mix - I could get one, have all the weight on the trailer, and have practically no load on the truck. While my truck is quite heavy and stable, I'm not sure that it is heavy enough to control a even heaver full trailer towed behind. Can my truck, at roughly 3 tons plus, pull a 6 or 7 ton trailer up a hill without loosing traction? How is this rig going to feel braking down a mountain road? Is that trailer going to tend to steer itself past me, pulling my hiney to the side? I'm thinking that if full trailers have an advantage, then we'd see a lot of them out there, used by guys like us. All I see in the equation is more weight, more moving parts, and more difficulties in backing.
.

As a bit of advice, don't do it. I have a 06 dodge with a bumper pull trailer. Trailers weighs in between 12K-15K with about 1200lbs on the truck. There are times that I don't have enought traction going up and down hills, Actually one time I stoped on a gravel road and if I didn't have 4wd I woulnd't have started going again up hill. I can't even imagine no weight on the back of the truck, it would be like a truck pull every day, going down the street. I wish I had a goosneck, but in the mean time the bumper trailer will work

 

[OzDozer]

If you want to haul a 'tag' machinery or plant trailer, as in the Italian and Australian models .. you need to haul it with a rig that grosses at least 2/3rds of the gross trailer weight you're hauling. Anything less, and you're asking for trouble.
Australian truck/machinery trailer combo operators, know to carry a load of dirt, or a machine in the dump box, when hauling loaded machinery trailers.

Backing a 'tag' or 'dog' trailer is no problem, provided the drawbar length is correct. Short drawbars are a no-no, you can't back properly with a short drawbar. Short drawbars also contribute to trailer tailwag.
All the road train trailers, dog trailers, and tag trailers in Australia, with an articulated front axle, or axles .. have long drawbars to facilitate towing and backing ease.

We also have 'tag' trailers, with no front axle, that use a heavy duty, saucer style, coupling known as a 'Bartlett' coupling.
This style of trailer transfers a large % of weight onto the hauling rig, and the hauling rig has to have a heavy duty Bartlett-style hitch, usually consisting of heavy external chassis plating for several feet behind the drive axle, or axles.
Needless to say, Bartlett-style hitches are designed for use with heavy-duty trucks, not pickups ..
Some of the U.S. style, of so-called heavy duty, pickup trailers .. even gooseneck trailers .. are frightening, in their ability to overload pickups ..

http://www.truckhub.com.au/DesktopD...ksearch&MTA=False&TabID=3443&Alias=truckhubau

http://users.westconnect.com.au/~tagalong/

 

[busdrivernine]

here is a good video about the reason for shorter trailerand single axle cabovers in Europe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLWX8TPWsr0