How much room do I need to back a trailer into my driveway?
#11
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 165
Likes: 1
From: Baltimore, Maryland
Bottom line is that it just depends on how good you are. My setup is 42' OAL for boat and am using an Excursion. Road is 16' wide. Mailbox and tree on either side. Entrance is 20'. The short wheelbase Excursion is the trick. Been driving TT's for 50 yrs. Pretty can get anything anywhere.
#14
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Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 2,169
Likes: 82
From: Henderson, KY
I do something similar everytime we take the boat out. Very narrow drive into our building, street is normal residential width. It's tight and almost jackknife the trailer to not get trailer tires into grass. Doing this manuever often will really improve your trailer skills. I can pretty much put it anywhere now! LOL
#15
I back a friend's 43 Nor-Tech into his driveway, and it is WAY tight. He didn't think it was possible, but we tried it with the empty trailer on a rainy day as a test. We figured it would be easier to get out of trouble without the boat on the trailer.
#16
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,942
Likes: 527
36 feet swim platform to tongue, 21 and 1/2 feet ball to bumper ( 57.5 loa )
my gate is 40 feet from the sidewalk give it 10 or 12 to the street which is narrow call it 52 feet (gate to street)
the boat is higher than the drip edge or gutter board whatever you wanna call it on the house
from the fence post to the side of the house i have 10 and 1/2 feet
the trailer is 9 feet wide
i can't use the drive way to get in or out, gotta go across the lawn with a jack knife turn after the platform clears the gate post, so i relocated my mail box and put a flagpole in along with the lamp post in kind of an arc @ 45 degrees across the front yard that i use to kinda aim it in and onto the driveway and i gotta do it blind no one to help,and it's uphill about 18 inches elevation
so it's inches of clearance pucker factor and is that my clutch that smells every time backing in.
but it's very light traffic except for when i'm blocking the street trying to get the boat in
i bought the house 2 years ago in part because the lawn between the side walk and street is not a ditch like most places i've seen in my part of florida
my gate is 40 feet from the sidewalk give it 10 or 12 to the street which is narrow call it 52 feet (gate to street)
the boat is higher than the drip edge or gutter board whatever you wanna call it on the house
from the fence post to the side of the house i have 10 and 1/2 feet
the trailer is 9 feet wide
i can't use the drive way to get in or out, gotta go across the lawn with a jack knife turn after the platform clears the gate post, so i relocated my mail box and put a flagpole in along with the lamp post in kind of an arc @ 45 degrees across the front yard that i use to kinda aim it in and onto the driveway and i gotta do it blind no one to help,and it's uphill about 18 inches elevation
so it's inches of clearance pucker factor and is that my clutch that smells every time backing in.
but it's very light traffic except for when i'm blocking the street trying to get the boat in
i bought the house 2 years ago in part because the lawn between the side walk and street is not a ditch like most places i've seen in my part of florida
Last edited by outonsafari; 03-13-2016 at 04:45 PM.
#17
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,397
Likes: 21
From: Somewhere in Ohio
I back my 47 into this building, and it has to be almost perfectly straight before it goes through the door. I'm 53' from drive guard to ball, and towing with a CC long bed dually. You can see the tracks in the grass, just ahead of the measuring line. I can do it and stay on the pavement, but it really side loads the trailer so I cheat into the grass a bit.
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#18
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 3,066
Likes: 8
From: Ocala, Fl
I'm 34' from props to ball with my 255 Formula Liberator. I have a warehouse with a 10' door and I have a clear 40' in front of the door if no one is parked in front of my door (GRRRR). If they are...I have to get my fork lift out and do it easily...otherwise I can do it with my Yukon...couldn't do it with my Escalade ESV...always used the fork lift.



