good idea or crazy

[Kicker]

I will be taking delivery of my new teardrop later this month and now I'm faced with a parking dilemma. I need to park off of the street, but my driveway is pretty steep and very narrow with cement walls on the sides. It flattens out to a wide 16' X 17' at the top of a 25' climb. I don't have the skill or horsepower to back it up the driveway. Do you think I could secure some kind of a winch (electric or crank) at the top and safely winch it up? Thanks for thinking about it.

[Cliffmeister2000]

I think you should take it to a parking lot and practice backing it up! However, a winch is an unbelievably powerful mechanism. Just remember 2 things:
1. Make certain it is Securely attached to the trailer
2. Make sure it is anchored to something that will handle the weight of the trailer and then some.

Harbor freight has really cheap winches that would work well for this application.

Question: Once up there, how do you plan to get it back down?

[Oasis Maker]

I think you should take it to a parking lot and practice backing it up!

Ditto Ditto Ditto Ditto....

You will be laughing at yourself in the very near future after your trailer backing skills are so easily learned. You can do it with just a little practice.

Scott G.

[Corwin C]

If your TV can get up and down the driveway full of passengers, then I would think that it could push the trailer up with just the driver inside. In many vehicles, reverse is the lowest or equal to the lowest gear.

My suggestions:
1. Practice in a safe place ... commercial drivers often have to back trailers around obstacle courses as a part of their certifications. It simply takes practice.
2. TAKE YOUR TIME ... if you are rushed you will make mistakes.
3. Get some extra eyes to help you watch ... there is no way that you can see everything that you need to see in most TV mirrors (especially the first few times.)

If all else fails, the winch would get it up there ... BTW if there's enough room, could you pull it up, unhook it, and move it by hand to its parking spot? I don't mean to be facetious, but it is possible to overlook an obvious solution.

[Kicker]

No I can't drive it to the top and then turn it around, but if I did winch it to the top I did plan to turn it around by hand then hitch up and drive down.

[asianflava]

Here is another option, you can try hooking the trailer up to a riding mower or ATV (if you have one). Backing with one of those is much easier because they have a very short wheelbase compared to a car. Just make sure there is enough weight so that the trailer doesn't push you back down the hill.

[dreadcptflint]

I am a bit impatient. I disconect and push it up my driveway. (My wife can do it. It just takes her about 20 attempts). Give it a shot and you might surprise yourself.

[artwebb]

No I can't drive it to the top and then turn it around, but if I did winch it to the top I did plan to turn it around by hand then hitch up and drive down.

Most people can lift the tongue off the ball and walk around pulling a tear by hand, whch was what Corwin was suggesting as far as turning it around after towing it up the driveway (don't try pulling it up the drive by hand)

[newrollo]

I use this dolley. ON LEVEL GROUND. To move the Wazat around. It works great!
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/ ... _200312193

[Oasis Maker]

Here's a little added inspiration to learn this small challenge of backing your tear up. It's fun first of all, but most importantly it's empowering because you will forever be able to tow ANYTHING afterwards with confidence. And because a tear is so small, it will actually swing around on you much faster than a larger trailer. So if you ever have to tow a larger trailer in the future for hauling or whatever, in many ways it will be "even" easier to back up than your teardrop.

Scott G.

[mwallace61]

Install a front receiver hitch on your tow vehicle and push it up the hill.

Mike

[dovaka]

i would definitely practice backing up your going to need to do it eventually so its better to screw up in a controlled environment instead of a rest stop in iowa that you just found out was a dead end and you were pulling a 36' 5th wheel. btw it took me about 20 minutes to get out of there and iam extremely good at backing up

p.s. i haveo ne of those little dolly things and its great just for moving stuff around

[caseydog]

That's crazy.

Actually, I have owned four boats, so I am rather good at backing a trailer, but my driveway is 50 feet long, 11 feet wide, and has brick walls on either side. My TD is short, and not easy to back up. I CAN back it up my driveway, but choose not to. I drive forward up the driveway, pull the car into the garage, unhook the TD, and hand push it into the garage next to the car after I clean it out/wash it off in the driveway.

It works for me, and no one has taken my man-card away for it.

I see no problem with using a winch to pull the TD up and into it's parking place. Lock the winch cable to the TD, and the winch can double as a security cable.

I agree that it is good to practice backing your TD, so you can get out of a tight spot if you have to, but for your driveway, do what is easiest under your particular circumstances.

CD

[rebapuck]

Pulling the tow vehicle into the garage sounds like a good idea. Will free up alot of space.

[caseydog]

Here's a little added inspiration to learn this small challenge of backing your tear up. It's fun first of all, but most importantly it's empowering because you will forever be able to tow ANYTHING afterwards with confidence. And because a tear is so small, it will actually swing around on you much faster than a larger trailer. So if you ever have to tow a larger trailer in the future for hauling or whatever, in many ways it will be "even" easier to back up than your teardrop.

Scott G.

Scott, you have a short wheelbase TV and a long tongue on your TD. My boat trailers were long, and a piece of cake to back up. If you have a long TV and a short TD, it is a PITA to keep the trailer straight and change directions in a narrow space. That's what I have with my TD/TV combination. In the time it takes me to back it up my driveway, I can do it my other way six times.

Kicker may find the same thing to be true. He could back it up the driveway, but may be able to winch it up a lot quicker and with less profanity.

CD