I went to work at a marina at age 13, part of my job was to help with the boat launch... I got one dollar for each boat launched.  I soon realized that folks that didn't kniw how to back up were costing me money !!

We had an old jeep sitting in the weeds, I got it running and put a hitch vall on front and back !!  Now I could take two boats to the ramp at the same time. I learned to backup using mirrors only, in that time I was launching at least 4 boats an hour and usually more if the owners had everything ready !!  That was actime when wages were 1.25/1.50 per hour !!  I was making big bucks then !!   70 years later, I am still teaching people how to backup their trailers with mirrors.  My barn is over 300 ft from the road and has a couple serious curves along the way, I backup the entire way and thru the curves in one run using mirrors.   My neighbor was impressed so I taught him how to use mirrors as his barn is the same 300 ft back like mine, but he was taking a long time starting and stopping to get back there.  But he was looking backwards....watch commercial truck drivers, they don't turn around....take some time to learn those mirrors, you will make far fewer mistakes and do overs with mirrors once you learn !!  Remember the key to sucessfull backing up....slow speed/ fast steering wheel....most folks do the opposite !!

You can see the guide my Ranger trailer has in the back right part of the photo attached.  They are not a visual help when backing up the trailer, strictly to help guide the boat on straight when loading.

My truck has towing mirrors.  They extend to see around a wide trailer.  My boat/trailer isn't wide enough to need them, but extending them allows me to have a good view of the trailer when it's empty.   I also lower my tinted windows any time I'm backing a trailer.   

8 hours ago, gimruis said:

You can see the guide my Ranger trailer has in the back right part of the photo attached.  They are not a visual help when backing up the trailer, strictly to help guide the boat on straight when loading.

Mine are similiar but a little longer...I added a piece of 2" pvc pipe to the rear support with a couple of U bolts to create a visual aid.  Works great !!

Using side mirrors is simple! Your hand in your lap then move your hand  on the stirring wheel the direction you want the trailer to move and stir the 1 fender in the mirror.

Tom

 

 

I took the guides off my trailer.  With them on there was 3" of clearance to get into my garage and some extra space there far outweighed any on water  utility.  That being said I upgraded my garage now to a 10' door and haven't put the guides back on...

I have a tracker 160 it does have the side bunk guides to aid for loading. I know with my truck and an empty trailer it is darn near impossible to see the trailer. I try to use the rule if I don’t see it I am going fairly straight. A lot of ramps I use have no lines so I try to find the edge of something to go off of. 

I had a slide-in camper and pulled my dirt bike trailer with it.  Any correction ended with a jackknife if I wasn't going very very slowly.  I could see an inch of the trailer wheel in the driver side mirror if I was going straight so what Tom said worked for me.  I had a larger boat with 8' guides that I could get crooked and just bounce back and forth to load if I hit it crooked.  It's harder to load my tin bass boat than any other boat I've ever had.

On 6/15/2023 at 2:11 PM, The Baron said:

 It’s a 16ft aluminum so the rear end floats above the bunks when loading and I’ve had to back into the lake to fix the alignment a couple times

 

I replaced my "guide" bunks with one's that are 5'-6' long & adjusted them to about 1" clearance between the boat & the board. For a visual reference when backing I leave my rear boat seat on the pedestal & the back in the up position.

I like all these stories from folks telling how they found ways to help them backup !!!  They are all good...you have to find out what works for you !!!  Try other folks ideas....but in the end, you gotta do what works for you !!   Then practice what you learned !!!  When my three kids got their drivers licenses, I made them learn to back up a trailer and drive a stick shift transmission as part of their requirements to get there licenses.  Youngest is now 43.... All, including my daughter are excellent drivers and have no fear with a stick or a trailer !!

15 minutes ago, airshot said:

I like all these stories from folks telling how they found ways to help them backup !!!  They are all good...you have to find out what works for you !!!  Try other folks ideas....but in the end, you gotta do what works for you !!   Then practice what you learned !!!  When my three kids got their drivers licenses, I made them learn to back up a trailer and drive a stick shift transmission as part of their requirements to get there licenses.  Youngest is now 43.... All, including my daughter are excellent drivers and have no fear with a stick or a trailer !!

I taught my daughter to drive in a 65 chevy impala with a 4 speed on the floor. And in a 15 passenger dodge van. She had no problem driving a standard. It did take a while for her to get the hang of parallel parking the van, but she got so she could park it in a normal parking space without much problem. Then I hooked up the boat to the van and make her back the trailer up through a parking lot...by having to slalom through the light poles. She absolutely HATED me for making her do that. Until she was about 20 years old and started dating a guy with a boat. She impressed him by being able to back the boat in without any problem . She came home from that and told me how glad she was that I made her do all those things. She still can back a trailer up with the best of them, and parallel parks no problem. And she was really upset that the SUV she recently bought was not available with a standard transmission.

Great story....my daughter taught ger first husband how to drive a stick shift...and backup a trailer....probably why they split up...

Our daughter bought a Toyota Corolla with a stick shift and I had to drive it home for her.  We lived in a very hilly area and I gave her some instructions and pointers.  Within a week she was driving all over town @ 17 years old.