OT: Required Video For Those That Tow

[jdunmyer]

I have one of these and use it when a question arises: http://sherline.com/?s=tongue+scale The owner of Sherline developed it when he had a close call with his race car trailer. I have a tandem-axle trailer that's deadly when loaded tail-heavy and tows like it's not there when loaded correctly.

Rule of thumb is to have 10-12% of the total trailer weight on the tongue.

[fixerdave]

A long time ago, I got caught on that. Went camping with a 24' RV trailer behind a real car, A '70s Buick Park Avenue with a really nice 440 pulled out of something else. More weight and a bigger frame than most trucks these days and great gobs of power. No problem heading out, but the fresh water tank was up front and the grey water was at the back. Never thought to check tongue weight AFTER I was finished my camping and heading home, 30+ gallons shifted from front to back.

Only had one moment where things started going squirrelly and, thankfully, there was enough room to let that 440 save the day. Kind of like that big hand coming down from above to straighten things out It ended up being a cheap lesson, but one burned into my soul. Not an experience I'd care to repeat.

Even with all the idiocy, I sometimes wonder how many lives the internet has saved. Kids these days have no idea how good they've got it.

David...

[Evan]

Kids these days have no idea how good they've got it.

We could easily get very off topic but the topic is pretty finished anyway. This is the age of the internet. It is like something never seen before by the human race and it is so totally unlike anything that could ever happen before. Instant communication anywhere and everywhere between anyone and everyone. Zero fact checking is usually the rule. What people believe and what they actually know is now entirely mixed beyond any possibility of sorting. Learning was usually from teachers and books with at least some degree of authority involved. No longer. We are entering the age of the morons as written by Cyril M. Kornbluth in 1951, The Marching Morons. Did he ever hit it right. It is a short science fiction story except it is no longer fiction. Based on the plot I almost feel like I was part of the story.

The story is set hundreds of years in the future: the date is 7-B-936. John Barlow, a man from the past put into suspended animation by a freak accident involving a dental drill and anesthesia, is revived in this future.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marching_Morons

[bborr01]

Probably the best use of a treadmill that i have seen lately.

Brian

[Dan Dubeau]

Probably the best use of a treadmill that i have seen lately.

Brian

I liked the one video that used the treadmill to load wood into the basement. I thought that one was a great use for a treadmill.

[A.K. Boomer]

A long time ago, I got caught on that. Went camping with a 24' RV trailer behind a real car, A '70s Buick Park Avenue with a really nice 440 pulled out of something else. More weight and a bigger frame than most trucks these days and great gobs of power. No problem heading out, but the fresh water tank was up front and the grey water was at the back. Never thought to check tongue weight AFTER I was finished my camping and heading home, 30+ gallons shifted from front to back.

Only had one moment where things started going squirrelly and, thankfully, there was enough room to let that 440 save the day. Kind of like that big hand coming down from above to straighten things out It ended up being a cheap lesson, but one burned into my soul. Not an experience I'd care to repeat.

Even with all the idiocy, I sometimes wonder how many lives the internet has saved. Kids these days have no idea how good they've got it.

David...

I could definitely see how something like this could sneak up on someone - good post...

[larry_g]

We have a bit of a hill in front of our house. One sunny dry day I heard a commotion out front and went to investigate. Someone in a 1/2 ton pickup, towing a trailer, was spinning his tires getting up the hill. The trailer was so heavy in the back it was unloading the rear tires of the pickup to the point of poor traction on dry pavement. I listened as he went down the other side to hear the crash at the bottom of the other side of the hill as it terminates in a hard right turn. I think he made it as I heard nothing and could see no upset brush there when I next traveled that way.

lg
no neat sig line