Turning trailer around on narrow dirt road, by hand

[Burroman]

Found myself in a bit of a pickle on a narrow desert dirt road.
It was looking too rough for my liking, but also too narrow to turn around. Berms were 2-3’ high. Finally, after going further than I wanted, I found a place where the road grader made a tiny off-ramp- whew! Was able, with a lot of effort to get turned around.
My question is this: I used to have a 13’ scamp and unhooked, I could pretty easily whip it around- did it a couple of times on narrow mountain roads.
My 13’ Burro seems way too tongue heavy to easily do that.
I’m thinking the axel is further back on the Burro , making the tongue heavier.
I’ll try removing the propane tank to shed some weight.
Even had a friend stand on the back bumper- still too heavy in front.
Bigger friends? Or more of them?
Anyone solve this problem?
Larry

[Raspy]

I have solved that potential problem in advance by carrying a tongue jack wheel. I can hook a rope from the tongue to the front tow hook on the truck, or use my onboard winch, and pull it around. I even carry a snatch block in case I have to pull it from directly behind and need to run the rope to a tree or other anchor point in the process. Carry a jack wheel and a rope with you when exploring. I carry a boat anchor too, in case I get stuck with nothing to hook onto.

[Jon in AZ]

Curious what your loaded tongue weight actually is. I wouldn't expect a Burro to be significantly heavier than a Scamp, assuming that are optioned and loaded similarly. My '08 Scamp usually runs around 200# on the tongue normally loaded with one LP tank and G24 battery, no water in the tank, typical for no-bath Scamps. The only loaded Burro in the "Trailer Weights" database is the same. Older Scamps might be a little lighter. Units missing the upper front bunk platform will be lighter.

I cannot easily drag the tongue on its flat foot on anything but a flat, smooth, hard surface. I've done it on dirt, but only for a short distance. To do a full 180, pretty sure I'd have to remove the battery and LP tank and set 'em in the back of the cabin for counterweight.

[Burroman]

I like the rope and tongue wheel .
Great idea. Have a wheel- left it home,
Had rope too!

[Burroman]

Could be my imagination, but it looks like my Burro axel is further back than the scamps I see.

[Jon in AZ]

You could be right about axle placement, but regardless, typical tongue weights are similar. The interesting question is why your old one one was lighter.

[Iowa Dave]

I made a little miscalculation once in West Virginia when I drove down a road where I thought I could turn around. About a quarter mile with a steep drop off on the passenger side. I backed out of there the whole way while my wife walked alongside the 19 Escape and for the first time in my life kept me on the straight and narrow. Did I mention it was 38 degrees, raining, and getting dark? And she had told me not to go that
way. So there is that option, back up.
Iowa Dave

[Bruce Olive]

And you’re still married!

[Iowa Dave]

It was quiet at dinner that evening but all better by morning. 51 years and counting. I remember it was a Friday night. Could only get one radio station and that was a local high school football game. Making memories is what it’s all about.
Iowa Dave

[Keith2000]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

It was quiet at dinner that evening but all better by morning. 51 years and counting. I remember it was a Friday night. Could only get one radio station and that was a local high school football game. Making memories is what it’s all about.
Iowa Dave

Was it a good game?

[Iowa Dave]

The game was ok but they played an interview with one of the coaches from earlier in the week at halftime.
He said “my quarterbacks are both hurt and shouldn’t be playing but I don’t have anyone else so they have to play hurt. I don’t know when they will have time to heal up”.

That bothered me but I knew it was the feeling of too many coaches and not unique to this rural high school in West Virginia.

My high school class was 33-0 over the three years in senior high. There were about 85 boys on the team. We were state champions with many players that played college ball and two who played NFL football. Last season that school could only recruit 21 boys for the team and had to forfeit a couple games due to injuries and Covid.
Times sure change.
My kids were in sports but I never was. Too busy working, hunting, fishing and trapping. And once In a while I even studied.

Oh yeah, then there was also a real nice looking girl who lived 2 blocks over and worked at the corner grocery store.
And later became an expert at directing her bullheaded husband out of jams.
Iowa Dave

[Bonnie RB]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

I backed out of there the whole way while my wife walked alongside the 19 Escape and for the first time in my life kept me on the straight and narrow. Did I mention it was 38 degrees, raining, and getting dark? And she had told me not to go that way.

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Oh yeah, then there was also a real nice looking girl who lived 2 blocks over and worked at the corner grocery store.
And later became an expert at directing her bullheaded husband out of jams.

Similar situation here. Love? .... or just tolerance of us?
Wish yours a happy Valentine's Day from me.
Jon MB

[Wayne Collins]

Originally Posted by Burroman

Could be my imagination, but it looks like my Burro axel is further back than the scamps I see.

First, it is spelled AXLE… an AXEL is a jump in figure skating.

A hitch jack wheel won't do much good an a sandy desert road, You would need sheets of plywood for it to roll on.

Had you continued farther on you may have found a turning spot.

[wilyoung]

Originally Posted by Wayne Collins

First, it is spelled AXLE… an AXEL is a jump in figure skating.

A hitch jack wheel won't do much good an a sandy desert road, You would need sheets of plywood for it to roll on.

Had you continued farther on you may have found a turning spot.

Check original post. He did find a turning spot. It was someone else who backed out.

[Glenn Baglo]

All you have to do is take the wheel off the driver side and swap it with the wheel on the passenger side. Simple really.

[Iowa Dave]

Hmmmm. Never thought of that . On the other hand ……
I will tell you this, even with the wheel on a dead flat concrete floor, smooth troweled, an Escape 19 or
21 can be rolled in one direction with about 300 pounds of push. But the scuff on the tires is so great that one person unless they are legitimately in the world strongest man or woman competition, cannot spin the trailer in place (read that narrow road). A two wheeled 13 Boler., no problem for a big southern Ohio or eastern Iowa boy..
I tried the 19 in our building once, couldn’t do it.
Iowa Dave

[Bill in Pittsburgh]

Thread reminds me of a time when I towed a tent trailer down a long, steep, rocky, rutted, and narrow road with heavy growth on each side to find a large tree had fallen across the road.
Nearly lost my clutch backing out.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by Bill in Pittsburgh

Thread reminds me of a time when I towed a tent trailer down a long, steep, rocky, rutted, and narrow road with heavy growth on each side to find a large tree had fallen across the road.
Nearly lost my clutch backing out.

I would hate backing up a steep narrow road with a manual tranny.

And, of course, there are many situations where you would be crazy to disconnect the trailer and try to turn it around. Steep roads, drop offs, etc. I had to disconnect in order to go pull a buddy out that was stuck in the snow. So I found a spot just wide enough and with a tree. I backed up to the tree and disconnected, just in case it tried to roll away. Another very nice piece of gear is a hand brake mounted on the tongue to lock the wheels independently of the truck braking system. A parking brake. They are common on Australian trailers. As far as the tongue wheel goes, the best ones have dual wheels and even rubber tires. Not every narrow spot will be sandy, and many wheels are not the best for rolling the trailer, but wheels are much better than a simple flat plate of steel. And the wheels don't have to be left on all the time. I would rather park with a tongue plate than a set of wheels.
Because of rocky ground, or pot holes, or tandem axles, I doubt there are many situations where one could turn the trailer around by hand. Carry a rope.

[Glenn Baglo]

You could pull the pin on the breakaway switch to lock the wheels, but not for long or you'll drain the house battery.

[Bruce Olive]

Google led us down a “shortcut” that turned into a dirt road that turned into an impassable bridge where locals dumped trash. Raining and getting dark. We had our Oliver then. A 12 point turn later, pushing the rear of the Ollie into the brush, and we got turned around. A few scratches on the Oliver which buffed out. Would have totaled an Airstream.