I guess there is a first time for everything. This class has provided me with a lot of firsts, and driving a tractor and a trailer was going to be one of them.
I started out on the truck and trailer. A diesel f-450 to be exact, with a trailer mount instead of a bed in the back. I hoisted myself up into the truck and cranked it up. The object was to back the truck up, hook up the trailer, and then drive a loop around the Beef Unit, with the trailer attached, back it up into its original position, and unhook the trailer.
Backing up this monstrosity is more of a two or three person job. In my case 3 person. Landon at the back directing, and George in the passenger seat giving instructions. The tricky thing about hooking up the trailer is that the trailer hitch must be in exact position for you to be able to hook up the trailer. So there was a lot of backing up, driving forward, and backing up again until I got it perfect.
From there we hooked up the trailer, and then began our loop around the Beef Unit. I soon realized the turns must be made extra wide when driving a trailer, wide and slow is the name of the game. Totally different from driving my little car.
Once we made it back around the other side of the Beef Unit, I needed to back the trailed up to it original spot. Here comes the hard part. I didn't know that when you back up a trailer you have to do everything in the opposite direction of how you would normally back up.
I had to back up and drive forward to restart about 40 times, but eventually I got it back in the original spot and unhooked it. Thank God for Landon and George having the patience of saints!
From there it was on to the tractor. The main obstacle here: stick shift. I can barely drive an automatic safely, so how on Earth was I supposed to drive something with a clutch. With some work I finally got it, even though I had to put the tractor in low in order to be able to steer it and back it up without crashing into something. Maybe one day I'll be able to handle it in high gear...
Anyways, the next task was to back up the tractor and spear a bail of hay, pick it up, and move it to another location. This is where I was extra glad I was in low gear, it gave me extra time to back up and adjust my positioning. Thank the good lord I didn't hit the fence, unlike some people....
I successfully speared the hay bail, lifted it with the lever and then moved it to the other side of the row of hay bails. Victory!
Overall I think I did fairly well for someone who has been driving a little less than a year! But I wouldn't be trusting me out there on my own just yet!
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