Backing hay wagons

PJH had a pretty funny story on gotmyfarm!'s post about the baler. I didn't want to hijack, so I thought I'd tell my story about backing a wagon from earlier tonight.

I've gotten a lot better at backing wagons over the past few years, but it can still take a few tries. I hauled a wagon of straw to my neighbor's place just this evening. When I got there, he went to pull the pin, but I said "don't you want it in the shed?" He said he did, but I could never get it backed in with the loose front end and with a pickup, no less. He would use a skid steer with a hitch on the plate. I told him to give me a chance. He opened the gate to the field road and stood back with a little grin on his face, confident that I couldn't hit a 16 foot hole with an 8 foot wobbly hay wagon and pickup. Well, I showed him! It took a half dozen pull forwards, but I got that thing in there. His grin faded as I got closer and closer...

But the real reward was IN the shed. He's a red guy, but there sat a 1955 John Deere 50 with power steering! I couldn't believe it. Turns out his F-I-L gave him three tractors last week and this was one. I didn't see the other two, but I saw this one. It was the only one in the shed. He said he was too embarrassed to let the neighbors see he had a green tractor! I told him if it ever comes up for sale, I want first shot.

Oh, of course, I got a shot in at him. I told him he can't back wagons because he uses the wrong color tractor, and that he should try backing them in with the 50. The joke will be on him if he tries... Those old two bangers have WAY too fast of a reverse gear. You gotta be good and quick to back a wagon with them. I hate backing wagons with my 60.

That?s a funny story and sounds like you guys had a great
visit. Backing wagons takes a lot of practice but once you?ve
got it your good for life. I?m 45 and I recently got my class
1,drivers license, learning to back a truck and trailer was just
like learning to back a tractor and wagon all over again as a
kid.

Backing up wagons takes practice and good
instinct, and power steering will help a lot too😉.
Have you tried to push wagons into place with a
front hitch? Tractors have a wide range of speeds in
forward gears, in like reverse, and your not having
to look over your shoulder to see.

Years ago in my experience we always used front hitches on tractors to back wagons-- much easier. I remember you steered the tractor in the direction you wanted the back of the wagon to go.

The biggest mistake when backing a wagon is over steering...

It would take a few tries, wasn?t the most precise, and couldn?t go too far but my father could back
a trailer hooked up to a baler.

Tractor show I go to used to have a wagon backing competition. Saw a guy with three wagons trying to
back em up. I was on a mission so I didn't watch, but I wish I had. Way to many pivot points for me.

I used to be able to back up wagons just about anywhere using anything. Now a days between I don't have as much flexibility in my neck to turn and poor eye sight its a lot more challenging to back up anything,
even just to hitch something to the tractor.

Always seemed to me that the number of attempts increased exponentially with the number of people watching.

We cut a hole in one of our pallet fork
for backing wagons with the slider. In the
old days we had a front hitch on the old
4000 ford.

I was told as a kid that the secret to backing a wagon is to concentrate on the hitch pin and how far left or right it in moving. The same as you would do your kids toy wagon. Keeps you from over steering when your concentrating on just the wagon rack.

When I was in High School our FFA held a Tractor rodeo. Back a wagon,chopper and tractor through a 16ft gate. Best time wins. Was challenging to say the least

They won't!

My 2c

Nor will cotton trailers!

We never had any problems backing the big hay wagon up to the barn, using a little Massey Harris "Pony", because it went so slow we could zig and zag and keep up with it.

There's a lot to make backing wagons easier- power steering is tops on my list! Keep the RPMs up and choose the shortest wheelbase tractor you have. We have two narrow gauge vineyard tractors that make it pretty easy.

I still marvel at the old neighbor backing a fully-loaded hay wagon into his bank barn with the baler between the wagon and his JD 50. If we stacked it high, he had to wait for the floor to sag to clear the beams in the middle...

Every cultivator carry plate on our 2 cylinder jd
tractors got a hole bored in them for wagon
backing.and were used too

Well Ill say it again, pull that throttle back on the two banger and reverse isnt all that fast on the numbered series. The older lettered series are a bit too fast though. That hand clutch doesnt help much. We had a guy with an M with power steering stuffing bundle wagons full of shocks into a large shed using the rear drawbar a few years ago. He was backing every wagon into tight spaces first time every time. He was must plain good at it. I had to give him a compliment.

I used to back the chopper away from the
swath far enough to unhook the load and
hook up the empty in front of it.

The 1566 didn't turn so easy with the
steering wheel, the trick was to just give
the wheel a 1/4 turn and apply brake.

Jim - you're an old hand clutch JD guy - do you look over your right shoulder or left shoulder when backing with a hand clutch? For some reason, I always look over my right shoulder, with my right hand on the clutch lever of course. I can't seem to force myself to look over my left shoulder, and I don't know why.

I learned to back a wagon with a JD 70 without P/S. M0st of the time I was by my self while dad worked for the
state. You either learned to do it or it just didn't get done. (and I liked showing off for the old guys that
said I could not do something)

A lot on backing anything is how limber your body is to do the twisting to see things. I even have trouble backing a single or tandam axle trailer with the truck with mirrors on it. Back when farming always used a front hitch on tractors and also the truck.

Not tractor backing.......I was at my cousin's place a month or so ago when a neighbor Amish family pulled into his driveway with a farm wagon (not a buggy) pulled by a team of horses.
About a 75 ft. driveway with a car parked on one side.
The "driver" was a boy about 12 or 13 and I was a little nervous
about him having to back out of the driveway with a car right next to him.
It was a real pleasure watching that kid back that wagon out so expertly!