Turning Around The T@B

A lot of women choose a T@B trailer because they are lightweight and the big handles on the side allow us to move the trailer around by hand on the campsite or at home. And that’s macho! Plus, it’s feminine at the same time ’cause these things are so dang cute!

Last weekend was only my second time out with the T@B. I had pulled the trailer forward into what was advertised as a back-in site so that my door would be facing the campsite.

During the campout, I wondered if I could turn the T@B 180 degrees around on the parking pad so I could bring my car around and pull it out that way. Otherwise I would have to back it out, and I’m still not good at that. At all.

If I had to pull it out the way it was facing, I could do that as well by driving through the campsite. Two days before my departure, my good friend and I walked the possible path I would take through the campsite, pulling the trailer forward, so I wouldn’t have to attempt backing it out. We may or may not have broken off a few branches to carve out a path that wouldn’t scratch The Tiny. I’m not saying we did break off these branches in a State Park. And I would certainly deny it in a court of law. But that was the mindset. How am going to get this trailer out of here without backing it up?

So turning it around on the pad would certainly solve that problem. Could I turn it by hand? Alone? I thought about it for four days. Was the pad wide enough? Would The Tiny roll off and into the dirt? Who would help me?

When everything was packed up and it was time to go, I had to decide. Do I give this a try and possibly fail? Do I give this a try and possibly succeed? If not now, when? I decided I had to try.

Above you see The Tiny facing forward. The pneumatic jockey wheel is on the ground. Previously, I had the original solid wheel replaced with this one just to make this kind of move possible. You can see the red maneuvering handle attached to the jack. I also added that to make this kind of move possible. This set-up has a handbrake on the tongue in case the trailer should start to roll away.

All elements were in place. The time had come. I released the handbrake. I grabbed the various handles and tentatively, slowly, cautiously began to turn the T@B.

And . . . literally 12 seconds later, it’s facing the other direction. It’s hard to describe how easy it was. How many other things have I not tried out of fear and self doubt and ignorance? Far, far too many to think about here.

But those undone and untried things are far in the past. This is now. And I am a happy camper.

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