Towing a motor home with a toad

[Bill]

I have an odd question, directed at the towing experts on the forum.

Here on “the beaches of Maine”, as listed in my sig line, we live on quiet dead-end street. It is about a half mile long, dead flat, one and a half lanes wide, and truly a dead end. The entrance is boldly signed “RESIDENTIAL AREA, DEAD END, NO TURN AROUND”. Despite the signs, a few times a year a big motor home with the inevitable toad comes chugging on down the street, just quietly rubbernecking, until he gets to the end of the road and realizes he is in trouble.

At that point, the driver has only one solution. No one can back a motorhome and toad down a half mile of narrow street, so he has to disconnect the toad, back it into somebody’s driveway, reverse it out, drive it away a bit, then back the motorhome into somebody’s driveway, pull it out onto the street again, hook up the toad again, and drive out. Then wave cheerfully to the neighbors, and go on his way. It’s a slow process, not pretty, and of course he blocks the residents’ access to their homes, as well as emergency vehicles, for the half hour that it takes to do this.

It happened again Friday. The biggest motorhome I’ve ever seen, with a four-door Jeep Grand Cherokee toad, 4-wheels-down, came snarling on down the street (nothing this big “chugs”). When the owner figured out he was in trouble, he reluctantly made the standard exit maneuver. Disconnect the toad, move the vehicles separately, reconnect them, and drive out. As usual, it blocked the road for about a half hour.

As I watched, a question popped into my mind. No one can back up a long tow vehicle (the motor home) with a short trailer (the toad). But consider an 18-wheeler. It is a short tow vehicle (the tractor) with a long trailer (the box). We have all marveled at the fact that the driver can back that rig anywhere, but it works for him because the tow vehicle is short compared to the trailer. Would that work here? Why not simply put the motor home in neutral, making it the trailer? Fire up the toad, and either use it push the motor home (effectively backing it) into someone's driveway, or let it pull the “trailer” down the street and into the chosen driveway. Then reverse the roles again and let the motorhome pull the toad out into the street and back to the starting point.

As long as the toad is four-wheels-down, it seems that it should be quick and easy. Any thoughts as to why I should not recommend this to the next prideful cowboy who comes be-bopping down the street with his plush motorhome and his toad?

Bill

Bill:
Not to take anything away from all the technical people that will come up with their answer but I would go ahead and give the suggestion and then pull up a lounge chair and have a beer while it all goes on. Don't forget to post back on everything that happens though!

Bob

[countrygirl]

I wonder if they are all looking for the "perfect" boon docking spot?

While I am not old enough to have actually seen this....

(I have seen pictures of it in a Santa Fe museum of old cars backing up the big hill on what would be 25 from Albuqurque to Santa Fe...)

I can remember my dad telling me that if I could not go forward up something and had to get to the top to try reverse. That it was the lowest gear in the box.... seems that if one took it very slow and listened to the toad for any " croaking sounds of death " it should at least be worth a try....

My thoughts- the toad is probably good for class III at the very most. The RV is probably double what a Class 4 is in weight. I would think the toad would have transmission troubles in very short order. I would personally be afraid to try it if I were the dummy that came down the street. You might want to keep some kitty litter around to sop up the transmission fluid if someone tries.

I am not the expert you are waiting to weigh in on this though.

It would work Bill with possible problems. If the cowboy was alone, he might have to tie his motorhome steering wheel to keep it from wandering. If it did wander he would have to stop and go back and forth between the mh and the toad to make corrections. You could sell lawn-chair tickets to watch that performance.
As to a toad having the power to pull a mh: I once saw a mustang tow a 13 ton rig to start the engine when it was too cold for the tractor to start the engine with ether.
My neighbor has a mh and drags a car dolly. He impresses me every time by backing it out of his drive, thru a narrow gate, making a 90 degree turn on a narrow street. The longer the wheel base of the trailer, the easier it is to back up, but that dolly is short, maybe 10 feet long and he can only see it on his monitor screen.
I drove a Mack and pulled a 42 foot tanker for 9 years. I showed a picture of my rig to my grandson the other day. The fact that his grandpa had such a job didn't impress him but the price of leaded gas on the pole was 57 cents a gallon. Now that amazed him.

[rvcycleguy]

Originally Posted by Joseph

While I am not old enough to have actually seen this....

(I have seen pictures of it in a Santa Fe museum of old cars backing up the big hill on what would be 25 from Albuqurque to Santa Fe...)

I can remember my dad telling me that if I could not go forward up something and had to get to the top to try reverse. That it was the lowest gear in the box.... seems that if one took it very slow and listened to the toad for any " croaking sounds of death " it should at least be worth a try....

Heard the same story. 29 model A, You needed reverse to maintain the gravity fed gasoline line to the carburerator. With No fuel pump and the side draft carb, and the gas tank in the cowling below the windshield, a positive flow was obvious but difficult on steep hills. The driver just simply backed up the hill.

Originally Posted by rvcycleguy

Heard the same story. 29 model A, You needed reverse to maintain the gravity fed gasoline line to the carburerator. With No fuel pump and the side draft carb, and the gas tank in the cowling below the windshield, a positive flow was obvious but difficult on steep hills. The driver just simply backed up the hill.

Thank you for joggin this ole memory! That was it. Fuel could not get to the engine. Amazing what stays, sort of, in the back of a persons mind.

Originally Posted by Joseph

While I am not old enough to have actually seen this....

(I have seen pictures of it in a Santa Fe museum of old cars backing up the big hill on what would be 25 from Albuqurque to Santa Fe...)

I can remember my dad telling me that if I could not go forward up something and had to get to the top to try reverse. That it was the lowest gear in the box.... seems that if one took it very slow and listened to the toad for any " croaking sounds of death " it should at least be worth a try....

My dad in my much younger days mentioned that when the vehicles of his time met on a one lane hill road the ones that were headed down would back up because they were the ones that had much more control. Gearing.

Bob

My first thought is what great entertainment. But practically, I wonder if the toad attachment is strong enough to hold in the opposite way of what it is designed for...