Turning radius Z520

[Blindhogg]

OK.....i am about to build a second shop. The boat will get a new home. Part of the reason is that the present shop makes putting the boat in garage an “event”. Narrow drive with trees along side (No.....cutting those is not Wife approved) pulling past the shop driveway and then backing uphill around a corner that is very sharp ( way past 90 degrees) then downhill to the shop where the boat has to be angled to the other side of 90 degrees to fit in the garage.

The new plan is a shop that is situated such that I can in effect create a circle drive off of and back to the main drive with the shop being part of the circle. The shop will be a pull through.

Because of closeness to the neighbors property, the angle of the drive and other factors and obstacles I am concerned about being able to make the circle with truck and boat trailer.

So.... how tight can a Z520 trailer turn.

I am not where I can go hook up the boat and trailer and see.

any help would be appreciated.

[jc2bg]

I may be missing something here, but I believe that the length and turning radius of your truck is a variable that also must be known to answer the question. After that, we need a mathematics genius, which I am not. Seems like the crux of the question is how far out from the new shop you will need to be in order to get squared up to the entrance, avoiding scraping the trailer. Another variable that occurs to me when I picture that scenario is how wide the shop opening will be. I’ll tell you right now, you can greatly reduce the distance needed for a safe turn by increasing the width of the door by a couple of feet. I’m thinking you could turn in 15-20 fewer feet by increasing the door opening from 10 feet to 12 feet.

[Blindhogg]

Thanks your right. More info needed. F150 crew cab. +/- 21 long. The turning radius of the truck should be 25 feet or so per my friends at Ford. (50’ or so diameter tuning circle). Since the shop is in planning door cab be anything. I. Want. Was thinking 14’.

guess the question is if the truck can make a 50’ circle will the boat make the same circle. I have never tried to drive a tight circle with it. Hooked up.

thanks

[Cgs1967!]

For the most part yes. I have the same problem. I have to jackknife my trailer st first to get the truck where I need it to be. Then I can straighten out a little. I dont think I could do it with a tandum axle trailer. That is something else to consider.

[jc2bg]

To add something: with a tandem hooked to a truck I doubt the turning radius is much wider than with a single of the same length. One set of wheels will rotate on their axis while the other set is turning. On blacktop, this is sort of tough on the tread, as the tread will “scuff” when turning on the axis. But turn it will. And if the OP has a 14 foot door for a boat 8 1/2 feet wide, that radius will shrink quite a bit. Mathematicians, where are you? I’m guessing with that width door, you could make it with 30 feet or so clearance to turn in.

[Cgs1967!]

To add something: with a tandem hooked to a truck I doubt the turning radius is much wider than with a single of the same length. One set of wheels will rotate on their axis while the other set is turning. On blacktop, this is sort of tough on the tread, as the tread will “scuff” when turning on the axis. But turn it will. And if the OP has a 14 foot door for a boat 8 1/2 feet wide, that radius will shrink quite a bit. Mathematicians, where are you? I’m guessing with that width door, you could make it with 30 feet or so clearance to turn in.

Interesting. I learned something tonight. I just assumed a tandum wouldn't turn as quickly but now I know.

[turfy49431]

The trailer will not follow exactly behind the truck. It will be slightly to the inside. So whats on the inside curve of the driveway will dictate whether the turn can be made

[Blindhogg]

i think the answer to your question is nothing that can’t be removed is on the inside. My issue is how tight can I turn without jackknifing the trailer into the truck bumper. The place this new building has to go requires me to come down the existing drive and make a very tight turn to the right that will end up in me making about 270 degrees of a circle to line up with the garage door on the new building. The distance between the existing drive and the neighbors property and a tree that I can’t cut will limit the outside diameter of that circle somewhat. It’s probably more than a 50 foot circle but probably not more than 75. My well is also an obstacle on the outside of that circle. Once I am through about 180 degrees of that circle I go off the pavement I have in front of the exiting shop and will be making a new drive. I do have some wiggle room on exactly where the building will set that will allow some distance for the trailer to begin to straighten behind the truck as it enters the new building. Some thought will have to go into building placement as the boat exits back to the drive after pulling through the new shop but there is not as many obstacles on that end.

I apologize for the long lost and if it doesn’t make sense. I think I can make it work if I can figure how tight a circle I can turn without putting the boat trailer into the bumper.

Thanks for those that have responded and patience with my explanation.

[blkfalc4]

Possible option: https://parkit360.ca/

[Blindhogg]

Perhaps....but the point of the building is to create a pull through garage that allows me to park truck and trailer without unhooking. Making being ready to go fishing really easy and a non event when I get home to put the boat away. Sorry if that was not a clearly stated objective with my first post. Guess I should have made it so. This building is a compromise to selling this house and moving to a lake house with a dock in retirement.

So.....anyone know what the min turning circle diameter of a truck and 20 foot boat is that does not put the trailer to into the bumper.

[jc2bg]

The easy way to answer the question, of course, is to hook up a 520 to a truck and measure. But failing that [-2 windchill outside right now, so I’m not going to go there], here’s one more thought for a winter day. Where I have my boat serviced, it’s necessary for me to back from an adjoining road onto the driveway to the service entrance, a 90-degree turn. The road is a narrow 2 lanes, with a deep ditch on the far side, so I have at most 28 feet in which to make the turn [counting the road berm]. With a Silverado double-cab and a Z520, it’s possible to go slightly inside the 90-degree arc without falling into the ditch or going off the driveway, but let’s stick with just 90 degrees. Once in this fully cranked position, it would be possible to continue indefinitely in a circle with no greater than a 30-foot radius, never touching the bumper with the trailer. Coming in from the side in this scenario, it would take 90-94 “driving” feet [half of a circumference] to come in perfectly straight to the shop door. And as stated in an earlier post, if the door is significantly wider than the boat/trailer, the arc need not be as tight. If my math is correct, using a compass on a diagram drawn to scale, you should be able to lay out your shop plan on your property. I’d want to do a real-world check before signing the build order, of course!

[Blindhogg]

Thanks. I certainly won’t be building anything until I am sure. I’ll break out the compas and a Google Earth map. Thanks again.

[StevenMCC]

Just buy a garden tractor and put a Hitch on the front. This will let you unhook the boat and move with relative ease.

[Blindhogg]

I have a tractor. I have an ATV and I have a garden tractor that will all move the boat. The point and the goal of the building is to have a building that I can pull through and leave the boat and the truck hooked up. The challenge I have is to figure out if it fits on my property and I can configure a drive and building placement that allows that. If I have to unhook and rebook to use a tractor I will just keep what I have.

[jc2bg]

Here’s how a compass [as in high school geometry] comes into play. On paper, envision the neighbor’s boundary line and the available space to the rear of the new shop. Draw in the shop, to scale, with both side and rear boundaries also drawn. Then place a dot [point of the compass] precisely in the middle of the shop door opening, facing the rear of the property [from which you will be entering the shop]. On the neighbor’s side from which you are approaching, run a perpendicular line outward toward the neighbor’s. Then run another line straight out from the compass point, the axis of your turn, toward the rear boundary. You now have two radius lines 90 degrees apart, but the same distance from the compass point [the sharp thingy]. I’m guessing that if those straight lines represent 20 feet, ain’t no way you’re turning that rig into the shop. If those radius lines are 30 feet long, the turn is possible but very tight. Might take a course correction midstream. And if the radius lines are 40 feet long, cake. So maybe that gives you some parameters. If you have less than 30 feet out to the side of the center of the door opening, or less than 30 feet to the rear of your property, I can’t see “it” happening with the shop placed there. 35 feet and upwards shouldn’t be difficult. If I’m wrong, I’ll send you a crank bait I’m not using.

[Blindhogg]

Sounds great. Thank you. No need for the crank bait. I appreciate your help