| Author | Message | ||
| H3-40 (Ace)
Registered Member Username: Ace Post Number: 749 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 75.201.171.131 Rating: N/A |
Took the band (Bits of Grass) whom we now sponsor to a gig in the woods of Sertoma, a local gathering place for pickers. Everything was fine and the trip went well until we went to leave. Scenario... started raining badly thru the evening while there, which made for a very dark night. Sertoma is located deep in the woods and down in a valley. You would have to see it to understand and ask, how does ANY bus get in there, but we do, just ask Jack! Anyway upon leaving, I walked the course to determine the best exit. Not an easy task when you tents, campers, and TREES everywhere! The determining factor was, the same way we went in, which meant backing out to a clear (treeless) spot to turn around. Remember, it rained so I didn't want to get off on the grass TOO far. Ok so I get Susan to walk behind me as I backed up which also meant backing around a curve beside a NOW parked motor home that wasn't there when we arrived. I missed hitting the parked RV and handled the curve quite well and the rule that Susan and I have is if I don't see her in the rear monitor, I stop until I can see her! Everything was going great and she was well in the monitor until the driver of the bus saw an opportunity to pull forward and turn right into a clearing which he thought would make the turn around into the clearing easier. Remember I said there were trees in these woods? Now I could see a tree in the side window but what I couldn't see was a ROOT that was up out of the ground pretty high. Well that ROOT caught the under side of my bay door on the passenger side doing a little damage which is all cosmetic. It wasn't the damage that was done that made it bad. It was the WRATH of Susan yelling at me thru the toll window and in front of everyone that was watching us try and escape! Now I have put this toll window up and down a thousand times. Do you think I could find that button that operates the window? Hell no! I hit every button but the window button, so I HAD to hear it all! Did I mention a band member IN thew bus was also telling me the tree was clear of the bus? Well it was from their perspective as the tree was about 6 feet from the bus. It was that ROOT! Food for thought... Listen to ONE person ONLY giving directions and STICK to the rules and pre made plan which I admit I didn't and LEARN where the window button in case you need to shut someone out!  Ace | ||
| john w. roan (Chessie4905)
Registered Member Username: Chessie4905 Post Number: 848 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 71.58.48.5 Rating: N/A |
I've sorta been there at one time or another. Sometime when wives ar PO'ed at you, they don't care WHO hears them causing untold embassasment. Sometimes I think they take advantage of a situation such as this to make up for all the times they were PO'ed in the past, when they bit their tongue instead.Just endure it and lick your wounds. Some day you can laugh about it. Hopefully. A set of portable walkie talkies would be useful in a situation like this. This also demonstrates to others how nice having rear view cameras are most of the time. Sh.. happens sometimes.I'm glad the damage was minimal. I wonder how many RV'ers have creased a side by accident or torn off an antenna- oops. | ||
| Jim Wilke (Jim Bob) (Pd41044039)
Registered Member Username: Pd41044039 Post Number: 255 Registered: 2-2001 Posted From: 208.6.60.4 Rating: N/A |
Hi Ace, I can agree with you completely. The times I have dinged up our bus (My Sue has done it too.) was when we did not use a spotter OR did not stick to the plan. Some of the worst nightmares were when we would roll into a campground & 4-5 helpful guys would give faulty or conflicting instructions and the best is the guys that shine their 25,000 candlepower lights through the windshield or in the rearview! Now when the helpers come out we refuse help but thank them, then ignore their input. Sue & I developed a system pretty much the same as yours, using the walkie talkies AND the "bus stops if the spotter is not visible" rule. (No Flat Spotters!) And, I have to say it works pretty good as long as I (driver) don't get independant. We use the same method when boating as well. Our goal is to never scream in front of an audience. | ||
| Douglas Wotring (Tekebird)
Registered Member Username: Tekebird Post Number: 295 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 71.230.10.75 Rating: N/A |
suggest you adjust your mirrors so you can see you rear wheels..... when putting the coach in a tight place I always turn it around after passengers exit for a quick easy get away. I never trust any backer....even when I was a Firefighter we were required to have backers at all times while backing...even guys I worked with for 3-4 years I did not use them for anything other than where my rear bumper was in relation to a tree or something that was totally out of my mirror vision. | ||
| Laryn Christley (Barn_owl)
Registered Member Username: Barn_owl Post Number: 109 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 70.110.13.133 Rating: N/A |
Quote from John: "I've sorta been there at one time or another. Sometime when wives ar PO'ed at you, they don't care WHO hears them causing untold embassasment. Sometimes I think they take advantage of a situation such as this to make up for all the times they were PO'ed in the past, when they bit their tongue instead." John, did you marry my wife's sister? LOL I thought that there was a brotherly bond, now I know it was more than GM busses! I feel for ya man! Laryn (Message edited by barn_owl on January 20, 2008) (Message edited by barn_owl on January 20, 2008) | ||
| H3-40 (Ace)
Registered Member Username: Ace Post Number: 750 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 75.201.171.131 Rating: N/A |
Douglas, using mirrors is what I do best! Unfortunetly, you missed what I said! It was VERY dark and under a LOT of trees at about 9:00 pm which made even seeing thru the dark tinted side windows very hard. As for using a backer? I will ALWAYS use Susan as my backer because she knows where I'm going or if and when I would be in danger of doing something stupid! What happened last night was all MY fault, not hers or anyone else's! If you would been in the same situation, I'm sure you would want someone to help guide you backwards as well unless of course you have lights on your wheels so you can see them in your mirrors when it is pitch black outside!  Ace | ||
| Jack Conrad (Jackconrad)
Registered Member Username: Jackconrad Post Number: 723 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 166.166.219.29 Rating: N/A |
Ace, I am sorry to hear about your problem. I always had trouble getting in & out of there in broad daylight! I use only 1 person as a spotter (usually Paula or a busnut friend who I know very well). We just installed a used set of Ramco mirrors with remote control flat and convex mirrors. Today was our first trip using them (to YeeHaw Junction for Bluegrass Festival). Being able to change the mirrors for close quarter backing is going to be a big help (although not much help at night). Are you bringing Bits of Grass to YeeHaw in your bus? It is a much easier in & out than Sertoma, but you will need a backer when parking and leaving. You will see our buses as you pull in (before you park in ther band bus area. Jack | ||
| H3-40 (Ace)
Registered Member Username: Ace Post Number: 751 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 216.9.250.44 Rating: N/A |
Jack these guys don't have a clue about Sertoma and once they saw it they'd probably run the other way! As for yee-haw? Yes the band has one show on Sunday I think at 10 am (yuck)! There was talk about picking them up early that day but trying to talk them into maybe leaving Saturday and spending the night! I will know more tomorrow at mt lesson! Say hi to all the bus pickers for us! Hopefully we'll see you then! Ace | ||
| Glenn Vining (Glennvin)
Registered Member Username: Glennvin Post Number: 26 Registered: 10-2002 Posted From: 98.18.117.105 Rating: N/A |
Ace, Sorry to hear of your mishap. I do the same as you when backing, at all times. Probably 75% of the time that I back is at night. I ALWAYS have a "backer" watching for me...with a radio. And if it's a tight place, I'll use more than one "backer". I ain't proud. LOL I usually let them do the talking, and I do the listening. And I'm like you, if I lose sight of the backer...I stop!!! Glenn 1959 GMC 4104 1984 MCI-9 Tallulah Falls, GA | ||
| Buswarrior (Buswarrior)
Registered Member Username: Buswarrior Post Number: 1166 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 76.66.19.41 Rating: N/A |
Damn, I hate bent and broken bus pieces!!! When backing, stuff the ego/stubborn pride/haste/confidence/irritation/sore knees and do what the real men do: GOAL Get Out And Look. It goes along with stick to the plan, have a monitor, and ignore the masses of "helpers" It is best if the driver reverses by way of their own navigation, choosing the trajectory, and keeping track of the sides. The monitor only takes care of the rear bumper, and those completely unpredictable reasons to holler stop. (intoxicated forest dwellers staggering about?) If the monitor is providing steering directions, who is watching the other side? And a pair of rear facing lights mounted up high near the front of the coach is a handy addition for those who frequent the dark woods. Same as what the truckers do. happy coaching! buswarrior | ||
| David (Davidinwilmnc)
Registered Member Username: Davidinwilmnc Post Number: 222 Registered: 7-2005 Posted From: 75.180.200.138 Rating: N/A |
Ace, I had a similar incident with a root back in July on my first 'real' bus trip. I was quite a way from the tree, and it was dark. I kinda heard and felt the root, but I thought it was stuff falling in the bay. Wrong! I tore up two bay doors, the frame that runs the length of the bus, and the side engine door. Two of the doors wouldn't even open! Oh, I also knocked off the gen. muffler and almost knocked off the bus muffler. Damned roots in the dark! David | ||
| Simon Ayriss (Design_dog)
Registered Member Username: Design_dog Post Number: 106 Registered: 3-2007 Posted From: 69.227.189.77 Rating: N/A |
Ace. Probably won't make you feel any better, but since it's not your bus maybe you can get a laugh... Remind me to tell you the story (and show you some photos) about when I [didn't] hit the side of the house ripping up part of the roof thus breaking the back windows on the bus on one side. --__ Luckily -- I had to knock out all those windows anyway. -- But still. Sure is great with all your neighbors standing around, no one directing traffic, the wife giving directions and the next-door neighbor saying "you can't do it, why don't you give up today and try another time?" I learned a few things though. (telling myself I'm not going to get started on this one.) A few times I did put the bus in park and had to get out and look around. Short version is I plan on doing that again if I have to in the future. Problem is when it's all said and done the only one you can get poed at is yourself. (for me anyway) Sounds like according to the place you were at it would have been difficult for anyone. Especially at night. I probably couldn't do it. Guess it's one of those oh well, can't do anything about it now. Turning into my driveway from our street is interesting to say the least. To top it off my steering sucks. The street isn't that wide and I need all the turning radius I can get. Seems like the best turning radius is obtained by backing in at a hard angle[?] but still not sure of the best method. Least you don't have to deal with this.  (Message edited by design_dog on January 22, 2008) | ||
| Austin Scott Davis (Zimtok)
Registered Member Username: Zimtok Post Number: 212 Registered: 9-2006 Posted From: 216.37.73.226 Rating: N/A |
That looks very tight Simon, it that drawing to scale? I'm lucky in that I can drive right into my driveway, and backing out I only have to cut the corner where the yard meets the driveway while the front of the bus just misses the mailbox. . | ||
| Buswarrior (Buswarrior)
Registered Member Username: Buswarrior Post Number: 1172 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 76.66.18.128 Rating: N/A |
If you are backing in that diagram, you've got it made. Forwards...? As noted, bye bye windows on the roof overhang of the house, nipped the front lawn, dropped it in the ditch, Turning radius is the same, forward and backward, it's about juggling the two ends of the bus, and the space available. One end aligns quickly, the other takes a lot of space to move over. The trick is to identify where the space is, and where it isn't, and put the end of the bus that turns in the bigger space, and point the end that doesn't into the littler... or something like that... happy coaching! buswarrior | ||
| Jim Wilke (Jim Bob) (Pd41044039)
Registered Member Username: Pd41044039 Post Number: 257 Registered: 2-2001 Posted From: 208.6.60.4 Rating: N/A |
Backing in would be WAY better: Lots of places demand that you back vehicles in anyway to reduce the number of kids getting run over when you back out. It's way easier to back in where you show as you would be able to see along the Driver's side of the bus & likely not hit the house. You just put the rear in the center of the drive as close to the left side as possible, then if you can't get it in one shot, pull forward across the road & back. This is how you do it in tight campgrounds any way. Pulling out is way easier when you can see who is coming down the street. It's a LOT nicer for your neighbors to look at the front of your Motorhome than the butt. | ||
| Moe Hollow (Moehollow)
Registered Member Username: Moehollow Post Number: 21 Registered: 12-2007 Posted From: 68.183.235.56 Rating: N/A |
I have never done this, but have thought about it. I wondered if I carried a good length of bright yellow rope would I be able, if needed, to survey the situation and lay down the rope as a guide along the the driver's side. The spotter would still be there, but I would also know that as long as I stayed close to the rope, I would be okay. What do you think about doing something like that? | ||
| H3-40 (Ace)
Registered Member Username: Ace Post Number: 758 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 75.201.7.0 Rating: N/A |
Might work OK if it's day light but as I said, it was blacker than black and no lights anywhere in site, not even from a camp fire! Had it been during the day, I could have made it out by going forward thru the trees! Ace | ||
| Moe Hollow (Moehollow)
Registered Member Username: Moehollow Post Number: 22 Registered: 12-2007 Posted From: 68.183.235.149 Rating: N/A |
Sorry if I gave the wrong impression. I did not mean that as a suggestion for you to try. I was asking if it sounded like something worth trying for me. | ||
| H3-40 (Ace)
Registered Member Username: Ace Post Number: 759 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 70.221.80.156 Rating: N/A |
Hey Moe, I didn't think that at all! Like I said, it sounds like it might work ok but in my honest opinion, not when it's dark out! And let me add that rear back up monitors don't really work that well in very dark places either! Yea you can see what's directly behind you but from there out, forget it! Speaking of back up cameras! Had mine on coming home that same night and thought the bus was smoking up a storm until I ("DUH") realized that it had rained and it was the mist off the road that I could see in my tail lights! Yea I'm not smarter than a 5th grader... anyone else care to come forward! Ace |