In the end, we decided not to buy a lorry. Thanks for all the advice though. Daffy is retired, so a trailer is definitely the better option for us. 
Our local riding club has run a few trailer courses now. It's not the test, but a 3 hour group lesson during which you cover hitching up and mostly reversing - straight lines and corners, as well as what to do when things go wrong. I'd already decided that if we got the opportunity, I'd book Dad on the course (maybe with tuition he wouldn't hate it as much!) and myself so I knew the theory too, and could be a backseat driver.
I've never driven anything bigger than a Ford Ka, except to move the Freelander across the road, so to see a big Range Rover hooked up to a 510, I thought it would be interesting.
It was actually surprisingly easy. I only got mixed up once or twice, and because the car was automatic we all rode the brake and took it very slow. When we bought our trailer, my friend told Dad to do lots of full lock and fast steering - this was very different! Much more like learning to drive a car these days - do a bit, and see what happens.
Things I noticed/learnt;
- once the trailer starts to noticeably turn, it does so very quickly!
- it's all too easy to forget how much steering you put on - drive forwards 2ft and you'll find out!
- certainly with a larger trailer, try to keep the amount of trailer in both wing mirrors equal - use the wheel arches as a reference point
- to straighten up when going backwards, turn towards the wing mirror with the most trailer in it
- to reverse around a corner, use the Australia method - hands at the bottom of the wheel, move them towards the direction you want to reverse
It made a lot of sense. I'm not going to do my test now - insurance on the 4x4 is ridiculously high and we aren't really going anywhere anyway - but I think I will in the future.
Our local riding club has run a few trailer courses now. It's not the test, but a 3 hour group lesson during which you cover hitching up and mostly reversing - straight lines and corners, as well as what to do when things go wrong. I'd already decided that if we got the opportunity, I'd book Dad on the course (maybe with tuition he wouldn't hate it as much!) and myself so I knew the theory too, and could be a backseat driver.
I've never driven anything bigger than a Ford Ka, except to move the Freelander across the road, so to see a big Range Rover hooked up to a 510, I thought it would be interesting.
It was actually surprisingly easy. I only got mixed up once or twice, and because the car was automatic we all rode the brake and took it very slow. When we bought our trailer, my friend told Dad to do lots of full lock and fast steering - this was very different! Much more like learning to drive a car these days - do a bit, and see what happens.
Things I noticed/learnt;
- once the trailer starts to noticeably turn, it does so very quickly!
- it's all too easy to forget how much steering you put on - drive forwards 2ft and you'll find out!
- certainly with a larger trailer, try to keep the amount of trailer in both wing mirrors equal - use the wheel arches as a reference point
- to straighten up when going backwards, turn towards the wing mirror with the most trailer in it
- to reverse around a corner, use the Australia method - hands at the bottom of the wheel, move them towards the direction you want to reverse
It made a lot of sense. I'm not going to do my test now - insurance on the 4x4 is ridiculously high and we aren't really going anywhere anyway - but I think I will in the future.