View Full Version : hauling a boat
TuckertonRR
10-20-06, 07:41 AM
Wondering how much you can haul (weight ) on your bike? I know the bikes at work trailer is supposed to be good for 300 lbs - but I've never carried that much weight in groceries. I'm thinking of hauling a 15' aluminum boat - any ideas? Car trailers for boats are pretty heavy themselves, so I was thinking of either "extending" my BAW trailer, and using good rope to tie it down or making some sort of trailer for it. The boat prob weighs 200-250 or so, and I don't know what the limits of pulling things on a bike are - I don't wanna bend the wheels or frame or whatever....
any thoughts?
Xtracycles can carry kayaks, but probably not that boat you're describing. I'm thinking custom two-wheel trailer might do it, and you might also want electric assist for hills. Good luck with all that: it sounds like a bit of a monster to maneuver.
Dr.Deltron
10-20-06, 08:50 AM
Hauling a BOAT?!?
That's what friends are for.;)
maximusvt
10-20-06, 09:00 AM
Look at the pics towards the bottom of this page
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=232204&page=3
lyeinyoureye
10-20-06, 09:38 AM
Weight wise 250lbs is nothin for most bikes, if you're towing 300lbs you won't bend crap. I'd think you could put together a trailer from PVC to hold something like that, just back it into the water, open up the rear of the trailer and slide the boat out. No worry about rust. Come to think of it, I'd think you could tow a small car with a bike, it'd just be really slow because of the gearing needed, a PITA to turn, and dangerous down hills w/o some good brakes.
http://aistigave.hit.bg/Logistics/12.jpg
bbwolfy
10-20-06, 10:50 AM
I am assuming going to row your boat. How about attaching bike wheels to the back of the boat and a hitch in the front? take it to water flip over and viola . I,ve been working on an idea like this for my canoe with one wheel in back,but it only weighs forty lbs. My biggest concern is the ability to stop or control a bike with that much weight behind you.
TuckertonRR
10-20-06, 11:22 AM
I'm thinking of more building a custom trailer from wood & aluminum for it - a project in itself. I'll also see if I can't scavenge or buy a wheel/axle combo from an old boat trailer. I'm not that good with plans & stuff, but it might be a nice winter project - something to get me outdoors more - not just on the bike.
rideyourbike.com (http://www.rideyourbike.com/cargo.html) shows a trailer for a much bigger boat than the one you describe, hauled by a recumbent trike. Scroll down to the bottom of the page. It looks like they used a car trailer.
CommuterRun
10-22-06, 01:54 PM
The pics Maxi posted the link to is my bike and canoe. The canoe weighs 75 lbs. I don't know if that trailer would take the weight of your boat. It's a Wike Woody Wagon http://www.wicycle.com/kit.htm, you could cantact them and ask.
The canoe weighs 75 lbs and I have hauled another, estimated, 75 or so lbs of gear in the boat. One thing I have found is that how the weight in the boat is distributed is important to the stability of the bike. Too much or too little weight in the bow makes the bike unstable. The best seems to be with the canoe loaded just a little bit bow heavy.
TuckertonRR
10-22-06, 02:01 PM
CommuterRun: that seems to be the main issue, the stability and the balancing of the mass, not nessicarrily the weight of the boat.
bike2math
10-22-06, 03:44 PM
What you need is to build a dolly to act as rear wheels then a hitch for the front of the boat. this is the idea behind some Kayak haulers I've been tempted by. Essentially you make the boat (which is rather rigid I would hope) into the body of the trailer and just cleverly attatch some wheels, using gravity/rope, and a hitch.
that way you have a minimal amount of additionaly material and are just hauling the boat.
From your description I think you'll have to hand build.
CommuterRun
10-22-06, 05:10 PM
What you need is to build a dolly to act as rear wheels then a hitch for the front of the boat. this is the idea behind some Kayak haulers I've been tempted by. Essentially you make the boat (which is rather rigid I would hope) into the body of the trailer and just cleverly attatch some wheels, using gravity/rope, and a hitch.
that way you have a minimal amount of additionaly material and are just hauling the boat.
From your description I think you'll have to hand build.
This is the way my trailer works, the canoe is the body of the trailer, riding on a two-wheeled dolly and pulled by a draw bar.
CommuterRun: that seems to be the main issue, the stability and the balancing of the mass, not nessicarrily the weight of the boat.
With the dolly near the middle of the boat, that's easy enough to adjust just by how the gear is loaded.
Another idea is to use two dollies with one under the frontish and the other under the rearish, instead of a single like mine under the middleish. That way you'd just be pulling the weight of the load without having to really balance anything or have additional weight on the bike, if that's a concernish.
Another idea is to use two dollies with one under the frontish and the other under the rearish, instead of a single like mine under the middleish. That way you'd just be pulling the weight of the load without having to really balance anything or have additional weight on the bike, if that's a concernish.
In that case, you'd need at least one of the dollies to be able to turn, otherwise the boat won't be able to turn with the bike.
CommuterRun
10-23-06, 04:43 PM
In that case, you'd need at least one of the dollies to be able to turn, otherwise the boat won't be able to turn with the bike.
Put a swivel on the front axle, ala Radio Flyer. Run the draw bar from there to the chainstay/seatstay junction and connect with a Burley trailer hitch. Last time I checked, they sold parts.
RomSpaceKnight
11-09-06, 04:32 PM
I gotta try that. I got a 14" wide transom Sportspal. Can't weigh more the 75lbs. I use a modified fridge dolly to pull around my fishing club grounds but would like to haul it to the other public ponds in area.
I got a 14" wide transom Sportspal.
you wrote 14" wide, but do you mean 14 foot long? I think a mobile home is less than 14 feet wide, you'd have a hard time moving a boat that big down the lane.
I bought a canoe trailer this spring from a local company that is very much like the one maxi talked
about.So here is the web site: www.wicycle.com. located in Guelph Ontario Canada.They show a rig on
their website green canoe ,green bike. That is my rig.
I trailered all over this summer. The average weight would be around 100 to 130 lbs The very minimum
you need is good V brakes. Also you should invest in a heavy duty rear rim and tire. For factory option
it would be wise to order the alloy wheels. They are asymmetric and give some additional clearance
between the tires and the canoe. Cost about $250-350 total.
My canoe is an old 16' Agonquin, royalex, Weight 65 lbs.The hitch is on the saddlepost,Works well.
On rolling country roads I averaged about 10 ml an hour.
Hope this helps. AAX
CommuterRun
11-10-06, 06:29 PM
you wrote 14" wide, but do you mean 14 foot long? I think a mobile home is less than 14 feet wide, you'd have a hard time moving a boat that big down the lane.
Nah, 14" wide transom means it's 14 inches wide at the stern (back of the boat).;)
How far are you going to haul this boat? If you plan to try this on public roads, you may have a problem, as most boat trailers are licensed vehicles and obviously your bike is not. It may be seen as a road hazard, no different than if you were to use a farm tractor to haul a trailer on public roads; it is generally not legal to do.
If you are talking about a folding kayak, that should be no problem as the size and volume of a packed boat is small enough to haul on a typical bike trailer.
That completely ignores the issue of your being able to control the trailer with a bike pulling the boat on the trailer. Tongue weight issues aside, there are also sidewind forces, braking, lighting (most states require brake light wiring through the rear of the trailer). It is basically a terrible idea.
TuckertonRR
11-12-06, 08:57 AM
How far are you going to haul this boat? If you plan to try this on public roads, you may have a problem, as most boat trailers are licensed vehicles and obviously your bike is not. It may be seen as a road hazard, no different than if you were to use a farm tractor to haul a trailer on public roads; it is generally not legal to do.
That completely ignores the issue of your being able to control the trailer with a bike pulling the boat on the trailer. Tongue weight issues aside, there are also sidewind forces, braking, lighting (most states require brake light wiring through the rear of the trailer). It is basically a terrible idea.
Where are you getting this information, that a small dolly/trailer to carry a small boat by bike may not be road-legal? What are the requirements for trailer registration in your state? Weight? brakes? I don't know. BTW, depending on the weight of the boat, it might be a good idea to rig a brake onto the trailer's axle. Not sure how you could do it, but it would probably make braking a whole lot easier....Wow this subject's getting complicated!
However, I wouldn't worry about the cops stopping you (other than to say how'd you do that!!??) for registration issues....what's next? An insurance policy on my home-made trailer!? hahahahahaha!!!
The Human Car
11-14-06, 09:08 AM
Wondering how much you can haul (weight ) on your bike?
That question is answered here: http://www.bikesatwork.com/hauling-cargo-by-bike/hpv-cargo-capacity.html
29877
Theoretically, a human being can haul a load of almost unlimited size given unlimited time and unlimited equipment. Practically, however, equipment, geography, and time puts limits upon what is physically possible.
Our experience has been that most people can comfortably pull 300 lbs (137 kg) with a typical mountain bike and cargo trailer or cargo trike. How quickly a person can move load of that weight will depend on his or her physical condition. Someone in reasonable physical condition can generally pull a 300 lb load at 10 mph (16 km/hr) on level ground if there's no wind. A person exerting the same effort could pull a load of 600 lb. (275 kg) at a speed of about 8 mph (11-13 km/hr), and a 1000 lb load at about 6 mph.
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