Utility Cycling - Tent pole trailer

I got bored sitting at home today and decided to see what I could do with an old pile of tent poles I had laying around ( the tent itself rotted away years ago ) and this is what I came up with , it's not completely finished yet but I took pics along the way to help others who may be interested and will update with more pics as I go , nothing was measured just done by eye .It's welded sort of :rolleyes: but could easily be bolted together ,the extra long poles on the front just slide in , I'm going to make a locking mechanism so I can take it off the bike lock it in and use it as a trolley when needed .

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2364.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2363.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2367.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2368.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2369.jpg

They don't make welders like this anymore ( you think I could weld properly by now but don't use it enough )
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2365.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2370.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2372.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2371.jpg

your trailer tongue looks like it might present wheel-interference problems when you turn, because when going straight it appears that the tongue will be alongside the wheel.

cool. but do you think it will hold weight well? My experience with those old school tent poles is that they could bend just by looking at them. I"m very interested to see how it turns out.

your trailer tongue looks like it might present wheel-interference problems when you turn, because when going straight it appears that the tongue will be alongside the wheel.
I'll find out today it is quite wide and that gives it a decent turn angle but when it's attached I'll take a pic

Do you have a picture of the dropouts for the wheels? What are they? That's usually where a DIY trailer has problems.

The hitch isn't finished yet ( haven't had the time ) but I thought I'd throw a couple of pics up to show how much it will turn before the tyre hits

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2374.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2373.jpg

I have to say, I'm pretty impressed. Looking forward to hearing how well it hauls.

Way to go auto, you saved yourself $300 :D

Keep us posted on update of how it turns out!!

Autokat--

clearly you can turn very tightly with that trailer.

The pic i was looking at when i said you'd have interference problems shows some pieces that aren't actually part of the final trailer.

Well this is it finished apart from a bit of paint I changed the draw bar because the tent pole one started to flex with 50kg in it ,it now has the metal arm off an old whipper snipper for the draw bar which is much stronger . The hitch is a piece of brand new heater hose I bought for a car I used to own it has a metal pipe inside it where it goes into the gooseneck .The dropouts I had on there are from a pair of old saw horses I had which were destroyed they are approx 3mm thick and makes the trailer very sturdy ( the ones I made before were just 1mm metal folded over but weren't very strong .

Dropouts
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2396.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2398.jpg

Hitch
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2399.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2400.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2402.jpg

Connected up ( Check out the turn angle :D )
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2404.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/Autokat/Bicycle%20bits/100_2403.jpg