Utility Cycling - Weight bearing points...
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dzrthauler
11-08-09, 09:48 PM
Hey all, for heavy loads (200 lbs say) pulled regularly, where will the primary stress point be? the bike mounted hitch; the mount from draw bar to hitch, draw bar, draw bar to trailer mount. The reason I ask is for my flat bed that I'm building. It is all aluminum and I have made a draw bar similar to the BAW ones. I was going to make a bike mount that attached to the frame, but have come across a DoggyRide bike mount and hitch. These attach to the bike at the axle and the draw bar receiver is the standard spring type hitch on store bought kiddy/pet haulers. The trailer it is designed for is rated at 120 lbs. Will I be the proverbial accident waiting to happen if I use the DoggyRide set-up on the end of my draw bar instead of the frame attached unit I was going to rig up?
Thanks in advance, Keenan
graywolf
12-02-09, 01:25 PM
The old rule of thumb for 2 wheel trailers is that for controllability there should be 10-15% of the weight on the hitch.
dzrthauler
12-03-09, 01:42 PM
The old rule of thumb for 2 wheel trailers is that for controllability there should be 10-15% of the weight on the hitch.
Oh, okay... thanks. I have since moved on and completed the trailer and have done several trips with just a basic 85 lb. load. Tomorrow I do the 24 mile round trip dog food run w/ same amount of weight of doggy food plus some groceries - load coming home should come in about 100 lbs. Pics of trailer to be posted in the 'post your trailer' thread later today.
qmsdc15
12-03-09, 04:42 PM
Looks nice!
You are hauling clothes in a different trailer in the other thread though. Did you already have a Burley? How did you end up connecting the new trailer to your bike?
dzrthauler
12-03-09, 05:01 PM
Looks nice!
You are hauling clothes in a different trailer in the other thread though. Did you already have a Burley? How did you end up connecting the new trailer to your bike?
Thanks!! The trailer on the clothes run is a Bell kids trailer I converted to utility/pet hauler... I ended up using a Doggy Ride draw bar & hitch - they sell them on their site... same as the Burley basically, the bike hitch is attached to the axle QD and the draw bar slides over it with a pin connector. The draw bar fit perfectly along the rail and it bolted right on with a few drill outs. You can see the bar attach point and the axle supports I cannabaliized from the 2 hand trucks:
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w257/wkpickett/Cycling%20Pics/KPtrailer04.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w257/wkpickett/Cycling%20Pics/KPtrailer05.jpg