Calvin123

Hey. Looking to modify a child carrier to a dog carrier for a long tour coming up. Stripped it down to the frame and I'm planning on putting a crate on it. I was planning on narrowing the frame from currently 30in down to around 24in. What I'm wondering is, will I have handling issue because the load in not in line with bike and off to the left?

Uploaded picture of stripped frame, it already appears to off centered a bit ( picture makes it look worse)

Thanks
-calvin

Bikedud

Picture?

Calvin123

Whoops. Here it is

Bikedud

Unfortunately, I can't answer your question. I'm following your thread in hopes that someone who might have experience can answer. I have a similar project in mind and have two trailers to choose from.



And a BOB. I like the way the BOB attaches to the both sides of the axle, but it's likely too narrow for the task.

Calvin123

I imagine I could relocate the arm to the outside to gain a more centered location for the trailer but that would likely involve a welder. Also it would be kinda nice having it to the left because the right rear wheel would line up with my right pedal. Of course this is based on if the handling is not an issue. Hopefully someone has some experience, if not I'll just do it and let you know how it goes

CliffordK

I presume making the tongue off-center will cause the trailer to pull slightly sideways, increasing resistance and tire wear.

Could it also affect fishtailing? Fishtailing, of course is also related to tongue weight, and yours looks like it should turn out reasonable.

I can't say how much of a difference that 6" will make though.

2manybikes

Why are you making it narrower? It will tip easier. I have put a dog crate on a kid trailer frame. It handled OK. But test it on a long ride before the trip, it will slow you down a lot. I got rid of mine. In August the heat coming up from the pavement is very important. Having a roof makes it worse.
I have the trike in my Avatar, the basket is higher and cooler even without shade. Also note that your bike and you block most of the air getting to the trailer. The dog will over heat quickly, compared to you. After a few thousand miles with the dog in the trike, and a few hundred in the trailer, using thermometers in different locations in summer, I would never take a dog on a bike trip. Use the dog cooling vests you can find on line.
Also note, a black dog gets hot much faster than a white dog. I don't ride the dog in the trike in anything over 70 degrees at the start of the ride now.
Dogs have a higher normal temperature than we do, and long fur could be similar to wearing a sweater.

Having the trailer slightly to the left gets the right hand wheel of the trailer further away from the curb, or the edge of the pavement. A good thing.

Actually before you put the crate on, try towing the frame around in traffic and on rural roads. You might not like it.

2manybikes

It will go straight, the force on the bike is very close to the center of the bike. Tire wear is minimal too. Don't worry about it.

2manybikes

BT W - How much does the dog weigh? what kind of dog? A big dog needs a lot of food too.

2manybikes

Almost forgot !! When the bike is on the kickstand and the dog gets just a little to the rear of the trailer axle, the bike goes up in the air! The only way to stop this is to have the crate end at the axle. I only have a 30 lb. dog. If you have something heavier, get a friend with a video camera when the dog gets into the crate, really fun, if the door is at the rear. The bike will leave the ground.

Calvin123

The dog is 30 lbs. Temps will unlikely go much above 70 and the dog enjoys previous trips when it was a child carrier. As for narrowing it. We will be on some narrow highways for a section of the trip. Would like to be able to get as near to the edge as possible. I have to do some adjustments to the frame anyways to accommodate the crate. I understand that going narrow will make it more tippy but there are no plans for speed with this setup. I was also basing the width around the burley nomad which people say to be stable (though I do have shifting weight).

FBinNY 

The biggest is whether the pulling force is centered on the trailer. If not, the trailer will want to twist with respect to the direction or travel and more a bit crab wise. That will increase drag and ride wear.

Within reason, it doesn't matter as much if the trailer is off to the side, since it's drag is applied to a dropout which is close to the bike's central plane. The biggest effect of an occasional center trailer will be slightly different turning properties, though I don't think they'll be noticeable at normal speeds and maneuvers.

Anyway, I'm intrigued with the idea of a dog trailing you all day, yet never catching up.

2manybikes

I'd love to see a photo of the finished trailer. Where is the trip?

2manybikes

Moving the tow arm closer to the center of the bike might restrict the rear tire when turning right. It sounds like you thought of everything already though.

Calvin123

Moved the right wheel to the inside to get an idea of what it would be like(picture). Seemed to track well but haven't tested it loaded, will do when it's not pouring. I think likely we will go the middle ground and only take a few inches off.

Did find a different issue with the hitching method caused by the disc brakes( going to be towing with a different bike then usual). Any chance anyone knows the dementions of the square tubing they use on the thule trailers, thinking of ordering a hitch off of them.

As for the trip it's up vancouver island to bella coola. Down through gang ranch / lillooet back to the ferry.

Calvin123

Here's the picture of the tire on the inside

CliffordK

I tried to load my mother's dog into my more or less stock (topless) kid's trailer. He didn't like it at all. I could barely convince him to get in if I held the tongue on the ground and very steady. As soon as I moved it, he was out again.

Of course, a kid's trailer design is a bit awkward for a large dog.

Anyway, hopefully your dog finds the trailer concept more enjoyable. Apparently lots of dogs do fine with the trailers.

kevbo

My concern with narrowing the trailer would be stability in turns. We ended up crashing our tandem a couple of times when I took a turn too fast when pulling the dog trailer, (1st generation burley kid trailer) and it tipped over. The dog(s) have a high CG, and get thrown to the outside of the turn, so stability is much worse than with non-biological cargo, or a seated & belted kid. Fortunately these were sharp turns, so "too-fast" wasn't all that fast, and no harm done except maybe a skinned elbow or bruised hip on the humans. I may have clipped a curb with the inner trailer wheel one of the times...which would be an argument for narrower tread, but I'd opt for wider and more stability regardless.

Training dogs to ride in trailer: If the trailer is open, Use a harness, and rig a short lead so you can clip them into the trailer. If the front of the trailer is open, you need this in case you have to stop quickly anyway.
Start out with very short rides to someplace doggy fun...like a park or pet store. Bring treats for when you get there. After a few trips like that, our dogs were jumping in the trailer and barking at us to "go already!"

I no longer have big dogs, so the little guy I have now rides in a front basket now, and he loves that.

Philphine

there's a guy I come across on various bike forums. amberwolf, he trailers a couple of dogs around sometimes. I think he's on this forum too, but I think he's more regular on a forum called endless sphere.

kevbo

Pretty sure amberwolf is a she...and she's good people.

Philphine

really? lives in Arizona? dose a lot of electric bike experiments? our paths crossed most on the freakbike forum, but when it went down and came back, I don't think she (still having a hard time with the "she") was able to re-register. I agree, seemed like a good person with a lot of imagination when it came to building not quite mainstream bikes.

badmother

What about using a longtail? I built two longtails for riding with our dog. He would jump in and out when I asked him to. It is possible to atatch a long narrow crate that he can sit in on a wideloader.

I used to stop and tell the dog "go and drink water" when we came to a stream or river. He would do that, dive in, drink water, pee in the water and drink again and then back to ride more on the bike. With the wet fur he did well in the summer (not tropics here) and there is a lot of streams.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/778361...57667337388135

tramptrade 

Nice! Love the herding breeds. That looks like a good system for the right dog. Well done.

fietsbob

Yea tow arm is on the center of the trailer, so tows to the left on the bike,
unless you build a centered tow connection behind the rear tire.