astronomerroyal

Sorry, meant to reply sooner. Here are some dimensions of the two trailers.

Front trailer:
bed width 12"
bed length 36"
track width (between centres of tyres) 16"
Max width of trailer 21"
weight 16lbs (incl. hitch)

The rear trailer (as seen in a post on this thread) is slightly wider, in order to accommodate those larger rubbermaid type boxes. Although the first trailer is very stable, as soon as you put something tall on it (centre of mass >1 foot from its bottom), the 16" wheel base becomes noticeably less stable. However, this is of little practical concern, since 2 large bags of birdfood stacked, camping gear, or three weeks of groceries have been no problem to transport.

Rear trailer:
bed width 14"
bed length 36"
track width 18" (the extra 2" really increase stability, since the bed's only 7" off the ground)
max width 23"
weight: 13lbs

In general I set the max width of the trailers to be less than the width of my handlebars (24") to guarantee they'd fit through any gaps that I could get my bicycle through.


Now that Spring's here, I'm thinking of using the trailer on a weekend bnicycle tour/camping trip. If anyone knows of a nice quiet camping area within an easy day's cycle (~<50miles) of Ann Arbor, Michigan, please speak up.

Yours sincerely,
AR.

Can'tStop

astronomerroyal,
Thanks for the information, especially the additional comment about the increase in stability caused by difference in track width from 16" to 18".

Clearly, it's obvious that a wider track will increase stability, but by how much? Your practical experience is essential to anyone wanting to get it right first time.

Once again,
Many thanks.

Christopher

Sixty Fiver

My trailer:


My chosen tow bike:


The Twenty will be getting a dual drive and the trailer will be getting some smaller wheels to keep things level... I should have them mated up this week.

JosephPaul86

Well, snatched this off of CL for a song, only issue I had was getting it home with the scooter. I'm going to use it for the grocery getter and weekend camping gear hauler.






edit: Thumbnails: click to enlarge. Now to figure out what material to use for the flat bed. I might add some kind of sidewalls or just use a rubber maid container similar to ones I have seen on here.


another edit...

Just roughly my goal. The black "web" is an elastic net that allows easy securing of loads.

astronomerroyal

Unsolicited thoughts:

I also tried using elastic webbing, but in the end I found simple bungee cords to be more useful/versatile. I use a duffel bag for something like touring and a rubbermaid tub for groceries, neither of which warranted an elastic net, sadly - although it is attractive idea. For the most part I use built-in nylon straps with adjustable buckles for strapping purposes. Most useful by far. I think I posted a p[iiicture with these straps somewhere on this thread.

As for the bed material, I found that Makrolon polycarbonate works well (for my sidewalls). I would think 1/4" would be a good thickness for a bed, perhaps more if it's entirely self supporting.
that would be almost indestructible, although I expect some sort of wire mesh would actually be lighter (I use wire mesh for my trailer bed, but it might sag if it doesn't have some support i.e. crossbeams).

Those trailers look really well designed.

Sincerely,
AR.

JosephPaul86

Well, i just used some plywood our neighbor tossed out some time ago. So far I have $30 in the trailer. Next it will get some weather proof paint, reflective tape, mount the flag and possibly add a small lockable tool box on the front.


click to enlarge.

EDIT: All done now. Added the tail lights and some reflective tape.




Kept it simple and did a 10 mile grocery run. Can barely tell it is there when going straight, more when riding up a hill but as stable as can be.

astronomerroyal

That was quick, looks good. What you apparently did in a couple of days took me a couple of months.

JosephPaul86

You built your trailer, and with the U-joint hitch you have some seriously good maneuverability. And your fenders are a nice addition too. Burley took all the guess work from me. I just slapped some plywood on there, no engineering involved.

Raiyn

Just a quick few shots of the bike & trailer combo

Grocery Mode

Utility (Recycling / non food hauling)

Rear view in Grocery mode

JosephPaul86

did you photoshop the window? And where did you get the triangle? I tried Ace Hardware, Academy, Target and Wal-mart.

Willks

You can get them online. Do a google search for SMV sign. SMV = Slow Moving Vehicle

Or you can try a different hardware / farm store. Homedepot, Lowes, etc. They shouldn't be too hard to find.

surfimp

Here's my trailer: a PB Flyer from https://www.paddleboy.com/

Works great to haul my 12', 20lb. paddleboard down to the ocean behind my Trek beachcruiser.



Steve

carkmouch

This isn't my trailer, but a guy who lives about 12 miles away who lives car-free brought this trailer up this weekend. The pic was taken at my local Bike Co-op's grand opening.

This trailer is claimed to be able to handle 700~ pounds. He brought it up for the Critical Mass ride this friday, and people took turns sitting in the trailer and playing guitar during the ride.

Can'tStop

Presumably that '700~ pounds' is a typo, especially looking at the wheels.

Looks a nice useful trailer. But I wouldn't like to pull anything over ~ 100 lbs / 45 kg with such a trailer. The high hitch would make for interesting handling, when braking and turning, because when loaded-up the trailer attempts to overrun and pushes against the seat post. This effect occurs with all hitches, but is much greater with high hitches.

I know that https://www.bikesatwork.com/hauling-c...-capacity.html
talk of '300 lbs (137 kg)' and even larger payloads, but to haul these loads safely requires more common-sense and muscle than I could summon. Also good brakes and level-ground.


I still haven't built my new trailer yet. I have nearly scrounged all the parts.

MudFlap

I've been wanting to build a trailer for some time now and one day I found
these 16" wheels for free. So, no more waiting.

Still doing testing, but seems to be holding up.
Trailer1L.jpg
Picture on how I ended up doing my hitch.
Trailer1H.jpg
And here it is with some paint.
trailer1P.jpg

astronomerroyal

That's a great looking trailer/hitch Mudflap - an efficient design. Does that long hitch arm flex very much?

MudFlap

Thanks
If it is flexing, I can't tell. I loaded it with 10gallons of water (83lbs) and it worked great.
I'm still testing.

cmcanulty

Here is my simple trailer and the suitcase with my downtube bike and trailer in it.

humblecyclist

Just finished my trailer recycling project last evening.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/2720953...n/photostream/
This is a very old first series Burley Kiddie hauler that I purchased at a Flea Market for $20. Removed all the dry-rotted nylon and fabric, replaced hardwear as necessary (lots of extremely rusty bolts). Spent about $10 on stainless bolts and nuts. Busted as much rust as I could from all of the spokes, rebuilt and cleaned the wheels, and replaced a broken hitch. In the end - about $40 in my "new" cargo trailer. I'm loving it.



...Bill Milam
Maryville TN

wfin2004

scottmorrison99

Pulling the trailer with the fixed gear. Very interesting combination. I have to figure out how to turn this into a utility trailer now.

bikesforbreakfa

My buddy's homemade conduit bike trailer loaded up with a roto-tiller I borrowed from the land-lord and needed to fill with gas/return, hooked to Ol' Scrapey the single speed Murray

using some dead intertubes for tie-down straps, this rig rode better than it ever would have in a car.

bloompedal08

Hi. Here are some pics of two trailers that I built. I've been using them a lot (hauling a wide variety of things) and am still making improvements on future designs. I won't go into any lengthy descriptions here, other than to say that they're tig-welded aluminum, the longer trailer uses a through-axle, the shorter uses what I call "drop-ins" to support the wheels. I love this forum! You guys are really creative, and I check the threads all the time for inspiration.

The Model "C" loaded with about 200 lbs. of recycling


Model "C" unloaded


Hitch bracket design


Closeup of tongue and heim-joint


The Model "B"


Detail of Model "B" drop-in bracket


A baby monkey with a toy duck

badmother

bloompedal8: My *****y old computer refuse to show me your pix. Is there a link? Thank you.

bloompedal08

hmmmm...I have them hosted on photobucket...that's about all I can do, unless you'd like me to email the pics to you, which I'd be happy to do.