Racheting up slopes anyone?
 

I've been thinking of combining a heavy-duty trailer with an adult trike as a vehicle for hauling heavy loads such as lumber and concrete from a local hardware store, but there are some slopes, which I think would cause problems with climbing and braking if I did it. I was thinking it might be possible to install some kind of brakes on the trailer for going downhill, but going uphill with several hundred pounds of weight might require getting off the bike, and even then it would be difficult if not impossible to push the load up the hill.

This gave me the idea of having a ratcheting, low-gear slope-climbing transmission for a utility bike. I've never heard of such a thing, so I wonder if it is maybe an original idea. The way I see it, you could set the gearing extremely low and then pedal up a few feet/meters in a burst of spinning/pedaling, and then when you need to stop pedaling the freewheel cluster (or whatever it is) would prevent you from rolling backward. This way, you could basically ride uphill with a huge load with low-gearing without worrying about using your brakes to prevent rolling backward when you need to rest or slow down.

This means that every time you stop, you have to re-accelerate your rig. Going uphill this way won't change the total work a lot but it does mean doing more work regularly. Virtually every source I have ever seen suggests that a steady pace is easier on the body. If it were me, I'd look at a lower gear.

Edit: You could add "anti-backup features to your trailer wheels, like perhaps a metal strip riding on the top of the tires, secured behind the tire and pressing down on the top of the thread. (I just thought this up so it is NOT either a time-tested concept nor debugged.)

Ben

Before there were dams on the Columbia river or powered ships, other than the wind,
to get upstream , against the current, sailing ships would put the anchor in one of their row boats ,
row out , about to the length of the anchor rope, then drop anchor ,

the anchor capstan, with ratchets, would be turned bringing the ship up to where the anchor is, then this was repeated..

Going the steep way , Touring load, up to the highest point on the south side of Loch Ness, from Oban,
from the west.

I would hold my rear brake, On the left, caught my breath , let my heard rate drop, then repeated this several times..

Coming from the Inverness end would have been so much easier..




....

have a mountain tamer quad 16t, and this proved true, Momentum went away on a hill before I could get the other foot on the pedal.

only by looping around across the road then turning back up hill could you proceed up hill after stopping on it.

Maybe..zig zagging across the whole road creates your own switchbacks , oncoming traffic allowing..




...

Thanks for all the responses. I think building and/or maintaining momentum is key, using lower gears if necessary. I guess when you're spinning, the momentum of your legs is on your side. Probably a good set of brakes on the trailer to prevent rolling backwards is the best solution.

Has anyone tried or heard of someone else trying to pull a 40 inch wide trailer made for car-towing with a bike or adult trike? Trailers made with bike/spoked wheels for bicycle towing are more expensive than these small trailers which weigh around 130lbs and have steel wheels with relatively wide car-type tires. I think to use one with a bike, I'd have to find brakes that could be installed on the trailer 'aftermarket' and they'd have to be brakes that could be controlled mechanically using hand levers and bicycle brake cables. I think the whole setup would be fine on flat ground, but slopes would be a problem, plus IDK how low a gear can be installed on an adult trike. I would need to find that out before investing in one, which I haven't yet.

I have 2 bike trailers... A Burly flatbed, and a Carry Freedom City.. empty, they're light..

But at the LBS , for a Hunter, they fit 2 drum brake hub brake wheels, on a trailer for hauling out Elk carcasses.

it was light.. but wide to bring the game back from the woods, via logging roads, downhill..
Mid Drive Electric motors are a popular retrofit on many a hunter's MTB..here.




Note: People sell off kid trailers for pretty cheap, at Yard Sales..



..

Upright adult trikes are often using an IGH as a countershaft, 1 chain drives the hub, a second chain fixed to the hubshell drives an axle attached to one wheel of the 2.. in back. not both.

Tadpole recumbent trikes have 2 front steering wheels, 1 drive wheel & 1 very long chain.

I have two Miami Sun trikes.
My first is a single speed with the factory gearing. 36 tooth chain ring and I THINK an 18 tooth sprocket in back.
I pulled a 4 wheel garden/nursery cart with a 1,000 pound load capacity, for over 10,000 miles, over an 8 year period.
Yes, the trailer WAS overloaded several times, plus whatever was in the rear basket.
I never had problems with the brakes (until the straddle cable broke, at any rate, it does not have a rear brake.) or going up the "hills" (the tallest "hill" was just over 450 feet above sea level; that bridge is the highest point in the state of Florida.)
My second Miami Sun trike has the optional 7 speed (14-28 in back) which includes a rear disk brake. The front brake is a "V" brake.
Since the hills are taller, steeper, and longer in Idaho, I swapped out the 36 tooth front chainring for a 28 tooth.
The garden/nursery cart I pull with this trike has a 1,400 pound load capacity.
I've also added a Wald 157 front basket (same size as the rear basket).
To date, I have not had any problems stopping or going up (or down) the hills.

The easiest way to add a rear brake is to get a coaster brake trike hub (it has a sprocket welded to the hub body) in either single speed, or an internal gear Sturmey Archer 3 speed, or 5 speed, and replace the freewheel adaptor on the axle to a fixed gear adaptor.

If you go with a garden/nursery cart, you'll need a convertible handle (they have them on the "Big River" site). For the hitch plate, a piece of 1/2 inch plywood that extends 3 or 4 inches past the basket works great. Use the basket mounting bolts to hold the plywood in place.
I use a 1/2 inch diameter hole for the hitch pin.