The Long John cargo bike is from
Center for Appropriate Transportation in Eugene, Oregon and the
8 foot trailer from Iowa's Bikes at Work.
In 2008 I had a bit of time on my hands and not enough sense. I decided to move all my worldly goods by bike. I knew it was going to be a lot of work - it was - and that it would take me a lot longer than moving by van - it did, but I had more time than money.
I borrowed the Long John cargo bike and the 8 foot longbed trailer from
Community Bicycle Network (I was the Board Prez for a few years of this Toronto non-profit), piled on a lot of stuff over a day and a half, and carried it all down the St. Clair hill - it's really an escarpment and there's no way around it. It's all good as long as the going is flat or downhill. The v-brakes could handle the weight. So even though I made around ten trips with the bike and trailer it wasn't so bad because I didn't exert a lot of energy hauling the cargo. I think the average weight I pulled was about 80 pounds on the bike (on top of my 220 pounds) and 300 pounds on the trailer. It was a lot but doable.
I had to make sure everything was securely boxed up in small boxes and tied down on the bike. Since there are no walls an open box could easily spill everything over the roadway. I also had to be careful not to haul too much stuff in one load. I chose the route carefully by picking side streets and a downhill that wasn't as steep.