Bike tow truck…sort of
 

I used to pick up my kids from school using a tandem and a pedal trailer behind it. As they outgrew the pedal trailers, I was trying to figure a way to allow me to pick them up from school on the bike when Mom drops them off in the car.

I picked up this baby trailer off the side of the road, added a little bit of pine, and I cut up an existing bike rack. Overall, it’s a little bit heavier than I would like, but this is more of proof of concept… I don’t do anything crazy with it, and the kids school is only about a half mile away, but it works pretty well.

if I find it works well in the long run, I might weld myself up something with half inch tube, as opposed to the solid rod that the bike rack uses. Are used lumber as the base as I want to be able to haul stuff with it when the bike rack is not bolted to it.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ac651f66c.jpeg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...be93f011c.jpeg

I’ve been using my Surly Big Dummy as a tow truck for many years. I just strap the front wheel in the side bag that I’m towing and away I go.😁

Very cool! I'd like to make something like that for my trailer.

I’m happy to say this really worked out.… I bought a used five slot bike rack for $30 (I intentionally bought a welded one) I cut off the two slots that I wanted, and sold the three remaining slots for $40.

that's really neat.

A friend of mine used to rig his kids' bikes so that the front wheels were hung where rear panniers would be.
Not sure exactly how he rigged it.

Question for the OP: Do you do anything to keep the two bikes from bumping against each other, or do they stay separated naturally?

So far they just say apart naturally, but again I'm not going nuts.

I tried a sidewalk bike rack once. Can't remember why it didn't work out. Changed over to a 2-bike car rear rack in the center of the trailer which was much faster getting the bikes on and off. I could easily carry 4 at a time without stacking any on top. I'll see if I can dig up a photo of the final answer to hauling multiple bikes from a bike shop to our warehouse without having to mess around with trucks and parking spots.

The bottom photo is one bike in the middle and two lashed to it.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0195cc86be.jpg
Bikes At Work trailer.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1240fca050.jpg
Bikes At Work trailer.

My Bikes At Work has two QRs at an angle at the front. This picture shows it loaded with one bike but two fit on there like a puzzle with the bars at that angle.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1a0be3d84.jpeg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a726ff40c3.jpg
Great minds think alike!