rbrian

Thanks! If I can just stop the seatpost slipping, all will be good. The trailer handles well, with just a slight weave at 25mph, but that doesn't happen often.

astronomerroyal

25 mph with a trailer? I'm not surprised you experience a slight weave.

rbrian

Well it was downhill, and I had a bucket hooked over the ladder. On another hill on the way back I hit 29mph (only about 3mph pedalling UP that hill earlier though!) and it didn't weave. Turned out I had lost my bucket.

I am very impressed with the way the trailer tracks, I barely know it's there. I guess the hub mounting and single wheel work really well for that, but I see why Bob make an Ibex - like a Yak but with suspension. Maybe if I'd spent £280 (instead of £125) I could have kept my bucket.

HandsomeRyan

This is incorrect (or at least out of date) information. Knoxville, TN [several hundred miles east of Chicago] has New Belgum beers in bottles at the store and on tap at many local bars. 1554 is delicious as is Mothership Wit.

[/threadjack]

badmother

My dogtrailer. Dog can pull it, dog can ride in it.

Built from a sheet of waterproof plywood, some alu angle and wheels built from 20" wheels from childrens bikes + wheelchair hubs.

Two different setups, two bamboo rods for Dogpower or one towbar for Bikepower (dogrest).

astronomerroyal

Very nice. What does the dog haul, and during 'dogrest' does it get to travel on a blanket?

badmother

Not hauling so much. I started this to let him pull stuff from the car down to the beac in the summer, and a small amount of grocerys. He need work and he need to use his brain and body.

Not so many blankets, they get wet. I use the light foam mat you use under your sleepingbag. Warm, soft and easy to clean. he uses a coat alot in the winter becouse I think it must be cold with no coat. The pictures is taken just outside the house.

Mr Danw

And if that's a Border Collie, he probably needs a job. It is important to many breeds.

Silverexpress

Wow! What a neat idea.

badmother

A one axel trailer is not the best solution for a dog, got to be careful with where you put the weight.

A kiddy trailer with the extra front wheel is much better if you want to putloads innside. Or put one extra rotating small wheel.

Two axel trailers is often heavy for smaller dogs. Mine is 26 kg.

For sure they need to work, and they like to work.

bloompedal08

Here's a couple shots of my trailers loaded with recyclables, in the train configuration.





Since June, we've hauled almost 50 tons of stuff through town.

rbrian

Wow! That's impressive - you're hauling more than would fit in the car I sold a few months ago! Do you have many hills where you are?

bloompedal08

Thanks!

unfortunately, there are a few...

but, if you choose your route carefully, and maintain your derailleurs, no problems

fenderbender

Very helpful instructions!
Gave me some quick answers to my bolt-together trailer build!
Just like to ad that this looks like a great multipurpose trailer as it's easy to swap to a plywood flatbed, basket or bucket to the base.
Should post it at https://www.instructables.com/ if you got the time.

Keep 'em coming!

astronomerroyal

I think this is the most enjoyable way to use trailers, to snake around corners. The sheer mass of cargo is also another great feature that further diminishes the presumed advantages of a car. I have a friend visiting for a few days tomorrow; I've saved several hundred beer bottles just so that we can use the (new) trailer train. Hillary S. Pfund will be had by Al.

BossCat

Hi Guys,

New to this fourm and this is my first post - So be gentle with me

Recently bought a new bike, its a kinda hybred Road/Mountian bike - VIKING Urban Trail from a local shop Price £176



My last NEW bike was bought for me by my dad when I was about 12yrs costing a whopping £26.10 Shillings (My how times and prices have changed) - (Need to get a photo of old racing bike to post)

I bought this bike to get a bit of exercise and see if it would help in anyway sort/fix/help out the ciculation problems Im having with my legs? ( Im not 12yrs any more I'll be 52 next month 15/12/1956 ). I also use the bike for getting a bit of shopping etc.
I fitted out the bike with a 12V 6watt Dynamo I got off ebay (cant seem to get this working properly?) and a pannier rack (again ebay). I was looking for a saddle bag for the back but (call me old fasioned) they dont seem to make them any more? so I had to settle on a pannier.
After a few weeks my thoughts turned to fishing/camping trips etc. Humm! Rods tied to bike, rucksack full of fishing tackle - camping stove - tent - sleeping bag - food & drink - warm clothes ----- this list is endless? I then thought all that stuff could be put in a trailer and would save weight on the bike.

So I started looking at bike trailers and there price Humm! quiet expensive some of them and not to my likeing!

After many restless nights sleep I thought BUILD MY OWN. So I begain looking at numerious websites dealing with trailers. After a couple of weeks of loking at trailers I made a sort of list of what stuff I'd need to build my own.

Here is how the past couple of months have went...

WHEELS.
While cycling around I spotted a bike laying abandoned near my mates house. Missing a good many parts but had a GOOD front wheel - 26in.
I bought another 26in wheel £3 at Blochairn Market (we go every sunday) -https://www.dennistoun.co.uk/Page.asp...Title=Whats+On.
After I got home I did a bit more research. Humm! BIG WHEELS are a No No?

Back to the drawingboard.

More research - a few trailer makers are using 16in wheels. Off to local shop and see what these would cost? I looked around the shop at various kiddies bikes while another guy was being served (Saw one whit 16in wheels price £69) then it was my turn...
Shop Owner.
How can I help you?

BossCat.
How much for a pair of FRONT 16in wheels - tyres N tubes fitted?

Shop Owner.
Oh let me see he said flicking through a big book. Flick Flick Flick. Best I can do is £25 a wheel.

BossCat.
£25 a wheel? christ almighty mate youve got a FULL bike hanging up there for £69. I could buy that and take the wheels off then resell the bike?

Shop Owner.
Best I can do!

BossCat.
I'll sleep on it. I then left the shop wondering where I would get a pair of 16in wheels?

The following Saturday while visiting another market - The Barras https://www.glasgow-barrowland.com/market/barras.htm I bought a kiddies bike (Full working bike) with 16in wheels £7 - Big difference from £50

Home with bike I took wheels off and blew them up - Perfect.

You'll have to keep in mind that while I was looking for Wheels I was also looking around for other stuff for the trailer. I have BIG ideas?

TRAILER FRAME.
I remembered I had a large angle iron frame at the side on my shed. I too the wire mesh off it years ago for my aviary. That'll do nicely I though.
So if was of to my mate Peter's house (he has a welder) with the FRAME and WHEELS. After a few hours I had a HITCH fitting attchment for the back of my bike pluse a FRAME with 16in WHEELS.
NOTE...I didn't want one of those long arm type attchements that fit onto the side of the back wheel, nore would a long arm under the seatpost be any good as there would be no point in having a pannier on the bike?
I tried out the bike and trailer in Peters back garden. Humm! Poor handling - Snaking - Hitch problem?
The hitch was just a makeshift job to test out the trailer. It consisted of a hollow tube attached to my bike hitch attchment. An Lshaped bar from the trailer dropped down inside the tube on the bike. Great side to side movement BUT No up & Down movement ie going over bumps etc?

Back to the drawing board?

THE HITCH.
I scowered though my odds n ends trying to modify/fix the hitch. Testing out one I had made I took a trip with bike & trailer around to my other mate house. While I was there and we were discussing the trailer his nextdoor neighbour came for a look see. I told him I was on the lookout for something that would emulate the ball type hitch on the back of a car? Leave it with me he said.

The following week I went back around to my mates and low and behold there in his shed was a flexable joint type thing?. No idea what its intended use was for but it looked the part.

Over the next couple of weeks I had to get Peter to Reweld my bike/trailer attchment as the weld broke. The Flexable joint was also drilled out and a plate weleded up to take the Flexy joint. I had trouble sourcing out a BIG bolt that would attach the trailer to the Flexy joint. I got one last Sunday at Blochairn Market. This has since been drilled out to take a Bolt/Pin or Padlock.
Im starting to think Peter's getting fed up at the sight of me as every time I visit his house his boxes & boxes of drill bits end up blunt .

The Trailer.
Gone is the fist trailer I made? Its sitting out my back garden. I thought it was to heavy a material. I started looking at wooden trailers? Then at angle iron again only lighter.

Last week while in B&Q Stirling I spotted nice lightish angle iron I bought a section. - Perfect.
Now all I have to do is raid the piggybank and buy a few sections of it plus some plywood sheeting and im back at the building stage.

I'll take and post a couple of photos of PROTOTYPE trailers that I have made.

Once complete my trailer will be a type of Trailer Camping Tent type thing?

My plan is to do away with carrying a TENT? The trailer itself will be the tent. I will have a removable lid/roof that will be raised higher on poles - Solar panel on roof charging a Deep Cycle battery that arrived today? God this is one heavy battery? I also looked at Stepper moters and Dymanos etc to charge up this and other batterys I have coming but tinkering with diodes and resitors and the like is not my strong point? Will need to find someone with electrical knowhow? It'll carry a one of those mini fridges to keep food cool. lights Front/Back & inside - indicators (have a set of bike indicators from ebay which I'll wire up to other indicator type lights on trailer).

All in all a little mobil home? Any thoughts anyone?

PS... While browsing around I found this trailer fourm and had to join. I have noted while browsing this thread that two of the members trailers combind would fall into the type of thing im trying to build Astronomerroyal & Dinges - https://picasaweb.google.com/motorcon...icycleTrailer#. Also a mention must goto Astronomerroyal about his Hitch? Seems great minds think alike mate as my Flexy joint thing is like yous

Thanks for your patience in taking time to read all my drivel

Tom

Updates & Pictures as they happen

BossCat

For those of you wishing to build your own trailer and have come up with the inevitable Hitch problem?

While browsing around I came across a trailer page but the Hitch section wasn't working? I emailed them and they sent me back a link to where they got the hitch they use and pictures of the hitch in action.

Trailer Page Link...
https://trailers.xntrick.co.uk/

Hitch supply Link...
https://www.midwestcontrol.com/catdis...ort.php?pg=119

Hitch Pictures...

1. https://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...n/DSCN6272.jpg

2. https://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...n/DSCN6274.jpg

3. https://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...n/DSCN6276.jpg

4. https://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...n/DSCN6277.jpg

5. https://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...n/DSCN6279.jpg

6. https://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...n/DSCN6281.jpg

7. https://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...n/DSCN6280.jpg


My hitch is already contsructed but if it fails or I find it to big and cumbersom this may be the way to go?

Another Hitch design is an under the seat type by Camcarts.
https://www.camcarts.co.uk/order.htm
The sell a seperate hitch for £10. but you'd have to make your own towing arm as I already asked if they sell the hitch and towing arm? No - they only sell the hitch.
https://www.camcarts.co.uk/images/camcart_coupling.jpg

Hope this helps anyone with Hitch problems?

Tom

dygituljunky

Hey, could you three post more information/pictures/schematics on your tow bars/hitch mounts (the frames/bars attached to the bikes that your hitches, in turn, attach to)? I'm particularly interested in details of HOW the hitch frames/tow bars attach to your bikes and how each of you stabilized the hitch frames against up and down movement and side-to-side flexing.

MMACH, can you also show details of how your hitch setup leans? Furthermore, do you get any issues related to inertia pushing that great big lever when you have heavy loads?

Y'all are brilliant and I hope to mooch some design pointers for my own (future) trailer/hitch-frame from the three of you.

Thanks in advance!

BossCat

Here are a couple of pics of my HITCH setup. Im busy sanding down and painting the other parts at the moment so more pics later.

The BLACK part on the Left is the part that the U-joint slips over (it will be permantly attached to my bike via a U shaped bar that goes around the back wheel, there is also a small bar that comes down from the rear pannier rack that stops the U-bar around the back wheel going up and down) Universal Joint in middle of pic - Big silver bolt will go through trailer - wood/metal whatever and slides into U-Joint. Big silver nut is then tightened up to the right onto trailer. Hope this makes sense?




The Smal silver Nut & Bolt you see is to stop the larger bolt slipping out. You'll note that I had to ground down the Big bolt so it would slip into the U-joint
.






Sorry about the fuzzy photos, I'll try and get better ones taken when paint dries on the rest of my setup

Tom

dygituljunky

Thanks BossCat, those photos provide some nice detail! Looks/sounds like your setup is very similar to the ones used by astronomerroyal and Sixty Fiver.

I was looking for further information of what you describe as the "U shaped bar that goes around the back wheel." Could you post the details of that?

I figure that the hitch frames are integral enough to y'all's trailer systems that they could be posted in this thread and not be off topic...

Thanks y'all,

dygituljunky
(a.k.a., Bill)

BossCat

You'll have to excuse if any photos are fuzzy or out of focus but we had a foot of snow lastnight and it was COLD taking these pics

Here's a few more pics of my setup - U-bar and all.



- Hitch setup in Dismantle Mode.


- Pannier Rack upright bar assembled.

- Side View

- U-Joint slips over the Black section on the right. I think you'll know get the idea where the back wheel goes?

The U-Joint will be attached to the trailer at all times via the Big Silver Bolt. The trailer will be able to slip on and on/off the hitch attachment at the back of the bike via the small loose bolt you see on the upper left. I may use bolt or an R-clip or Padlock for this attachment?

All attached. All thats missing is a Bike on the Left & a Trailer on the Right.

Here are 2 U-Joints. As you can see the one im using is way bigger than the other (I didn't have the smaller one when making hitch) I think the smaller of the two came from a toolkit? I may use smaller one if I can get it drilled out?

Note... If you choose to go the way of the U-Joint Hitch Setup you'll have to have some mighty fine drill bits as the material these are made from? is vary hard to drill through.

The U-Bar around the back wheel was basicly just a piece of flat bar put in a vice and heated then bent in the right places. The Upright bar you see is needed to stop any up/down movement of the the U-Bar.

U-Bar is attached to the bike via 2 small bolts either side of the wheel where you'd attach a mudguard.

I hope this has made things a bit clearer for you?

I'll take a few more photos of everything attached to bike once I finish painting it all. At the moment im just on the undercoat.

Tom

BossCat

Added Note...

The U-Bar around the back wheel only has 2 small holes that attach it to the bike frame. If you have a slightly longer U-Bar (I had to work with what I had ) you'd be able to attach U-Bar to Both of the mudguard holes, this would save the need for the pannier rack upright attachment.

Tom

BossCat

Now that its painted here is my HITCH U-Bar attchment...


Now you see how the U-Bar loops around the back wheel, plus the Pannier-Bar conection stops the UP/DOWN movement of the U-BAR.




The back wheel connection. A simple screw in bolt into the mudguard holding hole.




Pannier Rack conection. Small Nut & Bolt.




Now off to raid the piggybank and get the rest of my Trailer built
Tom

dygituljunky

Thanks!

Bill

HandsomeRyan

The Tour de Lights 2008 trailer is complete just in time for the ride tonight-

As you may remember last year I built a sleigh trailer complete with a Santa and bag of toys.

This year I was a little more realistic about the people I'd be riding with...






Made of a welded steel frame, real aged oak lumber, and real coal afixed to a hand made fiberglass composite "lid" the thing weighs a ton but it's worth it to deliver coal to all the naughty cyclists of the world [which is most of us].