Trailer to pull with a bike

[czechsonofagun]

I have this idea to build a trailer to pull with my bike - for small local shopping and such. Already have two mountain bike wheels - they were free from the landfill. No for the frame, I see two ways to build it (I don't feel like making it wooden):

- weld it from square tubing say 1/2x1/2"; the standard, just like my big trailer, onluy scaled down and light

- use 1/2" steel conduit and tubing bender, bent pieces welded together. I dont know if there are any issues with welding conduit except the galvanization.

Any other idea? I considered plastic conduit, since it is used for soccer goals and such, but I dont trust it too much.

The trailer should carry 100 - 200 pounds, depends on situation and distance.

Thanks for any ideas

 

[Willl]

Have you tried Google Images ?

bicycle trailer - Google Image Search

 

[MikeInEburg]

Remember that, just like any other trailer, stopping is more important than pulling!
Mike

 

[sandman2234]

For weight considerations, maybe try your hand at fiberglas? Not that hard once you get the basics down. Hopefully your talking about pulling them with a bicycle, not a motorbike, as the mountain bike wheels probably won't hold up to the speeds of a motorbike.
David from jax

 

[MikeD74T]

When my son was 10 I made a sidecar for his BMX bicycle out of EMT with a flat 10 gauge aluminum deck. was tricky welding with a stick welder but it outlasted him & the kid he later sold it to. It would carry my 200 lbs. MikeD74t

 

[jdbower]

...it outlasted him & the kid he later sold it to.

Is that a testament to the quality of the build or a lament about the safety of the design?

 

[Egon]

Oh oh, did the traffic ticket mature?

Do some Googling. There are different styles of trailers. Use the lightest tubing possible as hills build character. Also stop in at a bike shop and look at some.

It will also help to switch to dehydrated beer if you can find a reliable source of sufficient quality!

Mountain Bike tires will survive at some pretty good speeds.

 

[toy]

I have this idea to build a trailer to pull with my bike - for small local shopping and such. Already have two mountain bike wheels - they were free from the landfill. No for the frame, I see two ways to build it (I don't feel like making it wooden):

- weld it from square tubing say 1/2x1/2"; the standard, just like my big trailer, onluy scaled down and light

- use 1/2" steel conduit and tubing bender, bent pieces welded together. I dont know if there are any issues with welding conduit except the galvanization.

Any other idea? I considered plastic conduit, since it is used for soccer goals and such, but I dont trust it too much.

The trailer should carry 100 - 200 pounds, depends on situation and distance.

Thanks for any ideas

You are talking about a bicycle I beleive, so in that case have you considered getting a radio flyer wagon and taking the front wheels and steering hardware out of the front and adding two peices of tubing or angle from the front of the wagon and extend out to hook up to the bicycle?

 

[tallyho8]

You are talking about a bicycle I beleive, so in that case have you considered getting a radio flyer wagon and taking the front wheels and steering hardware out of the front and adding two peices of tubing or angle from the front of the wagon and extend out to hook up to the bicycle?

Without a coupling capable of turning, such as a trailer hitch, this method would cause steering problems when trying to turn as either the back wheel or trailer wheels would have to slide when turning.

 

[Egon]

Free plans:

The Bamboo bicycle trailer

 

[czechsonofagun]

Thank you guys, I did my research and found probably everything what is out there.

One of the best plans I think is this one: Backpack frame bike trailer - Appropedia: The sustainability wiki. Simple and recycling too.

Another one I found was made from an old aluminum ladder. I think I will use the conduit after all - unless I can find some aluminum structure to modify.

And Egon, you got it right I am off the roads for another 60 days, and all I have to say is this:

It was quite surprising to see a US marine to make things up in front of the court to get me in trouble - after that, the judge would not listen to me too much.

But I bike everywhere now and it really shows on my weight and heart and overall shape - making lemon juice from lemons

 

[Egon]

As the body adjust to the added exercise it gets to feel better all the time. Then there comes a point where after a few miles a lovely euphoric sensation kicks in and life is very good.

Just make sure to adjust the bicycle properly to your body as this greatly aids in cycling enjoyment. Keep the cadence up and constant and shift frequently to keep it there.

 

[toy]

Without a coupling capable of turning, such as a trailer hitch, this method would cause steering problems when trying to turn as either the back wheel or trailer wheels would have to slide when turning.

You are right about that, if you didn't catch it during fabrication I guarantee you would catch it the first time you had to turn acurve.

 

[Lasgambler]

You are talking about a bicycle I beleive, so in that case have you considered getting a radio flyer wagon and taking the front wheels and steering hardware out of the front and adding two peices of tubing or angle from the front of the wagon and extend out to hook up to the bicycle?

Toy, That brought back terrible memories. About 50 years ago, My brother had a Moped the kind Sears sold. He came in and said come look what I made. You can ride in it. It was just as you said, only tied to the back of the Moped with bailing twine. Away we went with me sitting in the wagon going as fast as the Moped would go down the gravel road. You know the rest of the story. Thats how I lost my front teeth.

 

[czechsonofagun]

As the body adjust to the added exercise it gets to feel better all the time. Then there comes a point where after a few miles a lovely euphoric sensation kicks in and life is very good.

Just make sure to adjust the bicycle properly to your body as this greatly aids in cycling enjoyment. Keep the cadence up and constant and shift frequently to keep it there.

Of course, I know. I bike for years, this time I just kicked my biking time in overdrive

 

[Egon]

Opps, sorry.

 

[toy]

Toy, That brought back terrible memories. About 50 years ago, My brother had a Moped the kind Sears sold. He came in and said come look what I made. You can ride in it. It was just as you said, only tied to the back of the Moped with bailing twine. Away we went with me sitting in the wagon going as fast as the Moped would go down the gravel road. You know the rest of the story. Thats how I lost my front teeth.

Back when my brother and I were growing up a bunch of us kids would hang out at a local truck stop, and my brother had just got his first car and a friend of ours was there on his bicycle also. Any way our friend began wondering how it would be to tie the bicycle to the back of my brothers car with a rope and let my brother tow him up the road [sometimes kids don't use good judgment] so the rope got tied to the bumper of my brothers 58 ford and to the front of the bicycle and up the road we went 50 mile an hour then all of a sudden we saw the bicycle turning flip flops up the road. We stopped the car scarred to death and went back ot check on our friend and he was allright, other than being skinned up a little. We started inquiring of him [like idiots] what happened. He said that when we slowed down a little for a curve that slack got in the rope and he was trying to pedal as hard as he could to try to keep the rope from jerking him and causing him to wreck anyway while he was a pedaling he said that he was looking down and that he ran off the road and that was when he wrecked. That time we got to laugh and looking back on it it is humerous to think of , but if there is anyone reading this that might consider trying it my advice is don't my friend could have got killed.

 

[tallyho8]

When I was a teenager I hitched a ride on my friends car while riding my bike. I was holding the handlebars with one hand and holding on to the door handle with the other. He got up to about 50 mph and my front wheel starting shimmying uncontrollably. Luckily the bike went to the side of the road instead of under the car and there was a nice big ditch full of water to stop me. I never did that again.

 

[czechsonofagun]

Well, here it is after successful test ride

 

[czechsonofagun]

Wheels are from a bike I found at the dumb, the frame I used metal conduit (btw the bender works like a charm, could not do without it) and odds and pieces are mainly scraps from an old lawn mower.

It took some effort to get good welds on the conduit but it is pretty sturdy.

The hitch has a rubber bushing to avoid the clanking and the trailer is secured with a hole, washer and a pin.

I hooked it up to my beater bike, because it is steel, but since it hangs from the saddle post bolt, it could possible be pulled behind the full carbon too.