Tired of bumbling along single track trails with two tires on your trailer fighting for the track? Too full of pride to plunk down the dough for a store-bought one? Never again. With this instructable, you'll be the envy of the trail.
I built this trailer to use on my recent ride down the C&O Canal Towpath. The trail is 184.5 miles and runs along (you guessed it!) the C&O Canal, from Cumberland, MD, to Washington, DC. For the most part, the trail is hard packed dirt, although there are places where it's mulch, crushed rock and even paved in a spot or two. I decided to build this after having gone online and found that, while two-wheeled trailers would work, single-wheeled ones are recommended. I looked at buying one, but at ~$325, I didn't look too long.
That's when I decided I could do better. I think I did...what do you think?
I wasn't sure how to go about building it and thought of a couple different ways to do so. PVC was considered, as was copper tubing, but I finally settled on electrical conduit after seeing I could get a 10' length for $2.50! I settled on brazing the pieces together after perusing the conduit connectors and realizing they probably weren't going to be strong enough. The only problem with brazing was that I had no idea how to go about it. (Sure, I learned in 8th grade shop, but that was ages ago!) I did some searching on the web and finally decided to just go for it. In the end I found out it wasn't that difficult (looking at the trailer, you can tell which joints were brazed early in the project and which were done last -- the learning curve isn't' that steep).
Excluding tools, this can be made for less than $20. What you do with the savings (~$300) is up to you.
I built this trailer to use on my recent ride down the C&O Canal Towpath. The trail is 184.5 miles and runs along (you guessed it!) the C&O Canal, from Cumberland, MD, to Washington, DC. For the most part, the trail is hard packed dirt, although there are places where it's mulch, crushed rock and even paved in a spot or two. I decided to build this after having gone online and found that, while two-wheeled trailers would work, single-wheeled ones are recommended. I looked at buying one, but at ~$325, I didn't look too long.
That's when I decided I could do better. I think I did...what do you think?
I wasn't sure how to go about building it and thought of a couple different ways to do so. PVC was considered, as was copper tubing, but I finally settled on electrical conduit after seeing I could get a 10' length for $2.50! I settled on brazing the pieces together after perusing the conduit connectors and realizing they probably weren't going to be strong enough. The only problem with brazing was that I had no idea how to go about it. (Sure, I learned in 8th grade shop, but that was ages ago!) I did some searching on the web and finally decided to just go for it. In the end I found out it wasn't that difficult (looking at the trailer, you can tell which joints were brazed early in the project and which were done last -- the learning curve isn't' that steep).
Excluding tools, this can be made for less than $20. What you do with the savings (~$300) is up to you.
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Signing UpStep 1: Ingredients
You'll need the following ingredients to make this trailer:
Parts
4 x 10' 1/2" electrical conduit
front fork of junker bike*
rear wheel triangle of junker bike*
head tube and seat post of junker bike
wheel (16" or 20" -- I used a 20" tire off my daughter's old bike)**
1" to 3/4" conduit step down washer
1/2" screw-type conduit connectors (3)
*This was made using a 26" mountain bike since it's going on to be used behind 26" mountain bike. I recommend using the same size (or larger) fork/rear triangle as you have on the hauling bike.
**While you could use the wheel from the junker bike if absolutely necessary, having the smaller diameter tire allows the trailer to be parallel to the ground.
Tools
brazing torch and rods (I used MAPP vs. propane for a quicker job)
bench grinder
drill*
hack saw (w/ metal blade)
conduit bender
*This is used to cut the holes in the fork. A metal bit is required. I used a Lenox 3/4" Arbored Hole Saw Drill Bit and it work liked a champ.
Extras
Bungee cords
carrying bins
And now, a word of warning, courtesy of Fletcher:
A word of caution about working with electrical conduit: Conduit is generally galvanized, meaning it's got a thin coating of zinc. Zinc is toxic; grinding, welding, brazing, etc. will vaporize the zinc, raising the risk of inhalation. Before working with galvanized pipe, remove the zinc layer (it's thin, so sanding/use of a wire wheel or brush will do it) in an area with good ventilation. A fan would be a good idea, as would a quality respirator (a simple filter mask won't do.) Conduit is a good, inexpensive basis for building all sorts of things ; just remember to take the proper safety precautions.
Parts
4 x 10' 1/2" electrical conduit
front fork of junker bike*
rear wheel triangle of junker bike*
head tube and seat post of junker bike
wheel (16" or 20" -- I used a 20" tire off my daughter's old bike)**
1" to 3/4" conduit step down washer
1/2" screw-type conduit connectors (3)
*This was made using a 26" mountain bike since it's going on to be used behind 26" mountain bike. I recommend using the same size (or larger) fork/rear triangle as you have on the hauling bike.
**While you could use the wheel from the junker bike if absolutely necessary, having the smaller diameter tire allows the trailer to be parallel to the ground.
Tools
brazing torch and rods (I used MAPP vs. propane for a quicker job)
bench grinder
drill*
hack saw (w/ metal blade)
conduit bender
*This is used to cut the holes in the fork. A metal bit is required. I used a Lenox 3/4" Arbored Hole Saw Drill Bit and it work liked a champ.
Extras
Bungee cords
carrying bins
And now, a word of warning, courtesy of Fletcher:
A word of caution about working with electrical conduit: Conduit is generally galvanized, meaning it's got a thin coating of zinc. Zinc is toxic; grinding, welding, brazing, etc. will vaporize the zinc, raising the risk of inhalation. Before working with galvanized pipe, remove the zinc layer (it's thin, so sanding/use of a wire wheel or brush will do it) in an area with good ventilation. A fan would be a good idea, as would a quality respirator (a simple filter mask won't do.) Conduit is a good, inexpensive basis for building all sorts of things ; just remember to take the proper safety precautions.
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Please take more precautions!
Ventilation is a MUST.
Having a fan blowing the dust away from you is a MUST.
Knowing what to look for is a MUST.
(If you've been working with zinc like this and develop a cold, go to the hospital THEN. If you wait until it's progressed to more pneumonia-like symptoms you're dead. They can't do anything for you.)
Better yet, don't use galvanized metals!
Did you paint it since you did the pictures for this instructable?
http://www.instructables.com/id/Bicycle-cargo-trailer--200-lb-capacity%2c-%2430-for-pa/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Bicycle-cargo-trailer--200-lb-capacity%2c-%2430-for-pa/step13/Hitch-creation/
Knowing that you have a similar kind of skill base as I do regarding brazing and the like and then seeing the result of your efforts I feel very confident that I could recreate this excellent design.
Thanks a lot for posting.
also was wondering if it will feel liek alot on there, and up hills is it hard or good?
Anyway, if you use a 26" wheel, you'll need to adjust the fork in such a way so that the trailer is still parallel to the ground. While you *could* roll with a tilted trailer, running it parallel is probably better.
As for going up hills, they weren't a problem as long as you had the speed, were in the right gear and didn't bonk halfway up.
Going downhill wasn't too bad as long as you kept the bike somewhat slow for better control.
The worst handling was in the mud. The front tire hit the mud, causing the bike to slow down. The trailer's momentum then pushed forward, causing a the bike to feel squishy. After a few times, I learned to peddle through the mud vs. coasting. That helped.
No shop class at my school!
An alternative for the connection to the bike would be to go up and over the rear bike wheel up to the seat post as seen on the Atomic Zombie site here: http://www.atomiczombie.com/product-cyclebully.htm You could also do a U joint from the seat post from a block of metal.
One last suggestion: Use a 2x6 the width of the trailer and stood on end for support of the trailer/bike so you don't have to lean it up against anything at all.