Introduction: PVC Portable Adjustable Bag Trolley

Have a bag with heavy contents? If you did not buy bag with built in trolley, well, this project might be a nice solution for carrying your heavy bags!

Nowadays, kids’ school lessons are more and more in Indonesia. This also made their bag becomes heavier.

We need to build a portable trolley which will fit to any bag!

Step 1: Gather Tools & Material

2 meter ½” PVC tubes

1 meter ¾” PVC tube

6 pc ½” PVC elbows

2 pc ½” PVC T-Joints

1 tube of PVC cement

7 pc rivet nails and rivet tool

Angle grinder with 1mm thickness cutting blade

Hand drill with 3mm drill bit

Whiteboard marker/pen

Hammer

Step 2: DESIGN YOUR TROLLEY

You can use either your smartphone, computer or even hand sketch.

Above is my hand sketch on my smartphone. It was a super quick and simple one!

Step 3: CUT ALL THE PVC TUBES

Note: my measurement is for Asian ergonomy, which may not be as tall as our caucasian brothers. You may need to add/reduce the length as per your region ergonomy standard.

Cut the tubes as per sketch using heck saw or angle grinder.

Step 4: JOIN ALL TUBES USING PVC CEMENT

Right after you applied cement to the tubes and joint, knock them in using hammer for best strength before the cement dry.

Step 5: ADD WHEELS / CASTERS

Mark the wheel fastening location at the joint using pencil/pen.

Drill the joint (3mm hole diameter for rivetting). Continue with rivetting the wheels.

Step 6: MAKE IT ADJUSTABLE!

  • Cut the 2 handle pillars into 2 sections: 30 cm lower side and 6 cm upper side (see following photo). Then cut the ¾” tube into 2 sides x 35 cm (left and right). These ¾” tubes are for sliding mechanism.
  • Cut a slit 3 cm away from both edges of the 30cm tubes (one side only, the other side is optional).
  • Drill both slit ends using 3mm drill bit. Both holes are for resting/stopping mechanism.
  • Smooth away the edge of the holes using cutter. This is to ensure smooth sliding.
  • Drill the ¾” tube (1” away from edge) then join it with the slit hole using rivet.
  • Try the sliding mechanism. If it is not smooth yet, redo the smoothing using cutter
  • Join the ¾” tube with the upper section of ½” tube using rivet (if you do not like using rivet, using ¾” to ½” reducer is also fine).

Step 7: FINISH !!!

FINISH!!!

Ask somebody to bring it around with a bag tied on it (bag usually comes with shoulder & waist ties). Try the height adjuster by pulling and pushing the handle.

When you need to carry the bag in your truck/car/motorcycle luggage, push the handle down.

Once you are going to carry around using hand, pull the handle up!

Do you like it? Then vote for this project if you like :]

Thanks!