Posted: 7/10/2008 3:16:26 PM EDT
| I am really considering both a trailer and workman bike as an altenate means of transportation around town. Hell I need the excersise and if we see gas shortages in the future it might be a good back up. |
| They are expensive if bought at your local retail store. They can be found pretty cheap at garage sales and craigslist, for some reason they don't really hold value super well. I bought one off of ebay a few years ago and paid 120ish for it. Works great and folds down flat. My son has outgrown it now so it can now be converted to a utility trailer. |
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I'm looking for a trailer too at some point. I want to pull it with a set up like this but a different bike of course. I may end up making the trailer from junk parts and off the shelf Home Depot hardware. Take a gander here: LINK |
It's a very good thought indeed (!), and I'm on it. First I'm going to get my bike motor mounted and then work on the trailer. I'm 'designing' something in my head at this moment  . I would like something to haul about 400 pounds or so.my mounting hardware and method of the bike motor installation will surpass the supplied parts that came with the kit in terms of quality. Their set up seems too universal for my taste. I'm going to take it a few steps further and make it really durable and easily removable. It's really a lot of fun building this thing! The bike is an expensive Hybrid I got several years ago. The Staton gearbox/chain drive and Honda GXS50 is the cat's ass when it comes to quality. |
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Pretty useful accessory to a good bike. We had one to haul our kids around in. I was surprised at how easy it was to tow around 60# of kids. Should have kept that trailer instead of selling it, would have made a great utility conversion. I have found several good deals on Craigslist, just be patient. HERE is a site with several new trailers to get an idea of what is available for purchase or for fabrication ideas. You see how simple many of the trailers are on that site. A person could purchase the hitch/attachment hardware and fabricate a strong trailer relatively inexpensively. ETA Another LINK with trailers for purchase or fabrication ideas. ETA G2's link below is excellent! I like the hitch/connection method. |
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build your own I've seen another version that used old bike welded or bolted together. My googlefoo is weak can't seem to find it. |
Wow! There's a bunch of similar projects listed in there, I think I have reading material for a while... |
Lots of good links in this thread
True, +1, Werd, Amen, Roger That ...
Yep, that is why I got one, but fixed it for ya.  These are sold at places like Academy, Wall-Mart, and such. I started with one of these and it wore out in just over a year. I could fold it flat and haul some cargo. I now have an older version of this, better quality, not worn out quickly, great roll cage, but the frame will not allow me to haul odd gargo |
| I just had a thought..converting a deer cart for my bicycle might be the ticket. They have some preety good prices on Sportsmans Guide. I figure by saving on the labor hours vs. materials their prices arent bad. I just need to set up a towing hitch which I can get off line. I've thought I might want a hitch that can drop onto my seat post which I can remove by pulling off my seat and post with the quick release. I only need an arched down tube for the cart which I can fab a fender shield to for protecting the goods I will be towing....The one I am looking at is 40 lbs and can hold 500 lb |
I think that's a great idea. Sounds like a plan! |
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We had some for half price where I work since they had been sitting around the store too long, no one bought them from what I could tell. We even put one together so they could look it over. What I liked about these is they attached to a lower part of the frame instead of using a seat tube. I like the idea of the force being put into a lower part of the frame instead of into the seat tube. If they drop the price again I might get one, I did not see how well it is built overall but for the most part it is upgradable in my opinion so if the wheels or axle wear out I would just wind up with better wheels and bearings or whatever I needed. Right now I figure a couple cheap bikes people are throwing away would give me a couple front wheels to use for the wheels of a home made cart and one frame work cut up and laid on its side would give me most of my platform for hauling groceries home. |
This is the rig my son and I built. Its more than sufficient for anything inside of 10 miles. I've not yet calculated MPG, but others with similar setups are seeing 120-180, depending on tuning and use.  My plan is to build a single wheel trailer sized to hold an ice-chest, and square crates in panniers on the trailer wheel and rear bike wheel. I figure I can haul just about any reasonable amount of groceries with this setup. |