Ever see a bike trailer like this?

[macx]

Sticking my neck out here, so be kind -
and be gentle if you can't be kind

For some time I've wanted a bike trailer that's easier to load / unload
than the converted boat trailer I've been using - it's just too high.
(I had it, so been using it)

After much thought and many ideas, this is where I stand currently.

I make all my own stuff - I just hate to pay somebody umpteen hundred $
for something I can build myself. Besides, figuring it out and building it is
half the fun - at least when it works. And then sometimes I even get it
like I want it (or )

So - want it as small and light weight as possible to tow behind a small
sport wagon. Want to be able to store it in a small space, so have designed
it so it's easy to stand up on end and it will stand by itself.

Also want it low so it's easy just to roll the bike up onto it. Needs to tilt
so I don't need a big long ramp that I have to haul with and secure to the
trailer during the trip.

I have a boat trailer axle (replaced it with a heavier axle for my converted
multi-purpose trailer) that has the typical 12" wheels and has a fairly low
centerline - about 10" high. If I can make the "bed" of the trailer the same
length as the bike, it won't be very long and then a 10" frame clearance
should be enough if I'm reasonably careful and don't go off-roading with it.
I don't use a trailer very often, but when I do it's often a longer trip when I'm
likely to be carrying a load of other "stuff" so want it to tow easily, which the
lighter weight also helps. Light weight also translates into less material to buy,
and a simplified design makes it easier / quicker to build. I've roughly figured
the trailer at or not much over 250 lbs, if that.

Rather than try and explain it, I've drawn up an admittedly crude drawing in
Excel. I didn't draw in all the components but rather put notes in about some
of those details that should make it pretty obvious what I'm intending.

http://www.mediafire.com/?n2jev4xz81euj

Remember - be kind. And if you can't be kind, at least be gentle.

[towerworker]

I'm no engineer but in my years I have drawn up, fabricated and welded a lot of stuff that went up on towers. I'm impressed with your drawing and idea. Go for it. No doubt your end product will be superior to it's commercial equivalent. Plus like you said--it's fun to do.

Wayne

[macx]

Hey, friend.

Appreciate the comments.

Not everybody always sees the point.

Have you seen this? Posted it some time ago.

http://s719.photobucket.com/albums/ww20 ... ke%20Lift/

Not quite as handy as a bought one, but I've only got
a grand total of about $20 of purchased mat'l into it.

Works like a charm. Steady as a rock.

[me&mybmw]

The design looks good, it is pretty hard to beat homemade quality. I would like to look at a few safety items... fill in the bed of the wagon, you will scrape an ankle on the way down,oh baby it hurts, yup done it!, add many places to tie down items. I use "D" rings at all 4 corners, and in the middle. The other thing I would consider is "road rash" on your bike from what ever the car tires kick up. Maybe some of the newer LED lights,set back, so you don't hurt them when you lean it up. Tie it off to the wall when not in use, I have a brand new mirror on my RT for that one.....Luck and good fortune are found in fortune cookies...the rest we make ourselves.

[macx]

Filling in the bed - I had thought of that, instead of the "footrest" may just put a plate full length of the
back half on that side. In fact, that was one of the first additions I made to the trailer I presently use.
EDIT: Done. Drawn in, link to new drawing in 1st post.

I just didn't bother adding the detail for the tie-downs - I have them all 4 corners on my present tailer.
I had a close call with ratchet straps the first time I used them to haul the bike. Even tho I had them
cinched down pretty good, one hook came loose and I lost the strap, so just had one remaining on one
side of the bike.

Now I use light chain with turnbuckles on the one side, and carabiner hooks to hook the chains on the other
sides so nothing can come unhooked. The turnbuckles are attached to the chains by secured pin/clevis arrangements, not hooks. Nothing to come unhooked no matter how severe a bounce. And the chains
go thru loops for the tie downs on the trailer - will use the same here.

I'll be renting a small garage where I'll be staying for the next job, haven't seen it yet, don't know if there's
anything to tie the trailer to or not when I stand it on end. Being just 6' or a dab longer/tall, with the hitch folded down when standing on end, and a 10" base it should stand pretty solidly on a level concrete floor. I'll tie it off if there's something to tie to, or could even get a small lag bolt with loop to screw into a stud.

The bike will be centered behind the vehicle and pretty close to it, so will have to think about how much
and what form of protection I may need from stuff being kicked up by the vehicle tires. Maybe something
on the front of that upper cross bar at the front of the bed. Maybe a couple feet high would do it.
Weight and wind resistance. The vehicle I'd be towing it with at least for awhile is pretty low to the
ground, not like an SUV.

All input appreciated!!

[b12bandit]

MACX,

Tried your link to look at your pictures/drawings. All I got was endless pop-ups and pages of advertising. Not a picture in sight.

[macx]

http://www.mediafire.com/?wwn4bzztkeynirm

When that page opens you should see a large link about downloading.

Click it and it should take you right to the file.

If you're getting so many adverts, you must not be using Firefox and all their
add-ons that block a lot of that crap?

If that still doesn't work, pm me with your email (leave a couple spaces in the
email name so spammer programs don't pick it up) and I'll send you the file directly.

[gregor]

Only helped with loading onto a conventional trailer using ramps.Hard enough.
As I understand loading the bike onto your trailer will be like pushing a bike across a see-saw and there will get a point where everything will go a bit wobbly before it tips down again. I would not like to be supporting a heavy bike when that happens.
Think using long ramps to load onto a fixed bed trailer will be easier.

[macx]

Wellll -

Actually, been using a long ramp up onto a higher trailer for a couple years.

No way to get it up by pushing, so rigged a small battery powered winch to
pull it up. MAJOR PITA!! Had more than enuf of that. And backing the bike
off of that thing, and down the long ramp, is a handful without allowing the
bike to fall over and me with it and maybe under it, even with an added "walkway"
along the bike & ramp.

That's why I wanted the trailer as low as possible, without dragging over speed bumps
of course, so I could push it up a short ramp by hand, and backing it off would
be much easier and less likely to cause dangerous problems.

On the bike lift I built, I have about a 3' ramp to push the bike up onto the lift,
and I have no problem at all with that. The platform on the lift is just a couple
inches lower than the platform on the trailer, and no tilting to assist.

With making the "bed" of the trailer as short as possible, I calculate I'll have the
front wheel of the bike forward of the pivot point shortly before the rear wheel
gets off the ramp onto the bed, so the weight of the front wheel will begin to assist
tilting the trailer bed toward level as it gets closer to fully on.

There won't be that much tilt so as to cause any rapid or uncontrollable movement.
Either end of the bed will only move about 6" at the max point of tilt. And I'll be
standing alongside the bike on the bed of the trailer as it tilts which will help with
controlling it, and rolling the bike slowly will help make the tilt slow and controllable too.

I've driven Cat front end loaders, big bobcats, and small dozers onto tilt bed equipment
trailers that moved a HECK of a lot more than that. Sometimes that did get to be an
"adventure"!

And without the trailer bed tilting, you need a longer ramp to keep the angle the same
than you would if the trailer bed tilts some. And then the trailer bed is also higher for stepping
up onto it while trying to keep the bike upright, also difficult and unsafe.

With my design, there's only about a 4" step up to get onto the back end of the trailer
when it is tilted and, like I mentioned, I'll be standing alongside the bike on the bed of
the trailer when the tilting occurs.

Believe me, I've been thinking about this quite awhile and at least think I have asked myself
lots of those kinds of questions and tried to think thru the process based on my experience
with my long ramp and higher trailer, and what out of that process I'm trying to eliminate and
how to do that.

Anyway - -

I got a call today that my report date to that job in Vegas (darn the luck, huh? Nothing to do
out there, no scenery in the area to ride thru on weekends or anything ) will be on or close
to 4/18, so do have the better part of 2 weeks to tackle it considering a week to load 2 vehicles
and 2 (?) trailers and make the 3 day drive out there and get unloaded and settled in the apt.

[Airman]

My employer's firewall prevents me from seeing your design. Is it something like the Kendon ? I have been looking that those as well as the aluminum utility trailers.

[macx]

I'd never seen those before, interesting.

I don't have the engineering background to make "removable spindles" etc,
and the pictures don't show quite how he does it of course.

And it doesn't explain how the bike is loaded - are the spindles removed
and then the bike loaded and then the trailer raised? Or does one just
use a ramp to get it up on the fixed-height bed?

My bed is split across the trailer with the axle in the gap, top of axle at bed height
when stationary so the front tire can roll across it. Once the bike is on the trailer,
the axle can move up and down the few inches the spring flexes without hurting
anything as the axle will be located just to the rear of the center of the bike.

That allows the bed of the trailer to be about 10" high for easy loading.
Having the trailer tilt a little allows me to avoid having to haul a longer separate ramp,
which saves weight and material and having something separate to secure while traveling.
The only ramp req'd would be a short (about 18 to 24") fold up ramp at the rear that
folds up behind the rear tire and can be secured vertically to prevent it from rolling back.
With the tilt, that's the only ramp I'd need, and it's permanently attached to the trailer
so no longer ramp I'd need to secure somehow for traveling.

Also with the trailer tilting, I don't have to step up onto whatever the bed height is
while at the same time trying to push the bike up a ramp. Same goes for unloading.
I feel that's easier / safer.

Basically I have a rectangular tube on each side that the conventional leaf spring
attaches to from underneath and supports and that is the same length as the bike.

From that, there are approx 1' drops welded to the inside of the side frame and
then the cross tubes / bed support that are the same height as the top of the axle are
welded to the bottom of those drops. That's how I get the bed lower than the tops of
the springs and at the same height as the top of the axle. 4 cross tubes, 2 ahead and
2 behind the axle. Like 2 small separate beds with the axle inbetween them.

Then with a couple light 3x3 angles to form a channel or a track for the tires welded
front to back on top of the cross tubes, also with a gap over the axle. On the back
of that "tire track" there would be the short hinged ramp that can be let down to push
the bike up onto the bed, and that folds up when the bike is in place and secured vertically
behind the rear tire to keep the bike from rolling back.

Across the front ends of the side frames there's a rectangular tube connecting the two,
with a couple angle clips welded to the rear of it in the center to locate the front tire,
and that prevents the bike from rolling forward.

The tongue would be short, about 4' or so, and would be attached to and hinged to
the front cross tube so the bed can pivot front-up and rear-down, each end raising
or lowering only about 6". And of course the tongue would be locked in place for towing
when not tilted.

Sizing the materials and calculating the weight it comes out a tad under 300 lbs.

The rear of the trailer is about 12" from the top of the side frames to the bottom of the
rear cross tube which, together with the drops for the rear cross tube, are aligned vertically.
That provides the "base" for standing it up on end. The vertical height standing on end
would be about 6" under 8' to fit under a standard height garage ceiling, with the hitch of
course folding down. The short rear ramp would be attached so it does not project beyond
the back / bottom of the rear cross tube so the back (non-tilted) / bottom (tilted) of the
trailer is completely flat. License plate and lights attached to the outsides of the side frames.

Check your pm's.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Hey, Macx

if you do build it, make sure to double check the torque on the lugs...just sayin'

John

[macx]

Nah - thought I'd just weld the lug nuts on. :-)