Showing posts with label trailer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trailer. Show all posts
Monday, August 27, 2012
Another (sort-of) DIY trailer
The re-Cycles shop has received a few trailers this year. One of them was an older Chariot model that had been modified in a very familiar way. This design would originally have the wheels outside the frame using single-sided hubs (like a wheelchair). For whatever reason the previous owner decided to use double-sided bike wheels, which meant added more framework to hold them. And it looks like he was possibly inspired by my trailer webpage or the DIY trailer posts on this blog.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
who needs a car?
Folks often say "I need a car to move large items", but that's because they haven't got a bike trailer! Most utility trailers can haul whatever you can fit in a car (note the word "in", not "on top of"), and of course my cargo trike can often carry what some cars can't. ;)
I recently had to get both my old TV and my old CRT monitor off to the recyclers. The City of Ottawa has a Take It Back program, which lists local businesses that will take your recyclable items that are not part of the weekly blue / black box pick-up. The Staples store on Bank St. was listed as taking the stuff I had, and a quick call confirmed this and also that they do not charge a fee.
So, hook up the coroplast trailer and find that the two items fit perfectly!
The trip was all of five or six blocks, but the funny thing was when I arrived at the store. I walk in carrying the TV, wearing a bike helmet and obviously looking like a cyclist, and tell the young staffer that I have two items for recycling. She doesn't even blink at the fact that I'm carrying a TV via bike, and when I go and fetch the monitor she asks, upon my return, "anything else?". I had to admire her blithe professionalism...
I recently had to get both my old TV and my old CRT monitor off to the recyclers. The City of Ottawa has a Take It Back program, which lists local businesses that will take your recyclable items that are not part of the weekly blue / black box pick-up. The Staples store on Bank St. was listed as taking the stuff I had, and a quick call confirmed this and also that they do not charge a fee.
So, hook up the coroplast trailer and find that the two items fit perfectly!
The trip was all of five or six blocks, but the funny thing was when I arrived at the store. I walk in carrying the TV, wearing a bike helmet and obviously looking like a cyclist, and tell the young staffer that I have two items for recycling. She doesn't even blink at the fact that I'm carrying a TV via bike, and when I go and fetch the monitor she asks, upon my return, "anything else?". I had to admire her blithe professionalism...
Monday, December 20, 2010
yet ANOTHER trailer!
Ok, so here we go once again with another trailer build! Well, like the last one, I did not build the frame, but simply added a box to a decommissioned kids trailer. The reason for this one? With the cargo trike in winter hibernation I still like to move my drums by pedal power as much as possible. In past winters I've borrowed the big trailer I built for my friend Bridget a while back, but it is bigger than I need, a bit too flimsy for the weight of drums (side rails bend more than they should), and a real pain to store in my basement due to its size.
I decided for this year that since I'm don't really want to tow my bigger kits across town (there's VrtuCar for moving those babies), and that most of my downtown gigs are with the small jazz kit, a trailer to just fit that would be ideal. Yes, it looks quite similar in size to the other trailer, but here's why it's different:
The other one, being made with an aluminum frame, a bit of plywood, and lots of coroplast (corrugated plastic) is nice and lightweight for hauling and keeping dry the various amplifiers and electronics and small drums I use in my dance class gigs. It is fine for towing this sort of stuff for quite a few kilometres, but between it's a bit flimsy for the weight of a drum kit, and the fact that its dimensions make it just a bit too small for the kit sealed the issue. So now I have one trailer for lightweight and long haul, the other for sturdy and short haul.
This newest trailer is built from 100% recycled or leftover materials. The only new items were the bolts, and even they were surplus from previous trailer / cargo builds.
The brown bolts were from some old melamine cabinets.
Box is held to frame at three points. Two out back, and this one in front. This allowed me to use existing holes and not add more than necessary, as any holes can provide entry points for moisture (all other existing holes from when it was a kids trailer were tightly covered over with electrical tape).
I think the only remaining improvement to be made is to change out the old hitch for a modern Chariot one as on the other trailer, because right now I have to undo the winter bike's axle bolt and change the fitting for each trailer. UPDATE: done! It's nice to be able to use this trailer with either of my two winter bikes (which in 2011 replaced the single blue one pictured above).
Saturday, April 11, 2009
folding trailer
A friend of mine sent me this link: A wheel-y unique idea for commuter cyclists: Milton university engineering student co-inventor of collapsible bike trailer.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
TV show
So the TV segment wasn't too bad. I still talk a bit too quickly at times, trying to get out the things I wish to say. But overall I'm OK with how it went.
There doesn't seem to be an embedding feature on the CBC's website, so here's the direct link to the show. (My segment starts around 6:57).
If the link fails for some reason please go to the show's website and search for "Thursday March 5".
There doesn't seem to be an embedding feature on the CBC's website, so here's the direct link to the show. (My segment starts around 6:57).
If the link fails for some reason please go to the show's website and search for "Thursday March 5".
Saturday, February 28, 2009
more trailer stuff
My friend Tanya (aka crazybikerchick) liked my trailer and wanted her own. During two of my visits to Toronto we got it built (yes, I brought the conduit bender with me) and she was going to blog the details. Well, she hasn't been blogging as much as she used to, so I told her I'd post some photos.
The design is the same as on my website, using conduit for the frame, a Chariot hitch, and 16" wheels. Tanya later added her own Rubbermaid container.
The design is the same as on my website, using conduit for the frame, a Chariot hitch, and 16" wheels. Tanya later added her own Rubbermaid container.
Monday, January 26, 2009
More fan mail
I recently received another email from someone who had built a trailer from the plans at my site.
He did up a web page with full details. Thanks Eugene!
He did up a web page with full details. Thanks Eugene!
Saturday, January 03, 2009
walkin' the drums
Back in mid-December I had a gig near City Hall, about ten or so blocks from my place. Normally I'd just hitch the big trailer to the winter bike and off I'd go, but we were a few days into our transit strike and the traffic had been a bit nuts. With snowbanks at the roadside I could not easily slip past motor vehicles with the trailer, and I thought about walking it.
But the trailer has the standard flat hitch-arm to mount to a bike's left chainstay, so that's a bit awkward for tugging along behind. But in my basement I had the frame of an old Cannondale "Bugger" trailer (lovely name) that I'd been saving for a project. The plastic body was gone, as was the hitch clamp, but it did still have fabric stretched across the frame. The important part is that the hitch-arm is the old design that attached to the seatpost, which makes towing by hand doable.
The main thing was would my small jazz drumkit fit? As luck would have it, the largest drum case JUST fit in between those rails (which were gently bent up to keep the drums out of the wheels).
It all fit, so off we go! Of course as often happens during winter here in Ottawa the roads were in better shape than the sidewalks. It was a bit more of a slog than I would've liked, but I got to the gig just fine, and was rewarded with a stunning view of the moonrise over Lisgar Street, as this one was apparently the best one of the year (people were out with cameras on tripods).
The ironic thing was that for some reason traffic was no worse than usual (perhaps being a Friday night many left work early to avoid rush hour) and I could've biked / trailered without a problem!
Here's the quartet for the gig, with Kenny posing as Serious Bassist by using the bow:
And outside, ready to head home:
And yes, that's my suit bag on top. When moving drums by human power it can get a bit sweaty, and showing up in a rumpled suit tends to not impress the clients. No matter how much they are impressed / bemused / bewildered that the drummer arrived under his own power. ;)
But the trailer has the standard flat hitch-arm to mount to a bike's left chainstay, so that's a bit awkward for tugging along behind. But in my basement I had the frame of an old Cannondale "Bugger" trailer (lovely name) that I'd been saving for a project. The plastic body was gone, as was the hitch clamp, but it did still have fabric stretched across the frame. The important part is that the hitch-arm is the old design that attached to the seatpost, which makes towing by hand doable.
The main thing was would my small jazz drumkit fit? As luck would have it, the largest drum case JUST fit in between those rails (which were gently bent up to keep the drums out of the wheels).
It all fit, so off we go! Of course as often happens during winter here in Ottawa the roads were in better shape than the sidewalks. It was a bit more of a slog than I would've liked, but I got to the gig just fine, and was rewarded with a stunning view of the moonrise over Lisgar Street, as this one was apparently the best one of the year (people were out with cameras on tripods).
The ironic thing was that for some reason traffic was no worse than usual (perhaps being a Friday night many left work early to avoid rush hour) and I could've biked / trailered without a problem!
Here's the quartet for the gig, with Kenny posing as Serious Bassist by using the bow:
And outside, ready to head home:
And yes, that's my suit bag on top. When moving drums by human power it can get a bit sweaty, and showing up in a rumpled suit tends to not impress the clients. No matter how much they are impressed / bemused / bewildered that the drummer arrived under his own power. ;)
Sunday, December 28, 2008
More trailer adventures
I had to build a new cargo box for the small trailer. This, by the way, is a modified Chariot kids trailer, which replaced my dead homebuilt one. It was donated to re-Cycles with the fabric in bad shape - stained and ripped. I did not need the support arms that went overhead to provide a canopy, so they were bent down and other mods done. The box I'd installed was a Rubbermaid container, previously scavenged from a ravine, and it was literally cracking from the workload of the previous winter. The box could also not hold my synth keyboard (the one used for the Propeller Dance classes) properly.
I wanted the new box to be long enough for the snyth, and strong enough to hold the amplifier, which is a fair bit heavier that the one I used last year. So I used plywood for the bottom, but good old coroplast for the sides and top. The pieces were "sewn" together with zipties, a technique I also used on the tailbox for my old recumbent bike.
Here's the trailer, with box removed (in foreground) and plywood bottom in for test-fitting.
And duct tape to cover and strengthen the joints. Instead of heating and bending the 'plast as I did with the tailbox I simply slit it halfway through and then folded it. Still plenty strong.
The front frame tube drops, and the plywood was perhaps not going to hold all the weight at the front without bending and cracking, so a support was needed.
Since the wheel axle support bolts poke up through the frame rails I leveled things off a bit with some blue foam.
Loaded for the winter Community Day gig for the dance class. I added some of the same yellow reflecto stuff I used on the sides of the trike's cargo box.
The box works well, and it's nice to finally have a proper cover instead of always using a tarp. The only drawback to using coroplast for the box is that it won't take a lot of abuse in terms of having awkward / ill-fitting items stuffed inside, but of course doing that sort of thing (like transporting the ski-bike) is what cracked the Rubbermaid bin...
The single-sided wheel mounting makes for easy tube and tire change (a plus in the winter), and a few days later I swapped out the crappy no-name tires for a pair of Schwalbe Big Apples that had done five years duty on the cargo trike (now a little too worn for that heavy use, but still perfectly good for a trailer). The great thing about these tires is that you can run them at low psi (for passive suspension) but the sidewalls do not deform and they still roll well.
2009 update: a winter of towing the heavier amplifier has made me realize that it's just a bit too much for some of the hills I have to climb for the dance group gig. So I went back to the lighter, lesser-powered amp and it's fine. Since it's also smaller this allowed me to lop off about four inches of height from the box, which has the added benefit of making it much easier to get the trailer through my basement door. Yay for various small victories...
I wanted the new box to be long enough for the snyth, and strong enough to hold the amplifier, which is a fair bit heavier that the one I used last year. So I used plywood for the bottom, but good old coroplast for the sides and top. The pieces were "sewn" together with zipties, a technique I also used on the tailbox for my old recumbent bike.
Here's the trailer, with box removed (in foreground) and plywood bottom in for test-fitting.
Note that I had to notch the wood to fit the two vertical posts.
Test-fitting of the snyth:
Nice red coroplast pieces (again from a scavenging job)...
...stitched together.
And bolted to plywood floor.
And duct tape to cover and strengthen the joints. Instead of heating and bending the 'plast as I did with the tailbox I simply slit it halfway through and then folded it. Still plenty strong.
The inner upright posts are anchored to the outer horizontal ones through the 'plast.
The front frame tube drops, and the plywood was perhaps not going to hold all the weight at the front without bending and cracking, so a support was needed.
Since the wheel axle support bolts poke up through the frame rails I leveled things off a bit with some blue foam.
Loaded for the winter Community Day gig for the dance class. I added some of the same yellow reflecto stuff I used on the sides of the trike's cargo box.
The box works well, and it's nice to finally have a proper cover instead of always using a tarp. The only drawback to using coroplast for the box is that it won't take a lot of abuse in terms of having awkward / ill-fitting items stuffed inside, but of course doing that sort of thing (like transporting the ski-bike) is what cracked the Rubbermaid bin...
The single-sided wheel mounting makes for easy tube and tire change (a plus in the winter), and a few days later I swapped out the crappy no-name tires for a pair of Schwalbe Big Apples that had done five years duty on the cargo trike (now a little too worn for that heavy use, but still perfectly good for a trailer). The great thing about these tires is that you can run them at low psi (for passive suspension) but the sidewalls do not deform and they still roll well.
2009 update: a winter of towing the heavier amplifier has made me realize that it's just a bit too much for some of the hills I have to climb for the dance group gig. So I went back to the lighter, lesser-powered amp and it's fine. Since it's also smaller this allowed me to lop off about four inches of height from the box, which has the added benefit of making it much easier to get the trailer through my basement door. Yay for various small victories...
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
In the news
For the past while I've been musing about quitting the music business, at least in terms of music being my primary source of income. And by December I'd made up my mind, as the Xmas gigs just did not come through for me this year, and have been dwindling steadily over the past decade. And not getting a New Year's Eve. gig for the third year in a row cinched it. (More on all of this at a later date.)
On Wed. the 17th I had a noon-hour gig at the Clarica Centre downtown, and I was looking at it as my last pro gig. And on the morning of I got a phone call from Kate Porter, the Arts reporter with the CBC. She had been referred to me by another CBC employee, Emily Chung, who I know from the HPVOoO cycling gang. Kate was conveniently doing a story on how Xmas gigs for local musicans have been dropping off, and we arranged for her to interview me after the gig. Emily also showed up, and took a photo of me playing in Tom's trio, and that ended up on the CBC website with the story.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/12/17/ot-081117-xmas-party-music.html
Kate also called over a cameraman (the CBC building is across the street from the Clarica Centre) as she wanted to get a video of me loading my drums onto my trailer and cycling off. The guy hustled over and seemed a bit unimpressed that this was "news", but the footage ended up on the TV news that night, though I did not see it. Kate's story ran on the "All in a Day" radio show, though it was only 2 minutes long (I need to learn to talk in soundbites - the poor woman probably spent far too long trying to find a snippet out of our rambling 20-minute chat).
The highlight for me was just after the story, as News Producer Laurence Wall (whom I'd met earlier in the year when he was MC for an IJO performance) chatted with host Adrian Harewood, and described my bike and trailer and how dedicated I was. :) Thanks Laurence!
And Emily just informed me that a photo Kate took of me using Emily's camera ended up in a CBC photo gallery:
http://www.cbc.ca/photogallery/canada/1858/ (photo #23)
On Wed. the 17th I had a noon-hour gig at the Clarica Centre downtown, and I was looking at it as my last pro gig. And on the morning of I got a phone call from Kate Porter, the Arts reporter with the CBC. She had been referred to me by another CBC employee, Emily Chung, who I know from the HPVOoO cycling gang. Kate was conveniently doing a story on how Xmas gigs for local musicans have been dropping off, and we arranged for her to interview me after the gig. Emily also showed up, and took a photo of me playing in Tom's trio, and that ended up on the CBC website with the story.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/12/17/ot-081117-xmas-party-music.html
Kate also called over a cameraman (the CBC building is across the street from the Clarica Centre) as she wanted to get a video of me loading my drums onto my trailer and cycling off. The guy hustled over and seemed a bit unimpressed that this was "news", but the footage ended up on the TV news that night, though I did not see it. Kate's story ran on the "All in a Day" radio show, though it was only 2 minutes long (I need to learn to talk in soundbites - the poor woman probably spent far too long trying to find a snippet out of our rambling 20-minute chat).
The highlight for me was just after the story, as News Producer Laurence Wall (whom I'd met earlier in the year when he was MC for an IJO performance) chatted with host Adrian Harewood, and described my bike and trailer and how dedicated I was. :) Thanks Laurence!
And Emily just informed me that a photo Kate took of me using Emily's camera ended up in a CBC photo gallery:
http://www.cbc.ca/photogallery/canada/1858/ (photo #23)
Sunday, October 07, 2007
another trailer!
Yet more mail on a trailer built using my website info. And this one made it to Burning Man!
Mark-
Here is a shot of the completed cart on the playa at Burning Man this year. The sculpture behind me was called "Crude Awakening" and the figures all worshipped a 90' tall oil derrick that went up in flames on Saturday night. We gave away a lot of noodles this year here at Crude Awakening and at the temple, both just after sunrise, to a lot of hungry folks. My girlfriend made the stock for the soup and I did most of the hardware. We had a propane tank in the cart along with our cooler and dishes and the 2-burner stove sat on top of the cart. We detached the bike during serving and blocked the corners of the cart for a stable serving/cooking platform. It all went really well and we'll probably do it again next year! Thanks again for the blueprints- they worked out great!
-Jon
Mark-
Here is a shot of the completed cart on the playa at Burning Man this year. The sculpture behind me was called "Crude Awakening" and the figures all worshipped a 90' tall oil derrick that went up in flames on Saturday night. We gave away a lot of noodles this year here at Crude Awakening and at the temple, both just after sunrise, to a lot of hungry folks. My girlfriend made the stock for the soup and I did most of the hardware. We had a propane tank in the cart along with our cooler and dishes and the 2-burner stove sat on top of the cart. We detached the bike during serving and blocked the corners of the cart for a stable serving/cooking platform. It all went really well and we'll probably do it again next year! Thanks again for the blueprints- they worked out great!
-Jon
Sunday, September 16, 2007
More trailers! (aka fan mail)
I've received another email from someone that built a trailer based on mine. Here's his email:
"hi there,
I came across your website when I was looking for trailer plans, and I found your instructions helpful for creating the trailer i just completed. I wanted to email you a picture of my trailer (it is made specifically to carry a small boat that I just built.)
also, someone gave me a burley trailer hitch, but it seems ridiculously easy to rip off the design (just a piece of 1 inch angle iron and 1 1/2 inch angle iron welded together). I am going to try using this setup with the rubber hose as the flexible member, but if that doesn't work, burley sells a replacement rigid rubber piece that fits perfectly (for $5).
thanks again for the plans,
v"
He also included a link to his boat page, and photos were attached:
"hi there,
I came across your website when I was looking for trailer plans, and I found your instructions helpful for creating the trailer i just completed. I wanted to email you a picture of my trailer (it is made specifically to carry a small boat that I just built.)
also, someone gave me a burley trailer hitch, but it seems ridiculously easy to rip off the design (just a piece of 1 inch angle iron and 1 1/2 inch angle iron welded together). I am going to try using this setup with the rubber hose as the flexible member, but if that doesn't work, burley sells a replacement rigid rubber piece that fits perfectly (for $5).
thanks again for the plans,
v"
He also included a link to his boat page, and photos were attached:
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Fan Mail #2
I got another email about a DIY trailer built using the plans at my site. This one is from Jeff in Elmira, Ontario (just north of Kitchener/Waterloo). He wrote (in part):
"I was looking around and found your bike trailer on the web. It inspired me to build one... It's based on your first trailer...the one with the big blue plastic storage box. As I drive a car to get to work, my wife does not have a license/car, and this trailer allows her to head to the grocery store on the bike and bring back a bunch of groceries. I've thought of adding some covers to the spokes/wheels so that a small child could sit in the bin, and not get their fingers in the
spokes. Thanks again for the inspiration."
Thanks Jeff!
"I was looking around and found your bike trailer on the web. It inspired me to build one... It's based on your first trailer...the one with the big blue plastic storage box. As I drive a car to get to work, my wife does not have a license/car, and this trailer allows her to head to the grocery store on the bike and bring back a bunch of groceries. I've thought of adding some covers to the spokes/wheels so that a small child could sit in the bin, and not get their fingers in the
spokes. Thanks again for the inspiration."
Thanks Jeff!
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Fan mail!
I got a very nice email from a woman on the West Coast named Sasha. She found my website a while back and the trailer pages got her inspired to build her own. She gave me permission to quote it a bit and post a photo:
Hi Mark,
Great website! So much interesting stuff to see. I wanted to email you to let you know that discovering your site last Spring inspired me tremendously and set me on the road to building myself a bike utility trailer! I'd wanted to buy one but discovered that they are very expensive and somewhat hard to find. So I decided to find out if I could build one, did some web searching for ideas and came upon your site and plans.
The excitement! I was instantly bent on making one, and set about following the instructions you'd laid out. At this point I would like to say thank you very much for the details, the photos, everything you provided to make your plans so user friendly. I bookmarked the page with the plans for the bigger bike trailer, and referenced it, as well as those for the cargo trailer, (and oohed and aahed with my boyfriend at the cargo trike) many, many times.
She then talked about building the trailer, and how she'll eventually build a box instead of just the flatbed, finishing with:
To cap off my letter, another thank you for the ideas and inspiration! I'm
super excited to use my new hauler and happy to remain car-free :)
Well, you're very welcome Sasha! I've had many inquiries about the trailer over the years, which led me to add more construction details to its page. And then when I built the big trailer I was able to do the photo documentation, which helps a lot. But this is the first instance of someone actually completing one and sending me photos, so thanks for that.
(My old roommate Rob recently built one, which I've seen but not yet taken photos of. He borrowed my bender for it, and got it on the road a month or so ago.)
Hi Mark,
Great website! So much interesting stuff to see. I wanted to email you to let you know that discovering your site last Spring inspired me tremendously and set me on the road to building myself a bike utility trailer! I'd wanted to buy one but discovered that they are very expensive and somewhat hard to find. So I decided to find out if I could build one, did some web searching for ideas and came upon your site and plans.
The excitement! I was instantly bent on making one, and set about following the instructions you'd laid out. At this point I would like to say thank you very much for the details, the photos, everything you provided to make your plans so user friendly. I bookmarked the page with the plans for the bigger bike trailer, and referenced it, as well as those for the cargo trailer, (and oohed and aahed with my boyfriend at the cargo trike) many, many times.
She then talked about building the trailer, and how she'll eventually build a box instead of just the flatbed, finishing with:
To cap off my letter, another thank you for the ideas and inspiration! I'm
super excited to use my new hauler and happy to remain car-free :)
Well, you're very welcome Sasha! I've had many inquiries about the trailer over the years, which led me to add more construction details to its page. And then when I built the big trailer I was able to do the photo documentation, which helps a lot. But this is the first instance of someone actually completing one and sending me photos, so thanks for that.
(My old roommate Rob recently built one, which I've seen but not yet taken photos of. He borrowed my bender for it, and got it on the road a month or so ago.)
Sunday, January 21, 2007
winter biking - moving stuff
Last week we got a dump of snow that finally looks like it's going to stay. So winter arrives in mid-January...
And so Kyoto is finally put into hibernation, and I still have to get my drums to gigs. When the weather is unpleasant, or I've got just too far to go (or too much stuff to bring) I have to rely on others with motor vehicles. But for those times when I can do it by bike I use a trailer, which my jazz kit just fits into. This trailer was built by me for my friend Bridget, and since she doesn't use it in winter she has kindy loaned it back to me (in the Spring I'll give the wheels a bearing overhaul as thanks).
Towing a load like this is why I run a 7-speed internal hub on my winter bike, and not a single! And while I can get up to a quick speed on flat terrain, the load is heavy enough that emergency braking gets challenging, and who needs that kind of fun on winter roads? So steady as she goes and I get there eventually...
Like I said, the kit just fits in the box.
And so Kyoto is finally put into hibernation, and I still have to get my drums to gigs. When the weather is unpleasant, or I've got just too far to go (or too much stuff to bring) I have to rely on others with motor vehicles. But for those times when I can do it by bike I use a trailer, which my jazz kit just fits into. This trailer was built by me for my friend Bridget, and since she doesn't use it in winter she has kindy loaned it back to me (in the Spring I'll give the wheels a bearing overhaul as thanks).
Towing a load like this is why I run a 7-speed internal hub on my winter bike, and not a single! And while I can get up to a quick speed on flat terrain, the load is heavy enough that emergency braking gets challenging, and who needs that kind of fun on winter roads? So steady as she goes and I get there eventually...
Like I said, the kit just fits in the box.
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