hipergp said:
Amberwolf, i really like you're dog trailer setup.
Thanks!
i don't have a recumbent, 2 mtn bikes and a mtn bike type hybrid, one of which or a new one will be electrified soon. With a conventional bike, do you feel the rear axle or seatpost or seatpost/SS/top tube junction is best for a trailer, and how did you balance yours, knowing that the load(a BIG dog) can move inside, and does that create any handling problems?
First thing is to be sure the wheels are in the right place on the trailer, so that the load stays between them and the hitch tongue, otherwise you end up with it pulling up on the back of yoru bike and hten pushing down, etc., as the dog moves around.
Second is to be sure you use the smallest wheels you can get away with, to keep the load low, and the widest track you can get so there's less likelihood of tipping in turns especially iwth the dog to one side of the trailer. If possible keep the dog-occupied area much narrower than the space between the wheels. Look at old war chariots for examples, like the Egyptian ones on the NOVA episode about that.
So...given those things, the next is to pick hitch point. As low as you can possibly get it, as close to the rear axle as you can do it. There are LOTS of DIY hitch designs, some here on ES, some on Instructables, and LOTS of them on regualar bike forums (like bikeforums.net). There's also various commercial designs.
I built my original kennel trailer hitch based on my original cargo trailer hitch, and it's too high up--but I did it that way cuz of the bike I had then, and some misconceptions about things, and even with it's flaws it did work so I kept using it as it was, partly because it was very strong (I pulled at least several hundred pounds of dog food with it, sometimes, on the original "chariot" trailer you can see pics of in the first pages of my DayGlo Avenger bike thread).
The hitch on my present trailer is just the spring/polymer pivot and chainstay clamp that came on the Bell kid's trailer it began life as. Only difference is that because of the weight damaging the spring/polymer pivot, I wrapped the steel dog tieout cable around that area. The tieout is really there just to keep the trailer on the bike in case the hitch breaks, cuz I have had both previous trailers come off the bike--once with a load of just junk in it, on the old chariot trailer, and once with Hachi in it, on the first kennel trailer. NEVER again will I let that happen!
Oh, there's one othe rdifference--the clamp hitch clamps onto a handlebar bolted to the bakc of the bike, rather than a chainstay, cuz there's no access to the chainstays on CB2. I also have a retaining pin that goes trhu a hole drilled into both clamp and bar tube, since with heavy laods it can slide back along the tube and would evnetually come off. Can't do that now.
After I'm back at my house, once it's fixed from the fire, I will be buildng a hitch yoke for each of my bikes and trailers that uses a regular ball and tongue from a car/truck hitch system--these things work great and are desgined specifically for the purpose, and when used right don't come off.
And can also handle loads way above what I will probably ever haul evne with my crazy bikes.
I have an 80-85lb dog that i can't bike "with" be pulls me comfortably too fast and out of control, and i've considered kid trailers for him, so i can take him farther than we can walk. I don't own a car, just a 250cc motorcycle and the 3 bikes.
As a kid, my dad helped someone make a trailer for a 24" bicycle that attached to the seatpost, that we used to collect cans at the local stadium from tailgators, but that didn't seem to be a great design, and it seems that most kids trailers attach to the axle.
I don't like the seatpost clamp trailers, cuz any sideways push on the trailer will push the bike sideways at the top and cuause tilting you may not be able to easily control. My trailer hitch design had that flaw, too.
The lower the hithc point, the more control you have over it.
The farther back the hitch point, behind the axle, the worse the problem is of "rearing horse"--the bike gets pushed down behind the axle, causing the front to lift, so you lose traction on front tire for turning. That's another flaw with my hitch design.
On my very long CrazyBike2 it doesn't create a problem, cuz it's too long and heavy in teh front to be significantly affected by it, but every other bike I have does have that problem, even my Delta Tripper trike to some extent. (not as much cuz I'm almost sitting over the front wheel on that).
For a regular bike, as close as you can get to the axle, the better.
