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Beer Hauling Trailer Ver. 3.0

Mate, all of this is excellent!

Really appreciate you posting all of this for us to see.

Where abouts in Tokyo are you, and would I be able to drop by your store for a look at the bike / a cheeky brew whilst riding?

Don't stop posting this stuff. It is great!
 
Mate, all of this is excellent!

Really appreciate you posting all of this for us to see.

Where abouts in Tokyo are you, and would I be able to drop by your store for a look at the bike / a cheeky brew whilst riding?

Don't stop posting this stuff. It is great!

Glad you are enjoying it!

I'm in Shinjuku, near Akebonobashi station, or Wakamatsu-Kawada station on the Ooedo line, not that you would be taking the train, but they are good landmarks.:D
 
Gotta admit I'm with FE on this. Bamboo trussed carbon fiber. For wheels - 88mm full carbon with Chub Hubs and disc brakes. 250kg on standard bike wheels , though, WOW! Even surpasses K-Car Tare. I think you're getting into tapered bearing territory there...
 
this thing is redic. have you ever thought of an alumi version? cut the weight in ahlf and still be strong?
 
this thing is redic. have you ever thought of an alumi version? cut the weight in ahlf and still be strong?
Thanks!

I'd love to make one from alumi, I used to weld aluminum for a living, but I don't have the tools, specifically I'd need a spool gun for my MIG welder.........

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With the control box it would cost about $600, out of the question right now, but down the road, who knows :rolleyes: :D
 
what about the aluminum brazing rods?
alumaloy or whatever it is? i used it wayyyyy back int he day with great results for repairing stuff. You COULD even bolt it all together with 90* and L and T brackets? even with the added weight it may help out?
Shit, id even come give you a hand! I cant imagine the weight of just that trailer alone let alone loaded down! you are a man amond men my friend!

but really, have you thought of marketing trailers in japan? like seriously? there are so many huge uses for htem around here.
 
what about the aluminum brazing rods?
alumaloy or whatever it is? i used it wayyyyy back int he day with great results for repairing stuff. You COULD even bolt it all together with 90* and L and T brackets? even with the added weight it may help out?
Shit, id even come give you a hand! I cant imagine the weight of just that trailer alone let alone loaded down! you are a man amond men my friend!

but really, have you thought of marketing trailers in japan? like seriously? there are so many huge uses for htem around here.

I really like your enthusiasm :D

What I have right now works, I've got a lot on my plate, like most of us, so I'll use what I have, it does work fine, and it gives me some great workouts, my legs are getting stronger and stronger all the time...... they HAVE TOO :rolleyes:

Aluminum MIG welding is not easy, but it is a cake walk compared to aluminum gas welding, no thanks, I know it can be done, but holy cow, that takes skill and hours of practice!
If I keep doing this delivery stuff via bicycle, then down the road the existing trailer will wear out, everything does. By that time I'll be able to justify the spool gun and then I'll make a trailer out of aluminum, with disc brakes too!

I don't have enough time to think about selling trailers, maybe it could be done, but not by me, right now.

Cheers!
 
ill trust ya since you have WAYYYY more experience in it than i do! The stuff you have done with this trailer is amazing lol.
 
I was thinking, is it worth adding a light to the left side of the trailer (above the wheel would be good if possible) as whilst you have the visibility from the back covered, maybe some driver joining the traffic from the side would see you, but not consciously register how long the trailer was and pull out into the trailer. A side light would help remind them of your presence and make you even more obvious.
 
Ver 3.1

I was thinking, is it worth adding a light to the left side of the trailer (above the wheel would be good if possible) as whilst you have the visibility from the back covered, maybe some driver joining the traffic from the side would see you, but not consciously register how long the trailer was and pull out into the trailer. A side light would help remind them of your presence and make you even more obvious.

While that might be true, a side light above the wheel would make it more visible, I think I can go totally overboard, I don't want it turning into more of a clown car than it already is :eek: Many people see the trailer, especially at dusk, when I first turn on the lights, and they smile, I think/hope they are not laughing at me, but just enjoying the sight of the trailer..... OK, maybe they ARE laughing at me :D That's OK too, because at the end of the day, if you can make them laugh...... well, I'll take that.

Version 3.1

I added some hooks for the straps that will go side to side, and I moved the lights into the trailer's frame, they used to hang off the back, I put my "Share the Road" sign back on, and I added a safety flag....... yeah, I know..... clown car..... :rolleyes::bike:

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I added four hook points to each side, so I can now easily use two straps from side to side, as well as one strap front to back, depending on what I'm hauling. You can also see my safety flag, so I hope I don't get rearended by a cage.

The flag is meant to hang on a rope at a construction site, it says "注意" Chuui which means "Caution, Attention" kind of thing.

So I'm out doing deliveries today, not much, maybe about 8Km worth, no heavy loads either, my legs were a big sluggish at the start, but I felt fine the rest of the day. As I was coming back from my last delivery, it was just getting dark, so I had the flashing lights on the trailer. I was stopped waiting for the cross walk light to change so I could go, a lady with a Mama chari, one kid on it and bags of shopping, as well as her two older kids on their own bikes were approaching me from the right side, not fast, as they too were going to cross the street. The one kid remarks to his mom that the flashing lights are neat, the mother replies that they are, then she runs right into the side of my trailer, almost knocking me over, and moving the trailer sideways about 10 cm..... WTF :eek: She did not fall over, but said "Sorry" and then started to ride again, her two older boys were laughing so hard I thought they would fall off their bikes.

REALLY makes me wonder what I have to do to make people see this trailer, I guess there is nothing that can be done for stupid. :confused:

Cheers!
 
Stu - I have a Reindeer costume you could strap to the front bars. The stripes you have there have got it very Christmassy feeling! You sure you're not drinking all the Vodka you're delivering? I'd say next thing is a boombox that plays Leningrad Cowboys 'Kalinka' at 110db over and over. That will surely get people to notice you!
 
Stu - I have a Reindeer costume you could strap to the front bars. The stripes you have there have got it very Christmassy feeling! You sure you're not drinking all the Vodka you're delivering? I'd say next thing is a boombox that plays Leningrad Cowboys 'Kalinka' at 110db over and over. That will surely get people to notice you!

Now that certainly would get me noticed :D
 
That horn is nice Mike, but I have a VERY loud bell that works too.

I added a couple of fixtures to my set up......

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About once every two months I have to replace the 7Kg CO2 gas cylinder for the draught beer at a customers. This is the only customer that uses this large skinny tall 7kg size, most use the short fat 5kg size.
That gas cylinder is heavy, even empty it is heavy!

I wanted a safe secure way to attach it to my trailer, so I came up with these fixtures that fit on to the top of a beer case and the top of a beer keg.

Work fine in testing!

Cheers!
 
Nitro to get up the hills!
 
Ver 3.1

On a cycling forum, a member posted this info when I rebuilt the tongue of the trailer, as it turns out he knew what he was talking about.....

bme107 said:
In addition to the reinforcing you have I think I would have added some plate horizontally at the neck where it crosses the top and bottom rail of the basket. Reinforce the neck from any twisting forces at this joint and spread the load out more across the admittedly smaller basket rails.

Your gussets in the neck probably will be plenty for this use but a note for future projects: Two smaller side gussets are better than one large center-line gusset when working with thin wall tubing. This is accepted good practice in bike frames as well as race car tubular chassis. Testing has shown that when the joint is bent the single plate gusset pierces the thin wall like a can opener and fails the joint. The side plates allow for more weldable area and the spreading of the force over a larger area.

He was right on the money with this info, as it was always in the back of my mind, and I checked fairly often for signs of cracks. The other day I found some cracks, which would have led to a catastrophic failure.

ver_3_1_crack.jpg

You can see the crack, it extends almost all the way around the tube, and started from the center gusset, yes it acted like a can opener.

I have now taken his suggestion to heart and have fixed the problem, quite possible it is overkill, but I need the trailer to be reliable and stop breaking!

When in doubt as Larry says....

ver_3_1_welded.jpg

First I welded the crack up, I bent it open a bit and filed it down so I could get it to close all the way, as it was a bit stretched, then I cut out some super mondo gussets, that will cover the whole deal, both sides, from the strong back at the basket of the trailer right up to the parking brake at the hitch.

ver_3_1_full_gusset.jpg

I welded it all along the top edge and I drilled some holes so I could button hole weld along the bottom edge of the tube. I think this will be rather strong.

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Both sides done with some paint on it.

The finished trailer, Version 3.1
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This added right around 2Kg to the trailer, bringing it right to 33Kg, but the new weight is on the tongue of the trailer making it feel somewhat heavy, but not a big deal. The first thing I noticed is that the trailer now feeds all the bumps and wiggles back to the bike, I guess the new gusseted tongue is much more rigid than the old one. I now know that the old one flexed a lot, which is what led to it's failure.

With all that I've learned from this trailer, I'd love to build an all new trailer, but that is not in the works for some time to come, maybe next spring, if I can swing it. For sure the next trailer will be built from bicycle CrMo tubing, and I'll get a pipe bending machine to eliminate more welded joints.

Cheers!
 
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