Versatile cargo Trailer

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SwissGuy

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With the car in the workshop and using it a lot lately and also making it into an asset for my protest rides and therefor making more and more appearances here, I thought my little cargo trailer needed a thread of it's own.

This trailer started the life in my hands as a beat up kiddies trailer. It looked about like this one here (not my picture):
1726501442236.jpeg


First order of business was: get rid of all the unneeded stuff, so I stripped it to the bare frame. It had then a first incarnation as a trailer that could be used to transport Euroboxes and then be transformed into a table to sell stuff on a fleamarket. I couldn't find any pictures of the full setup, but this is how it looked last:
IMG_20200703_122045122.jpg


This setup was way to heavy so I came up with another idea and this is where we start. So first back to the bare frame:
IMG_20200703_121703327.jpg

The goal was to put on two Euroboxes (60x40 cm). As extra material I got a few holey profiles, meant for shelving supports.
IMG_20200703_121644474.jpg


I configured the profiles so that the two boxes fit in.
IMG_20200703_121838035.jpg


Two put the rails onto the trailer I had to get rid of the parts that held the roof supports upright
IMG_20200703_121711664.jpg

IMG_20200703_123522084.jpg

Then I could place the railing onto the chassis:
IMG_20200703_123650976.jpg

looks good, so time to fix it together with some self drilling screws:
IMG_20200703_123737531.jpg
IMG_20200703_124713010.jpg

To tie down the boxes I attached some shackles at all corners
IMG_20200703_125757653.jpg

IMG_20200703_130007530.jpg


Like this you could store the trailer folded flat:
IMG_20200703_130121490.jpg


To get more transport options I also added a middle rail:
IMG_20200703_131410768.jpg

IMG_20200703_130926029.jpg


Like this I could also use my smaller boxes:
IMG_20200703_130823893.jpg
IMG_20200703_131237330.jpg

IMG_20200703_131325551.jpg

IMG_20200703_131453246.jpg


to fix the boxes onto the trailer I used a piece of metal and a few screws:
IMG_20210530_133212600_HDR.jpg


Like this I used the trailer for the last three years:
IMG_20200703_142537200_HDR.jpg

IMG_20220319_124659909_HDR.jpg

IMG_20240822_160115990_HDR.jpg



Last year I joined a bike activist group the RespectCyclists. This spring the idea rose up to create some sort of banner trailer for really large banners. We stuck our heads together and came up with some nerdy ideas and then somehow the idea got stuck in daily business. But two of us where still thinking along and came up with the idea to use a wardrobe, mount it on a trailer and fix the banner to it. And as one day a cheap (5 €) warderobe showed up in the local classifieds, I bought it. After coming back from my vacation in Florida I went at it, chopped and reconfigured the wardrobe and put it onto the trailer:
IMG_20240816_155741504.jpg

IMG_20240816_161829877.jpg

IMG_20240816_173932290_HDR.jpg


After the successful testride, I also produced a nice banner for it:
IMG_20240825_130146790_HDR.jpg


But as I needed to be able to transport my stuff during protest rides (also to put some weight into it to keep it stable on windy days). I first put in a very heavy wooden board to then put my folding box on top of it underneath the banner. This setup was way to heavy, so I reconfigured again...
IMG_20240915_125614942_HDR.jpg


This works now for almost all uses I have for this trailer.
Protest rides with banner and flag:
IMG_20240828_183725321_HDR.jpg

IMG_20240908_154143269_1.jpg


Empty boxes / storing the trailer:
IMG_20240915_152041950.jpg


One full box:
IMG_20240915_134827628.jpg


Two full boxes:
IMG_20240915_141115219_HDR.jpg


Hauling another bike:
IMG_20240915_155142441.jpg

(could probably also haul two bikes)
IMG_20240915_162807164.jpg

(The last seven pictures have been taken all on the same day)

And as I now have equipped all my bikes with fitting couplings, this trailer will see a lot of use in the next time....
IMG_20240908_125938997.jpg
 
With the car in the workshop and using it a lot lately and also making it into an asset for my protest rides and therefor making more and more appearances here, I thought my little cargo trailer needed a thread of it's own.

This trailer started the life in my hands as a beat up kiddies trailer. It looked about like this one here (not my picture):
View attachment 279744

First order of business was: get rid of all the unneeded stuff, so I stripped it to the bare frame. It had then a first incarnation as a trailer that could be used to transport Euroboxes and then be transformed into a table to sell stuff on a fleamarket. I couldn't find any pictures of the full setup, but this is how it looked last:
View attachment 279747

This setup was way to heavy so I came up with another idea and this is where we start. So first back to the bare frame:
View attachment 279745
The goal was to put on two Euroboxes (60x40 cm). As extra material I got a few holey profiles, meant for shelving supports.
View attachment 279746

I configured the profiles so that the two boxes fit in.
View attachment 279748

Two put the rails onto the trailer I had to get rid of the parts that held the roof supports upright
View attachment 279749
View attachment 279750
Then I could place the railing onto the chassis:
View attachment 279751
looks good, so time to fix it together with some self drilling screws:
View attachment 279752View attachment 279753
To tie down the boxes I attached some shackles at all corners
View attachment 279758
View attachment 279759

Like this you could store the trailer folded flat:
View attachment 279760

To get more transport options I also added a middle rail:
View attachment 279765
View attachment 279761

Like this I could also use my smaller boxes:
View attachment 279762View attachment 279763
View attachment 279764
View attachment 279766

to fix the boxes onto the trailer I used a piece of metal and a few screws:
View attachment 279767

Like this I used the trailer for the last three years:
View attachment 279768
View attachment 279769
View attachment 279773


Last year I joined a bike activist group the RespectCyclists. This spring the idea rose up to create some sort of banner trailer for really large banners. We stuck our heads together and came up with some nerdy ideas and then somehow the idea got stuck in daily business. But two of us where still thinking along and came up with the idea to use a wardrobe, mount it on a trailer and fix the banner to it. And as one day a cheap (5 €) warderobe showed up in the local classifieds, I bought it. After coming back from my vacation in Florida I went at it, chopped and reconfigured the wardrobe and put it onto the trailer:
View attachment 279770
View attachment 279771
View attachment 279772

After the successful testride, I also produced a nice banner for it:
View attachment 279774

But as I needed to be able to transport my stuff during protest rides (also to put some weight into it to keep it stable on windy days). I first put in a very heavy wooden board to then put my folding box on top of it underneath the banner. This setup was way to heavy, so I reconfigured again...
View attachment 279775

This works now for almost all uses I have for this trailer.
Protest rides with banner and flag:
View attachment 279776
View attachment 279777

Empty boxes / storing the trailer:
View attachment 279778

One full box:
View attachment 279779

Two full boxes:
View attachment 279780

Hauling another bike:
View attachment 279781
(could probably also haul two bikes)
View attachment 279782
(The last seven pictures have been taken all on the same day)

And as I now have equipped all my bikes with fitting couplings, this trailer will see a lot of use in the next time....
View attachment 279783
This is great!
 
As a lot of the Berlin car drivers are pretty reckless on one hand but always afraid of having their treasured car scratched on the other. So to keep them at a halfway safe distance, I attached one of those flexible kiddy flagpoles to the trailer...
IMG_20240917_081045550.jpg


And also today after work I approached maximum load (or at least I thought) but the trailer behaved perfectly!
IMG_20240917_164543062.jpg
 
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Nice repurpose! I have one of these and have it set up for hauling two removable 100 litre bins. We also hauled some bikes.

I had a narrow plastic bin set up as a waterproof footwell, to stop my kids getting soaked from wheel spray. It could probably take batteries and electronics for lighting or a display, without compromising the load bed.
 
Nice repurpose! I have one of these and have it set up for hauling two removable 100 litre bins. We also hauled some bikes.

I had a narrow plastic bin set up as a waterproof footwell, to stop my kids getting soaked from wheel spray. It could probably take batteries and electronics for lighting or a display, without compromising the load bed.
This gives me some ideas...
...as I will use it as protests banner carrier also in winter and obviously bad weather I need some sort of fenders over the wheels and in mid-front to avoid the white banner becoming too muddy...🤔
 
The wardrobe idea turned out great!

Here we would call that a rack. A towel rack or drying rack. Something for drying wet cloth.

Here, a wardrobe is a big cabinet, to hold all your big clothes, which is not part of the house. If it’s actually like a tiny room of the house, it is a clothes closet, linen closet for bedding, or just a closet.

(Of course in the UK you find a closet contains the toilet.)

I have a walk-in clothes closet and a wardrobe. This is often called the armory or armoire, but I don’t keep my weapons there. Shirts, ties, light jackets and pajamas.

My fake English gentlemen’s style wardrobe, made in China, circa 2000.
474D8AC7-1AC8-4375-B727-409BA4951B74.jpeg

(Terrible flash photo, taken at night while my wife was sleeping.)
 
This is a trailer I built for my wife, right before she quit riding. I used wheels from a chinese welding cart with big bearing hubs and 25mm tube axle.
5001C789-5246-4298-BA10-6BC469FAA5A3.jpeg

It will hold the weight of 2 medium welding gas bottles easily. But I made this to tow from the fender hole below the seat.

Have you tried that? And how do you feel about that versus towing from the axle? I’ve never tried that, but it would have a shorter tongue.
 
This is a trailer I built for my wife, right before she quit riding. I used wheels from a chinese welding cart with big bearing hubs and 25mm tube axle.
View attachment 279952
It will hold the weight of 2 medium welding gas bottles easily. But I made this to tow from the fender hole below the seat.

Have you tried that? And how do you feel about that versus towing from the axle? I’ve never tried that, but it would have a shorter tongue.
Interesting hitch concept! 🤔
And obviously a very sturdy trailer! 😎

I like it down at the axle. I keeps the trailer pretty stable and reduces the risk of tipping it. But I must say with heavy load you can sometimes feel the whole bike frame moving/flexing sideways while pedaling.
To be honest, I never tried to hitch hit up behind the seat stay, so I can't really compare...🤷
 
The wardrobe idea turned out great!

Here we would call that a rack. A towel rack or drying rack. Something for drying wet cloth.

Here, a wardrobe is a big cabinet, to hold all your big clothes, which is not part of the house. If it’s actually like a tiny room of the house, it is a clothes closet, linen closet for bedding, or just a closet.

(Of course in the UK you find a closet contains the toilet.)

I have a walk-in clothes closet and a wardrobe. This is often called the armory or armoire, but I don’t keep my weapons there. Shirts, ties, light jackets and pajamas.

My fake English gentlemen’s style wardrobe, made in China, circa 2000.
View attachment 279951
(Terrible flash photo, taken at night while my wife was sleeping.)
So it looks like the term "wardrobe" like I used it, is a "false friend" as the English teachers at my school would call it. 🧐 Thanks for the insight! I'll use the term rack for it from now on (I'll probably write an instructable about the trailer in the not so distant future). 👍
 
Just came back from a two hour round trip to pick up a frame for the STBO...
This is how I went out:
IMG_20240920_173900965.jpg

When I was back it was dark already...
IMG_20240920_203603625.jpg

Using the flash doesn't help..
IMG_20240920_203614033.jpg

This was the loot (seller pic):
Screenshot_20240920-211242.png
 
As we're getting more rainy days now and I do not want to mess up my protest banner too much with street dirt, I upgraded the trailer with some homemade fenders.
To get it done I bought this large (90 liters) bucket. In the DIY shop I picked up a 20" tire from the shelf and took it to the section where these buckets are. This one was the only size, where the tire the fell all the way down to the bottom... :wink1:
IMG_20240924_155625211.jpg

I measured the approximate width I needed, marked the cut line and went at it with my utility knife. After the round cut I made another one straight through the middle, to get me some nice halfs...
IMG_20240924_155804150.jpg

IMG_20240924_161505333.jpg


Some more measuring and cutting (the tape is for marking the cut lines)...
IMG_20240930_184707226.jpg

IMG_20240930_191003417.jpg

IMG_20240930_191010712.jpg


Done! For the moment the fenders are mounted to the railing with only one screw. Later on I intend to make them clip on and easily removable...
IMG_20240930_194241733.jpg

IMG_20240930_194251120.jpg


As an additional safety feature I applied some of the black reflective tape I used for the IronPig onto the fenders...
Without flash:
IMG_20241001_190642201.jpg

With flash:
IMG_20241001_190648647.jpg

IMG_20241001_190717830.jpg
 
Last edited:

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