Rebirth of a trailer
I've been pulling my kids around in an off-brand child trailer for years. I bought it before my daughter turned one in anticipation of that first ride. I used it regularly to take her to day care, the park, or just for a ride around the block. When my son was old enough, I would put them both in it and drag them around wherever I could go. I even used it for cargo duty to haul my clean clothes to work once a week (yes, this is the same one that got loose on my way home one day - I repaired the towing arm with some screws and part of a handlebar). The kids finally outgrew the trailer and we moved to a new place where commuting by bicycle just wasn't possible. The trailer was parked in the corner of the garage.
But I had a dream. What if I could convert it for full-time cargo duty? A nice flat bed would be great for strapping down bulky items. Perhaps a couple of tubs would work well for camping! Alas, these were but dreams.
Hurricane Gustav prompted me to finally do something with the trailer. In the aftermath, I needed something to move our newly-acquired generator from the garage to the back yard. I pulled out the trailer and tossed the generator inside. Alright, so I heaved and groaned and grunted and finally coerced the generator into the balky trailer. Clearly this was not the ideal setup! But the gears of invention finally received enough grease to break free from the rust.
The first step of the conversion was to remove all of the extraneous parts. The entire fabric shell was the first to go. It was well-worn from the years of abuse. The next to be removed was the metal frame which formed the upper frame of the passenger compartment. A few minutes with the socket wrench and I was left with a perimeter frame with wheels, a towing arm, and a bar which crossed below the perimeter frame which was used as a footrest. I thought this would be better positioned in the center of the frame between the wheels as close to the axle line as possible.
After I had the frame sorted out, I found a handy piece of OSB (oriented strand board) which was left over from boarding up the windows on the house. It was very close to the perfect size and only needed two additional cuts - semi-circular cutouts for access to the axle quick-release clips. I drilled six holes for securing the board to the frame. Two were for bolts which were fed through pre-existing holes in the frame behind the axles. I wasn't interested in making more holes in the frame, so the remaining four holes were drilled on either side of the frame rail at the front. I used large zip-ties fed through the holes and around the frame to hold down the wood.
Now that the trailer has a flat bed, moving the generator is much easier. Loads can be held down with rope, bungies or loading straps, but I need to modify the deck to allow for better access to the frame for tying down loads. I also need to water-proof the wood and perhaps rig up some fenders to keep the water from spraying all over the cargo. I'll post some pictures when I get it all done.
-Buck
But I had a dream. What if I could convert it for full-time cargo duty? A nice flat bed would be great for strapping down bulky items. Perhaps a couple of tubs would work well for camping! Alas, these were but dreams.
Hurricane Gustav prompted me to finally do something with the trailer. In the aftermath, I needed something to move our newly-acquired generator from the garage to the back yard. I pulled out the trailer and tossed the generator inside. Alright, so I heaved and groaned and grunted and finally coerced the generator into the balky trailer. Clearly this was not the ideal setup! But the gears of invention finally received enough grease to break free from the rust.
The first step of the conversion was to remove all of the extraneous parts. The entire fabric shell was the first to go. It was well-worn from the years of abuse. The next to be removed was the metal frame which formed the upper frame of the passenger compartment. A few minutes with the socket wrench and I was left with a perimeter frame with wheels, a towing arm, and a bar which crossed below the perimeter frame which was used as a footrest. I thought this would be better positioned in the center of the frame between the wheels as close to the axle line as possible.
After I had the frame sorted out, I found a handy piece of OSB (oriented strand board) which was left over from boarding up the windows on the house. It was very close to the perfect size and only needed two additional cuts - semi-circular cutouts for access to the axle quick-release clips. I drilled six holes for securing the board to the frame. Two were for bolts which were fed through pre-existing holes in the frame behind the axles. I wasn't interested in making more holes in the frame, so the remaining four holes were drilled on either side of the frame rail at the front. I used large zip-ties fed through the holes and around the frame to hold down the wood.
Now that the trailer has a flat bed, moving the generator is much easier. Loads can be held down with rope, bungies or loading straps, but I need to modify the deck to allow for better access to the frame for tying down loads. I also need to water-proof the wood and perhaps rig up some fenders to keep the water from spraying all over the cargo. I'll post some pictures when I get it all done.
-Buck
posted by Buck at 2:39 PM
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