Wike DIY Woody Trailer

roughrider

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Nov 30, 2012
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Fresno, CA
Just finished my new trailer. Rather than steel or aluminum, I chose to laminate Douglas fir for the 1" square struts. This trailer is quite strong and very, very light.

wike-diy-woody-sm.jpg

I used a rather long tongue so I can haul 6-8' boards and not have them stick out the back too far and thus give a negative tongue weight. You can't see it in the picture, but there is a 1" angle aluminum reinforcing piece that goes all the way back to the wheel mount. I know I can jump up and down on the rails without them breaking, and I can stand in the bed.

Here is the link to this trailer on Wike's website.
 
wow look great, I like the tire far better the one they show on there site.

how does it ride

Thanks Sam. Some of the photos they have are old. They no longer ship those plastic spoke wheels. They are all steel now, with quality sealed bearings and good tires.

As far as the ride? Well, I loaded it up with a 10 gal ice chest full of water, about 80 pounds, and three tool boxes full of tools, putting the weight at at least 150 pounds. It handled just fine. (My bike is geared for pulling a trailer.) The long tongue has a tiny bit of spring to it. I think that helps. However, due to my big tire, my rear axle sits a touch high, so the trailer does not ride perfectly flat.

Empty, it's so light it bounces around, and the 1/8" plywood acts like a sounding board. Today, I was considering adding another layer of ply on the inside with some hidden ribs, making the bottom a sort of wide, flat box beam. It would be insanely strong then, and still very light.
 
now make 10 more of them and connect it all together to beat my record of towing 10 trailers, all hitched together.

There must be someone out there willing to go the whole dozen and make the trailer train a full 100 feet long, instead of my paltry 85 feet :devilish:
 
How much did it end up costing you ?
I thank it looks so good you could build and sell them.

Yours custom made Bike trailer is far better then either one of these and there $700-$800.00 + shipping

$700.00

700.jpg

$800.00

700.jpg
 
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now make 10 more of them and connect it all together to beat my record of towing 10 trailers, all hitched together.

I have a ways to go. I only have three trailers yet. I think your record will be safe for a while.

How much did it end up costing you ?
I thank it looks so good you could build and sell them.

Yours custom made Bike trailer is far better then either one of these and there $700-$800.00 + shipping

The kit was $129.00 + shipping. The wood was about $12.00. I bought a few extras like tubes, liners, and bearings… Another $20.00. I already had stain, varnish, and various glues, but let's say $5.00. So about $165-70.

Those Hurly's are nice though. They have much better wheels, more like high end mountain bikes, and that hitch is unbeatable. But thanks!

And Richard H? The pedal folks here don't have a contract, but they do a lot of digging in the trash. Hard way to make a living, they tell me.

Last, I added some redwood ribs to the bed for more rigidity and painted the bottom like a Jackson Pollock abstract. Figured out how to strengthen the tongue even more and drop the front end the inch it needs. More pictures to come!
 
Version 2

Made a few design improvements: 1, shortened and strengthened the tongue; 2, added some ribs to the bed to stiffen and quiet it; 3, painted the bottom ala Jackson Pollock abstract expressionism.

View from starboard...

wike-diy-woody-v2.jpg

Detail of tongue, bolted and epoxied together. This mod also drops the front end of the trailer an inch. Epoxy is a weird adhesive. You cannot use tight clamping, so I gouged out voids in the adjoining faces and bolted it tight...

wike-diy-woody-tongue-v2.jpg

What the road sees...

wike-diy-bottom.jpg

The epoxy is still curing, so cannot stress test the trailer yet.
 
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