Bicycle Trailer

Inexpensive bicycle trailer.

Golf caddy, metal square grate (found mine at a thrift store), radiator hose clamps, metal straps, milk crate, nuts and bolts. Hand tools ( a reciprocating saw is nice). The metal straps can be purchased at Menards, Blaines Farm and Fleet or similar store. Both are aluminum. The size an thickness can be seen in the up close photos.

Remove all the golf stuff off the caddy. All you need is the frame and wheels. Attach the metal grate to the frame with the hose clamps. The grate is from a dorm storage unit I got from a thrift store,

Cut the strap with holes into 3 twelve inch pieces. Bend as shown in the photos. The straps go under the grates. The bottom of the straps attach to the frame on the leg support bolt.

Center the milk crate on top of the grate. Cut the remaining 12 inch strap in half and put it inside the milk crate . Bolt the straps together and use Lock Tite on them.

Now lower the plastic collar to secure both sections of the handle. Drill a hole through it and the handle. Run a bolt through it an tighten it with a washer and nut. Cut it the rest of the handle off about 8 inches above that. Drill a hole through the end of the handle to attach part of the hitch.

The hitch attachment is a piece of metal (I used a corner bracket hammered flat. It is pretty heavy duty. It slides into the end of the trailer tongue and is bolted in. There is some play in it and that’s needed for turning. The connector is quick connect so you can connect and disconnect it from your bike.

The hitch attachment bolts to your bicycle using the holes in the frame used to attach rear racks. Mark the aluminum solid strap at 18 inches- the halfway point. At each end, use a metal punch to mark the drill holes, not sure what size bit I used; don’t make them too big. At the center mark; gently bend the strap into an almost U shape (see photos)
Now, use the attachment bolts ( got them at my local bike shop) and using Lock Tite, attach the strap using the top holes. Take several small washers and place on the bottom bolts so it’s about the same thickness as the strap, use Lock Tite also ) to keep the hitch from pivoting down. You may need to use shorter bolts on the right side so it won’t interfere with your gear set. Now you can drill the larger hole for the quick connect; should be near the halfway mark. The hitch stays attached to your frame. You still have room to take the rear tire off and doesn’t interfere with daily riding.

This is how the trailer attaches to the bike. There is movement on all 3 axis to allow smooth turning.

Finishing touches: I cut a piece of an old foam pad and attached it to the inside with zip ties to cushion whatever you carry and cover the attachment bolts. I attached a reflector to the back of the frame. An old license plate zip tied to the crate finishes it( also hides the milk company’s name in case someone wants to complain. This milk crate came from a farm sale many years ago).

I decided to modify the hitch after a comment from jbarchuk regarding an issue I overlooked, I used an eyebolt instead of the connecting link for connecting the trailer. Now there is only 1 moving connection instead of 3, and still allows left to right motion for turning and enough vertical motion to remain stable. The photos show the eyebolt attachment.
I narrowed the eyebolt to cut down the side to side motion. I used a piece of an old inner tube wrapped around the bolt the height of the eyebolt to take up most of the front to back motion. You can’t see it in the photos however.
It’s a more secure set up, but it takes longer to set up. Most of that is getting the inner tube wrapped around the hitch bolt. Under the trailer tongue, I used a flat washer followed by a lock washer then a nut. You want it just tight enough to hold securely but not too loose either. Then take the 2nd nut and snug it up against the 1st one. You’ll need to hold the first nut secure while you tighten the second one. I hope the photos help.
Thanks again for looking!

Again; I made another hitch and believe this is more secure than the others. The first one has way too much slack in it; so you can disregard steps 6 and 8.
I used a 4 inch corner bracket bolted to the hitch attached to the bike frame. I used thread locker to keep it from turning.

Place a 4 inch straight bracket close to the handle lock secured in step 6. Mark and drill holes through the metal tubing.

Cut the tube between the 3rd and 4th hole( or cut it flush with the 4th hole). As long as the frame doesn’t go under the bike frame hitch, you should be okay.
Attach the bracket to the frame with 2 bolts, use thread locker on them and tighten them up.

Final step; attach the trailer to the bike. The bracket attached to the bike frame goes on top of the trailer frame which can pivot. You will have to tighten the hitch bolt enough to secure it, but leaving enough play to allow it to turn. A little bit of experimentation and you can figure it out.
The hitch bolt has 2 nuts that are locked into each other. A flat washer and a lock washer go on first. They can be tightened and removed with a couple of wrenches . This takes longer to set up, but is much more secure than my first one.
Disclaimer: This was made for my personal use and I’m not responsible if something goes wrong( isn’t it sad we have to say that these days?)
Thanks again for looking. I promise my next “-Ible” won’t be so lengthy.