I thought I needed the car to pull a boat...

[MetroMPG]

3 summers ago I made a DIY bicycle trailer out of electrical conduit and a couple of small bike wheels. I've used it many times to move big and/or heavy things around by pedal power that I would have otherwise driven in a car:



(130+ lbs: 2 Geo Metro/Firefly transmissions and other parts)

Bigger things like kayaks, however, still involved the car:



(2 kayaks on the electric car)

No longer!





The hitch isn't particularly elegant, but it worked fine for the couple of kilometers I needed to go:




Ultimately what I'd like to do is make a removable tongue extension that I can hook up to the tailer whenever I want to carry long loads. Ultimately it would handle better and could potentially carry bigger loads than this single kayak test setup.

Something like this:



There are all kinds of pictures of small boats being pulled behind bikes out there:

[jamesqf]

In Ontario I can see it. Around here, where I'd have to pedal most of a day to get to some of the places I'd want to paddle (or sail)? But it would be nice to have a lightweight kayak/sailboard trailer to pull behind a small car...

[Daox]

Very nice. I bet you got some funny looks riding around with that though.

[MetroMPG]

True, James. I'm not far from water around here. Mighty St Lawrence! PS. there are really lightweight low capacity car trailers available.

Tim: I didn't really notice anyone ogling the kayak/trailer while I was riding, but I wasn't really watching for it. Buy you know what? I wouldn't be the first person around here doing this. I've seen a someone from the local paddling club pulling her kayak on a dolly behind her bike.

[Cd]

You know you are an Ecomodder if you add a boat-tail to your bicycle.

( Seriously, how hard is it to turn corners ? )

[MetroMPG]

Not hard. Just have to remember the trailer tracking inside on tight turns. I rode the inside wheel up a curb on one.

The neatest thing was doing a very tight u-turn from a stop. I essentially jack-knifed the kayak, and it stopped and started reversing away from the bike as I rode past it, then it stopped again and started going forward behind the bike once I'd gone past the 90 degree point. Bad description - you'd have to see it.

PS - boat tail on a bike - funny

[Christ]

RE: Jackknifing the boat "tailer"...

I understand exactly what you're talking about there. I visualized it perfectly, because I've done it with trucks quite a few times.

However, in a truck, the reverse duration is slightly less than it would be on the bike.

[vtec-e]

I'd say that rope chafed a bit!!

ollie

[Christ]

That bike trailer still amuses me. It's hard to believe how simple something can be, and still be functional.

I almost feel like I want to make a tube hitch for my motorcycle, and build a small trailer similar to this one for it.

[Piwoslaw]

This morning I saw this:

and I thought: "Is that Darin, by any chance? Has he expanded his boat hauling business?"

I went through some links and found this site about bike trailers:
Bikes At Work
The site is very much in the spirit of this thread: using your bike to haul cargo which would normally go in a car.