A trailer for ebike or non ebike towing.

guerney · Oct 9, 2022

Nealh said:
The brazing is quite easy, one uses the heated ali temperature to molten the ali braze rod and not heat direct via the torch. One heats the ali box to temp and when hot enough 330c or 430c ( depending on if one is using 300 or 400c melt point ali rods) one simply runs the ali rod along the hot joint to form a fluid brazed joint.

I had no idea such low melting point welding rods existed for that sort of job, which for me opens up a lot of ill advised home projects, such as constructing a battery box using smaller box section (or quite awful art) for which I was considering using a lot of nuts and bolts - welds would overall be lighter and long term stiffer. I wonder what the alloy the rods are made from, because the melting point of pure aluminium is 660.3C.

Nealh said:
for more strength rigidity of the joints I also brazed some small ali angle fillets to the internal right angle joints of the sub chassis.

This is deffo a good idea IMHO. I'd be interested in seeing some pics, especially of the strengthened welds of the internal right angled joints.

guerney · Oct 10, 2022

Nealh said:
Underside of trailer, awaiting some penny washers to arrive to spread the nut force across the sections.
As the trailer is for a mundane job of towing and is simply a tool for the job, I didn't do anything special in cleaning up the over weld on the joints. On the top & bot faces I simply put a burr removal end in my dremel tool and then a wrie brush attachment in my cordless drill to smooth off the joints.

Two of the simple ali angle gussets on the internal corner joint. I didn't fettle any of the gusset brazes and just left them as they are.
A better job would be TIG welding but that is costly and for diy use the brazing is an adequate solution.
A decent mapp gas torch head is < £30 and one can get cans of mapp gas for <£10, the Yellow mapp gas is a propane mix and burns a lot hotter then butane so heats up the metal faster. Durafix is a 400c melt point ali braze rod to buy (approx. £2.50 per rod) and a very good rod to use, one can also buy (approx. £1.30 per rod) a 300c melt point one ebay as well.
Use a small brass or steel wire brush to prep the surfaces to be mated, this removes surface tarnishing.

I didn't use a small g gramp to hold the angle gusset in place, hence they aren't very straight. One has to keep the butt joint of the frame under tension as any heat liquifies the joint. I tinned the back of the angle with the ali rod and also tinned the internal corner of the frame, waving the mapp torch over the area and using a pair of pliers to press the gusset in place once the tinned ali has melted to push it firmly in place and to ooze out excess molten braze material. Then whilst the metal is hot run the ali rod along the edges /seems as well.

You've extended the towing arm too! That sub-frame should deffo prevent the platform sagging. I hope you don't mind the following food for thought - if you're hauling very heavy weights, I have concerns about the strength of the aluminium box section at points 1 and 2 in this image, where it might bend or fail, because compared to the CF's alloy, that aluminium box section is not going to be to be as strong (unless it's sufficiently thicker walled). Also, I think there's a risk of turning force being applied at point 3, which you can avoid by bolting through both the box section (plus another bit of supporting box section underneath) and the platform at point 2. A twisted CF Y arm would be an awful result, and the Y frames are expensive to replace, especially given CF's bonkers delivery prices from Germany. Welding L plates at all four corners could be a going bit overboard. On the other hand, my concerns may be completely unfounded, and it will perform as expected.

guerney · Oct 10, 2022

Nealh said:
Flat plates brazed on the surface likely not much use, there is a brazed angle gusset on the inside of each corner. The aange bracket will have more strutural strength depth wise as it is rather then sitting on the surface.

Sags in use would easily be noticed; indicate broken welds, in which case you can always weld more on in various places - such as box section or flat bars over the rear corners?

guerney · Oct 11, 2022

The great thing about aluminium is that it's so easy to work, therefore if the L plate welds failed, you could easily beat with a hammer, wider and longer L plates from 5mm thick ali in a strong vice, to weld to both inside and outside the right angles of the sub frame. Another possibility is drilling small holes through the L plates after welding to the corners, strengthening with pop rivets - a small hole first through the two box section walls and L plate, then a larger hole to get the popping part of of the rivet through the first side wall of the box section, then pop rivet the L plate and opposite side wall together. I was thinking of pop riveting a battery box frame together like that, but might use your ultra low temp welding rods instead, or as well as. But ultimately, adding more weight to the rear rack of my bike, is a bad idea.

guerney · Oct 11, 2022

Nealh said:
I ended up with excess weld rods as the sellers dispatch dept messed my order up.
I orderd 5 braze rods so I could practice with the first one, however they didn't read my order correctly and sent out just one rod and a wire brush.
I jumped straight on the ebay message centre and had a grizzle to which the seller apologised and would pop the missing 4 rods in the post, in the end the package arrived with an apology and 8 rods.

Ebay sellers are quite rightly terrified of this sort of thing, and are fools to make such daft errors... I bet he's done it before and unnecessarily reduced his rating, as well as reduce his slim profit margin. You'll never catch me selling on ebay - too many buyers wanting to actually receive what they've ordered, with the certaintly of an ebay refund if they don't, or when they do and they don't like it, or simply want free stuff or partial refunds. It's seller beware on ebay...

guerney · Nov 11, 2022

When I eventually run down my doomsday prep stock of beans, I intend to use my Homcom for click-and-collect shopping runs. It would be better for this purpose, if it had rigid side panels. However, aided by it's side struts, a big white rubble sack tied at the top and then tied down, seems to do a decent job of keeping loose cargo together...

... so I might not enact my plan to add <1mm aluminium sheet to the sides. Will it pass the egg test? I might just buy more doomsday prep beans, or use the small Y Carry Freedom with a large 50litre multi-pocketed wheeled luggage bag with handle, tied down on the platform. The CF isn't ideal for shopping without a very sturdy large box firmly held down, and it has no suspension - no struts or side panels on the CF either, which makes it useless for large volume carriage of heavy roundish garden veg.

Nealh said:
A superb looking trailer sold to day on fleabay for £321 sadly it was collection only as the seller wouldn't post

Will sellers never learn? Increasing the sales footprint could significantly increase the eventual selling price of some in demand products. Always gutting when another ebayer snatches something you want away. The Burley looks a very good quality item. The effective volume (34cm X 70cm X 24cm = 57.17litres, not including a bulge at the top, which could be another 20 litres or more) and weight capacity (officially 45kg [stated on manual] or 50kg [according to amazon listing] but capable of about 76kg - 90kg, in my experience) of the Homcom is larger, and although it doesn't have suspension for carriage of some very delicate shopping items, the wheel rims are very wide and would accommodate much wider tyres - I have 1.9" Scwalbe Blackjacks installed at the moment, which are a smoother carriage than it's original (and very low quality) 1.75" noname awfuls. 2.125" wide tyres for 16" wheels are available, but there may be wider, which I haven't yet found, or felt the need to search for.

For a cheap trailer, the Homcom is pretty epic. But you won't like the wheels @Nealh - noisy bearings, need truing (which I haven't done because it doesn't have brakes, so why bother? Besides, it's only ever going to be travelling 10mph or slower when fully laden), horrific quality tyres and inner tubes. The price has increased by a couple of tenners since last year:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HOMCOM-Folding-Trailer-Bicycle-Storage/dp/B078W39W37/

I would have bought this for shopping, but it doesn't have the other's side struts:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HOMCOM-Two-Wheel-Bicycle-Trailer-Removable/dp/B08HS73BMY/

I've just bought 6m of 25mm wide red and orange reflective tape for mine, ideally applied after it's painted fridge bright white Hammerite, and possibly a layer of this reflective laquer spray:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reflect-Light-reflective-lacquer-spray/dp/B000O5248M/

Nealh said:
burley fitted lights

I was thinking of soldering the two now unused 5W Junstars headlights (will be made red for use either side at back) plus side and front lights, from the ebike battery to the Homcom via a spare handlebar switch (it wasn't the switch I ordered, but better - the second switch is two-way three position, presumably for indicators; dual position on the switch #2 - flick left for bike rear red only, flick right for trailer lights plus bike rear red light, middle for off).

Trouble is, I'd need to find a suitable waterproof connector for when I'm not hauling - saw some waterproof Andersons which might fit the bill. A mod for next harvest, methinks - bought 10m (I'll probably never finish it, but it was a bargain) of self-amalgamating waterproof tape... and a ebay seller of self-adhesive marine heat shrink sent me 2m "Free", after originally palming me off/selling me short by 1m - I wont be buying from him again.

jimriley · Nov 11, 2022

There has been mention of fitting sides to the open frame trailers, ali sheet etc.
Another potential light weight material is corrugated plastic board, 2 or 3 mm thick. Estate agents signs are made from it, though I believe it is illegal to use those, they are the property of the sign company. It would be very norty to paint it so no one knew! I have some black recycled plastic corrugated sheet, it came from a building site, windblown to my garden! I haven't lined my trailer sides yet, awaiting a Round Tuit, maybe Santa will oblige.

guerney · Nov 11, 2022

jimriley said:
There has been mention of fitting sides to the open frame trailers, ali sheet etc.
Another potential light weight material is corrugated plastic board, 2 or 3 mm thick. Estate agents signs are made from it, though I believe it is illegal to use those, they are the property of the sign company. It would be very norty to paint it so no one knew! I have some black recycled plastic corrugated sheet, it came from a building site, windblown to my garden! I haven't lined my trailer sides yet, awaiting a Round Tuit, maybe Santa will oblige.

That's a good thought - I'll cycle around some run down areas in search of loose for sales signs lol. I may enquire at the printer's - estate agents might use one of the locals. Perhaps they'll sell me a big blank sheet? I know many have laser cutters, used on other signage.

Turns out this aluminium sheet is 0.5mm X 310mm X 615mm 170grams, at £5.40 per sheet, and I'd need several, but it's too soft... I imagine it'll pock and bend like crazy in use... although probably not enough to be totally useless as fold out and fold away sides (on ziptie hinges).

I'll root around my local building supplies stores in search of some light cheaper and stronger material, perhaps PVC corrugated panels used in conservatories? Might be too heavy. My local hardware store cuts 4mm to 20mm plywood to size, which is another candidate material... but that would have to be heavily weatherproofed.

I was also considering cutting sides from a suitably strong bamboo screen.; adding extra string to keep it held together - probably too heavy. It'd be a roll when not in use.

Chicken wire? Again probably too heavy, and a bit stabby to handle.

I may just stick with the big white rubble sack...

guerney · Nov 11, 2022

jimriley said:
There has been mention of fitting sides to the open frame trailers, ali sheet etc.
Another potential light weight material is corrugated plastic board, 2 or 3 mm thick. Estate agents signs are made from it, though I believe it is illegal to use those, they are the property of the sign company. It would be very norty to paint it so no one knew! I have some black recycled plastic corrugated sheet, it came from a building site, windblown to my garden! I haven't lined my trailer sides yet, awaiting a Round Tuit, maybe Santa will oblige.

This as sides? It'd be light.

Pardon our interruption...

matthewslack · Nov 11, 2022

Polycarbonate twinwall is what you need. Offcuts from a conservatory roof perhaps, but not hugely expensive new.

guerney · Nov 11, 2022

Nealh said:
The local tip is a good place for free stuff , I saw someone throw a few decent sheets of the thin 2/3mm correx out form I assume packaging.

I like free. Have you looked a Freecycle? It's mental. People would rather give it away, rather than book a tip visit, wait, pay a fee and pay for fuel and make time.

It amazes me what people simply throw away. My Dyson DC14 I found chucked in next door's skip, the only issue being a easily repaired damaged power chord - it's still providing sterling service dragging unbelievable quantities of dirt from apparently clean furnishings, 10 years later.

matthewslack said:
Polycarbonate twinwall is what you need. Offcuts from a conservatory roof perhaps, but not hugely expensive new.

That's a good idea, and one which I had considered some months ago - at the time it was too expensive on ebay and the problem of stuff falling out of the sides didn't materialise, so I forgot about it, because the big white rubble sack solved the issue of large round-ish garden veg rolling around (and it's hi-viz). But for shopping hauls, some side panels of some sort may well be wise to install. Could be too fancy for my local hardware shops to stock, but I'll look further afield if this issue bugs me enough.

Another light weight and very cheap possibility, is to line the insides of my large white rubble sack with Poundland self-adhesive vinyl floor tiles - just one horizontal row all the way around would stop shopping items from sticking out between the lower side struts. I could then glue those to another large white rubble sack inside the first, to those tiles. I could later add a second tier of vinyl tile lining, if I anticipate making larger shopping hauls. Might be too flexy, and a bit brittle (especially in the cold) - could break a bit with heavier shopping items, but bonded in between the sacks, things would remain inside the trailer.

I also could also bond a layer or two of the spare 6mm thick coin patterned rubber sheet I have stored in the loft, to the platform, adding a little shock absorption. But it's heavy stuff.

matthewslack · Nov 11, 2022

guerney said:
I like free. Have you looked a Freecycle? It's mental. People would rather give it away, rather than book a tip visit, wait, pay a fee and pay for fuel and make time.

It amazes me what people simply throw away. My Dyson DC14 I found chucked in next door's skip, the only issue being a easily repaired damaged power chord - it's still providing sterling service dragging unbelievable quantities of dirt from apparently clean furnishings, 10 years later.

That's a good idea, and one which I had considered some months ago - at the time it was too expensive on ebay and the problem of stuff falling out of the sides didn't materialise, so I forgot about it, because the big white rubble sack solved the issue of large round-ish garden veg rolling around (and it's hi-viz). But for shopping hauls, some side panels of some sort may well be wise to install. Could be too fancy for my local hardware shops to stock, but I'll look further afield if this issue bugs me enough.

Another light weight possibility, is to line the insides of my large white rubble sack with Poundland self-adhesive vinyl floor tiles - just one horizontal row all the way around would stop shopping items from sticking out between the lower side struts. I could then glue those to another large white rubble sack inside the first, to those tiles. I could later add a second tier of vinyl tile lining, if I anticipate making larger shopping hauls. Might be too flexy, and a bit brittle (especially in the cold) - could break a bit with heavier shopping items, but bonded in between the sacks, things would remain inside the trailer.

I also could also glue a layer or two of the spare 6mm thick coin patterned rubber sheet I have stored in the loft, to the platform, adding a little shock absorption. But it's heavy stuff.

Any large diy store will likely have the 10mm thickness, which gives good stiffness. Can be cut with a normal wood saw if too big to transport whole.

guerney · Nov 11, 2022

matthewslack said:
Any large diy store will likely have the 10mm thickness, which gives good stiffness. Can be cut with a normal wood saw if too big to transport whole.

It certainly looks strong and light enough. My hesitation with solid panelling of any sort is noise - the Homcom is already quite noisy. Also securing to the sides permanently is something I'd like to avoid, because it wouldn't always be necessary for all haul types. I'll try my white rubble sack and vinyl tile sandwich first: quiet, cheap, light, unassuming, and easy to remove quickly when needed... plus there's no need for a tarp, if it isn't raining.

matthewslack · Nov 11, 2022

guerney said:
It certainly looks strong and light enough. My hesitation with solid panelling of any sort is noise - the Homcom is already quite noisy. Also securing to the sides permanently is something I'd like to avoid, because it wouldn't always be necessary for all haul types. I'll try my white rubble sack and vinyl tile sandwich first: quiet, cheap, light, unassuming, and easy to remove quickly when needed... plus there's no need for a tarp, if it isn't raining.

If you're lucky, you'll find some sticking out of a skip and be able to experiment for free.

Cable ties for impermanent permanent fixings.

And add Screwfix to diy stores as sources, although to order usually rather than off the shelf.

A trailer for ebike or non ebike towing.

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