Custom Bike Cart - Elk Hauling Machine

[JPhelps]

PrimeTime and I have been working on these carts for the past month or so (made three).  They should be heavy load hauling machines.  The frame is designed to haul way more weight than the bike will be able to handle/stop.  They weigh in right at 20 lbs and pull awesome.  The last thing I need to do is add some "slime" tubes to the cart to make sure I don't get a flat.

Can't wait to try these things out with a bull this year.  We have been testing them with 100 lb loads of dog food and they have performed flawlessly.  We will be cranking the weight up to 200 lbs in the next week and see how they hold up.  The way Tyson's cart hooks up is a one off design that may be the best idea for a cart hookup to a bike that I have seen.  We are going to test it out this year and report back.  Mine just connects to the seat post.

[hunterofelk]

Going up hill is going to be tough.

[Special T]

I notice your bike has disk breaks... that  is good.. I would also guess disk brakes for the trailer but that's just me..

[bucklucky]

I want one !! Very cool!!

[JPhelps]

Yeah, I really wanted to add disc brakes to the trailer but It starts to become expensive.  The brake lines, hubs and everything else associated with trailer brakes are expensive.

We have hauled out 10+ elk (whole elk with bone in quarters) on a lot heavier cart and we dont have problems going down most hills with the disk brakes.  There are a few hills where I will just get off and walk down though.  Nice thing about the trailer is it helps hold you up (like training wheels) and you can go up hills slower than you normally could.

[TheHunt]

Your design is very simular to the cart that is sold by Kent Hawkins. 

http://www.hawkeyebilt.com/carts.html

[JPhelps]

Well, when it came to the design of the cart there are some things that just have to be the way they are.  In order to use old bike wheels the dual beam sysem is required.

We opted for the rectangular aluminum section rather than square.  The same weight but 3 times stronger in bending and 2 times stronger in shear.  We also added gussets to strengthen the connections and add some redundancy. 

Never really looked at the Hawkeye built carts to closely, but they do look well built.

[Kain]

Man that looks great.  I have been kicking around the idea of building one but just have not committed to a design yet.   BTW just looking at that seat hurts my a$$.   

[fair-chase]

JPhelps, why not just run solid tube tires so you don't have to worry about flats? Is the ride that much worse or is it just availability and pricing?

[pope]

20 lbs? I think you did well. Smart use of gussets, especially just behind the top beam. How much $ in materials (excluding wheels)? What dimension rectangular aluminum? What material is used for the "netting"?

[724wd]

only thing i see is the open tire tops.  a shifting quarter could rub/jam a wheel. 

[Kola16]

  I will mow your lawn for a year

[JPhelps]

We have solid tube tires on the other cart we have been using for years and I don't care that much for them.  They always have a "flat" feel to them.  I think they are 25 psi equivalent.  Maybe they make a harder solid tube?

Materials:
$50 in aluminum (1.5" x .75" tubing 1/8" wall)
$80 in aluminum welding
$15 studded spherical ball end
$10 in 2" polypro strapping (www.strapworks.com)

We cut all the pieces, chamfered all the edges, fit everything up, etc...  We just had to have someone weld it.

As far as the open tires, we looked into welding cages around them but we wanted to keep the weight down and elected to try and use strapping to secure the load from shifting (We will see how that works).

[ELKBURGER]

sounds like you have some orders coming in. Looks great!

[brianmtsinc]

Jphelps,
Are you selling these?  If so, I might have two orders for you