Trailers for bikes

[Feelin Hornady]

Hey I'm new to this site and was wondering if anybody has any experience w/ trailers behind mt bikes when going in behind closed gates. Do they work? How have you rigged em up? Make them yourself? How the hell do you stop (my brakes cause me to skid on gravel goin downhill w/ weight)? Sorry if i missed another post about this topic somewhere else im not very good at using these forums. Thanks.

[MikeC]

I've never done this but am very intrigued. I saw a company at the Puyallup sportsmans show that made a nice looking heavy duty trailer but remembering it was pricy. I'll have to dig out my goody bag to find their business info... Following

[tbotts]

Some friends and I have used a kids trailer to pack our camping gear behind gates on mtn bikes.  Tents, food, clothing etc.  You can find them at walmart, target, etc.  Put a piece of plywood in it for a solid bottom.  It worked pretty well.
 

[TheHunt]

Search this site you will see lots of comments. 

The main item to consider is how much weight it can handle and if you need brakes on the trailer. 

[RAZORBILL]

I haven't used a trailer but I do use my bike.  If you don't already get a bike with disc brakes, makes it much easier to control the braking.  Sometimes downhills are just too steep not to skid.  I just get off and walk if it gets stupid and I'm making too much noise. 

Honestly, more often than not I just leave the bike in the truck and make the 3-4 mile hike in.  The first mile to my area is straight up and I have to push the bike for that so in the end it doesn't save me a whole lot of time.  I did pick up a beat up beach cruiser that I just left at the top of the hill that I used to cover the 1.5 miles of flat ground.  I shot a deer 4 miles from the gate this past season and I just strap the deer to the bike and walk it out.  I've thought about a trailer but in the end, for me, I think it would all be more work rigging it up getting it up the hill everyday etc.  Now if you are going 10+ miles in I could see the advantage.  Even then, I think I would hide the trailer up there somewhere centrally located so I wasn't dragging unnecessary weight around.

So much for typing and not really answering your question!  Sorry...

[troyspinetar]

I used our old kid trailer last fall and hauled out a nice black bear. The bear was around 175-200lbs guessing. The tires were a tad squishy. The trip was all up hill going in, so that wasn't fun. However, coming down with the bear was nice. It definitely pushed me like crazy, a couple times I had both front and back brakes on with my feet dragging to slow down...cheeks were clenched for sure! 
All in all, I will definitely keep on using the trailer. The only issue I ran into was coming across the gates. Most of the gates only allowed access wide enough for a guy to walk through, so I had to disconnect the trailer and lift the bike and trailer over/under the gate before continuing on.
This year I may try to modify mine to lighten it up a bit.
Good Luck!

[Bullkllr]

With current timber company plans going into action, biking in may be a thing of the past in many areas.

[t6]

I built my own using wheels from an old 10 speed bike a guy was throwing away.  The frame is a simple but light weight tubing and I put a piece of aluminum on the bottom.  The hitch is a heim joint that attaches to the bike by a clamp that I welded a bolt to. 

It tows great and can haul 200 plus pounds with no problem.  My mtn bike is very inadequate though.  I need something that is larger and has disk breaks to get it to stop even when wet. 

Tip - Lots of rivets or glue to keep the aluminum from rattling when going down a gravel rd. 

[Feelin Hornady]

Thanks for the replies guys. Good info. I'm hijacking my own post, but I actually used to work for WY at their corporate office in Federal Way and I'm pissed about all these changes to access. Basically sold us out to big mutual fund shareholders. Still should be plenty of timberland to bike into though. I even heard a rumor that they are planning on moving the company headquarters up to downtown Seattle. What happened was they brought in one of there VP's from the south (Arkansas I think) to run all the timberlands up here as well. Down there it was a pay to play thing so she brought that idea up here to the Western timberlands. The whole company has changed and is run by people that have never even set foot in the woods around here. I got the hell out of there. If people want to voice concern, buy a few shares in the company and show up at the annual shareholders meetings and tell them how you feel. I think it's coming up this time of year and they usually open the floor up to questions....

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Howdy Hornady, welcome to the site! I'm glad you hi jacked your thread with that info. If you would start a new thread about it that would be great to get that kind of info out to the rest of HUNT WA family. Sounds like you have some good in site which would be good to hear.

[Bullkllr]

Thanks for the replies guys. Good info. I'm hijacking my own post, but I actually used to work for WY at their corporate office in Federal Way and I'm pissed about all these changes to access. Basically sold us out to big mutual fund shareholders. Still should be plenty of timberland to bike into though. I even heard a rumor that they are planning on moving the company headquarters up to downtown Seattle. What happened was they brought in one of there VP's from the south (Arkansas I think) to run all the timberlands up here as well. Down there it was a pay to play thing so she brought that idea up here to the Western timberlands. The whole company has changed and is run by people that have never even set foot in the woods around here. I got the hell out of there. If people want to voice concern, buy a few shares in the company and show up at the annual shareholders meetings and tell them how you feel. I think it's coming up this time of year and they usually open the floor up to questions....

Sorry to continue the highjack... but it is topical...

That is very interesting info. Thanks for sharing that. I may soon be a Weyco stockholder.

Problem I have (love hunting gated areas) is that when they let vehicles in (either permit or not) usually the whole tree farm is vehicle-accessible. That has been SOP on St. Helens especially. All open roads with 15,000 permits... Where is a guy going to use a bike? Vail has 1 relatively small gated area. Heard Pe Ell was similar. Some of the other companies still have gated areas (without permit access), but that's where everyone who does not spring for the Weyco permits will be. My 

[Feelin Hornady]

Yeah it will be interesting to see how the permits will affect the distribution of hunters and where the masses end up.

[Feelin Hornady]

Oh and I called one of my buddies that still works at WY and he said the shareholders meeting was last week so we just missed it. I think the timing of their announcement is very interesting. But at any rate they are in April every year. When I worked there the tree huggers would come and raise hell about logging on Vancouver island. Last several years it was quiet.

[MikeC]

Heres a link to a company I saw at the Puyallup sportsmans show. Quality looks great but pricey.
http://longrangegrs.com/bike-trailer/
Burley also makes some heavier duty utility trailers although they probably aren't as heavy duty as the above mentioned ones.
http://www.burley.com/page_453_119/flatbedsuptmsup

[kentrek]

MikeC

Both those look like great options but they look like they would perform an awful lot like a stripped down kid cart that costs a fraction of the price