C-Forum

Anyone have any good ideas for either constructing, or buying a readymade canoe bike trailer? Would like to have one for some short trips around town.

i use a 3 wheel baby stroller for that. remove all that is baby and the front wheel. i have a few of these hidden along river that i need to portage nasty gorges.

Similarly - look for the baby bike trailers - you can probably get one cheap off of Craigslist. You'll get the hardware to connect to the bike and the axle end, you'll just need to engineer an extension.

I broke down and picked up a cart for when we're camping with the whole family and doing multiple portages (kids are of the age to be carried rather than carry gear!)

I've had good luck with this folding one, though I prefer to use cam buckles (NRS straps) that I like to have with me anyway vs. the ones provided. I've done some pretty rough terrain with it so far and it has held up fine.

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/68566?fe ... noe%20cart" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hazard, your cart has gears? Just how fast do you portage?

I have been playing around with this idea for some time. While I have several ideas for home-brewed trailers, unless I had access to a lot of scrap metal and old bicycle parts for free, it would be hard to beat the Seattle Sports Paddleboy Go! Cart on cost or performance.

I wish I had gotten this project off the ground earlier. I have time on my hands due to the gov't shutdown, and vehicular access to the Potomac is cut off. The bike trailer would have been perfect.

thats not me but a club memeber that rides back to his car after the paddle. peasants are the way to go!

Thanks for the suggestions! @Walsh: Care to elaborate on your experience with the paddleboy cart? I see that it says it tops out at 75 pounds. I was hoping to carry my tandem canoe, which weighs 60 pounds plus some gear. Have you carried as much? My tandem is approximately 16 feet long. Will it handle the length? Would be nice to be able to try it out in person, but I have my doubts that anyone is carrying this in store around here.

just be careful vthat cart as do most has a high center of gravity. go slow in turns or she will flip.

I looked at the paddle boy, looked well built and it had good reviews... except ground clearance.

I don't have any firsthand experience with the Paddleboy trailer, but I have spent enough time around bike trailers to think that it's a pretty good compromise.

The key component in determining a trailer's maximum weight capacity is the hitch assembly. The Paddleboy, like all trailers in its price range, attaches to only one side of the bicycle's rear triangle. This is a great deal simpler to engineer, but increases the chances of jack-knifing the trailer with increasing speed and load. Trailers rated for higher weight capacity and off-road use, like the Surly cargo trailers and B.O.B. system, have more involved hitches that attach to both sides of the rear axle.

My educated guess is that you would be fine exceeding the Paddleboy's weight limit, as long as you were careful while cornering and descending hills.

http://www.instructables.com/

Quite a few DIY bike trailers here, some more hack than others.

old time maine style trolley.