Boxes for large Y-Frame trailer? Combining gardening and cycling!

[Kim]

I've no idea, but once you're into the 50-quid-and-a-couple-of-hours-of-fettling range, I'd rather someone didn't see the box and think it might be useful...

[TimO]

I'm thinking of it in terms of doing some shopping, and leaving it in the case whilst going to another shop.  I wouldn't leave it unlocked any more than I'd leave a cars boot or doors unlocked.

A Peli 1660 case is also pretty damned expensive, but it's also heavy enough that you'd probably have to steal the whole shooting match to move it!  It's about 15kg.  That's one reason why I wouldn't want it permanently attached.  The other, is that some big flat things would be more suited to being used on the flatbed trailer, and not in a box.

On the plus side, since it would weigh so much, carrying two or three locks, including a New York D-Lock would make little difference!

[Kim]

I'm thinking of it in terms of doing some shopping, and leaving it in the case whilst going to another shoip.  I wouldn't leave it unlocked any more than I'd leave a cars boot or doors unlocked.

GPWM!  I hadn't thought of that.

[ed_o_brain]

Kim,

Is that the large Y-frame?
That box looks incredibly useful. I hope I still have the feet that came with mine.

The hitch on mine is the older style one and the only why i can unfasten it from the bike is by unfastening/refastening the quick release skewer. The lollipop  looks a much better design.

When i have some $dosh I'll investigate getting a better box and changing the hitch/bike fastning.

Useful thread!
Thanks
Ed

[Kim]

Is that the large Y-frame?

That box looks incredibly useful. I hope I still have the feet that came with mine.

Yep, Large Y-frame.  The 145l RUB is almost a perfect ft.

Generic rubber feet should be reasonably easy to obtain if you've lost yours - there's nothing critical about the shape.  Be sure to use penny washers on the inside of the box to reduce the stress from the bolts.

The hitch on mine is the older style one and the only why i can unfasten it from the bike is by unfastening/refastening the quick release skewer. The lollipop  looks a much better design.

In that case, it's a conclusive victory for the lollipop hitch.  Out of interest, have you tried with the QR handle on the drive side of the bike, or maybe a security skewer?

[ed_o_brain]

I wasn't clear, it's because the hitch bent up like that near enough the first time I used it.
Anyway, thanks Kim, that's really appreciated.

[Arch]

I've wondered whether with a Carry Freedom, you could simply make a set of four wooden boards that clipped onto the edges of the trailer, and each other, with something suitable from a DIY store.  That could then be folded entirely flat when not in use.

If you can find a couple of discarded estate agent boards, then Correx would be better than wood - waterproof, and very light. We bodge bases for bags out of Correx at work, to stop stuff falling through the holes that wear in the recycling bags through dragging them about on concrete.

If you feel really flush, I expect you can buy Correx, but we're very mean, so we have to wait for boards to get dumped on the reserve. I'm on the waiting list for a piece to form a base on my trailer for when the net base isn't sturdy enough.

[MattH]

Mine came 2nd hand with a Ferplast Atlas 50 professional dog crate bolted securely to it, which is about 260L capacity with a door at the back

This takes four of the large tough re-usable supermarket bags fairly easily (just got to remember not to stuff them too full so they don't bulge out sideways).

You can take off the lid of the crate, leaving a useful base behind -  here it is after I'd been to collect a full size 15kg sack of animal feed. It looks lost in the bottom of the trailer, I could easily have got a couple more sacks in there

[TimO]

Mine came CKD, like a Land Rover being shipped to Africa, and it all had to be put together. Base to frame, wheels to axles, reflectors to base, etc. ...

Do you remember roughly how big the box was?

Since checking online I just found out that it's out for delivery, and I'm at work, I know I'm not going to be around to take the parcel in.

I'll need to take the Yak Bob out to Epsom tomorrow morning to pick it up, and that's likely going to need bungees and whatnot to secure things, but it would be useful if I had a vague idea what size the box is likely to be.

(I'm going to have to take a photo of a trailer being used to pick up a trailer, aren't I!  I also wonder if I can use the Yak Bob's wheel QR to clamp the Carry Freedom mount, and form a trailer train. ).

[delthebike]

Do you remember roughly how big the box was?

Not really but probably around 1000x600x400. I can't imagine the box for it being bigger than that (I can but what's the point of it being bigger?).

Since we've had the trailer we had a new front door installed and the trailer doesn't go through it!     I keep forgetting and loading the trailer in the hall and then unload it in the porch or take a wheel off to get it through. 

[TimO]

Do you remember roughly how big the box was?

... probably around 1000x600x400. ...

Hmm, the Yak Bob is listed as having a cargo area of 62 cm×40 cm, so it could be a bit tight in that direction.  I guess if all else fails, I can just rest if across the top of the trailer, and possibly pull the flag off if that gets in the way.  I had better make sure I take an excess of bungees and rope with me.

[Kim]

Mine came CKD, like a Land Rover being shipped to Africa, and it all had to be put together. Base to frame, wheels to axles, reflectors to base, etc. ...

Do you remember roughly how big the box was?

Squareish, so presumably a little over 70cm (length of the load bed) wide.  Maybe 4-6" thick.

[Kim]

Since we've had the trailer we had a new front door installed and the trailer doesn't go through it!     I keep forgetting and loading the trailer in the hall and then unload it in the porch or take a wheel off to get it through. 

That's where the smaller Y-frame comes in.  Or a removable box to fit the large one (if it fits between the wheels, it ought to go through most doors).

I'm not that fussed, as we're used to having to rotate the trike to fit it through the door, and the trailer's almost the same width.  I can imagine it being annoying if your door has shrunk, though.  You may also have Dirk Gently style sofa issues...

[TimO]

Luckily I managed to stay in and await delivery for it today, and it turned up!

In terms of assembly, all I would have needed to pick it up using itself, would be a small spanner (adjustable would be fine) and allen key, to bolt the lollipop to the metal arm, and some way to remove the bike wheel to fit the clamp (on a bike with a QR wheel, no tools required).  At a pinch, gravity and friction on the lollipop would probably have held the bolt in.

The box would have fitted into the Yak Bob if I'd needed to do that, but only just, and would have been so upright that bungees would have been needed to keep it in that position.

It comes with a couple of small reflectors fitted to the underside of the carrying surface, but I may well remove those before they come loose of their own accord and start rattling.  I've got a couple of rack light fittings which I reckon I can screw into the back of the board with a small pilot hole and some self tappers.

I'm not sure what to do boxwise, I shall have to hit the local DIY stores and similar, and see what they have available.

[Kim]

Mine only came with one small reflector (though there are two holes in the underside of the load bed), so I assume one must have gone AWOL.  I've noticed that the hole position is sufficiently far back that the reflector doesn't actually touch the ground when the trailer is rotated around its axles to stand vertically, which seems to be the most likely way for it to get damaged.  If yours doesn't already have the holes, take this into account when making them.

I was underwhelmed by it, though, so have stuck a couple of standard triangular trailer reflectors (which can be had for about a quid each, and specifically denote a trailer) on the back of the box, along with the business end of a Smart rear light bracket.  And some spoke reflectors on the wheels, because I seem to have an endless supply of the things.

[TimO]

If and when I find a suitable box, I may well get a couple of triangular trailer reflectors, although with the trailer used in flat-bed mode, there's no sensible way to attach them, and they'd likely get in the way of any overhanging load.

With the wheels removed, the reflectors are a bit more prone to damage, but we shall see how they fare.

[delthebike]

With the wheels removed, the reflectors are a bit more prone to damage, but we shall see how they fare.

Not too well here! I moved them forward and replaced one with a combination LED light + reflector, I'm now going to replace the self tappers with a counter sink bolt and bolt through the load bed.
It's not very good for the reflectors when a wheel parts company with the trailer either when riding back from the allotment with a load of veg! 

[Kim]

It's not very good for the reflectors when a wheel parts company with the trailer either when riding back from the allotment with a load of veg! 

Eek, I hope that sort of thing doesn't happen often...

[delthebike]

Eek, I hope that sort of thing doesn't happen often...

There are tales of the left wheel self dismounting.
Mine was a simple user error that happened, luckily, on a quiet, off road, path. Right wheel not mounted properly, early on in my Y frame history.

The wheel clips into the axle (or the axle into the shaft, I can't remember which) and so as long as it is clipped in it should not be possible for it to come out. If it isn't fully home then it might.

I don't think they are all user error though and it mostly involves the left wheel.

[delthebike]

I'm bored with the box idea so I thought trestle table! 
This way I can stop and have a cuppa on a proper table. I'll keep the tea set, tablecloth, and doilies in the front bag.

[graculus]

And the lump hammer is for...?

[delthebike]

And the lump hammer is for...?

Duh! Hammering lumps of course! 

[cycleman]

sugar lumps

[Valiant]

The original hitch is a stainless steel universal joint, that is very rattly!


The lollipop has been road tested for, at least, four years so I doubt that anything you throw at it, in normal use </discliamer>, will harm it!

Tis not the original. Original was the resin ball & steel socket affair.

My advice to those who are attaching boxes is, if you have a decent base on the box, just remove the trailer bed to save yourself that extra weight. I have a range of boxes/flat beds that I drop on mine and stick 4 bolts through the frame with twist knobs on the other side. When I need a bit of security I have my samsonite suitcase bolted to it. Very versatile trailer.

[Kim]

And the lump hammer is for...?

You should always carry a lump hammer when cycling.  It's the only way to show errant cotter pins or crank bolts who's boss.  Charlotte and Deano will testify.