I build one, that was a challenge. Used two (I think,20mm) straight gauge 4130 tubes as the rack tube.
The guy wanted to haul his friends around town on it. I think he does
So, first thought after figuring out the size, is rear-axle mount vs seatpost mount.
I am leaning towards rear axle mount as I will carry my stuff on the rear rack. Other than the very expensive through-axles with mounts, what are the pros and cons of those two options?
Intuitively I’d say moving the bike around when walking as the seatpost mounted one allows to turn the bike independently.
As you said the advantage of seatpost mount is the better handling while walking the bike. You definitely have a tighter turning radius. And in the case your bike tips over, its more unlikely to damage the hitch (but depends on the design)
Rear axle mount works also really nice in my experience concerning handling while walking the bike, riding i prefer it even more because the trailer “follows” somewhat nicer and cornering feels more secure. For those you also have more modern off the shelf hitches to choose from (like Weber, Thule and all the other kids trailer hitches). Also your drawbar is shorter=lighter and has a lower COG.
And as you start building the trailer, why not also modify your dropout or chainstay with a custom hitch mount?
Thanks for the feedback! I also just realized if rear axle mount doesn’t work out for me I can change it
Ideally I want to keep my current frame sellable for when I’m able to build my own
(Ordered the welder today, but will be stuck with stick welding until after the move and I know which argon dealer is close by for which bottle system to get.)
Stick?
If you have a Mig machine you could use a flux core wire, it doesn’t require any gas, I found it better than stick and it saved my a** when I run out of Ar/Co2 on a Saturday, like all things there are better wires than others, small rolls are cheap and will last you a long time working on bicycles.
Got a tig/stick machine, no mig
If I have to guess, the second from the top would be my best, the others seems to run cold. If this is your first stick experience, you are much better than me
Haha thanks, it’s 50% the welding machine and 50% chance
First attempts with a 2mm 6013 electrode, will get some more practice in this weekend and hopefully attempt a makeshift miniature welding table.
So I think I dialled current in quite well towards the end, ended up with 63A for 2mm 6013 thick rutil.
The thick lines are 2.5mm 6013 rutilcellulose. Was optimistic enough to start the table.
Dammit wrong order, I started at the bottom of the top picture and continued at the bottom of the bottom picture
Little update here, we actually decided to get a smaller dog to be able to carry it on the bike instead of in a trailer. So no trailer for now but there are still quite a few things to figure out and I have found no “perfect” solution for bringing dog and crate and bike through public transport. So my efforts will be around finding a good basket solution and some kind of quick lock for the basket as well. Cable ties and a plastik crate seems to work really well so this will be the starting point. But maybe I’m able to do welds like on the tubus rear racks, so a custom basket is also a possibility. Will keep you updated!