I was asked a few days ago, how I liked my Harbor Freight fold up trailer. Yes, it is finally all together, titled, tagged, and inspected as of this morning. So trailer is together and bike is all apart.... sigh.... I took up riding why?

Anyway here is information on the trailer, and photos are here if anyone is interested.
http://tinyurl.com/5458z

I like the trailer, so far, have not tried to two bike with it, but at least one other person in the forum said they had this trailer and it was working out great for them.

Beams/cross members are not I beams they are U beams. with the exception of the tongues (a frame) which are square.

It went together fine, it is just tedious and time consuming work, a lot of bending. However between all the lumber and nuts and bolts I needed to put the lumber floor and sides on, it cost me about another $150 for that, so that is something to consider. The nuts and bolts for the lumber add up quickly.

It folds up fine. There are two drawbacks to the fold up.
1. it is heavy, esp with the floor. I can do it myself, but probably won't be able to in a few years.

2. the dinky wheels (for when trailer folded up) they put on, don't work well over asphalt or concrete that is not smooth. They do work, but I don't expect them to last long. I can't just put larger roller wheels on it, because they are too close to the tail light. I'll have to figure out a different way to do them




RB

I like the pictures with you little helper. Did he join in on the wrenching or just provide moral support. :)

She was the job forman. ;-)

I also have that trailer and love it. I bought mine about 10 years ago. My wife was against buying a truck and I needed something to haul my stuff. It's worked out great! I haul everything from mulch, dirt, rocks, lawn mowers, furniture, lumber, my tandem bicycle, my motorcycle and lots more. It's not the heaviest duty trailer, but the flolding option made it perfect for me. Here is a picture of the trailer in the corner of my garage.


http://knuckles.echoes.net/pics/NeatTrailer.JPG

I have 2 sets of side boards, shorter open ones and solid ones made from plywood. I get the mulch with the plywood sides. I really load it up and have to watch to make sure I'm not down on the axle. I know I have it overloaded. I once got a flat with a load of much and needed a couple jacks to lift the trailer to change the tire. I only moved a few feet once the tire blew but the rim was all mangled.

You have to watch swapping out the casters. They need to be the right size. There is a "foot" that catches the ground when you fold it up. If the caster is too big then you will have problems folding it up. If the caster is too small then the foot will drag the ground when you try to wheel it around. It's not that easy to push it around, the casters aren't the best quality, but on smooth concrete it works ok. I had to replace one of the feet on my trailer so I make it a bit sturdier.

Pics of old feet and new feet.

http://knuckles.echoes.net/pics/Originalfoot.JPG
http://knuckles.echoes.net/pics/replacement.JPG

I also had problems with the way the side boards met up with the front and back. They would bounce around and mulch would leak out. I solved that by taking 4 - 4 inches hinges and putting them in each corner. I then removed the pins and sanded off the little stops at the top. I then had my father cut me 1/4 inch rings of stainless steel tubing and had him weld them to the top of the pin heads. I know just pull out the pins and the sides all come apart. It really works great.

Well anyway, I highly recommend this trailer.