Rough prototype

Rough prototype as of 1/11/2012

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The cross brace is made from short pieces of bike frame tube matched so the long pieces slide into sleeves, and bolted where needed, with axle bolts and nuts, from scrapped hubs. The tongue which is also part of the cross brace is made from a seat tube and down tube from a step over frame.

There is a seat post binder sleeve and bolt on one side, to allow the tongue to swivel to fit different frame sizes, and to act as a handle when wheeling the cart around on foot, that way the cart acts as a wheel barrow and the load doesn’t have to be transferred when going inside or walking around a  farmers market or some other venue that would allow the use of the cart while walking.  We’re not sure if the seat bolt binder set up will work yet the tongue may have a tendency to rotate under load, it may have to have a removable pin to lock it in place when it is attached to the bike.

The next step is to make a connector which swivels or rotates both horizontally and vertically, to allow the cart to turn  bike and rotate relative to the bike. These can be purchased from trailer manufacturers and through bike shops, but we’re going to try making them out of scraps.

An Existing Prototype

Here are pictures of a cart that I made out of an old
Coos Bay Flier ( originally designed by Don Harse) style recumbent trike I had built in Cleveland.
This Cart proved itself reliable and useful in a variety of difficult terrains.

I suggest that  this design be adapted to utilize the rear triangles from old bicycle frames and standard bicycle wheels instead of the cantilevered Phil Wood hubs that are used in the existing cart. Although the cantilevered wheel design is simpler,  the wheels will be harder to find and costly if we have to purchase them.

Cart filled with pig weed

Cart with tub from wheel barrow and boulder