Bamboo trailer

01

Leave your car behind,

The Bamboo Bicycle Trailer,
Carries loads.

Spread the idea and,

Build something beautiful.

Carry Freedom,
Car Free.

These plans show how to make a basic Bamboo Trailer, with as few
words and tools as possible. The appendix at the back include much
more information about the project and more building ideas.
Enjoy.

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Tools & Materials
02

Drill Hammer Spanner Ruler Saw Vice

Scale in inches. 1 Inch = 25.4mm (if printed on A4 paper)

0 Inch 1 Inch 2 3 4 5 6

12 Inches
12 Inches
1/8 Inch
Sheet Metal

2 x Bicycle Wheels

Beams Ties Nuts & Bolts

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Towing Brackets
03

Towing Bracket 2

Make 3

1/2

1) Drill 2) Repeat

3) Bend 4) Bend

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Wheel Brackets
04

Wheel Bracket

2 4

Make 4
2

13mm or
1/2 inch

1) Drill small holes 2) Repeat 3) Drill axle hole

4) Cut 5) Bend

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Wheel Spacers
05

LEFT
RIGH
T

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Attach Wheel Brackets
06

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Frame Layout
07

18 Inches 18 Inches

L L

W
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Bolt Frame Corners
08

6. 9.
10.
2.

3.
8.

5.

1.

4.
7.

1. 2. 3.

& & & ........

NB. Look at Appendix iii)

for different ways to join
the main frame beams.

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Trim Frame
09

4 Inches

X X

X X

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Lower Ties
010

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Lower Ties
011

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Tension Ties
012

1) 2) 3)

Repeat page 10,11,12 for the

upper ties.

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Square Frame
013

NB. When viewed end on the trailer should be

flat. With one eye closed look at the top edge
of the back beam, this should be parallel with
the top edge of the front beam.

D D

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Final Tensioning
014

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Wheel Attachment
015

Wheel alignment is the only thing

that needs to be accurate.

If the wheels are not parallel the

wheels will slide sidways as the trailer
roles forwards, costing energy and destroy-
ing tires.

D D

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Towing Hitch
016

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Fit to bike
017

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The End
018

I hope that making the Bamboo Trailer has been a great

pleasure. Share your creation with others by emailing photos
to bamboo (a) carryfreedom.com. For more information on the
Bamboo Trailer and my other work visit
www.simple-city.com
www.flickr.com/photos/carryfreedom/

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Appendix i) Beams
019

1-2
Metal Inches

Wood

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Appendix ii) Ties
020

Rope

Steel Strip

Chain

Wire rope

Plywood Sheet

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Appendix iii) Joints
021

Long Bolt

Short Bolt

Peg and Bind

Weld Notch and Peg

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Appendix iv) Construction Notes
Read these instructions through at
least twice before you begin.
Gather all tools and materials you
need before you start.
Make sure you know how to use all
your tools safely and have a clean
flat well lit area in which to work.
Some metal merchants will cut sheet
steel to size, if they do get the
hitch brackets and wheel brackets
pre-cut, also get spares cut.
If your wheels have different width
axles it is better that the wider
wheel goes on the handle (left)
side of the trailer. This makes the
towing arm slightly stronger.
It is possible to make the trailer
using one front wheel and one rear
wheel, meaning you only need to find
one donor bicycle per trailer.
If you have a rectangle made of
four lengths of material it is
a true rectangle if the opposite
sides are the same length, and
the two diagonals are the same
length. It is important to make
sure the sides are equal before the
diagonals.
It is much easier to bolt the beams
surrounding the load bed together
first, and then bolt the outer wheel
beams to the front and back beams
afterwards. The handle beam can
wait until everything else is done.
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022
If your beams are not straight,
i.e. if you are using branches it
is better, when building, that the
center is lower that the ends, and
that the ends are further apart
than the center. The trailer is
built upsides down so when it’s
righted the wheels will be at the
top of the curve, and by making the
ends as wide as possible it allows
as much clearance for the tires as
possible.
If you are making the trailer from
irregular materials it is easier to
trim the main beams once they are
bolted together. If you are making
the trailer using accurately cut
material it is easier to cut and
pre-drill the beams before they are
bolted together.
It does not matter that much if the
trailer is not square or flat, but
make sure that the ties are well
tensioned.
Tension the four ties in one level
first, to make sure the trailer is
square. Tension the ties in the 2nd
level to make the trailer flat. Then
re-tension the lower ties to make
the trailer square again.
If you use an object like a barrel
drum or box as the container you
do not need any of the ties, the
container will do their job.
bicycle trailers
Appendix iv) Construction Notes
The plans do not show how to make
a load surface, it is up to you
to design and fit something to
suit your purpose. A flat surface
made from plywood, or from the
beam material tends to be most
useful. These surfaces can serve
the purpose of the upper layer of
spokes. A fabric surface can be
woven onto the lower sets of ties.
If you are making a trailer to
carry a kayak or other long object
it is better to make the trailer
body short, but make the handle
long.
If you need to make a long
trailer body, for example for an
ambulance, have two sets of left-
right beams. The first set should
be at the extreme front and extreme
back of the trailer, while the 2nd
set should be as close in front
and behind the trailer wheels as
possible. The spokes should still
connect to the four corners of the
load bed.
023
It is useful to make the trailer
wheels the same size as the bicycle
wheels. This keeps the trailer
frame level, and makes carrying
spares easier. Also if you destroy
a bicycle wheel, there is a spare
for each wheel on the trailer.
It is best to have the axle line
behind the trailers center of
gravity.
Connecting the trailer to the
bicycle at its rear axle is the
most effective way of connecting
a trailer to the bike. It is more
efficient, your brakes are more
effective, and you will feel the
trailer less when cycling. You
can learn more about this on our
information page.
www.CarryFreedom.com/info.html

The most durable trailer is made

by welding square section steel
together. The square section
ensures good beam to beam contact
for good welds or braizes.

The left-right beams can be used as

lifting handles to lift the trailer
over landslides and washed out
roads. Grips can be wrapped around
the beams between the wheel support
beams for this purpose.

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Appendix v) Document Notes
HELP
This document is a charitable work,
it costs me time and money to make
it happen. If you think you can
help in any way, please do.
Tell people about the project. Link
to www.CarryFreedom.com/bamboo.html
on websites, blogs, and emails.
Send me photos of the bicycle
trailer you build. I will
post these on my flickr site at
www.flickr.com/photos/carryfreedom/
This helps to share ideas, and
inspire others.
Use the trailer, this is the best
advert possible.
Tell me what you don’t understand,
or of clever shortcuts in building.
This document is a work in
progress, so apologies for all
mistakes and omissions. The
ultimate aim is to have a document
that can be followed and understood
by most people irrespective of
language culture background or
literacy. This of course will take
a lot of time feedback and help.
These instructions are the 2nd
version; the vast improvement over
the first version has been down to
your help and suggestions.
Motivation
Places that need a bike trailer the
most, often have the least capacity
to build or buy them.
Above everything Carry Freedom
is about carry freedom, money and
location should not bar access. The
Bamboo Trailer tries to minimize
tool’s language
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024
and materials, and maximise its
usefulness and potential.
Any help in developing funding
and circulating this project is
welcome. I am happy to work with
charities on specific projects, and
to advise as to how to make the
best use of the Bamboo Trailer for
a specific area or country.
Legal Statement
Copyright of this document and
any other intellectual property
therein belongs to its creator Nick
Lobnitz. Copying or reproducing
this document in whole or in part
without prior written permission is
prohibited, with the exception of
peer to peer distribution.
Peer to Peer distribution is
exchange of this document between
two private individuals, and is
permitted on the understanding that
the document will be distributed
intact and no money changes
hands. If you want to publicize
this document please link to
our main Bamboo Trailer web site
www.CarryFreedom.com/bamboo.html
I do not accept any responsibility
for the trailers you build, or
the uses you put them to. You are
responsible for your own safety
when using tools or the trailer.
It is your responsibility to decide
whether the trailer you have made
is safe, roadworthy, and legal.
bicycle trailers