Trailer Loading

[AaronR]

Thought I'd give this a go in here before going for a technical answer!

I've got a BOB Yak, have had it out for two outings now, first was a barely loaded family ride, heavier on the way home as it was loaded with pot plants, second was with a full weeks grocery shopping

Did a quick tot up of weight when I got home and to be fair it was just over 35kg, stood next to the bike wheeling it was heavy, and front wheel would lift with very little provocation, and in anything put a constant speed straight line it was wobbly (a slight understatement)

Long term plans for it don't involve carrying that much weight, I plan to use it to do the shopping but will make it twice weekly, but is there a 'clever' way of distributing weight in the trailer? Have tried to think out the physics behind it and I'm leaning towards heavy stuff lower (obvious) and as far back as possible to limit weaves and wobbles around the hinge

Any thoughts?

[Cunobelin]

Single wheel trailers are not best suited to heavy loads, they are inherently unbalanced, put stress on the frame and affect steering.

[meic]

I was somewhat surprised that your front wheel came up on being pushed, with the two wheel trailer it is the rear wheel that comes up (though you are normally pushing up a steep hill rather than on the flat).

This means that you have weight on your tow hitch, I would be interested to find out if moving the load's centre of mass on the trailer further back and over its wheel improved your handling.
My two wheel trailer has not ever upset me when being loaded nose heavy but the hitch is right at the axle and has no leverage on the bike.

[mercalia]

You need to put as much weight towards the trailer wheel as possible, other wise is not much different from having panniers as the weight on the bike rear wheel - thats where 2 wheel trailers with the platform over the rear wheel score? I would have thought that type of trailer better for shopping. The trouble with these single wheel trailers is they share the weight between the rear wheel of the bike and the trailer wheel - the closer the centre of gravity of the load to the rear wheel the more the weight is there and so on. In a way these single wheel trailers are not a good idea as the best you can usually get is to 1/2 the weight on the bike rear wheel, with the load in the centre of the trailer?

re the bobyak. last summer spoke to a cyclo tourist up the Mall in London with such. He had had attached a little flickable leg to the trailer so that when down it would keep the trailer up right and not fall over

[AaronR]

Thanks all, weight on a bike is always going to affect handling somehow, and I knew that a weeks shopping was going to be more than it should carry, just wondered if there was a clever way to distribute what will be its 'normal' load of touring stuff

[DaveP]

As earlier advice, put the heaviest stuff at the bottom and as close to the centreline as possible - definitely not all to one side - for very obvious reasons. Put it as far back as possible to reduce the weight on the hitch point. And live with it - there's nothing else to try apart from paying attention to the total load weight.
I currently have both types of trailer and I do find the Yak to be harder work. I'm often conscious of having extra weight to balance, particularly when dis/mounting or pushing. Not so aware when riding, but obviously the bike frame is still seeing these loads.
The yak is obviously better when width might be an issue, and although I haven't tried it I would expect it to be better on really rough ground.
I was surprised to read about your front wheel tending to lift. Yaks mount directly on the axle so shouldn't have this effect,
Unless you mean that it tended to lift if the bike was leant over a bit while pushing... I seem to remember something of the sort happening - the whole rig started to pivot around the rear wheel contact point and the handlebars with the result that the front came off the ground, but sideways. Does that sound about right?

[AaronR]

As earlier advice, put the heaviest stuff at the bottom and as close to the centreline as possible - definitely not all to one side - for very obvious reasons. Put it as far back as possible to reduce the weight on the hitch point. And live with it - there's nothing else to try apart from paying attention to the total load weight.
I currently have both types of trailer and I do find the Yak to be harder work. I'm often conscious of having extra weight to balance, particularly when dis/mounting or pushing. Not so aware when riding, but obviously the bike frame is still seeing these loads.
The yak is obviously better when width might be an issue, and although I haven't tried it I would expect it to be better on really rough ground.
I was surprised to read about your front wheel tending to lift. Yaks mount directly on the axle so shouldn't have this effect,
Unless you mean that it tended to lift if the bike was leant over a bit while pushing... I seem to remember something of the sort happening - the whole rig started to pivot around the rear wheel contact point and the handlebars with the result that the front came off the ground, but sideways. Does that sound about right?

Thats exactly what happens when wheeling around - well described!

Have now got BOB Nutz fitted to mounting points on Surly Troll frame which puts mounting on rear of bike about 30mm higher up and rearwards, but can't see that making a huge difference, will wait and see what happens on Friday when I go shopping!