Trike Trailer

redneckray · Mar 17, 2010

What would you be wanting in a trailer to haul your trike on, curious to see what everyone wants in a trike trailer, going to start building some to sell at a good afforadable price and need input,
Thanks,
Redneckray

ThirdWheel · Mar 18, 2010

Self storing ramps and spare tire mount.

JD..Stanley · Mar 18, 2010

Hi
Best to stay with a seven foot wide trailer. That way the interior width will only be a few inches less than seven foot and this makes it much easier to
walk around the trike.
Also, twelve foot in length is great.
And reinforced to the deck anchor / tie down mounts.

redneckray · Mar 18, 2010

I'm thinking of 71/2 feet wide and hidden ramps under the rear of the trailer for easy access and using, also spare tire on side in front and storage box for tools and etc for the road. 
Painted in equipment paint,

Calman · Mar 18, 2010

I'm pretty happy with the trailer my BIL in Biloxi sold me when I went down to Troup, TX last year to pick up my Shadow Aero 750. It's 7x11 and came with a fold-down ramp and spare tire mounted on the side forward of the starboard wheel. The tire mount included a bail for locking the tire with the hugh padlock he tossed in. 
 
My nice-to-have list of mods for it include (a) in-deck tie-downs, (b) easy-on/easy-off front wheel lock (so I can use trailer for hauling things other than the Shadow) and (c) mount an equipment box on the hitch frame. 
 
Best wishes on your endeavor.

Boscoporp · Mar 19, 2010

I might be interested in a trailer to pull my Trike. I have never owned a trailer so I don't know what I need but I will keep an eyeball on this strand and I 'm sure that I will know pretty soon!

rmrc51 · Mar 19, 2010

Now this is a very interesting topic as I'll be in the market for an enclosed trailer to haul my trike between Virginia and Long Island a few times each year!

I'm also considering "at least", a 7' wide by 11' long unit. I've seen some where the spare tires is stored in a recessed area under the floor inside the trailer. (Not sure if that's advisable or not). I'd like a few storage cabinets inside with the availability of hooking up electric for lights and possible tools. (Although I can install the wiring for this option myself). I'd also like a certain degree of insulation in case I opted to store the trike in the trailer. If I could do this, it would definitely make the expenditure more feasible!!

At present, the only vehicle I have to tow with is a 2006 Honda Odyssey which 'is' set up for towing. My max capacity is 3500 lbs which,, "should",, be enough to haul the kind of trailer we're discussing here. (I hope)

So,, does anyone have any recommendations as to what company to go with? There's quite a few out there.

hitime · Mar 19, 2010

I have a trailer I used to haul bikes on. It looks like it was made for a car, but it is awfully short for that. My neighbor's EG Ultra Classic barely fit between the front frame where the wheel chock is and the flip-up loading ramp. 
 
I do have a few things on a wish list for modifying that trailer for the trike: 
 
needs a floor in the center (only has floor on each side for 1 bike each 
front end should be shielded to protect trike from road debris 
longer loading ramps to keep from bottoming out when loading 
 
I only paid $400 for this trailer about 4 years ago, so if it can be modded to work with the trike, it wouldn't be such a huge investment. However, since I have a cargo trailer for the trike, I can't think of a whole lot of need for towing the trike somewhere except for breakdowns - and I don't want to make big plans for that!

ricle41 · Mar 19, 2010

Since your original post asked about trailers to haul the trike "on", I assume you are planning to build open style trailers. I have a 6 X 10 single axle tilt trailer that I added a 3 ft fold down ramp across the rear. If I drop the ramp, then release the tilt, I have a very low angle to ride the trike on. 
With a wheel lock on the front, I just ride it on, shut it down and get off to tie it down. Works great, even with my three wheel golf cart. 
One of the most important things on trailering anything, is distribution of the weight. On this trailer, I had to move the wheel lock forward about 18" in front of the trailer railing, to get enough weight on the tongue. If you don't have a majority of weight in front of the axle, you can have a dangerous whipping tendency. 
I am curious as to how you can do this without almost custom designs for each trike. I'll bet your design will be better than most due to your experience plus all the ideas you'll get here. Good Luck

redneckray · Mar 19, 2010

Orginally I had a tow dolly that was extened to haul tikes on and it being a VW trike, the weight was on the axle of the tow dolly and have towed alot od trikes all over the states and with no problem with it, 
The new trailer I am building is a 7 ft wide inside fenders x 14 ft long, the trailer is actually 7"x 11 " long with a 3 ' tongue, and to haul a VW trike it will haul just fine and for a Goldwing or other it will haul fine too, thinking of making it a tilt trailer, 
it will have tie downs and a storage box too,, 
Will post pics when it is done, I will have some trike trailers for sale at an affordable price, any way you want it, within reason, grinn

redneckray · Mar 27, 2010

Here are pics of a trailer I just finished to haul trikes, it is going to Waco Texas, it is 11 feet long[3 feet tongue making it 14 feet long] and it is 80 inches wide on the inside, 8 feet wide on the outside wheel to wheel, it has ramps that go under the rear for storage and a hand winch for the deadbeat trikes, which is removable and goes in the storage box[yet to be put on] and it has tiedown straps for the rear as well as the front too, all I need to do is put lites on it and storage box,