I believe some motorised trailers use a sensor in the tow bar to detect if the tow bar is under tension or compression. Under tension, increase the throttle, under compression, decrease the throttle. They also might have brakes which could be applied under strong compression.

I’ve never used one myself though.

This article reads like an AI(?) summary of a reddit thread itself though.

I’ve put it in there, but I’m not sure if it’s even possible to create tags like that from lemmy.

Not sure what’s up with the website, but my computer was unable to handle it. Had to restart. Maybe cut down on the constant animations? A version that works without JS would be nice as well. Sounds interesting otherwise.

It’s actually not bad at corners. You’d probably be fine cycling maybe a metre further out than usual.

You could probably move a similar amount on just one large trailer, which might be easier to manoeuvre round a city. Bikes at work has some cool examples:

• https://www.bikesatwork.com/bike-trailers/customers
• https://www.pedalpeople.coop/index.php?page=12

I find the best way to get free things is to let people know you’re interested in those things. I recently took over the local bike hire, and now everyone knows I enjoy repairing bicycles. I’ve had multiple people approach me to get rid of their old bicycles. That’s how I got 2 of the trailers. This presumably works best in places with stronger community.

Otherwise, I think keeping an eye on local buy/sell websites (eg facebook/gumtree/freecycle). I think you’re likely to find an old child trailer, which you can remove the cover and sides from to get a trailer base. Maybe try putting “wanted” posts on these websites as well, as people might not realise a torn or rusty child trailer is worth anything.

Theoretically they should be rather easy to make from scratch, though I’ve not done this yet. They are really just a frame with small bike wheels and a hitch.

Thanks! Bike trailers are great at corners. You can easily do a u-turn with one. The way the second trailer is connected to the front hand cart though, limits it to about 45°. While cycling though, there are no issues, just cycle maybe a metre from the edge of the road.

Yes, that’s true… There’s only one small hill I had to go up. With low enough gears though, much steeper hills should be possible.

The first one is more of a garden cart rather than a bike trailer. It’s connected onto the side of the rear rack with some bits of driftwood screwed together :) The rest are just trailer connectors attached somewhere on the previous trailer.