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Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Hitch Dolly by golly!
- By qcrobert (***) Date 07-09-2012 23:01
Too much time on my hands also.  My wife calls it "piddlin?"

This makes pulling my tent trailer a breeze without any tongue weight!

I have installed running, brake & turn signal lights plus a lighted tag frame (not really necessary here in Orygun) since this pix.  When pulling the hitch dolly by itself, I can load up a bbq and cooler of beer for country or beach parties.

QCRobert
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- By qcrobert (***) Date 07-09-2012 23:12
another
- - By qcrobert (***) Date 07-09-2012 23:15
.
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Parent - By Dualie (***) Date 07-10-2012 02:39
your going to need to get a doubles endorsement for your motorcycle license.    pretty cool setup.
Parent - - By weldwade (***) Date 07-10-2012 03:27
That's cool Robert! Good thing your bike doesn't have reverse... That would be a PITA to back up!
Parent - - By qcrobert (***) Date 07-10-2012 13:03
Yep no backing up anymore!

QCRobert
Parent - - By 803056 (*****) Date 07-10-2012 17:40
Interesting!

Al
Parent - - By Paladin (***) Date 07-11-2012 12:45 Edited 07-11-2012 22:48
How does it pull? I like the idea of little or no weight on the bike. It seems a little tongue weight on the dolly would be good for pulling though.

Most of us that have pulled trailers a lot have experienced the oscillations that can occur with a trailer with too much weight behind the axles.
If the dolly, by itself, were loaded and no tongue weight, it might want to whip a bit at speed. That would not be fun on a bike.

I have found that if a trailer starts to oscillate, a few quick back and forth jabs of the steering wheel will interrupt the whipping of the trailer. The idea is to induce a frequency out of phase with the frequency of the trailer oscillations.

Floyd
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 07-11-2012 12:59

>Most of us that have pulled trailers a lot have experienced the oscillations that can occur with a trailer with too much weight behind the axles.


Oh yeah, that is not a pleasant experience at all. I've placed black marks all over the road before, just thankfull that oncoming traffic saw what was happening and gave me plenty of room to stripe up the asphalt and not hit anything in the process.
Parent - By qcrobert (***) Date 07-14-2012 16:16
Complete with fenders.  Altho I'm sure there will be revisions to come..:wink:

QCRobert
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Parent - - By Sourdough (****) Date 07-15-2012 17:01
I rolled into a gas station outside of Fruita, Co one time after a good trip to Moab with the k5. The guy that rolled into the pump next to me hopped out....and came over to shake my hand. My heart was still thumping like a snare drum. I didn't think anyone had seen me in the fight for my life to keep that k5 in front of the 69 Banner camper I had on behind me.

The hill was good and long, and the k5 wheel base was good and short, and you know the rest of the story.....
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 07-23-2012 11:06
Sourdough,
My story was similar...85 chevy shortbed 4x4...way too short to be hauling a 30 footer that weighed more than the truck. I knew better, and still managed to get myself in trouble when a tractor trailer passed by and the wind off the front of that truck got the trailer started swaying.
Parent - By Sourdough (****) Date 07-24-2012 04:37
Ha ha, yeah those rigs create a hell of a draft.......I remember that as well with the k5 on interstate 80.  :eek:
Parent - - By qcrobert (***) Date 07-13-2012 20:51
It pulls like it isn't there.  The hitch dolly is so short that even when pulling it with no load on top (just the dolly without the trailer attached) it pulls straight & true with no oscillation.  I had a friend follow me up the highway at speeds of 80+ mph with just the dolly and then with the tent trailer attached and all went well.

Only thing I can feel is along a bumpy road the dolly will bounce because it is a straight axle.  An improvement might be to have torsion bar suspension spindles. 

The tent trailer coupler is solid and the hitch dolly has a swivel coupler so I can lean the bike as hard as I want without fear of the coupler coming off the ball.  I'm working on changing both coupler/ball set ups to a heim joint set up using a pin (shaft) in place of a ball.

I'm always tinkering.  Having a fab shop with plasma & laser table, shear, rolls, etc has its benefits.

Will post pix of the 3 day campout/bike run at Fort Rock, Oregon on July 19-22nd.

QCRobert
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Parent - - By Tommyjoking (****) Date 07-16-2012 05:25
Robert you have one serious problem with that rig.   You know your gonna get hit up about building more of them!
Parent - - By qcrobert (***) Date 08-01-2012 16:28
Yep this one is sold so I'm starting on another one with adjustable hitch ball heights, internal wiring, lighter materials, etc..

QCRobert
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Parent - - By Mat (***) Date 08-03-2012 10:49
Please tell me that cooler is filled with beer...or cow.  :lol:

Preferably both, actually...
Parent - - By qcrobert (***) Date 08-03-2012 12:38
You must be psychic!  It held three 30 packs of Busch Lite, two bottles of Fireball and 17 lbs of frozen, marinated New York strips for the latest bike run/campout.

QCRobert
Parent - By Cumminsguy71 (*****) Date 08-03-2012 12:52
Those are cool! Nice work Robert! I'll be looking for those on a highway near me!
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Hitch Dolly by golly!

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