Peddle (Non-gas) "dirt bike" for pulling small wagons & going over hills / rough terrain frequently?

I have a situation where I need to not only reduce gas costs, but have an option to drive to work on our farm which is about a mile away. There are two paths to the farm: one is a heavy traffic highway with a lot of semi trucks and the other is a hilly (and often muddy) and rocky, but relatively clear path.

The second non-highway/road path is really not that bad since a car can drive through this when it's really dry out, but this is not too frequent in our area and it's usually at least a little moist and snowy/icy in the winter. The only real worry is that this second path has an initial hill I have to navigate on this second path that's quite a steep public road (about 150 yards) that does get some traffic and someone not have much patience for a bike going up a steep hill.

I'd like to eliminate fuel considerations for normal travel (a couple times back and forth a day is common) and walking is just not fast enough for my needs.

Can anyone recommend a pre-built peddle bicycle with large tiers that could navigate this well and even be able to hull a small wagon behind it?

If not, can anyone recommend a method for building such a contraption? I do have a welder.

I've seen some "quad" bikes and someone retrofitted a trike/tricycle (but with 2 tires in front and 1 in back) with large "golf cart tires" but I'm not sure if that's reasonable. Any ideas?

how steep is that steep section?

how much weight, including the trailer, do you plan to haul?

how much bicycling have you done previously?

how long does the snow & ice typically stick around?

tel jetson wrote:how steep is that steep section?

Probably about 20º slope.

tel jetson wrote:how much weight, including the trailer, do you plan to haul?

Probably about 50 pounds

tel jetson wrote:how much bicycling have you done previously?

The slope is pretty rough biking up it... I'm not a biker and haven't done a lot of biking, but it would be good for me for sure. I have done some pretty heavy lower body work earlier in life and know I could be alright after I worked this out for about a month.

tel jetson wrote:how long does the snow & ice typically stick around?

This is in the midwest and we probably only saw about two weeks of snow on the ground this winter. That seems fairly average. I can drive the truck when push comes to shove or just walk. Most of the time the real problem is just navigating sloppy ground.

my first inclination is to recommend finding a late 80s or early 90s mountain bike frame that has a relatively long wheelbase and room for 2" or more tires. set up some really low gearing to get up that hill with a load and use knobby tires for the snow and mud. if you think ice will be around long enough to warrant it, there are studded tires for bicycles that work surprisingly well.

this won't rise to the level of a "fat bike," but I think it would get the job done. if the mud is a lot more extreme than I'm imagining, a fat bike could be in order, but those are honestly a bear to ride. they can be a lot of fun, but for utilitarian purposes, they're not really practical in most situations. your situation may well call for one, though, so don't let me talk you out of it.

If you can weld, this guy has really fantastic step-by-step plans for building pretty much any kind of bike/trike/cargo bike/electric bike you can imagine.  I have several sets of his plans and they are really top notch.  The plans are extremely easy to follow.  I highly recommend them.  Atomic Zombie DIY bike plans

A couple examples, but he has lots and lots more.

I use a bike trailer extensively around the farm and hands down the absolute best trailer is the https://www.bikesatwork.com/. 300lb capacity!!! In fact, out of all the tools I have ever owned (everything), the bikesatwork trailer has been the best tool of them all. I have gotten so much use out of it without any problems, and it has saved me so much time and effort, and it has enabled me to move things around that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to. I can confidently say that buying that trailer was the best money I ever spent.

As for ease of pulling, especially on hills, what you really need is a high tooth count gear on the rear wheel, like 40 or more teeth. A standard mountain bike rear wheel has a replaceable gear cluster, so you can count the number of gears on your rear wheel, then shop around to find a cluster that has the same number of gears but with a much larger (more teeth) sprocket for the biggest gear. Just a few additional teeth can make a huge difference, so try to get the largest toothed one you can get that will fit your rear wheel. Any bike shop should be able to work with you on this to order the gear cluster and swap it out.

If you want to DIY it on the cheap, I would find a 50 tooth front crank sprocket and weld it onto a single speed freewheel sprocket on the rear wheel of a 26" cruiser bike, then put that wheel on your mountain bike.

Abe Coley wrote:As for ease of pulling, especially on hills, what you really need is a high tooth count gear on the rear wheel, like 40 or more teeth.

absolutely. modern mountain-bike-specific derailers will be able to handle cogs that large, but much of what you would find used for cheap probably won't. to avoid having to buy a new high capacity derailer, one of these might be necessary: derailer hanger tab extender.

Sounds like the perfect opportunity for an electric trail bike if you ask me.  I'd bet you could even charge it up while you work at the farm.  But feel free to pedal all you like.  I'm too old for that.  Lol!