Show Us What You Are Hauling On Your Bike

Love everyone's bicycle setups! Hauling lots of stuff is great--makes me feel an accomplished cyclist, particularly when my co-workers make comments about how it was impossible to do X on a bike and I say I do it (or something more intensive) regularly.

I haven't taken pictures of too many silly things I've done (though 2.5m boards was certainly one of them--just strapped to the frame), but I did find an old photo of collecting cardboard boxes from local recycling skips for moving house. This setup got stares and people crossing the street to avoid me! It's still my personal best at 11 boxes (most don't fold down neatly--but they are quite strong).

Those of you who are hauling logs directly on your cycles--how do you balance it? I've been able to get smaller logs into my panniers (and always carry a saw with me just in case someone is pruning a tree on my commute), but things get really wobbly if I try to put wet, heavy logs of the size I'd like to collect (and the size some of you seem to be carrying!) onto my rack. I sometimes still do, but then I have to walk the bike home. Any tips, tricks and suggestions welcome!

M Broussard wrote:
Those of you who are hauling logs directly on your cycles--how do you balance it? I've been able to get smaller logs into my panniers (and always carry a saw with me just in case someone is pruning a tree on my commute), but things get really wobbly if I try to put wet, heavy logs of the size I'd like to collect (and the size some of you seem to be carrying!) onto my rack. I sometimes still do, but then I have to walk the bike home. Any tips, tricks and suggestions welcome!

I did just grab a heavy load of two long logs today to haul home.  First I will say that my back rack is pretty beefy.  Some of the racks I've had in the past certainly wouldn't have taken the weight!  Anyway, today as I started off with my load it initially felt pretty dodgy, like it was wiggling around too much.  So I got a third bungee cord and made sure the logs were strapped quite tightly in place.  Loads that wiggle make balancing harder.  If you can keep the weight of the load centered over the tire that helps too.  When I'm hauling logs that extend out several feet from my bike balance is also trickier.


Before I strap on a load I make sure the gears are set so I'll have easy enough pedaling on start up with a lot of weight.  I don't want to be fussing with gearing when trying to get going with a lot of weight.  I will sometimes also work to push off some with my feet to get a bit more initial forward momentum.  When going really slow, like when starting or stopping, it is much harder for me to balance it all.  When it motion I believe it is the gyroscopic action that makes it all easier.  With that in mind I should note that I'm doing most of my hauling in rural locations and along a trail where I don't have to start and stop much.  In fact usually once I have a log strapped on I don't stop until I get home.  If I were in an urban zone where I had to start and stop frequently the extreme loads might not be a good idea, at least not without having a true cargo bike, or trailer where balance isn't as much of an issue.

Part of the fun of this to me is the extra challenge of balance.  Thinking back I think the most challenging point for me is usually stopping or making sharp turns with big loads.  I have lost it turning into my driveway and when coming to a stop by the wood pile.  Thankfully my poor bike keeps chugging along once I unstrap the load and set it upright again.  I did break a plastic clip on my rear light today though.  Fortunately I was able to metalsmith up a replacement without too much effort.  

I'm not sure how I forgot to post in here when I first joined Permies but it looks like I did. I made this little cruiser bike I got for free into a longtail cargo bike with my stick welder. Most of these photos I rode around the block just to test the capacity of this thing. The last one was real world use while painting a house.

Here's the BB posting with a little more detail: https://permies.com/forums/posts/preList/97787/1187005#1187005

Just went to the local Recycling Center (three minutes by bike) and was joined by an army of tough (tougher than me!) German ladies on their bikes.

One had two large bags of what seemed to be a chopped up Christmas tree, one had some sacks with hedge cuttings and the third (around 80 years old, I know most of them) had in addition to her large bag a huge bundle of 2 meter long rushes (reed). It was really a sight to see, should have taken a photo.

Last weekend I joined a spontaneous community garden project. We transformed a dirt patch next to a road into a (soon to be) bee paradise. This is how I left in the morning: tools, two buckets of compost, a bit water and some seeds! It ain't much...

Hi all, I want to improvise a hitch for a couple of old mountain bikes I have kicking around. The goal is to attach a 4-wheel garden cart and a 2-wheel John Deere 10 cu. ft. ATV cart. Use what you have, right?

My question: I want to keep the attachment low. I see some hitches that attach on one side and others that attach to both sides. Is there a difference in how they pull and handle? I have lots of hilly, uneven ground.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Hi all, I want to improvise a hitch for a couple of old mountain bikes I have kicking around. The goal is to attach a 4-wheel garden cart and a 2-wheel John Deere 10 cu. ft. ATV cart. Use what you have, right?

My question: I want to keep the attachment low. I see some hitches that attach on one side and others that attach to both sides. Is there a difference in how they pull and handle? I have lots of hilly, uneven ground.

I pull a (very old) Burley bike trailer and it's attachment is right near the back wheel hub.

My friend was once trying to pull a Tag-along on a winding, hilly trail and it was attached at the seat stem and was a total PITA as it would get caught on the wheel depending on the angles and rotations.

My current Burley set-up is a ball hub and I recommend it for what you're describing, however you need a really good curve to the attachment bar/bars or you will find your turn radius will be limited. Mine only attaches to one side, so I'm fine turning left, but less so to the right. If you try to have attachment points on both sides, you may have to work around derailleurs. However, if you found a way to extend off both pipes that support the rear wheel in some way and then attached the existing tongue of the carts to that extension, it would help with both the angle and the rotation. However, we have a couple of things that attach with the sort of hitch which is two plate with a pin through it which I was told was typical of an ATV and we replaced both with hitches like you use on a car trailer that fit over a ball - on land where nothing's straight or level, I'd go with a ball any day!

As a life long mountain biker I am a little saddened I haven't actually carried much on my bicycle.  I'll have to see if I can remedy that one of these days.  

Not sure if this counts, but it is me hauling my bicycle on my motorcycle.  Built a rack out of scrap ladder rack (used for low voltage wiring), and attached it to my motorcycle.  Used it a couple of dozen times.  It was pretty squirrely at freeway speed, but got lots of thumbs up.

found this by accident - lol!

when i lived in ottawa i never had a drivers licence - i commuted by bike year round - i am in IT - federal  contracts - all government buildings have showers - best commuting method hands down.. i need to up my cardio so i am dusting off the bikes and will go striper fishing by bike this summer - need retraining though - yams rusty ;-)


when it was garbage day in my neighbourhood - i would take my homemade cart and cruise for valuables - you can haul quite a bit with a bike !!

thanks for the memories and a push to get back on the bike!!

This past week saw me carrying some delicate things and some long things! Brought a friend some baklava carefully wrapped and tied to the bike as well as a pomegranate seedling I grew. Given that these made it safely on the 20+km ride, I feel quite good about securing them!

The other fun one was replenishing our bamboo. It's invasive around here, and so there are plenty of locations it has invaded public areas--removing it is a good service. In this case, it was leaning over and blocking half the cycleway (and has been for months!) The path is now clear so there should be no more close calls between folks going opposite directions--and we have bamboo for gardening and experimenting with wooden guttering.

At 6 metres (19.6 ft) the longest bamboo pole is bigger than we could have transported by car!

M Broussard wrote:This past week saw me carrying some delicate things and some long things! Brought a friend some baklava carefully wrapped and tied to the bike as well as a pomegranate seedling I grew. Given that these made it safely on the 20+km ride, I feel quite good about securing them!

The other fun one was replenishing our bamboo. It's invasive around here, and so there are plenty of locations it has invaded public areas--removing it is a good service. In this case, it was leaning over and blocking half the cycleway (and has been for months!) The path is now clear so there should be no more close calls between folks going opposite directions--and we have bamboo for gardening and experimenting with wooden guttering.

At 6 metres (19.6 ft) the longest bamboo pole is bigger than we could have transported by car!

Hi M. Did you get the BB for hauling a long load with your 'vehicle'? Exactly what you did, but then transporting long willow branches, was my plan for the BB.

Did the baklava arrive well? I would not dare that on the bicycle. Last week I had to bring a pie, cut in 8 pointed slices, to the other end of the neighbourhood. But I did not do it on my bicycle, I went walking.

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:
Hi M. Did you get the BB for hauling a long load with your 'vehicle'? Exactly what you did, but then transporting long willow branches, was my plan for the BB.

Did the baklava arrive well? I would not dare that on the bicycle. Last week I had to bring a pie, cut in 8 pointed slices, to the other end of the neighbourhood. But I did not do it on my bicycle, I went walking.

The baklava arrived in perfect condition! I used the tiny jar in the picture to support the cover I put over it so nothing would get squished, then I wrapped it in a towel so that excessive jostling (it was a country road!) wouldn't damage the glass dish. I had a friend while doing my PhD who would carry cakes on the back of her bike--she shared some of the secrets to bike transport that she'd learned going to school in The Netherlands--very helpful!

Re: long load--is that the Homesteading badge? I hadn't thought about that as I don't own a car! Can we use bikes for that badge? I have carried long things before (e.g. branches, 3m long boards from a deconstructed pallet), so I'll try to remember to take the appropriate photos next time (don't have the before loading photo!

M Broussard wrote:Re: long load--is that the Homesteading badge? I hadn't thought about that as I don't own a car! Can we use bikes for that badge? I have carried long things before (e.g. branches, 3m long boards from a deconstructed pallet), so I'll try to remember to take the appropriate photos next time (don't have the before loading photo!

Yes, that's the BB I mean. It does not say your 'vehicle' has to be a car. So I thought it could be a bicycle ...

Today I picked up some compost materials. My friend/neighbor lives about a half mile away, and has generously agreed to give me all of the plants she pulls from her garden instead of throwing them in the municipal compost collection bin. Keeps the soil fertility somewhat local to the neighborhood, at least. I estimate that this load contained 100-150lb of bolted cabbages and fava bean stalks.

Cool trailer Karl looks home made, had to be more that one bungee holding all the greenery down impressive!

Got a new personal best recently with this pull 15 bales of coastal pulled 5 miles

Here’s the setup without hay 2x surly trailers joined with ladder and home made 5th wheel type swivel for turning

Hans Molander wrote:Here’s the setup without hay 2x surly trailers joined with ladder and home made 5th wheel type swivel for turning

Impressive Hans! Did you think of getting a BB (Badge Bit) for this? Read this: https://permies.com/wiki/109659/pep-homesteading/Lash-Longer-Vehicle-PEP-BB#895367
(imo a bicycle is a vehicle too)

Awesome Hans!  Thanks for sharing that!

Every time I tell people I do not want a car, they tell me I "need" a car. I can feel them practically placing bets on when I will cave and get a car like everyone else. So every time I successfully haul something on my bike, it feels like a small victory against the naysayers.

I don’t have a picture, but I have a story to tell. Until I saw some of the photos on this thread this was the most amazing bicycle carry I had ever seen.

I was visiting my daughter for a month in roadless remote Senegal. We rode bikes on trails to get to her village, and carried our bikes on our backs to ford thigh deep streams.  When we were returning to Dakar for me to go home, I saw a couple bicycles go by and one of them was hauling a bed.  It was hand made out of materials harvested in the wild, hand harvested and hand shaped.   It was the size of a double bed.  The legs were about a foot tall.  They held up a rectangular frame that had wood(?, plant material of some kind?) forming a platform across it and the person on the bicycle had it strapped to their back.  Some how, they passed us, while we all rode on a single narrow track through forest, and grasses that were chest to shoulder high.  Remarkable in every aspect.  

As is just about everything I have seen on this wonderful thread.  I feel there may be a bicycle in my near future!

In East Africa, the bike haulers are the pros, but it can get really dangerous if they try to hitch on to a vehicle on the hills.  https://sarpn.org/documents/d0002860/2-WB_assistance_agriculture_IEG_2007.pdf  

This pantechnicon used to do the rounds of festivals and climate protests. They used to arrive (on a motor-pulled trailer), borrow willing young legs for auxiliary pedalling (children a speciality!) and tour. Most legs did traction, one or two powered the sound system (CD player) via dynamos; it also had PV panels. Staff ran steering.

Richard Henry wrote:In East Africa, the bike haulers are the pros, but it can get really dangerous if they try to hitch on to a vehicle on the hills.  https://sarpn.org/documents/d0002860/2-WB_assistance_agriculture_IEG_2007.pdf  

No kidding but........

There's another way of hauling that is especially good for parents. I have a large backpack and a folding bike. Sometimes, when I needed to pick up my son at some kind of practice, I would ride over on my bike, with my folded bike tied into the backpack.  When I got there, I would untie the folding bike from the backpack and set it up to ride home, with my son riding the other bike. It worked out well, until he bought a car and became too cool for such shenanigans.

John S
PDX OR

Solar Ebike and Camper: Recharge While You Ride and Camp!

I am 60 years old with bad back and bad knees and I just couldn't ride a pedal bike any more but I still wanted to get a little exercise and I love to take my dogs on adventures. So last year I got an Ariel X 52 volt ebike that can go 35mph with a 30mile range and I use that all the time in good weather for doing resupply runs to the store, take the dogs in the trailer and adventure riding.

I live completely off grid with solar and wind power so my ebike battery is charged from those but I also set up a recharging station just for the ebike and designed a solar camper out of the dog trailer so I can take my adventure gear along and recharge the ebike for longer trips.

Here are some videos to show you those projects and ideas for your own ebike recharging stations:

I've just noticed this thread and all the awesome stuff people are moving on their bikes. This is my very first RSO I built for a local community garden in Christchurch, New Zealand. I constructed the main body of the at home as it's sometimes easier than carting everything to site, rather than risk leaving my tools on site and losing them (it's happened) to those less scrupulous.  The J.Tube was built at the gardens.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLLwg4iCQYg

Awesome Steve!  That's a serious load!

As a side note Nicole posted this trick to embed YouTube shorts here on Permies.  I'll embed your short here so everyone can see you hauling a rocket stove oven on a bike more easily!

Howdy y'all!!! I bought an electric bicycle and a trailer for it. I mainly ride it to town and back for shopping or hauling laundry to the laundromat. In this pic, I rode it a total of 28 miles to my nearest Walmart and boy did I have a full heavy load on the trip home. My battery was about ready to die cause my road is a long uphill 1.1 mile to my driveway but, I made. I used to ride my old mountain bike all over town back where I am from since it was mostly flat roads. Here in Maine, it is a whole nother thing. I always struggled with hills but I had to stop riding it for 10 yrs till I bought this one in 2021. Now I am back to happily riding it . 😊

The tallest thing I've hauled yet. The people at the nursery were amused.

We have a cargo bike and a huge trailer (for 300kg, ~3 metres long) and no car. We haul everything, all the time. The only time we borrow our neighbors car is when the cats need to go to the vet or when something is so fragile or large that it cannot possibly be hauled by bike. Pics all show my partner who has unlimited energy in his legs.

Hello to all BRAVE SOULS
Seriously. I mean it.
But I also wonder IF...and HOW anyone deals with encountering rude vehicle drivers?

Perhaps this may be on off topic but while I know how I would respond to a total ass***e drivers, I almost "lay a square egg" every time my son leaves home driving his electric mobility scooter (an enclosed electric "car").
We live in a tiny town where LITERALLY, one can get from one end to another in 5 minutes.
He's constantly told to "get off the f****ng road", and worse.
Police on the other hand is divided. Some Police officers say it's O.K. to drive on the road, some say it's only for sidewalk drive (when my son did this, a woman freaked out on him, calling him names. He had a video camera installed inside and we could witness the whole episode, and when presented at Police station, my son was in the right).
He's very conscientious, obeys rules of the road and traffic, is courteous  and yet...this is not enough.
I am NOT looking for sympathy! He's not a fighter.

Needles to say..... Just to make long story short, my question remains as asked. Thanks to anyone who can offer some  insights

Ela La Salle wrote:Hello to all BRAVE SOULS
Seriously. I mean it.
But I also wonder IF...and HOW anyone deals with encountering rude vehicle drivers?

I'm not familiar with what an electric mobility scooter looks like or what the actual laws are in your area for them.  In general I'd say it's good to know where one should legally be riding.  For me on my bike it is in the street, and I have the right to use the whole lane, though I think that would be rude of me when it's not needed.  I generally stay to the side when on roads and will avoid super busy roads with narrow shoulders if I can.  My preference is to use trails or paths for walking, biking, roller blading, etc. whenever possible.  When I'm in the road with traffic I will also make sure to use hand signals when turning, something I don't see other bikers do.  This lets drivers know in advance when and where I'm planning to turn.  I also see it as a show of respect when sharing the road.

I very rarely have encounters with rude vehicle drivers.  On the handful of occasions I have been yelled at to get out of the road I just ignore them and bike on.  I know I'm where I am legally supposed to be.  If I do chose to ride on a sidewalk, where I am not technically supposed to be, but sometimes is WAY safer, I ride as though I am invisible to everyone because those driving motor vehicles tend to not notice me there when turning.  I will also make sure to give way to any pedestrians since I am in their zone.

The longer term way to deal with angry drivers I've found is to have more of us out on the roads more often.  When bikers on the road are a common thing it becomes an expected issue to deal with.  Since biking has become more common around me incidences of angry drivers has basically disappeared.

Ela La Salle wrote:Hello to all BRAVE SOULS
Seriously. I mean it.
But I also wonder IF...and HOW anyone deals with encountering rude vehicle drivers?

Perhaps this may be on off topic but while I know how I would respond to a total ass***e drivers, I almost "lay a square egg" every time my son leaves home driving his electric mobility scooter (an enclosed electric "car").
We live in a tiny town where LITERALLY, one can get from one end to another in 5 minutes.
He's constantly told to "get off the f****ng road", and worse.
Police on the other hand is divided. Some Police officers say it's O.K. to drive on the road, some say it's only for sidewalk drive (when my son did this, a woman freaked out on him, calling him names. He had a video camera installed inside and we could witness the whole episode, and when presented at Police station, my son was in the right).
He's very conscientious, obeys rules of the road and traffic, is courteous  and yet...this is not enough.
I am NOT looking for sympathy! He's not a fighter.

Needles to say..... Just to make long story short, my question remains as asked. Thanks to anyone who can offer some  insights

Hi Ela. I am sorry for you.
Here in the Netherlands there are laws ruling all kind of traffic. There are roads for cars only, roads (paths) for bicycles only, roads for both bicycles and scooters and other roads (streets) for all vehicles mixed together. Every police officer knows those laws. Of course not everyone driving or riding any vehicle knows, but if there's a problem and the police comes ... it will be clear.

The law here that helps most is this one: if there's an accident with a car and a bicycle/scooter rider or a pedestrian ... it's the car driver's fault. People driving a car have a driver's licence, they are supposed to know all rules, people walking or riding a bicycle can do so without a licence. People in a car are safer in traffic (I mean: they are protected by their car around them), they need to take into account that pedestrians and bicyclists are weaker, less safe.
In general I don't always like all those rules and regulations in this country. But I do like those laws protecting 'weaker' persons in traffic.

Thank you.
I didn't mean to hijack this tread!  
I appreciate your answers.
The laws aren't all that clear even to the Police.
I apologize for "butting in".

Thought I'd share a load I hauled today on the new ebike I got last year.  Most of the big loads I haul tend to be logs.  When trees go down in storms on the bike trail near me I will often go out and perform a bit of civic duty clearing them away.  At the same time I can conveniently cut them into sections I can later fit on my bike.  Then throughout the year I slowly clear them away from the trail during my rides stacking up firewood for the winter.

This is a smaller load weight wise on the bike compared to some logs I've hauled.  It was nice to be able to load on a pile of smaller diameter ones though as they'll require less splitting later on when prepping them for my RMH.  Oh, and that pile of logs you see in the background, the vast bulk of that was hauled home on my bike from 1 to 12 miles away.  Lots of downed trees this last year.  This year it looks like I'll be able to get all the wood I need for next winter this way!

David Huang wrote:Thought I'd share a load I hauled today on the new ebike I got last year.  Most of the big loads I haul tend to be logs.  When trees go down in storms on the bike trail near me I will often go out and perform a bit of civic duty clearing them away.  At the same time I can conveniently cut them into sections I can later fit on my bike.  Then throughout the year I slowly clear them away from the trail during my rides stacking up firewood for the winter.

This is a smaller load weight wise on the bike compared to some logs I've hauled.  It was nice to be able to load on a pile of smaller diameter ones though as they'll require less splitting later on when prepping them for my RMH.  Oh, and that pile of logs you see in the background, the vast bulk of that was hauled home on my bike from 1 to 12 miles away.  Lots of downed trees this last year.  This year it looks like I'll be able to get all the wood I need for next winter this way!

Cool! David.
I’m thinking about an ebike, what kind is that?  Thanks

Thekla McDaniels wrote:

David Huang wrote:Thought I'd share a load I hauled today on the new ebike I got last year.  Most of the big loads I haul tend to be logs.  When trees go down in storms on the bike trail near me I will often go out and perform a bit of civic duty clearing them away.  At the same time I can conveniently cut them into sections I can later fit on my bike.  Then throughout the year I slowly clear them away from the trail during my rides stacking up firewood for the winter.

This is a smaller load weight wise on the bike compared to some logs I've hauled.  It was nice to be able to load on a pile of smaller diameter ones though as they'll require less splitting later on when prepping them for my RMH.  Oh, and that pile of logs you see in the background, the vast bulk of that was hauled home on my bike from 1 to 12 miles away.  Lots of downed trees this last year.  This year it looks like I'll be able to get all the wood I need for next winter this way!

Cool! David.
I’m thinking about an ebike, what kind is that?  Thanks

I am pretty happy with my ebike, Thekla.  What I got was from Juiced Bikes.  Specifically I went for their Rip Current S model.  It has a good long mile range on the battery and performed well in most, though not all, of the winter riding conditions I have.  Those are the factors I was looking for in an ebike.  As they say, your mileage may vary based on what your biking conditions/needs are.

Thanks David

Sort for tiny veer off topic folks😊

You are welcome Thelka.

Back to our regularly scheduled bike hauling!    

Update: it is now a hay wagon too
Borrowed a friend's bike for this to make a convoy. People were really staring on the highway.
I'm allergic to pollen, hence the mask.