Practical weight on trailer?

Hello,

I live in an area with some hills, and I'm probably getting a trailer. I see
many trailers are rated for about 40kg or so. This page has a little
calculator showing how much you can pull on your trailer
http://www.bikesatwork.com/hauling-c...-capacity.html

So... Anyone have some thoughts about pulling heavy things in non-flat
areas? Where I could find out the grades of hills where I live?

--
Erik Sandblom
my site is EriksRailNews.com
for those who don't believe, no explanation is possible
for those who do, no explanation is necessary

Erik Sandblom wrote:
So... Anyone have some thoughts about pulling heavy things in non-flat
areas?

I sometimes tow my boat to local reservoirs:
http://home.comcast.net/~prathman/P2290004.JPG
On flat ground my the trailer doesn'taffect me too much, but any hill
makes it very noticeable. One reservoir involves a 6% grade for a gain
of 1000'. The boat & trailer alone weigh about 25 kg but when other
accessories are added it can get up to the 40kg range you mentioned.
Expect to go very slow when climbing and gear the bike accordingly.

Where I could find out the grades of hills where I live?

Get a good topo map of your area (1:25000 scale or better). Note the
spots where multiple contour lines cross a road fairly close together.
Use the contour lines to determine the vertical gain and divide by the
horizontal distance as measured using the scale shown in the map legend.

i artikel , skrev peter
på den 06-05-04 23.09:

Erik Sandblom wrote:
So... Anyone have some thoughts about pulling heavy things in non-flat
areas?

I sometimes tow my boat to local reservoirs:
http://home.comcast.net/~prathman/P2290004.JPG
On flat ground my the trailer doesn'taffect me too much, but any hill
makes it very noticeable. One reservoir involves a 6% grade for a gain
of 1000'. The boat & trailer alone weigh about 25 kg but when other
accessories are added it can get up to the 40kg range you mentioned.
Expect to go very slow when climbing and gear the bike accordingly.


I spoke to a friend who once trailered some stuff over the big bridges here.
It seems these structures lean about 4-5%, and I assume that's quite common
in most places where you have big trucks hauling things. Roads intended only
for passenger cars probably have steaper inclines.

Without having tried it, it seems about 40kg is the practical weight limit
for the common 5% grade. Obviously in flat places you can take more, and in
hilly places less, unless you get electrical assist and maybe an
extra-strength hitch.
http://cleverchimp.com/

I don't think you could take all this though, even if you had a truck to
help you:
http://www.maerskline.com/link/?page...photo_gallery/
maersk_sealand_images/about_gallery_cornelius-1_gallery

--
Erik Sandblom
my site is EriksRailNews.com
for those who don't believe, no explanation is possible
for those who do, no explanation is necessary