Bike Trailer suggestions for hauling a tuba

[jr98664]

First of all, I cycle to high school every single day—Unlike most suburbanites, I don't even plan on owning a car. The problem arises from the fact that I play the tuba in our school's top band. A trumpet would easily fit on my bike's rack—a tuba, not so much. I would like to either build or purchase a trailer in order to haul my tuba to school and back.

The case in which I will be transporting the tuba is 39" long with the bottom being 30", 12.5" wide at the base (20" wide at the bell), and 25.5" tall, weighing around 40 lbs with the tuba inside. I would also want to use the trailer for general hauling, including my guitar in its SKB case.
http://www.interstatemusic.com/wcsstore/InterstateMusic/ims/ipf/900002636.jpg (http://www.interstatemusic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10051&langId=-1&productId=82137)
Right now, I'm looking at a few trailers, most of which seem to be too short. My favorite so far would have to be Carry Freedom's Y-Frame Large (http://www.carryfreedom.com/Y-Frame.html). The Burley Flatbed (http://burley.com/products/adventure/flatbed.cfm) looks good too, but I'm worried that the fabric might not be strong enough for the edges of the tuba case, and it could possibly be too short to hold the entire case.

Do you have any suggestions for an appropriate trailer? I'm not fully opposed to building one from scratch, but I would obviously need a good place to start. Any help would be appreciated; after all, I am driving one fewer car.

[K'Tesh]

Having played the baritone horn in Highschool, I was provided one for home, one for school... Not the answer you might have been looking for, but perhaps an acceptable alternative.

Rubberside Down!
K'Tesh

[wyeast]

You could get a Bikes @ Work (http://www.bikesatwork.com/) trailer, but they're not cheap...

[jr98664]

Well, K'Tesh, despite being one of the best high school bands in the region, we barely have enough tubas to outfit each tubist with one. And even though we're a school of richer-than-average suburbanites, we don't have enough money to get any more—these things cost more than all but the most expensive Madones! Maybe we would have some money if everyone didn't spend it all on fuel driving to school. :-P

On the topic of Money, the Bikes @ Work trailers seem a bit too expensive for my budget. As such, I think I'm looking at either a Burley Flatbed or Nomad. For a bit more, I still think the Y-frame is looking like a good investment, due to its more customizable nature.

Considering that I've never even used a trailer to haul anything, I would greatly appreciate some more suggestions.

[bonny790]

These should keep you busy for a while:

http://mikebentley.com/bike/trailers.htm

http://www.bike-buggy.com/

http://drumbent.com/trailer.html

[LESTER]

You can get trailers for pretty cheap on craigslist, etc. I've seen 'em for $50 at times.

Trailers can be a hassle, one extra thing to park, lock, store, etc. Sooo

I think I'd just go for some rack and tuba case modifications (if possible).

I added a plank of plywood (6"x 24") to my rack to carry larger items - even brought a boxed pressure washer from Home Depot back to work with my new extended rack.

I drilled 4 holes in my blackburn rack to fit 4 bolts with nylock nuts that I got from a skate shop to affix the plywood to the rack. Not all skate shops sell bolts that are long enough, so you may have to look around, OR just get some regular old hardware shop nuts and bolts and a tube of Locktite.

Then get 4 (I thought they were called eyelets, but internet search ain't finding them for me) doodads that are semi-circles of metal with two flat spots on either end with hole in 'em for bolts, and related bolts/nuts for the case. Use your best judgment on placement, probably want the bell hanging off the end.

Then get some bungees.

Loading the tuba case on a rack would probably require 2 people. I'd probably contact-cement some foam on the top of the wood to reduce vibrations and sliding.

Depending on how handy you are, all the work involved might steer you towards finding a used $100 trailer somewhere. I wanna BOB Ibex really bad, but oooh, that's a lotta money.