[shakes]

Entertain me here, I’ve never played trailers before.
But I’m at the stage in life where kids are filling the car, and I want to transport 5 bicycles + people for shuttles.

I’ve got a horrible little thing off Facebook marketplace a long time ago. https://easytrailer.com.au/page19.html

It cost me a song and dragged my moto around a lot.
Now it’s sitting there rusting I’m debating if I can extend the drawbar ALOT. Fit suzuki hubs and better wheels/tires, a basic false floor for gear and tie downs on platform for push bikes.

Or if I try flog it off, and do similar. To a more robust starter.
Said kids and bikes keep me broke, so it needs to be done on tiny budgets.
Will mostly be towed behind a diesel pajeros


If I keep it under 3m in length (Victoria) even though modified, will I have to get it recertified?

[Coyote]

The problem with just extending the drawbar is that you increase the drawbar weight, and this can be a BIG problem, trailers are designed to have (on average) 10% of the trailer weight on the drawbar as this keeps them reasonably stable. this cannot be countered by just putting a lot of weight behind the trailer either as the further the weight from the axle the more unstable it becomes.
The design of the trailer should always follow good engineering practice, long drawbars make it easier to reverse and to put lots of crap on them BUT it all comes at a cost, and please do not make that cost a part of your safety (or that of your kids)
then there is the attachment of the said new long drawbar, welding is an art, there are lots of Mates that can do it for you but do you really know what quality the welding is, do you know what condition the trailer frame is that you are attaching the new (extended) drawbar to.
Basically just adding more questions to your question i know, but hopefully the answers will assist you in making the right decisions for your family (and the other road users).
And i am a low life Queenslander so can't help with the Vic rego, but at the end of the day it has to meet the ADR's (there is a home built trailer guide that you could read also to assist with your project.
Cheers and good luck