Kayak Kart

I swore I saw a link somewhere on this site for kayak kart wheels. I do remember they were only $5 but I can't seem to find the link now. Any help would be appreciatied.

Thanks, Bigfishbabb

I got a pair from Harbor (harbour?) Freight. They're the ones for $5, tho I think it came to $9 w/ shipping. I've got a set and they're pretty beefy, like hand truck wheels. I went to Home Depot and got a set of lug bolts for like $1.79 each.
They'll be great for pavement and rocky terrain, though they might plow through sand.
Now I just need to design a cart for them. Thinking wood 2x4's

Last night I finally upgraded my cart.  It started as a pair of wheelbarrow tires ($17 each) and a ~36" 5/8" threaded rod as the axle.  It originally had a PVC 'ladder' type support that went through the scuppers on my festiva, but it broke in short order and with the addition of my drifter to the fleet I couldn't use scuppers because the two kayaks have different dimentions.

For over a year now I've just used it with a swim noodle on the axle, and the end of my drifter could sit on the axle with a bit of rope holding it in place.  Unfortunately the festiva doesn't have sharp enough ends to fit between the tires.  Having the wheels at the end make it no different than carrying the yak between two people as far as pulling it.  With my dad here, the festiva's been seing more action than usual so I finally got motivated to upgrade the cart.

I use 2x4 and T shaped steel brackets, the brackets came with a 1/2" hole at the bottom of the T, which happened to be the perfect point for the axle to go through.   34" 2x4 pieces form the top rails (kind like a boat trailer) and ~6" pieces go down from the middle of those to the axle, held by the T on one side and just a steel strap on the other.  Final tough was to cut a slit down pieces of fat swim noodle and fit them on the tops of the rails with some duct tape to hold it in place.

I'll have photos shortly, the only drawback is that it weighs about 20lbs (mostly tires and axle), but this is one cart that will never, ever, ever break.  I could probably attach the front handle of my kayak to the back of my van and tow it to fort ross on this thing.

The advantages of the rails vs the scupper method are it provides better support for the boat, fits any kayak, and can be put at the exact balance point of the kayak for eeeez rolling.  The wide wheelbase makes it unlikely to tip going through rough stuff.  Disadvantages are the rails are kind of long (no biggie in my van) and it needs to be strapped on somehow if you're going over rough terrain.

I got my wheels from the harbor freight store for 10 bucks a piece.  I used 1/2 inch bolts for my axels and put pieces of 1/2 inch copper tubing in the wheels for bushings since the hole is 5/8 inches.

I just built some huge carts just for the heck of it. I used wheels form HF too.  On sale for 4.99 ea.

My first cart for a rather heavy fiberglass 13' kayak was a harborfreight hand truck with the bottom flat piece cut off.  I attached the nose loop of the kayak to my mountain bicycle seat and "trucked" it quite nicely.

Here's setup now using half of a garage sale bought walker I modified by adding junked toy electric jeep wheels.  It works GREAT for my 12' Old Town Loon 111.  It's very light as wheels are hollow, and I can even attach it to rear upper deck and carry it on yak with me.

I saw this cart - looks nice but I wish they made carts to where you have the  option of switching tires  - for sand and pavement use.

...a kick stand to keep the cart upright while you load your yak on it would be nice too....

http://www.paddlecart.com/

I just followed the instructions (mostly) on this link and built a cart.  

http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com/articles_view.asp?Kayak_Articles=38

The instruction's were very detailed and I wasn't quite as careful as the author but it seams to work well.  If needed I can also disassemble the cart and attach it to the back of my kayak.

Brian 3Dog

B3D... just a word of caution.... PVC carts have their limits.... just ask anyone of us here (including me) who have built one and used'em on rocky trails.  Even Erik's monster PVC cart took a dump recently.

Thanks for the word of caution.  I must say that I probably have only put a few hundred yards on my cart so I can't say how long it will last, but I can see some weaknesses in the pvc design.  

Another downside that I noticed to the PVC cart was the final cost, by time you purchase all of the pieces it is almost as expensive as purchasing a premade real metal cart.  I happened to have a lot of scrap materials around which is why I did the PVC thing but shelling out nearly 70 bucks for materials (according to the link) just to make your own plastic cart seemed high to me.

Brian 3Dog

I have tried different variations of kayak carts over the years. This last weekend I had the chance to use my new Roleez wheels and I will never go back to anything else. My yak glided over the sand almost as easy as it would pavement. Made getting to and from the water a breeze.
Con: Expensive
Pro: Worth every penny

OK, Now I am logged in. That was me above

Hey, those Roleez... do they come with "regular" wheels?  Or just the sand baloon wheels?  I'd like to be able to have both....

You can't really switch wheels on the Roleez carts. the axles are different widths.  The regular wheels will get it done most of the time, unless its soft sand.  The sand wheels are flat amazing, and tougher than you think.  We schlepped A LOT this summer at Elk and at Stillwater...zero issues and awesome performance.  Just wish they weren't so damn expensive.

I have BOTH carts. I got the one with the regular wheels when I first got into the sport. HATED dealing with the sand and the wheels were only good enuf to get me to the sand. After that they just bury themselves. It was easier to drag the yak on the sand than to use the regular wheels.
Last time out was the 1st time I ever used the Roleez wheels. If you are trying to make up your mind as to which one to buy, my advice is spend the cash.
The difference between the wheels is like the difference between paddling a kayak or paddling a Zodiac with a broken motor. It can be done, but which would you rather do?