Kayak Cart plans?

hello everyone, i am just wondering if anyone had a good kayak cart that they designed, bought or made that can give me some input on making one, or buying one. i usually am spearfishing from my kayak so i am hoping something that can hold some weight.
i dont want to spend $200 on something that i can make for $75, i have seen the wheelez and they seem bulky and overpriced.
thanks in advance!!

jeff

Having seen and used many home brew carts I've come to some conclusions..

1.) PVC ones will explode under a heavy load.  Okay explode is a bit extreme, but they do eventually fail.
2.) Welded ones are crazy heavy
3.) Using just about any wheel other than a Roleez is fine as long as you don't plan on crossing any soft sand. 

You can buy Roleez wheels independent of a cart, but at ~$60 each you might as well buy the cart.  If you find a good Roleez wheel alternative please let us know.

Brian

Here is a link for an eBay Rolleez Mini - currently at $53 with 4 days left on the auction.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Wheel-EEZ-Kayak-Cart-New-In-Original-Box_W0QQitemZ220221836009QQihZ012QQcategoryZ87089QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Good luck!

John

Your needs in a cart will really depend on the terrain. Deep sand pretty much requires those big ballon tires. Any other terrain just about any cart will work, and the length of service will be the deciding factor (cheaper vs more well built).
The wheeleez carts aren't too expensive for the quality. I have abused 2 of the standard wheel carts now, and the oldest needs a new axle due to sand abrasion. This is really the only weakness of these particular carts I can see. I have put these carts through it with up to 2 loaded yaks per a cart over  rutted rocky trails, sand, etc. and they are still trucking.
I think the larger sand tires (as opposed to the standard's smaller black tires) have their own bearings and the sand abrasion would be less of an issue.

 I built a take-down cart out out of steel tubing after seeing the pvc ones blow up. Originally it had dually pneumatic tires on it but after one trip to Elk they were tossed for Wheeleze wheels. You need the low pressure balloons on sugar sand and rough terrain.
  Occasionally their site has wheels on sale, that is when I bought mine.

hey thanks everyone for the input!! i am glad i heard about the pvc blowing up before i went out and bought some to make it. i will let you know if i think of something else before i just buy one!!

Every PVC cart I have ever seen eventually died catastophically.  A good cart is a worthwhile investment.  FYI-Rolleez has two grades of baloon wheels, the OS style is AWESOME, and will be available again soon.  The new ones with the treads are not as good and are prone to failure.

The only advice I can offer is for you to bite the bullet and spend the $$ for a Roleez.
I did and my only regret is I didn't do it sooner.
Have you ever met anyone who regrets buying it?? I haven't. But if you do, buy it from them.

The only advice I can offer is for you to bite the bullet and spend the $$ for a Roleez.
I did and my only regret is I didn't do it sooner.
Have you ever met anyone who regrets buying it?? I haven't. But if you do, buy it from them.

I second that! Money well spent with no regrets! The balloon tires roll over everthing.

Every single PVC cart I've ever seen, was made from small pipe. 1" on average. Since I also wanted to make a PVC kayak rack, I went with 1 1/2" PVC, and used large diameter wheelbarrow wheels that coast over sand just fine when deflated to about 10 PSI. Elk proven. Twice. Granted, not as easy to pull as Roleeze, but certainly manageable. This cart is rugged enough, and can be taken down, that one day down the road I'd be willing to pop for Roleeze wheels. Cost was about $60, but that was mostly for the wheels, which can be found for less than what I paid for them at Home Depot.

10" length 1.5" PVC
4 Tees
4 End caps (optional)
36" 5/8" steel rod
2 Wheelbarrow wheels  (that need 5/8" axle)
6 1/2" washers, sized such that they just fit into the Tees.
2 cotters to retain the wheels on the axles.
Metal filled epoxy and PVC cement.


Assemble as shown, using an epoxied stack of 3 steel washers on each side of the outside Tee of the axle housing. I gooped everything up heavily, and then used a 5/8" drill to drill out the epoxy to fit the axle snugly. I also did not glue the upright to the axle housing.  I used screws and the natural press fit to retain them. So one can take the wheels and uprights off if needed for stowage.





Regards,
Scott


P.S. FWIW, Home Depot also sells a plastic hand truck, that with judiciuos cutting, and using some 2x2 wood, can be turned into a kayak cart. I did this myself, but then left the darn thing at an HMB put-in right before the 2006 tourney. I then made this cart for 2006 Elk. Pictures of the handtruck/cart might still be found at the Kayakfishingstuff.com forum, which is where I stole the idea.

P.P.S - I also seem to remember seeing a super-hella-stout cart made with bicycle wheels and 2" PVC used by Force 10 at Elk. Sean could probably confirm.

P.P.S - I also seem to remember seeing a super-hella-stout cart made with bicycle wheels and 2" PVC used by Force 10 at Elk. Sean could probably confirm.

Force 10.. cart.. meh..I thought they simply threw their kayaks (two or more at a time)  up onto their shoulders and ran up the hill bare foot, dropped them off at the office and then ran back down to carry their paying customers up the hill on their backs.  At least that what I remember as I saw them quickly pass me going up the hill with much ease.

Brian

Yeah Force 10 has big ass PVC carts with bike wheels.  They work well until they hit sand.

after much hassle and pain with broken home built carts I dropped the cash and bought the roleez.much like every one else said, why and the hell didn't I buy it sooner.

Hey everyone thanks for the good advise. now for more questions!! with the wheel eez does anyone have a preference on the mini cart or the bigger one. besides the price how do they compare? and if you could please explain what the "os" one is without the tread on the tires?


thanks again

Hey everyone thanks for the good advise. now for more questions!! with the wheel eez does anyone have a preference on the mini cart or the bigger one. besides the price how do they compare? and if you could please explain what the "os" one is without the tread on the tires?


thanks again

The mini is only really good for SIK (Sit Inside Kayaks). It's pretty small and has a hard time with our wider/larger sit on tops (SOT). Plus the large one w/ the large wheels ab-so-lutely kicks ass on sand. I've put mine through it's paces and IMO money well spent!

Z