canoe cart portage?

You can make a nice one
from one of those old baby joggers.

I did a lot of portages of the Racquette Falls carry in the 90 miler with one I got from a thrift store for $12.

I stripped it and cut the front wheel off and bolted an aluminum tube across it. Used some foam noodles to make a cradle, and then used two cam lock buckle straps each cut in half with the ends bolted to the frame to cinch down the canoe.

If you want, I can send you a few pictures



Jack L

here is strong cart
trY this one—strong and heavY. ive put on two canoes on top at once plus gear…

http://www.campmor.com/Product___60631?source=CI&ci_sku=60631PUR&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw=

unicart
A single wheel roller held at either end ? Or does the hull roll away from control ?



http://www.thediyhunter.com/images/journal/2010/deer-cart/single-wheel-elk-deer-cart-l.jpg

Same exact cart…
…as the one marketed as the “Swedish Cart”. It is sold under a variety of brands. And, BTW, there is even a kit available that turns it into a bicycle trailer.

yep, I got two of them carts
and use both sets- one on each end of the poly canoe. Hard to steer that way, but rolls real easy-nothing heavy to lift need a lot of straps to secure it to boat but that’s what worked the best for my wife and I with our poly canoe on some of the “90 miler” terrain .

I hate portaging- but recognize its a necessary evil to get to some wild places. I find that many times you can shorten or eliminate portages if you have some ww skills, and lining can often be done as well but I’ve never met any portage I’ve liked.

Its good but hardly indestructible
I’ve seen pics of the wheels folded in half… Not the way they are supposed to fold for storage but entirely twisted.



I have one but don’t think it would hold up in Algonquin. BWCA doesn’t allow carts.

Taco Wheel
We did that on the trail from Umbagog to Rangley.

The cart was quite similar to the Paddleboy ATC and the load (canoe and two guys gear) was no where near 300 lbs.

But I expect most any bicycle wheel would taco when the cart is tilted some 45 degrees over on one wheel and dropping a foot off of a small boulder.

That trail is a very rutted, rocky jeep track. And it’s about as rugged as anything I would want to use a portage cart on though the Raquette Falls carry is a close second.

I was surprised that the owner was able to hammer the wheel back straight enough to use the cart for the paved road portage between Mooslookmaguntic and Rangely.

cart
I use a canoe cart. Payed $60 for it. My canoe weighs 80 lbs. I can carry it, but im not 30 yrs old anymore. Why not make the job easier…



http://www.wheeleez.com/images/kayak-canoe-cart-TT-trans-800px.jpg



Some tips I’ve learned:

  1. Set the cart toward the end of the canoe instead of center.
  2. Use two straps or rope to secure.
  3. Push the canoe instead of pulling.
  4. Put your gear close to the cart, not on the end your lifting.

I disagree with step "1"
it is much easier with a canoe or kayak balanced on the portage buggy.

Let the buggy carry all the weight. All you have to do is push



Jack L

Single wheeled cart
Had a Scout leader construct a “buck bike” similar to the single wheel cart shown and he used it to transport canoes and chuck boxes. It was great for hauling heavy, but compack gear like the chuck boxes, over single track trails into camp. it was not good at hauling canoes. The cart could not be steered using its handles since they were under the canoe. And the long canoe on the cart had a very high center of gravity above the wheel. Strapping the canoe to the mostly flat cart was a chore and it was never very secure on the cart.

I would not try two single wheeled carts under a canoe. How would you pivot a single cart under the canoe to steer it? And maintain balance with the cart skewed under the canoe. Would be tough on the people at each end. And were do you put a cart like that when you are on the water?

Push not pull??
On smooth ground pushing might work, but run the wheel against an obstacle and the canoe located above the wheel will tip forward. A wheelbarrow is pushed, but the handles go straight to the wheel axle. A cart is much easier pulled over an obstacle than pushed over it.

You are thinking of Raquette Falls
I am thinking of the mile long camp ground carry and 99 percent of the carries in the south that are flat

I agree on rough carries, but most down here in “god’s Land” just require being in the back with a finger or two on the top of the stern to keep it balanced, and the whole system basically goes by itself with no work.



Jack L


Smooth carries
Jack,

I’m thinking about every carry i know except 8th Lake Campground and 5th Lake to 6th Lake thru Inlet on the highway.

If your portages are so flat and smooth, why not trench a canal and eliminate the portage?

You don’t push your canoe anyway, you just follow Nanci who is pulling from the front.

Bill

Hey, I’m not like you wimpy C-4’s
I carried the past two years and will never use a buggy up there again!



Although it is in the truck awaiting our Florida sojurn



Jack L

happy trails
I C4’d the past two 90 milers without wheels, just two people carrying the big boat overhead. However, the Cannonball-90 (the unsupported unofficial 90-miler done all in one day) has twice the portage miles, 10 miles worth. The longest is 3.7 miles on a smooth dirt/paved road around Buttermilk Falls. We take wheels on the Cannonball.



Pushing works for a nice changeout of methods, but only on the very smooth flat road portions. Pulling works better going uphill regardless of the terrain. Most portages are wheelable with more or less difficulty, but however you do it it is a suffering time through the Raquette Falls 1.1 mile carry.

Nanci put her foot down
Jack,

We know the real reason you can’t use a cart anymore is that Nanci got tired of pulling the canoe and you over the carries while you waved at all the young girls in spandex in the war canoes.

You should have 'pulled’your share of the load instead of being 'pushy’from the stern.

Bill

wimpy C-4s
Jack,

My memory of the year you went C-4 in a Minnesota III was that you sold the boat shortly after the 90 Miler and said it was the hardest paddling you had ever done to paddle stern in the C-4 and you would never torture yourself like that again.

Last year was our 10th year in C-4 and both Browns Tract and Raquette Falls beat me up more each year. When I am as old as you I might have to slow down and paddle Super Veterans in another class. Next year is number 20 for me, if I make it.

Bill

Just getting back to this post
If you do give up the C-4 and go in a different class, (maybe C-2 ?) try carrying.

I had always used wheels with the C-2 until two years ago, and each year the carries got worse.

Then when I switched to carrying, we had our best portages every, and once again this year the Browns tract and Raquette Falls carry was a piece of cake with me carrying the boat and she the gear.

We past our competition, (two guys who on the water are faster then us) on the Raquette Falls carry where they were using wheels and beat them for the day.





Jack L

C4 carry

– Last Updated: Nov-23-14 9:35 PM EST –

I've paddled the Adirondack 90-miler race in all sorts of canoe craft, from C1 to voyageur. In 18 years of paddling the 90 I've gone back and forth with or without wheels. The problem is, according to the rules, if you use wheels on any one day, you must carry them on all three days of the race. The carries are wheel friendly on day one, but not at all on day two, and wheels are really not needed on day three. Carry miles total about five miles during the 3-day staged race.

For the previous two years I have paddled the 90 in a C4 and done the portages by carrying the canoe overhead, with two paddlers bearing the load just as they would carry a C2. In the bow I attach short lengths of tubular foam "noodles" to rest on shoulders. In the stern I use a clamp-in yoke on shoulders. The noodles do not work n the stern because the seat is in the way of your head at the gunwale width where the noodles would fit on shoulders. Mostly just two of us carry the canoe on each carry, but the other two of the crew can switch out on the run if needed for break.

I've done the same carries the same way with a lightweight C6 voyageur canoe, a single person in the bow with the padded deck on one shoulder, and two more people shouldering on the gunwales a few feet from the stern. Three others carry paddles and extra gear.

On the other hand, when we paddle the Cannonball-90, (the unofficial and unsupported all in one day 90 mile route), the carry mileage expands to ten miles. Done that six times so far. We do use wheels in almost all cases on that continuously moving very long day.

Pushing vs. Pulling
I’ve got a lot of experience now guiding canoes through all sorts of portages and carries, and as I’ve gained experience I find myself pushing from the rear at least 90% of the time. Why? Let me count the reasons (there aren’t that many, so don’t panic)


  1. Pulling the canoe is usually the best way to get over a tough obstacle, sometimes a small log, but usually rocks, ditches, soft sand, roots, etc. BUT, I find that the best way to get over obstacles is to avoid them in the first place, and I am best able to do that by guiding the boat from the rear, and steering it around obstacles, as opposed to guiding from the front and then constantly looking back to adjust the orientation of the wheels if necessary (and it is often necessary). If necessary, it is simple to go to the front of the canoe, get over an obstacle, and then carry on from the rear.


  2. I find it easier to push a canoe up a hill than to pull it. It is easier on my back, and I seem to get more leverage. Especially if I am also dodging obstacles.


  3. it is also easier to slow and guide a canoe down a hill from the rear.


  4. During horsefly and deerfly season, I have found that when they are attracted by movement, they go to the head of whatever is moving. Most of the time, I can push the canoe along from the rear while watching a holding pattern of flies at the bow of my canoe looking for something to bite, seemingly unaware of the tasty treat 16 feet to their rear.


  1. Finally, while maneuvering in tight corners, it is easier to control my end of the canoe while simultaneously guiding the other end if I can keep that other end in my sight without having to turn around.



    Your mileage may vary, but I honestly shake my head when I see companions pulling their load when it would be easier pushing.



    -rs