I’ve got a 70lb. plastic tandem rec boat (Wilderness Pamlico 14.5) that lives in my garage, about 200 yards from the waters of Lake Huron.
To move the boat to the water I’m thinking I need a nice little cart that will work well on grass and sand equally well.
Any suggestions?
maybe this one
I have the paddleboy yedo, which works great on grass, paving, dirt, light sand. Have not tried it on deep beach sand, but I notice the paddleboy Air Yedo is specifically designed for sand, and other terrain.
http://www.paddleboy.com/pages/product_pages/air_yedo.html
Coincidentally…
was out with someone from New England Small Craft who had one – two wheel device that straps on to the stern area. You then just pull the boat from the bow toggle. The device is small enough to fit in a day hatch without disassmbly.
I guess they are making it and selling it from the shop.
sing
Dicks sells carts for about seventy $
It says you live in GR and you are also saying your garage is 200 yards from Lake Huron.
There are various carts for sale, I think if you live in GR Dicks has one at a reasonable price. However I think if you can get one with bigger wheels you would be better off than with the smaller wheels for moving across the sand.
Misfortune with renters and not enough income caused me to no longer have a house a half mile from Lake Huron.
What county is your garage in? Curious.
If the water levels go back up to near their 1986 levels there might be less beach to contend with.
Grass & sand? The solution is simple…
NO CART. Come on, the waters that you could take that boat through will do more damage than grass & sand… Is this boat a “garage queen”, a “show piece” or a “toy”. Sooner or later it is gonna get dinged!!!
Grab ahold of the carry handle and drag it. If it is indead a tandem, tell the other half to “get off their lazy butt and grab the other end”.
Paddle easy,
Coffee
Build a cart…
Simple…buy the wheels for cheap at Harbor freight…
http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com/articles_view.asp?Kayak_Articles=38
pictures are there scroll down…
Second Roleez
Best cart I have ever used for deep sand.
Roleez for sure
I have a set of Roleez beach wheels for my Hobie 17 (sailboat). The boat weights 300#s and these overwide balloon tires work great in the soft sand. Makes a 300# boat very easy to pull around on gravel, grass or soft sand.
When used with a 70# kayak they should be great. However, they make 2 different types. One with balloon tires (good), one with hard rubber tires (bad for sand)
That would wear me out before paddling.
Much easier to pull a boat on wheels than to drag through grass or sand. I had to pull my 60 lb boat about 150 yards through grass this summer and it about killed me.
Are you 80 yrs old?
I am 33 & drag my 40# boat all over (except for pavement or cement). Plus load it on top of my Blazer & unload it by myself. All this ontop of 2-6 hour paddles…
Paddle easy,
Coffee
Cheap?..Shoulder harness!
I don’t know much,but a simple shoulder harness should do fine. Even pull a couple off your old back pack. Or buy a couple five dollar pads from the weight lifting section at Wally World, a little rope and wallah! -BOB
Nope, 43, but dragging my 56 lb Castine
with 10 or 15 lbs of gear across a 150 yards of grass was more than my body appreciated. The Castine doesn’t drag very well. I could only drag it about half way back to the car after paddling 16 miles in 3.5 hours. I had to have someone else help me the rest of the way to the car.
Why strain myself if I don’t have to?
When I was your age, I could have dragged the boat around much easier, but I don’t lift weights anymore and don’t do much else either.
Happy paddling
The problem with stern wheels…
…is that in addition to pulling the boat, the entire weight of the boat must be lifted as well. In my opinion, the best location for cart wheels is amidships; at the balance point, specifically, (and perhaps adjusted slightly depending on the balance of the current load). This way, one pulls, but doesn’t have to “lift” as well. Turning is also less of a bother with this type of arrangement.
Melissa
Converted golf cart
I’ve had great luck with a converted golf cart - version with large wheels. This cart works really well over soft sand where many manufactured brands get bogged down. One draw back is the lack of compactability.
http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=355949887&security=kAJuHY
Question
Where do you leave the cart while you’re on the water?
when on the water
I use the paddleboy Yedo. When I’m in the canoe, I stow it in the boat, fully assembled. In my kayak, I take it apart and put it in both hatches. Most of my paddling is on a lake about 2 blocks from my house. I do attract a lot of attention pulling a boat down the street, but it is really easy to move, and I don’t have to deal with trying to cartop heavy boats. Because I am not going out for extended trips, I don’t miss the cargo space the cart uses.
Seattle Sports cart
with a kickstand for ease of loading, big pneumatic tires that will work well on sand, and the whole thing folds up so you can stick it in a hatch. They dropped the price this year, so now it’s less than a hundred bucks. Whatever you do, don’t bother with a cart that has plastic wheels - they’ll just furrow into the sand.
Breakdown…
The carts I built (2) break down and store in mesh gags…the small one goes in the cockpit behind the seat, the larger one with pneumatic tires stores on the rear deck, also in a mesh bag. The larger of the two will store in a bag 18 X 9 X 6