Making An Anchor Trolly

Advice
#1

I have become a self proclaimed pro kayak modifier lol :slight_smile:



Not really but I do enjoy adding equipment to my yak to make it more functional for my personal use.



I know you can buy anchor trolley kits but I decided to visit my local hardware store and make my own. It cost me about the same to make one as it would have to order one off line but that would not have been near as much fun.



Parts I used in case anyone would like to make their own.



3-chrome eye bolts

2-chrome & brass pulleys

6-stainless nuts

6-stainless washers

1-graphite cleat

1- clevas

1-tube clear silicone

1-pack of shrink tube

28ft of 1/4 inch rope

1-3lb anchor with 38ft of 3/8s rope.



So that is the parts list, now how I put it all together.


  1. Find out the distance and placement for your anchor trolley mark and drill holes to suit eye bolts.


  2. Put one pulley on and eye bolt shaft and thread a nut all the way up until it gets tight, add one washer and push the eye bolt shaft through the holes drilled in step 1. Then place washer and nut on then inside of the boat silicone both side let it set up for a little while and tighten down. Repeat this step for the other pulley and eye bolt.



    I didn’t put the pulley in the eye bolt but rather on the shaft, this leaves the eye open for other uses such as tying off to trees ect.


  3. The 3rd eye bolt, 2 washer and 2 nuts left over will be used as an anchor attachment point place it where it best suits you. I put mine right behind me on my right side so it is convient to attach and also release should I find myself in a bad situation.


  4. Now onto reeving the trolley line run it through then put you shrink tube on the line, tie the line to the clevas cut the excess line slide the shrink tube over the knot and heat.


  5. Once you have trolley line in place install the cleat where it suits you then silicone tighten down and you are done.



    There are many sites and videos that go into a lot more detail but it is pretty simple to install just don’t be afraid to drill.



    I also dyed my trolley line red to match the kayak it looked tacky in white. My anchor line in black with red outline so it all matches.



    A safety precaution I installed just in case was/is a CRKT Bear Claw knife right in front of me on the deck of the boat. If I get tangled or my anchor gets stuck I can cut it free in a hurry without thinking or searching for a knife.



    I know all this has been posted before just sharing my experience and ideas, I read a lot of post before moving forward on this idea. I hope others will throw in there ideas and exsperiences as well.





    Be safe

    Eric G
#2

Similar idea
I came up with a very similar idea for a do it yourself trolley kit. I put mine on the new 2009 WS Tarpon SOT with the Slide Trax system. By using the track system, the small brass anchor plates and some 1/4" hardware I adapted an anchor trolley and a cleat without having to drill any holes in the hull. Also, it can all be removed and/or modified in just a matter of minutes with a single allen wrench.

#3

More thoughts
I used the nylon padeyes for rigging on my 14 foot Manta Ray. I’d rather the padeye bust than rip a hole in the boat – padeyes are easy to replace and cheap. Just have one at the front and one at the back – both attached with anodized aluminum rivets that split into three pieces at the backside – these hold very tight with or without a washer.



The whole trolley rig has stainless steel snap hooks on each end to make it easy to put on/take off. At the back, I have about a goot of shock cord that is stretched 20& or so to keep things taut. That connectes to a stainless pulley. The front has the snap hook directly tied to the same type pulley giving me about 13 feet from pulley to pulley.



I used reflective 4mm line for the trolley and cheap yellow poly cord that floats for the anchor line. The reflective line comes together with a 1.5 inch stainless ring and a snap hook. Disconnecting in the middle gives me a line that can be used as a painter or to tie the boat to something at the shore.



Use a 2lb. neoprene dumbbell (cheap) as a simple anchor – good for lakes and light currents under about 2 mph. The end of the anchor line can feed right through the ring if I need to abandon it and it’s easy to find the floating line.



jim