I live in a small city where I can put my kayak into a creek that’s 5 blocks from my house or Cayuga Lake which is 10 blocks from my house. I’ve been looking for a cart that will work well with sidewalks and curbs and hold up over time. Unfortunately, the reviews I’ve read of most carts don’t sound encouraging. Has anyone done this and have a cart to recommend? How about pulling a kayak behind a bike? How about a kayak sling?
BTW, my kayak is 10 feet long and weights 48 pounds. Thanks.
roll eze with inflatabel wheels?
– Last Updated: Jun-23-04 11:51 AM EST –
never used one but seems good. How about a cart with 24 inch wheels to make curbs easier? Just off the top of my head.
I've seen 24 inch carts designed by p.netters.
I would not bike trailer a boat in an urban area or any place with lots of traffic. I might have in my twenties when I was a cycling activist, but I would walk it now.
Carts
Checkout some of these: http://community.webshots.com/album/75339708CVOdDJ
The one with the bicycle tires is excellent. Very easy to roll. The only problem is if you encounter any sand. The narrow tires sink in sand. If you have any beach to cross, I’d say try the Roleez ballon tires. I’m trying to come up with an alternative for Roleez, but I don’t live near the beach, so there’s not much incentive.
Cabelas cart
Possibly also called the canadian boat walker. This is a robust cart, possibly too heavy/bulky for kayak. So walk to the dock by the farmer’s market or Fall Creek below the falls and lock the cart to a tree with a bike lock. See you in Ithaca!
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jhtml?id=0001401013967a&navAction=push&navCount=10&indexId=cat21342&podId=0001401&catalogCode=IE&parentId=cat21342&parentType=index&rid=&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fcatalog%2Fitem-link.jhtml.1_A&_DAV=MainCatcat21276&hasJS=true&hasJS=true
I’d skip the bike
also. I use a handcart to truck my boats – longest is just over 17 feet – through some pretty crowded streets. It’s a breeze. I always give wide berth to other walkers, and I’m careful around traffic crossing streets, etc. The problem with a bike is that the yak combines with it to make a loooong vehicle, and you have to make all turns really wide. Also, that much rolling weight behind your bike makes it difficult to stop quickly – the inertia thang.
Ask me how I know…
thanks for the advice
Hmmmm! You all gave me some good things to think about. I thought I had considered all the potential problems with the bike (huge turning radius, pissing off drivers, etc.) but I totally missed the inertia problem. Thanks, paxtonmm. I’m glad you lived to give a warning.
Redmond’s bicycle wheel cart idea looks promising. I’m going to start scouting for the parts.
Thanks for your replies.
Second
I use one of these to walk my canoe or kayak to the local pond. Doesn’t fit in the kayak, but makes fine bow ballast if I’m soloing the canoe.
kayak carrier on a bike.
I’ve considered making a kayak carrier on my bike just for fun. I made a kayak cart of an axle and 20" BMW wheels and was thinking of mounting some tubing so I could put on some caliper or linear pull brakes on it and run the wire to someplace I could reach for third wheel braking. it would have to pull on both wheels equally though or else it’ll want to turn…
It’s not something that is pressing but it’s been on my back burner of my mind. There are a couple of parks here that charge admission to lakes that I could avoid by biking in.
Of course, my problem is even worse than yours, I have a 14’ boat but only weighs 43lbs.
Jay
I Googled This One
http://www.efn.org/~equinox/
The photos are kind of poor, but they seem to specialize in what you’re looking for. I was considering this idea myself at one time, then thought the better of it since I live in NYC which has way too much traffic.
Lou
what about portaging?
canoes are often carried similar distances. we use a yoke, usually a shaped center thwart with shoulder pads for comfort. if your boat has a relatively large cockpit you may be able to add a temporary yoke, held in place with bolts and wing nuts, that you can carry inside your boat.
bicycle…
actually was going to post this a few weeks ago, but your thread refreshed it in my mind.
There’s a company in Ames, IA that does delivery work using bicycles and custom-built trailers. Frequently pull 6-8’ trailers with no major increase in turning radius–and this is across a college campus. Just have to be more wary of pedestrians. Anyway, they made an extended model of their trailer and fit it with saddles to carry a 17’ kayak, I believe it was.
Trailers are lightweight aluminum, and mount to the rear axle lugs of your bike. Not sure if they have their own brakes or not, but I wouldn’t think that’d be too hard of a retrofit.
Anyway, check out their page, they’ve got some impressive move pictures…old sofa, refridgerator, etc. All moved by bicyle.
(yes, they do sell the trailers, too…and shipping seems pretty reasonable)
www.bikesatwork.com
paddleboy…
Paddleboy actually makes a kayak carrier for a bicycle for up to 14’ I think… it’s on their website. However it’s really costly. I’m thinking more of a cheaper one that I can make.
Jay
Kayak trailers.
http://www.bikesatwork.com/bike-trailers/spine-bike-trailer/
You may want to look at this website. People by us use these to commute kayaks to the lagoons by bicycle.
I use a Paddleboy
Tomato when I put in close to home. It is about a 15 minute walk and the cart does a really nice job. You may have to put some foam on the uprights to keep it from scratching your yak.
by the time I get to the water, I am pretty well warmed up from the walk because the pull is pretty effortless.
Good Luck.
I do it all the time
– Last Updated: Jun-25-04 5:56 PM EST –
haha ... I was going to make a post about this ... but was thinking ... who else is dumb enough to pull a kayak behind a bicycle ?
But I do it all the time now ... well ... maybe 6 times this season so far ... might be in a few minutes.
... typically 3 miles ... takes 20 minutes.
... typically see 11mph on the bike speedo.
I have a homemade cart using 14" (I think) childs bicycle wheels pulled from the garbage ... on a welded steel tubing frame made from 3/4" elect conduit.
Rolls like a dream ... and is tough.
Use the cart for yard/boat crap too.
Its the right height for 'effortless' standup pushing.
(without the bicycle)
For 5 blocks ... I'd just push it.
... lock the cart to a bench.
Making a tow rig behind the bicycle took some experimenting .... this works good >
The bicycle has a 2 x 4 'towbar' ... bout 36" long
(I broke 2 other setups) .. attached to bicycle back rack with two 1/4-20 bolts with wing-nuts ... tow bar has an upright 'prong' on back - bout 3 inches tall.
Hook a stout bungee into the front metal eyelet on kayak .. then firmly wrap the bungee 2 wraps around 2 x 4 ... then through the same eyelet again .. bungee length should be such that the kayak bow is close to the towbar and fairly snug.
Put the cart about 8 inches behind the kayak's C of G ... (important)
Thats your tow.
Now a safety strap ... I just use a short piece of poly rope (like a ski rope) ... and make a short loop (bout 8 inches diameter) ... this goes around the kayaks front deck rigging ... and over the upright prong.
... so if anything happens to the bungee ... its there as a safety.
The Yak and cart weighs near 100 pounds ... and up and down hills is the hard part ... up is heavy breathing ... down can be a bit scarey... get on the brakes and take it slow.
But it tows like a dream ... cars pass me like its not even there ... (a shock to me - I figged they'd freak).
big brake pads and top notch brakes
are a big help. Serious riders replace ther pads at least every year, it’s not about pad wear, it’s about tackyness of the surface.
I bet scott matthauser finned pads are still out there.
When I used to race, if it was raining you could always tell the ones with campagnolo brakes. They were the ones getting rear ended in the approach to the corners 'cause nobody else had any brakes at all! I Imagine dura ace has gotten a bit better since their first generation stuff.