I made a homemade equivalent of the product like "Kayak and Canoe Cart with Pneumatic Tires" for roughly $45 using parts and pieces from Ax-man and Menards. It is meant to solve the problem, of not having a shuttle, wanting to solo kayak, and not wanting to inconvenience someone else for a ride, and/or not wanting to have to lock up / be away from your equipment either.
Parts
- 2x6 x 2-ft. wood (2.09 at Menards)
- 2 wheels from Ax-man Surplus (also saw similar ones at Harbor Freight: Rigid 6" castor), but there exist even less expensive castors also available. As much as I'd prefer bouncy air tires (even bike tires), I have trouble knowing where I'd get the axle to attach to the assembly.
- 8 5/16" x 3" carriage bolts
- 8 5/16" galvanized wingnuts
- cold chisel for cutting squares in wood for back of carriage bolts
- hammer, for use with chisel
- crazy glue
- 9-ft. kayak tie-down
Steps
- Cut wood base to suit, sand block of wood to desired width. Note: to reduce weight, I'm considering drilling holes in the wood to reduce the mass, kind of like Mongoose Californian rims would do. I'm already adding enough mass and the Kinnickinnic River is very shallow.
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Using Castors as a guide, mark and drill 5/16" holes in wood
- Using cold chisel, make a square indentation in the wood where the carriage bolts will go
- Using carriage bolt as a guide, align two washers and bond with crazy glue
Repeat for 8-sets of washers, 16 washers in all.
- Insert carriage bolts
Flush
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Insert bonded washers between castors and wood.
This will act to maintain a gap for the tie-down to slide through.
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Use wingnuts + washer to secure to wood.
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Insert kayak tie down, and wrap around back 1/3 of kayak. Secure snugly. Pull/carry using front strap. Store paddles and equipment securely inside for transport. You are now ready to hit the road (and/or sidewalk).
The unit fits behind the seat of my Percussion. If it does not fit, then remove the wingnuts, and store the parts in a drybag for reassembly at the take out point.
