Saturday, January 28, 2012

Another DIY Kayak Cart - Work in Progress



Since the original PKF DIY kayak cart instructions went over so well, I decided to up the ante and construct an improved cart with a rigid metal frame.  The 2012 Ride 135 has a unique pontoon-style hull which makes it difficult to find a commercially available cart that fits it well.

To start, the cart needed to be extremely rugged.  While I have not had any failures with the PVC cart linked above, I wanted to focus on increasing rigidity and strength.  Low weight and aesthetics were also high on the list.  The parts used in the build also needed to be available locally to make it easier for other folks to replicate the design.  Lastly, the cart had to be easy to assemble and break down.  While I am still working on a few more tweaks, this build is almost finished.   

Here is a preview -full instructions should be up this week.  Have a great weekend!

7 comments:

  1. Great stuff. I always enjoy reading about your engineering and get some ideas of things I need to do myself!

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  2. Looks Great Paul! Can't wait for the full work up. The PVC cart I built is working great. Still tweaking as I use it alot in salt water.

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  3. Thanks! I still use the PVC carts as well but I needed an additional cart so I decided to switch it up a bit.

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  4. Looks like another great idea on the way. I have upgraded my new Ride 135 with a lot of your ideas and going to get to repeat them as I'm about to pick up another new Ride! Keep the ideas coming!!

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  5. Appreciate it and have fun rigging up Ride #2! I was hoping to have the writeup completed by this past Friday, but I guess that was a little ambitious. I wanted to add a video of the assembly and some of the construction as well, so I'll get it up this week.

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  6. ...and it is finally done! Check under Feb 2012 or copy and paste the direct link - http://palmettokayakfishing.blogspot.com/2012/02/build-strong-diy-kayak-cart.html

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  7. Finally, got around to building the cart. quick and easy. but of course it wouldn't be my kind of build without a goof up. I bought HF wheels and didn't check the bore. 5/8th so the 3/4 axle tube was no good. then, my HF step bit did not have the balls to bore out the 90 degree bracket. solution was a set of 12 inch spoked wheels with a half inch bore that I had laying around. That solved both the wheel and the bore issue with one go. Last, Have you considered the following? instead of the cutting board, you've got an extra 8 feet of superstrut, use some of that. Not significantly heavier, run the bolt head in the channel easy peasey and one less thing to buy. Eric Esper

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