I have a PO homemade set of wheels for my N5.0 that us PVC, galv. conduit, and huge plastic dock wheels. I used them on our floating dock at the club to get the boat out of the water and tied the tethers to the shroud bases. When I got to the trailer and tipped the bows up the wheels shot forward (to the end of the slack in the tethers) and slammed the sterns on the concrete.
Any tips for making non-cradle wheels work?
Should I begin glassing some cradles?
Will any round profile work (12"pvc) or should I fit my hulls? Thanks.
Block the wheels. Then unlash and load the boat. You can tie plastic fenders under the sterns too, to protect them.
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/taylor-made--super-gard-fenders--P005_156_001_008?recordNum=4
I store my boat that way year-round. The hulls never touch the ground.
You can also use tether lines going forward and aft, to keep wheels in place when the downward pressure is off.
Even a line from axle going aft to cross beam or other such area will work, if the forward lines are actually tied forward of axle location.
Start glassing too. Cradles are so much easier to deal with.
I sail with a few g-cats with lots of rocker in them
we use wheels without cradles all the time on them
it can be more work to get them under the boat than on board boats with flatter bottoms but can work
a single line from the wheel axle can work - the line needs to have no slack in it so the wheels can't "shoot" out
if your rolling the boat forward wrap the line around the sidestays
if your rolling backwards wrap the line around the front beam
Thanks to you all. My buddy is giving me a N5.2 as well so I will start glassing. I will also add the fore/aft lines to keep things stable.
Now if I could just mount a 20lb motorized battery in the wheel I could make Segway cat trax...
I use Cat Trax with the stock cradles on my NACRA 5.7 which has a similar hull profile to yours. The round cradles provide enough slip resistance to prevent unwanted movement, but not so much I can't slide the wheels under the center of balance. In the image below, note I take the tether behind the shroud and secure on the dolphin striker brace. This keeps them from sliding forward or aft.
I was thinking you could probably add some lines to restrain your dock wheels fore and aft, but a set of cradles will work better and distribute weight. Keep looking for a used set of wheels. The real thing is amazing. I can't believe I went so many years without wheels. The skegg hulls simply do not move on a beach without damaging the bottom of the hulls.
Edited by tominpa on May 07, 2019 - 09:58 AM.
The real thing is amazing. I can't believe I went so many years without wheels.
+1
It is really some of the best money I spent. Really makes me enjoy the sport so much more. My Gcat wont budge on the beach so I don't really have a choice, I even carry mine with me on the boat which I know isn't common