Hi All,

My beach wheels for the Nacra 4.5, are pretty hard to push up a boat ramp with the boat on. In the photo you can see the wheel, then there's a black rubber washer/grommet, and the white plastic pushing the assembly together. The same on both side of the wheel, there's no bearing etc inside the wheel.



To me, while the rubber grommet is keeping debris out of the axel/wheel, it's also causing friction, making it difficult to push.

Any ideas how to make the wheels spin easier?

--
1335 XTSea Nacra 5.8 NA
605 Nacra 4.5
Cleveland Yacht Club
Brisbane, AU
--

Without bearings, the wheel and axle will rotate together or at least have a high friction and resistance to rolling with a load. Do the cradles freely rotate on the axle to allow rotation? Image is too zoomed to know what you're dealing with, but I don't see a good solution other than perhaps dry silicone spray to minimize friction between the wheel hub and aluminum axle.

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Tom
NACRA 5.7 (1984 Sail 181)
Pennsylvania
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I have the exact same system, it was factory for the small Darts. Place a hard “plastic washer” between the white collar & the seal.
Mine work fine for moving the Dart 15

--
Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
--

You should just buy the bearing kit, or cut some delrin rods that are the right size and make them yourself

JR at H2O Sensations is great, I ordered a couple of parts on Friday/Saturday and they were on my doorstep on Monday. I've ordered quite a bit from him and have always had great service.

https://www.h2o-sensations.com/en/beach-trolleys-accessories/6324-cadkat-bearing-rod-for-original-eurotrax-18pcs-8215000227278.html



Edited by wlrottge on Sep 15, 2022 - 08:04 PM.

Quote

JR at H2O Sensations is great, I ordered a couple of parts on Friday/Saturday and they were on my doorstep on Monday. I've ordered quite a bit from him and have always had great service.

How are shipping costs on the parts from H2O shipped to the US?

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Pete Knapp
Schodack landing,NY
Goodall Viper,AHPC Viper,Nacra I20
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Doesn't look like he has clearance to put needle bearings in there; it's just a sleeve fit. I'd echo the above statement and get hard plastic washers or make some out of a really thin cutting board (UHMW plastic). Might not be hard enough, but then again, it might.

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Chuck C
NACRA 500 Mk2
Hobie 21se (sold)
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wlrottge

You should just buy the bearing kit, or cut some delrin rods that are the right size and make them yourself!-- end editby -->

You can’t do that with the setup shown. The axle is almost the same diameter as the hole in the rim, those rims do not have the depression, like the Cat Trax do to accommodate delrin rods.

The axle directly in the plastic wheel is already fairly slippery, unless perhaps it is jammed up with sand or other debris. The OP doesn’t say how steep the boat ramp is. Pushing any 15’ boat will be work if your dealing with a steep incline. If it isn’t hard surfaces, it becomes even harder. Those Dollie’s do not have the wide wheels we equate with Cat Tracks, & are mostly used for moving small cats on grass, or other fairly solid surfaces.
Some of the clubs in England, with fleets of Dart 15s use a winch bring their Cats up long Ramps, or shingle beaches.
If the OP is purely using a hard ramp, I’d remove the rubber seal, it’s not required, spray some lube as Tom suggested. If it’s gravity he’s fighting, then Mcgyver a third wheel,( tricycle style), or enlist some help.



Edited by Edchris177 on Sep 17, 2022 - 01:11 AM.

--
Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
--

Thanks for the replies all.

tominpa

Do the cradles freely rotate on the axle to allow rotation?

The cradles are fixed to the axle.

charlescarlis

wlrottge

You should just buy the bearing kit, or cut some delrin rods that are the right size and make them yourself!

Doesn't look like he has clearance to put needle bearings in there; it's just a sleeve fit

charlescarlis and Edchris177 are spot on, the wheel has maybe 3-5mm clearance on the axle. I had a look at the Cat Tracks and delrin rods, smallest diameter rod i could get was 5mm. I had one of the wheels loose on the axle to see what i could do, and it was pretty clean.

The ramp isnt overly long or overly steep, but at low tide it can be 70+m. It just feels harder to push the 4.5 up than the 5.8, albeit the 5.8 has the older yellow plastic beach wheels. I'll have a look at a few of the other beach wheels this weekend, try and find a plastic washer that can fit over a 50mm axle.

--
1335 XTSea Nacra 5.8 NA
605 Nacra 4.5
Cleveland Yacht Club
Brisbane, AU
--

After greasing the wheels, which were bone dry and replacing the tyre valve, which was causing a flat tyre, i was able to push the boat up the ramp on my own on the weekend.

Can't believe i missed a flat tyre, but i'm sure the grease helped too.

--
1335 XTSea Nacra 5.8 NA
605 Nacra 4.5
Cleveland Yacht Club
Brisbane, AU
--

pknapp66

How are shipping costs on the parts from H2O shipped to the US?

He's REALLY reasonable; a friend ordered a curved boom for his F-18 early last week and it was there on Friday and shipping was only $45.