has anyone built a beach dolly for any cat? because the 500 dollar price tag is a bit steep for me. I was thinking of making the same design as the cat trax (aluminum pipe with two carpeted ends.) but my problem are the wheels i dont know what would work.
thanks
JonBrown
Homemade Beach Dolly?
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Posted: Oct 26, 2008 - 10:14 PM
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Posted: Oct 27, 2008 - 10:30 AM
what do you sail? boats over 350 lbs dont do well with beach trax (the hard rubber tires with deep treads in them) on sand. the best wheels are atv tires (as on cattrax)..
i have seen people try all sorts of things and in the end... not work to well..
yes they are pricey... but worth it to me. -
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Posted: Oct 27, 2008 - 10:59 AM
Love to tinker, so of course I tried half a dozen contraptions. In the end I finally broke down and purchased a cattrax w/handle.
I have an earlier version....probably over 20 years old, and still working. The low flotation tires with the light weight plastic hub are the key elements in the equation. I tried ATV tires on one of my projects, but could only find steel hubs which added considerably to the weight.
And....the plastic wheeled version def does not work as well as the softer, rubber tired version.
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Posted: Oct 27, 2008 - 12:01 PM
the new cattrax use atv tires (i think thats what they are) and alum hubs. There are 10 or 12 delron bearings inside the hub.
the red plastic hubs are used on the eurotrax... which are not available in the US anymore i hear. -
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Posted: Oct 27, 2008 - 03:41 PM
Know what? At $500 these things are too cheap to complain about. They are superbly engineered and the components are proprietary. You will be hard pressed to fabricate a substitute that you will be happy with or will work as well. If you take care of them they will last forever. Speaking as one who spends his weekends dragging boats up and down our beach, I am continually amazed that these things work as well as they do, day in and day out. I had to buy a set for my Nacra as I started out on a beach where I had the only big cat and the club wheels were cutting into my hulls. I was yowling in pain as well, but having owned mine for four years I've really come to see them as must have technology. Prior to this I was always impressed with this product, especially when hauling boats a quarter mile or so down to the low tide line.
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Posted: Oct 27, 2008 - 05:04 PM
I purchases mine for my for $500.. then purchased a bigger boat and had to pay about $100 to get an extender put on it.
Then i had to get cradles because my Mystere wouldn't stay put without them that was another $150... OUCH...
so if you order them... I suggest you order the ones that are pre-drilled for both 8 and 8 1/2' beams. -
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Posted: Oct 27, 2008 - 07:21 PM
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Posted: Oct 27, 2008 - 09:10 PM
I am no tire expert but i dont agree. plus the rims are not anything like what is used -
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Posted: Oct 27, 2008 - 09:32 PM
Agree..The tires and bearings are patented and not available from any industrial supply store. The bearings are designed to resist sand and water.
I think mine set me back close to $650 as I added cradles and a loop for a cable lock.
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Posted: Oct 27, 2008 - 11:17 PM
Beach wheels are one of those things that seem like they are simple and shouldn't cost so much, but it turns out are pretty near impossible to "do it yourself".
I've seen (and published) a lot of recipe's for home made beach wheels, and some of them work under special conditions, like just rolling on concrete or hard packed dirt. But most of them turn out to be way too heavy, not durable, won't turn, aren't strong enough, rust, not enough ground clearance... etc.
I'm sure more attempts will be made and I want to hear about them, but mostly they just convince us that the commercial models are worth the money, even if it hurts.
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Posted: Oct 28, 2008 - 09:48 PM
ok i am thinking of using these on my hobie 18 and i read that they are not very effective for a boat over 400lbs and i am not sure of a better way to move the boat? how hard is it to move the hobie 18 on these beach dollies?
thanks
Jonbrown -
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Posted: Oct 28, 2008 - 11:26 PM
They work great. We move 18's, Nacra's, Tigers, all day long on em. You'll need a set of cradles with your wheels. I cannot imagine who would try to move a big cat without them. -
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Posted: Oct 30, 2008 - 08:20 AM
Hi:It was't clear to me that you were you suggesting that golf cart wheels/rims would work.
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Posted: Oct 30, 2008 - 08:26 AM
Hi re Larry Smith response....wasn't sure as to your response that golf cat wheels/rims do work in making a beachcat launcher.
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Posted: Oct 30, 2008 - 12:17 PM
Oh no. I was stating that the only solution from my POV is a set of commercial beach cat wheels for an 18 vs trying a home made solution. I was responding to the suggestion that they don't work on an 18 or bigger cat. See below...
"...i read that they are not very effective for a boat over 400lbs"
Just for the record, over the last decade or so I've from time to time attempted to source components from which to build my own wheels. As I used to work for a large industrial supply company, I thought it would be easy. Not so much. I never attempted the project, just broke down and bought em. -
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Posted: Oct 31, 2008 - 04:53 PM
Well in the case that they can't be built..
Any suggestions for a Tornado. Being that I've got a 10 foot beam, it presents it's own set of unique circumstances.
I am going to mould my own craddles with the boat upside-down, so that part is knocked out.
I sold my cat-trax with the old boat because the crossbar isn't long enough to work on my T.
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Posted: Oct 31, 2008 - 05:23 PM
We have a Supercat at our beach that sits on wheels. Two sets in fact. I believe that too has a ten foot beam.
Don't know where they got them but at least I can confirm they are out there! -
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Posted: Nov 01, 2008 - 01:17 PM
The CatTrax with cradles
http://www.floridasailcraft.com/CatProducts.htm
can be bought with an axle exttender for the Tornado.
http://www.floridasailcraft.com/CatAccesories.htm
I've also seen wide boats like the ARC catamarans using sets of wheels with seperate axles and wheels for each hull, so you don't have to deal with a 10+ foot axle. Can't find an example of those at the moment. You could probably make them with the Wheeleez wheels from
http://www.wheeleez.com/beachwheelsPU.php
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Posted: Nov 03, 2008 - 11:06 AM
my friend has a mystere with 10 beams and they use cattrax with an extender in the middle.
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Posted: Nov 03, 2008 - 07:36 PM
http://www.geocities.com/mec_coleman/tip13.htm
I saw this in the links on the menu bar, and thought of this thread...no opinion on it though.
edited by: turtlecat, Nov 03, 2008 - 06:40 PM
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