DIY Sand Cart for a Hobie

Looking for ideas/designs for building a DIY sand cart for my Outback. Dragging it with the std wheels across the beach a few times made it a must. The wheels are $79 on amazon and the Hobie cart is $220. I am thinking there has to be a way to put the rest of the cart together for WAY less than $140.

Has anyone done something like this?

I looked into doing this for quite some time, and even looked at getting the wheels from China through Alibaba.  I was trying to get the real Wheeleez as a lot of the knockoffs got pretty bad reviews.  Found some that really looked like they were the real thing but the cost and shipping wasn't really that much less.  One of my local Hobie dealers was having an end of summer sale and everything was 15% off so I just bit the bullet and bought the Hobie Trax 2 (the smaller wheels) and haven't regretted spending the little extra money.  I also have a DIY PVC cart with Harbor Freight wheels that I use when I don't need the sand wheels (they aren't great on pavement).

Kevin

I am currently making a powered sand cart that will have bluetooth speed controller utilizing a phone app to control it.  I had to set it aside for a couple of months to work on other projects though.  It will be using a 1/3 horse brushless DC motor.  No need for expensive sand tires then.  I was hoping to have it done by now, but I started with cheap 315Mhz Rf transmitter and receiver modules but the range sucked.  Also, if I made more, they could interfere with each other and I would need to make a whole separate hand controller which would have to be waterproof.  I always have my phone so I switched to bluetooth.

All this work just to launch at one secret spot with way too much sugar sand. But it is worth it.

Looking for ideas/designs for building a DIY sand cart for my Outback. Dragging it with the std wheels across the beach a few times made it a must. The wheels are $79 on amazon and the Hobie cart is $220. I am thinking there has to be a way to put the rest of the cart together for WAY less than $140.

Has anyone done something like this?

This isn't necessary for a kayak, but pretty much same type of concept and might give you some ideas:

I've made the classic PVC cart with standard wheels and it worked great for my old outback, but it just wasn't beefy enough to tow around my PA14 and ended up getting crushed.

I am currently making a powered sand cart that will have bluetooth speed controller utilizing a phone app to control it.  I had to set it aside for a couple of months to work on other projects though.  It will be using a 1/3 horse brushless DC motor.  No need for expensive sand tires then.  I was hoping to have it done by now, but I started with cheap 315Mhz Rf transmitter and receiver modules but the range sucked.  Also, if I made more, they could interfere with each other and I would need to make a whole separate hand controller which would have to be waterproof.  I always have my phone so I switched to bluetooth.

All this work just to launch at one secret spot with way too much sugar sand. But it is worth it.

Craig, have you already sourced the brushless motor and if so would you mind sharing what you plan on using? Also, are you planning on placing the motor inside some type of sand/waterproof enclosure?  I've been thinking about doing something similar for a few years, but just haven't been motivated to get going on it.

Sorry, looks like the link isn't coming through.

Sorry, looks like the link isn't coming through.

I believe it was one like this, but it may have been 300 watts. I plan to use the Dewalt 18 - 20 volt adaptor (or a cheaper clone) hard wired to the internal electronics of the cart.  I planned to have it water "proof-ish."   I do not plan to dunk it,  Just get it through the sugar sand.  I really need to get on this so I can see if I need to build a gear box, or if the small sprocket on the largest bike sprocket will be enough.  I think if I were starting over, and I may, I would completely waterproof it and use a much smaller brushless motor because the wiring to an esc is much easier to integrate in a remote vehicle than in my motor controller.

Looking for ideas/designs for building a DIY sand cart for my Outback. Dragging it with the std wheels across the beach a few times made it a must. The wheels are $79 on amazon and the Hobie cart is $220. I am thinking there has to be a way to put the rest of the cart together for WAY less than $140.

Has anyone done something like this?

Search the site for DYI Granny Walker cart by Insayn. besides the original post, i believe there's a substantial follow on conversation about wheel and derivatives.

Looking for ideas/designs for building a DIY sand cart for my Outback. Dragging it with the std wheels across the beach a few times made it a must. The wheels are $79 on amazon and the Hobie cart is $220. I am thinking there has to be a way to put the rest of the cart together for WAY less than $140.

Has anyone done something like this?

I should have mentioned this earlier, but those $79 wheels on amazon are the small Wheelez.  I bought a Wheelez cart with those wheels and it is worthless in soft sand.  Unless you get the big 16.5 or 19 inch wheels, you may as well just drag the kayak in the sand.  That is what I ended up doing because it was easier than using the small beach wheels.

Looking for ideas/designs for building a DIY sand cart for my Outback. Dragging it with the std wheels across the beach a few times made it a must. The wheels are $79 on amazon and the Hobie cart is $220. I am thinking there has to be a way to put the rest of the cart together for WAY less than $140.

Has anyone done something like this?

I should have mentioned this earlier, but those $79 wheels on amazon are the small Wheelez.  I bought a Wheelez cart with those wheels and it is worthless in soft sand.  Unless you get the big 16.5 or 19 inch wheels, you may as well just drag the kayak in the sand.  That is what I ended up doing because it was easier than using the small beach wheels.

I agree that the 9.4" Wheeleez are not up to the task for heavy kayaks in soft sugar sand, but the 11.8" Wheeleez work perfectly for soft sugar sand.
Run them with really soft pressure and they float nicely.   

Looking for ideas/designs for building a DIY sand cart for my Outback. Dragging it with the std wheels across the beach a few times made it a must. The wheels are $79 on amazon and the Hobie cart is $220. I am thinking there has to be a way to put the rest of the cart together for WAY less than $140.

Has anyone done something like this?

I should have mentioned this earlier, but those $79 wheels on amazon are the small Wheelez.  I bought a Wheelez cart with those wheels and it is worthless in soft sand.  Unless you get the big 16.5 or 19 inch wheels, you may as well just drag the kayak in the sand.  That is what I ended up doing because it was easier than using the small beach wheels.

I agree that the 9.4" Wheeleez are not up to the task for heavy kayaks in soft sugar sand, but the 11.8" Wheeleez work perfectly for soft sugar sand.
Run them with really soft pressure and they float nicely.   

Hmmm... Maybe I have the 9.4".     I rarely ever use that cart so I will have to check. 

Looking for ideas/designs for building a DIY sand cart for my Outback. Dragging it with the std wheels across the beach a few times made it a must. The wheels are $79 on amazon and the Hobie cart is $220. I am thinking there has to be a way to put the rest of the cart together for WAY less than $140.

Has anyone done something like this?

I should have mentioned this earlier, but those $79 wheels on amazon are the small Wheelez.  I bought a Wheelez cart with those wheels and it is worthless in soft sand.  Unless you get the big 16.5 or 19 inch wheels, you may as well just drag the kayak in the sand.  That is what I ended up doing because it was easier than using the small beach wheels.

I agree that the 9.4" Wheeleez are not up to the task for heavy kayaks in soft sugar sand, but the 11.8" Wheeleez work perfectly for soft sugar sand.
Run them with really soft pressure and they float nicely.   

Hmmm... Maybe I have the 9.4".     I rarely ever use that cart so I will have to check.

Is it a Hobie Trax 2 cart, or similar?   
If so, I'll horse trade you something for it. 

It is an actual Wheelez cart and it does have the 9.4 inch wheels.  I just checked.

Also, Next Adventure has Wilderness Systems beach wheels which are slightly larger (13x7.5 inches for $99). I may give them a try.  I should have bought them tonight when I had 15% off after Rawkfish's Salmon presentation. Damn. https://nextadventure.net/wilderness-systems-beach-wheels-for-heavy-duty-kayak-cart.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&adpos=1o23&scid=scplp404118&sc_intid=404118&gclid=CjwKCAjw0tHoBRBhEiwAvP1GFUYXmwb7QbcbfgWBwKgcBrXXRoUq88zagBP5mEkLigEFMSPBeMzUvRoCbCUQAvD_BwE

Those look like the wheels I was seeing on Alibaba.

It is an actual Wheelez cart and it does have the 9.4 inch wheels.  I just checked.

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