Groovy landing gear PA14 360

Thinking about the landing gear again. I like the idea of not having to flip my boat to give it wheels. Does anyone here use them? How do you like them. Have they damaged your boat?

I've always thought they were a neat idea but even with the latest changes to the mounting hardware Hobie will not warranty any cracks in hulls that have had landing gear installed on them.  I talked to the Hobie warranty manager to verify this a few months ago.  That is the reason I don't have one on my 360 or sell them at my store.

Kevin

I installed them on my 2019 Outback last October and am very pleased.  I am not sure the current install on a PA, I followed the new BooneDox process for the Outback that corrects an earlier cracking issue.  They moved the mount location slightly inboard and provide a 1/2" piece of high density plastic that you cut with a jig/band saw, this goes between the hull material and a flat metal bar with threaded holes for the bolts.  This new location/process spreads the load out in a strong area of the hull.



the plastic piece and metal bar and pulled up from inside the hull using braid and wire, went smoothly for me:


this puts the cross bar right behind the seat on the Outback which is great, doesn't take away any of the rear deck.  In this image, I'm using the trax slot on the bar to attach a rod holder and cup holder on the far side, covered the port side with carpet to make it more comfortable for Pepper to rest her chin on it. 



I also got the beach wheels and although not really required at Sunset Bay, I did give them a try there on Oct.30:



What I really enjoyed at Siltcoos this year was being able to deploy them on my way into the boat launch, on busy days pulling right in beside the powerboats being loaded/waiting, jump off the kayak and with help from Pepper, we pull the Outback straight up to the car. 

I got the launch and recovery process, first day using them, in this video.  Deploying the wheels on the way into the launch starts at 4m45s if you want to jump to that:



I'm confident enough in the hull strength where they mount on the Outback that I've been storing it upright on the wheels since October.  I support the front with a 5 gal bucket under the strong drive well area.  I'm not seeing any deflection in the hull area where the cross bar is mounted.   cheers, roger 





 

one more image of the install on my Outback, the previous mount was a round bar where the red line is, it concentrated stress at each end which lead to cracking at that location.  the new mount process spreads the force around the perimeter of the plastic piece and eliminates any contact between the hull and inner metal piece.

I put a Boonedox on my PA14 project yak.  Like RogerDodger I crafted a plastic insert out of a cutting board to spread the pressure across as large an area as I could.  My PA14 was a used yak so I wasn't worried about Hobie's hull warranty.  The PA14 is large and heavy enough I did not want to set it on its side each time to remove the wheels.

Install looks clean and super convenient. I think I might wait until the warranty expires before I prematurely void it. Maybe by then it’ll be even better.