Cat Trax - make your own?

After months of scouring Craigs List I have not found anyone willing to separate from their cat trax. Paying $850 for new trax (includes shipping and cradles) from Murray's does not seem reasonable since its not much more than an aluminum axle with 2 beach tires and plastic roller bearings.

Would anyone who has made their own trax for a Hobie 16 be willing to share some tips on how they did it?
Or maybe some one knows a guy trying to offload one? I'm in Boston and willing to drive for pick up.

Also, I already got 2 beauty 16s so not buying another boat just for the cat trax - tempting but no.


Fly the Hull,
La Flama Blanca

I made a set of beach wheels.
I ordered Otter dock wheels from Mill's Fleet Farm. They are 24" diameter, 9" wide with a 2" axle hole. $86 for 2 including shipping. SKU # is 006364657.
Used 4 aluminum 2" shaft clamps from McMaster Carr, $56 plus shipping.
Axle is an 8' length of 2" OD aluminum tube with .25" wall thickness from Onlinemetals.com for $107 including shipping.
I put foam pipe insulation over the piping and wrapped it with duct tape, and put a rope through the pipe, going through a tennis ball at each end of the pipe. I figure the total cost was about $250. Also got 3/4" plastic plugs from Home Depot, drilled the drain holes in the wheels to 3/4", and sealed the caps in with silicone sealant to prevent water intrusion into the wheels.

Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100085529@ ... 017809482/

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Yet another Bob!
"Firefly" - 2012 Hobie Getaway with wings and spinnaker
"Icebirds" - 1974 Skeeter iceboat
Too many canoes and kayaks

I have used my Cat Trax since new in '89.....well worth the cost. One flat tire repair in 31 years......

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Bill 404 21SE

I have tried putting my H16 on cat trax (with and without hull cradles) and it is a lot easier to do solo in the water with the cradles.

I want to add hull cradles to my Florida Sailcraft Cat Trax .

Unfortunately, a pair of new hull cradles are pretty expensive (more than twice what I paid for my used Cat Trax).

Does anyone have any other cheaper alternatives (including homemade)?

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Tim
84 H16
82 H16
87 H14T
Tortola Sails: 115222
Blue Prism Sails: 88863
Clearwater, FL

I think I'm going to go this route for mine. Menards has 23.5"x9" dock wheels for $34 ea. So on your design, the plastic wheels just spin around the tube without any kind of bearing or anything, and they work fine? I was concerned that the inside of the plastic wheel would get all chewed up or worn down.

I expect it would if I used it a lot. But I've only used it once. It's mostly in case I have to bail and beach away from the boat ramp, and have to transport the boat to the trailer.

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Yet another Bob!
"Firefly" - 2012 Hobie Getaway with wings and spinnaker
"Icebirds" - 1974 Skeeter iceboat
Too many canoes and kayaks

Okay, was thinking of getting a slightly smaller diameter pipe/tube and just cutting out some UHMW sleeves, making it press fit into the wheel, and ride a little loose on the tube. It'd take forever for the UHMW to wear away as long as the tube was nice and smooth.

Hey, if you go on over to Beachcats.com in the "Good Deals" forum, there is a set of Cat Trax for sale for like really cheap.
Just thought I'd mention it.

Well, this may be all for naught anyway, I couldn't find them again so they may already be gone, they were on Facebook marketplace.

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Marty
1984 H16 Yellow Nationals Redline, "Yellow Fever"
Lake Martin, 'Bama.