ATV used to pull Hobie Cat 16 100 yards - ATV size question

I have my Hobie 16 on a beach in Michigan, but am trying to determine how much horsepower I need in an ATV to pull my Cat 100 yards from it's storage space to the water... Any suggestions or ideas? Will a 50cc ATV work, or do I need more horsepower? Thanks!

Slope? Surface to go over? Soft or Hard.

It takes little effort to pull a 16 loaded on Cat Trax. More when going up hill and more in soft sand.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Yep, should have included more details:
1) I have a large dune (rise and fall of about 8 feet) which is covered with dune grass (so it's somewhat slick)
2) under the dune grass, the surface is pretty hard, but as when walking on it, you'll leave footprints
3) I'm getting too old to pull this boat by myself, and need help, especially when my kids aren't around...
4) I have Cat Trax (inflatable ones), but it's more the forward motion of moving the boat which is the issue, not the weight

Hope this provides a better picture from which you can assist me. Thanks, Brad

As Matt points out, surface matters a lot here. My lawn tractor can easily move my 16 on solid, flat land. It's hopeless at getting it out of the water and is rated at 18 horsepower. Problem is the wheels just dig into the sand.

My small tractor, at 21 horses, can easily pull the 16 out of the water if in four-wheel drive. In two-wheel drive it's questionable, depending upon how dry or wet the sand is. Too wet and it's easy to dig in, too dry and it's easy to dig in. This is going up about 4 feet on a 1 in 3 slope (1 foot up for every 3 feet horizontal). Four-wheel drive and it's relatively easy to pull up. But you still have to be careful not to spin the tires.

So engine size isn't the real criteria. It's how much power you can actually put down on the surface you're talking about. And parking it and using a 50' winch might give your best results. Short of trying out various combinations, it's hard to say what will work.

Jim Clark-Dawe

Maybe for us older, aging cat sailors, we should start a network like Uber or Lyft that can help get us on the water, Lol!!! I'm turning 53 on Saturday, but if I were near ya, I'd be more than happy to help ya move your cat around.

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

It sounds like you need a 4x4 4 wheeler that has a low range. Most if not all of the 4x4 wheelers would out weigh the 16. Add your weight and it should be a win. I would look for a decent used 4x4 around 250cc or up although with low range hp won't be much of an issue.

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84 14T Redline #67 Blue Hawaii faded but still working!
82 Yellow hull16 '81 Boomer nationals 20.9 on GPS
83 White hull 16 No sails "Clean and Purty Now!"
87 White hull no sails no tramp

I agree 4wd would be needed with towing H16 on soft sand I'm not sure a 250 would do it if you have to go up hill Years ago I played in the sand with old 2 stroke 250's they were light and high HP but sand slows them down I'd start looking for a cheep 4wd old jeep ? or as suggested above electric winch even if you had to do it in 3 pulls their are some fast winches out there Old 8274 warn comes to mind they will pull a drum for 125 or 150ft of cable in in under 2 min as I remember

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H14
H16
H18
H18

If you have Cat Tracks with a center pull bar a 125cc 3 wheeler will pull it. We use to pull 350 lb jetski's across the beach sand in Ft Walton Beach with the same type tires. No Strain on it. Your sand will not be this soft!!!!!