Hobie trax cart modification

Concerned about the "cart flat spot" problem, I sought to find my own answer. As much as I love the simplicity of the tennis ball solution, I felt like I could improve upon it.



I used a large piece of 3 inch thick closed cell foam to make the supporting pad, and extended the uprights to make sure they fully filled the scuppers.

My primary tools for shaping were long disposable razor blades and a belt sander. The razor blades were good for the narrower cuts- specifically the cart tube slots. The Belt sander was great for the hull-supporting curve, and also for smoothing out the flat sides of the foam.



The extra padding required that I extend the tubes using wooden dowels, otherwise the cart would not seat properly. The dowels are the same diameter of the tubes, and worked down to fit using the good old belt sander. Each of those wood nubs extend a good six inches into the tubes for strength.



I'm thinking about gluing the shrink tubes to the cart and filling in the tops with epoxy to completely seal the wood from water, though I'm not sure this is really necessary. I'm also considering strapping the foam to the cart. It seats and stays for the most part but it does pull away now and again.



I love this forum, and the photo heavy posts I've found have been my favorites. I hope you enjoy my cart mod as much as I enjoyed working on it!

--Daniel

What a great idea Dan! I'll be looking for the foam you mention to do this myself. If you're located in MA I bet we know each other.

Hey Dan,
A hearty welcome to the Hobie site. Very nice mods that should do the job as intended--congrats! Also thanks for the excellent pics.
Best,
Dick

_________________

G'Day Dan,
Enjoyed your mod -great post with clear pics. Should work well with the Outback that has the stronger curved hull.
The tennis balls though are the best solution I've seen for the Adventure and the other flattened hull models that deform easily. They transfer the hull weight to the scupper tubes which are much stronger. I've seen hulls at the dealers which are supported on straps in Hobie cradles deform. With my AI and Tandem I have found it best to not let the unsupported hull touch the cart at all and the use of the balls achieves this. Another plus is that they add a suspension effect and absorb bumps.

Dan, very nice project and an excellent improvement over the original cart. We use the same cart to carry a couple of different models, so the tennis balls seem to work ok for both of them without any changes.

Either way, I think is's better for the hull to get proper support from the cart. Great job!

Thanks for the kind welcome and words of encouragement, everyone!

Stringy, you've hit on the real reason I created this mod (Beyond the fun of working on it, of course). On the flatter hulled boats the tennis ball looks like an ideal solution to me. It places the weight on the scupper, a known point of strength.

Given the close placement of the scuppers to the keel of the newer outback hull, I thought tennis balls would actually create more direct pressure on the sides of the keel than it alleviated on the bottom. Hence my solution.


I like to think my solution is better for the outback, but I'm not sure, not having used the tennis balls. I'm still curious though. Roadrunner, have you been running newer outback hulls on tennis balls? Any further thoughts?

--Daniel

BTW- DaveLL, I think the foam can be found at many kayak supply stores. Also, I'm in MT not MA, sorry. Do you know a Daniel Stratton out in Massachusetts?

I have tried it on the new Outback, but not for an extended period. Here are a couple of pics though -- this first one is the Outfitter. As you can see, the bottom is not flat and it's a pretty heavy boat. The balls adjust to the contour.


The second pic shows an Adventure Island, completely loaded on the cart -- almost twice the weight as your Outback. Again, no dents.


Your adaptation also looks quite sound and should work well for you (as long as it stays in place). If you get a second boat down the line though, keep the tennis balls in mind.