Making your own Cat trax wheel system

Hi, I need to fabricate my own cat trax wheels to be able to launch at the local beach.
Ive seen a pair of wheels tied to one of the many H16's in the beach but dont have the guts to simply use it without the owners permission (I dont know who he is).

Anyways I need to make my own.....Sand is soft and inclined at the lauch site!

Any ideas on how to go about it???

I looked into building my own at one time. It is very easy if you can find the parts. The hardest thing to find are the wheels/tires. For soft sand they need to be pneumatic tires. Do not use the hard tires. After I finally found a source for pneumatic tires, the cost of the components for the whole assembly were more than just buying a "production" pair. When you throw in your time it gets really expensive. I would just buy a pair and save yourself the time and effort. You will end up spending less this way.

My 2 cents

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

Look at ATV dires for sand dune racing. They are baloon tires with sand flaps or just a groove. They would be perfect for this application.

Guys, check out this site. I made my own based on this and it turned out great.
http://dgaleana2.proboards56.com/index. ... 1143785090

I found the wheels here:
http://www2.northerntool.com/product-1/200308227.htm

ATV tires/wheels are way too heavy. Again, soft sand does not work well with hard tires. The heavier the boat is the more apparent this will be.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

Ok some research:
55 gal blue plastic drum is 38 1/2" tall (foot print) and 23 1/2" in diameter. It weights at 21lbs, without alum pipe as axle.

Cat trax dolly for the hobie 16 has wheel/tire diameters of 19"
and each tire has a foot print of 9 1/2". Weight is unknown cause I dont have one.

So the 55gal drum not only has more foot print (19.5" more than both cat trax tires combined) at 38 1/2",
but also is taller in diameter by 4.5"

The larger diameter and foot print will make up for the disadvantage of the solid plastic drum versus the inflatable tires in the sand.

If my calculations are correct,
it would be easier to move a H16 thru the sand with a homemade drum dolly than a 400$ + Cat trax,,,,right?????

Go for it, Alex. Try the drums and let us know how they work out. What do you have to lose besides some time and effort? And if it doesn't work then you can always admit defeat and buy the Cat Trax.

I have read in other discussions that the drum works best on hard surfaces, but not soft sand.

Alex,
No, that's not right. However, I agree with Skipshot. If you have doubts, remove them before spending the $400. Me personally, I went ahead and bit the bullet . . . and spent the $400. Afterwards, I went into a state of depression . . . until the first time I used them. In hindsight, it's one of th best decisions I ever made. My back thinks so too.

_________________

Happy Sailing,

David

The barrel type dolly tips to the sides much easier than normal cat trax that have two contact point and are very stable when pushed. I own and use a barrel dolly and it works adequately but when I am at a regatta I am happy to borrow other folks cat trax. The barrel types are also a pain to carry around and store on your trailer as compared to the real ones.

The one big upside for the barrel type... They are cheap, and they get me one the water just the same as the expensive ones!!!

Mattnd54,,,thats the kind of feed back I wanted to hear!!!!
I live in PR, and paying 400$ or more + expensive shipping for a cat trax is not an option....

Ill have the drum dolly ready in a few weeks...still have some finish work to do on my H16....

_________________

Happy Sailing,

David

I've never been upset about spending the money for my cat-trax.

I was only depressed for a little while. I was a newbie then. Well, I'm still a newbie but then I was a newerbie. I had just paid $700 for my boat. The thought of having to pay another $400 just to get it to the water without being in a state of exaustion did not compute. And we aren't even talking about getting it back to the trailer yet. Just the thought of it makes me want to go spend another $400 for an extra set.

_________________

Happy Sailing,

David

Good luck with the barrel build. They'll work for now to get you on the water but once you use a real set you'll want to splurge and get some, so start saving now!

My next big purchase is going to be a comp tip to make me legal for races and a hobie convertible harness. Once I get those out of the way I'm going to take the plunge and get some cat trax. Of course if I came across a used set for the right price I'd snatch them up.

A boat is just a giant hole in the water which you pour your money into. My Father told me "if it Floats, Flies, or Fornicates; Rent it!" It was in slightly harsher wording but you get the idea.