Kayak Kart

After only a few floats I realized dragging my kayak to the water was a real drag! My Cuda is 74lbs by itself and after I've loaded my gear it's...well heavy! Therefore the next project was a must have.

Take this...

Turn it into this..

and turn that into...THIS!

This project is a great one that requires only a little skill and a few hand tools but of course power tools can make it easier, as with just about any job. 

Now before I get started I need to give credit where credit is due. I did not design this plan, I mearly followed the directions I found on PalmettoKayakFishing.Blogspot.com

For the exact directions follow this link:Palmetto Kayak Fishing Kayak Kart

I have to thank Palmetto Kayak Fishing (Paul Davis) for such a great design and directions, Thank you!

I built mine this weekend and I purchased my parts from Harbor Freight (wheels), Home Depot (PVC, Nuts & Washers, and Threaded Rod), and Walmart (Jumbo foam Noodle). I spent a total of $38 and was left with very little scrap so the parts list that PKF supplied is awesome. Don't make any mistakes or the price goes up and you'll need to make another run to one of the stores. But with the directions provided PKF, if you follow them, there should be very little chance of a mistake happening. But...if you do make a poor cut make sure to hide it from your friends so you don't catch any grief! (ouch look at that cut!)

One change I did make was that I only used flat washers and did not purchase the make a bolt kit. Instead I just purchased 4 nuts and 4 flat washers. Although I might swap out the washer and nut setup from how I set it up to PKF's version. My idea was to lock the nuts in place against each other to hold the wheels in place and allow a little gap so they would roll freely. I later realized that PKF set things up the way he did so at least one wheel could be easily removed for storage into your kayak. I'll have to update you all later if I decide to make a change back to PKF's original design. Here's a closer look at mine.

One note to make: Most of the metal parts are not stainless steel. This means they will rust, heck if you've been around boats or the ocean you know that even stainless steel rusts. But the normal thread rod you get from home depot will rust very quickly if around salt water; so for you it might be better to make the larger investment and order up some stainless steel thread rod which will cost you about $40. With that in mind you might want to look into different wheels that will take a smaller diameter axle so you can downsize the thread rod. I probably wouldn't go any smaller than 3/8 for this job.

For those of us using this mostly around fresh water, this should last a pretty long time. And just accept that the thread rod will rust and every now and then spray it with some WD40 and every couple years replace your $6 thread rod with a new one if needed.

Otherwise this is just another great project for less than $40 and who doesn't like those?