This is a kayak cart that can be broken down and stored in the kayak. Most of the parts are from a junk store (but can be replaced with off-the-shelf hardware, if necessary), and most of the pieces will float (once the internal foam plugs are added).
The cart was made with common hand tools--a hand drill, a coping saw, a file, scissors, a utility knife, various clamps, and a couple more that I can't think of right now. The materials are 3/4" and 1" PVC pipe and fittings, inner tubes, a couple of plastic wheels, a fiberglass tent pole, a skinny fiberglass rod, rubber bands, and a few other bits and pieces.
The cart was constructed to fit snugly on either end of my kayak. The cart's shape was determined in part by the curved PVC conduit pieces that I found at Urban Ore. I used ¾" PVC tees and 1" tees for most of the rest of it because it turned out that ¾" parts fit snugly into 1" parts. Some of the parts are skinned with bicycle inner tubes so that the boat won't slide off the cart, and so that the connecting pins are held in place by the inner tubes, and because I thought it looked kinda cool.
In the above image you can see the tent-pole pins that keep two 3/4" tees connected to two 1" tees. The pins are drilled so that they can be leashed to the cart, and some vinyl tubing was forced onto one end of each pin to make it easier to pull the pins out. The other connecting pins are pushed under the blue rubber bands for storage.
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| The cart in a nylon bag. It fits thru the hatch (on the left) even tho it looks too bulky. |
Everything is stored in a nylon ditty-bag when the cart is disassembled, and it all fits under the rear deck--although it takes up more room than I expected, and I might end up lashing the cart's frame to the bow or the stern so that I'll have room in the aft compartment for camping gear.
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| The cart seen head-on. The thick part right in the middle is pipe insulation. |
The wheels have plastic bushings and plain-steels bolts for axles. I think the wheels might be improved by gluing some pipe insulation around the circumference, and then gluing shortened bike tires over that, so that the tires will be wider and get better traction, but I don't know if I'll ever bother to do that.
I'll post more details (although most of them aren't obvious from the photos) when I've got the necessary photos, and if it seems like anyone ever looks at this page
The cart was made with common hand tools--a hand drill, a coping saw, a file, scissors, a utility knife, various clamps, and a couple more that I can't think of right now. The materials are 3/4" and 1" PVC pipe and fittings, inner tubes, a couple of plastic wheels, a fiberglass tent pole, a skinny fiberglass rod, rubber bands, and a few other bits and pieces.
The cart was constructed to fit snugly on either end of my kayak. The cart's shape was determined in part by the curved PVC conduit pieces that I found at Urban Ore. I used ¾" PVC tees and 1" tees for most of the rest of it because it turned out that ¾" parts fit snugly into 1" parts. Some of the parts are skinned with bicycle inner tubes so that the boat won't slide off the cart, and so that the connecting pins are held in place by the inner tubes, and because I thought it looked kinda cool.
In the above image you can see the tent-pole pins that keep two 3/4" tees connected to two 1" tees. The pins are drilled so that they can be leashed to the cart, and some vinyl tubing was forced onto one end of each pin to make it easier to pull the pins out. The other connecting pins are pushed under the blue rubber bands for storage.
