My boat cart and boat

[tophat]

The wife bought me a Coleman Perch for Christmas this year, and today I got around to building a cart for it. I haul it in the back of my truck, but there are a few places I want to put it in where there is no ramp and maybe 100 ~ 200 yards to the water. I built this cart today for it, spending no money, just stuff I had laying around.


This is what I started out with for the main frame of the cart, free from a trash pile.


I cut the rivets out, and removed the ends so I only had the center. It turns out that what was the legs were a perfect fit between the ribs on the bottom of the boat,


I had some angle iron laying around that I pop riveted to the frame to make cross pieces, and drilled holes in the angle to mount the axle. I used a piece of 1/2" conduit for the axle and some 3/4" pvc pipe to space the old lawnmower wheels out to the right distance. I used some leftover pipe insulation to cushion where the boat sits, but you cant see it real good in the pictures.


Here it is under the boat, the tires are a bit tall, they barely clear the boat, I may change them out for some others I have laying around if I can get those to hold air. You can see the pipe insulation a bit better in this pic, it is just held on with electrical tape for now.




Here is the boat with the back end on the cart. I figure that with the battery and the trolling motor, I can balance it pretty well to pull it 200 yards or so without a problem. I made the cart to fit in the boat once I get it to the water.

A few threads on here inspired me to build this cart, I had been thinking about it for a while but finally got it done today. I hope this gives somebody else some inspiration or an idea or two. I spent no money because I had lots of "junk" laying around.

I am hoping to try it out in the morning, weather permitting.


tophat

[gabowman]

Looks like to me that you did a good job on the cart. Report back and let us know how well it works and if any mods needs to be done.Thumbs Up

[RetiredRR]

Bet it works just fine. You got-r-done.

[S10CHEVY]

Where is the handle to pull it? Or are you strapping down the boat, then just grabbing a hold of the boat?

[Blue Water LED]

Awesome! Looks a lot better than the one I just bought for a buddy.

[rocket rich]

Home depot has inter tubes for those type tires i just put new tubes in my mower tires 15-600-6 $ 9.99

[NeonMoon]

Nice! If you added a piece of pool noodle it would gain you some tire clearance, but unless they rub, there's no give (suspension travel) to cause any problems.

[Spawn]

Looks great tophat!

[tophat]

Sorry it took me so long to update this, but you know how life is.

The first version was a fail. The 1/2" emt conduit axle hels the boat fine, until I loaded the battery in the boat. Once 70 pounds or so of battery was addedthe axle bent to the point it was unuseable. I replaced the conduit axle with a piece of 1/2" all thread and success. While I was replacing the axle, I changed the wheels to some solid tires so no more air worries. I also took out the pop rivets and replaced them with bolts to make it a bit stronger. All was stuff I had laying around, so still $0.00 invested.

Now on to what we all want to see ... the pics.




This is after the mods mentioned above.
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On the new cart, ready to load in the truck.
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At the park, ready to unload, just pull it out right over the parking chain.
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Down at the water, about 100 yards or so from the truck.
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Ready to shove off. the cart fits right in the front of the boat, so I don't have to hike it back to the truck, or hike to get it when it's time to leave.

Where is the handle to pull it? Or are you strapping down the boat, then just grabbing a hold of the boat?

I strap it to the cart, I have a rope run through a piece of pvc pipe tied to the cleats on the front of the boat I pull it with.

Home depot has inter tubes for those type tires i just put new tubes in my mower tires 15-600-6 $ 9.99

I changed out the air filled tires for solid ones. Tractor Supply is another good source for tubes. Around here they have better selection and prices then Home depot.

Caught about 14 crappie that day, none big enough to keep.

Thanks for all the great comments.

tophat

[jmh9000]

I built this cart because I have too many boats. When I need to pull the larger boat out comes the Jon boat and I drop it in my driveway. The boat is perfectly balanced and the front is only about 50lbs when I pick it up to load back into the truck







I have another cart that I built to store the Jon in my backyard along the fence. Again only perfectly balanced an I can move it around with one hand