Paddle transport cart

[MrPoling]

I have a similar cart, these are necessary improvements. The wheels need lock nuts, and the rest of the hardware need thread lock or lock nuts.

The factory bunks are also lousy, especially for nice large canoes that you don't want scratched up. Those look better.

 

[tketcham]

Alasgun,
I like your improvements. I'm not keen on the foam-wrapped bars either and was thinking I'll remove the bars and add brackets that can accommodate kayak saddles shown. I've been holding on to a set of four from when we owned a kayak and this might be a good use for them. I'll post a picture if I find they work out.

 

[Alasgun]

@tketcham, thanks for showing us those brackets. One look and the creative juices started flowing and for a Saturday morning 6:30 thats pretty good. The mods i made on my cart will help me determine whether or not i even want to use a cart and if so the next move would be to fabricate one from the ground up; including all the
”good ideas” i amass along the way!
Any bunk will have limitations due to fit, especially on different hulls. 4 Kayak brackets on the other hand would get a better “hold” on any hull; especially if they had lateral adjustment’s for width! Im assuming when those little buttons are depressed you can slide the brackets in and out on the rail?
Thanks again.

*on edit, a quick trip thru ebay revealed numerous such mount options for both hull And gunnel mounting. I’ll be sorting thru all this, if and when i build a cart.

 

[alsg]

with an additional 100-150 lbs. of fish.

I feel like this ^ did not get enough attention. That is a LOT of fish @Alasgun !!

 

[tketcham]

The first image I uploaded wasn't of the same kayak saddles as the ones we have. (Sorry about that.) I edited my post and uploaded the correct image. The ones we have are called "SweetRoll" saddles. (We bought ours before the big price increase. They've gotten really expensive.)

The clamping device on ours uses thumb screws/bolts to clamp onto roof rack bars. (You can just see one of the handles on the front saddle.) I was thinking I can attach bars onto the cart that the saddles can clamp onto. And if I can increase the distance between the bars that'll spread the load points between the pairs of fore and aft saddles to better distribute weight and help steady the canoe.

Yakima rates most of their kayak saddles at 80 lbs. max but they could probably be modified to accommodate more weight.

 

[Alasgun]

@alsg, it is a lot of fish. Im allowed 35 ea and they are 4-6 lb fish. My math was using 3-4 lb fish! On a good day that limit can be had in under 2 hours and good days are fairly frequent! Ive not gone back for a second trip over the last two seasons, but it’s fishing and there have been seasons of NO RETURN! Fish will be held in soft coolers/fish bags and not subject to a cart ride.

@tketcham, i immediately liked the moveable, tillty, soft pads; with which a good bit of adjustability will still be available.

 

[Alasgun]

The hose clamps securing the bunks are in place and exceeded my expectations! Tension adjustments will still be possible with the bunk covering in place. Originally I was thinking marine carpet but I want to look for something more grippy, possible a piece of door mat applied upside down with the rubber up?

 

[billconner]

That rubbery mesh stuff that you put under a rug to keep it from slipping on the wood floor.

 

[tketcham]

I wonder if pieces of outdoor stair tread mats (the rubbery kind) would work? Pieces of rubber horse stall mats might work well.

 

[Alasgun]

@billconner the rubber mesh came quickly to mind; i use to use it on the dash and counter tops when we had the salt water boat. From a slippery standpoint it could not be beat, however i have to wonder how long it would last in this “more extreme service”?

@tketcham i have plenty of the horse stall mats around here and remember the bottom side having a nice pebble pattern that might work fine. They are about 5/8 thick but overall i’ll still be shorter than the O.E.M bunk material.

thanks for the feedback!

 

[billconner]

I'm not really one to comment. I use the stock foam that came with it and once I figured a good easy way to lash the canoe to the cart, all was fine. And since I expect to portage the cart in some places, adding weight seems counter productive. But if it's just vehicle to waters edge - sure.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Originally I was thinking marine carpet but I want to look for something more grippy

You definitely don't want something slippery on cart bunks because, if you ever go up and down hills or traverse bumpy terrain, the canoe wants to slide front or back or twist around in the bunks. You already have some good ideas for grippy material. Carpet is good if you need to slide a heavy canoe onto static home storage racks or even onto an old style wooden 2x4 car top rack.

 

[billconner]

the canoe wants to slide front or back or twist around in the bunks

I solved that by the way I lash canoe to cart. Use cam straps from "corners" of cart to ends of thwarts. Can't move.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

You definitely don't want something slippery on cart bunks

I solved that by the way I lash canoe to cart. Use cam straps from "corners" of cart to ends of thwarts. Can't move.

That's the way to do it, Bill, but it's still better to have bunks that are soft and grippy rather than soft and slippery. A canoe is lifted onto a cart, not slid onto it, so there's no need for cart bunks, unlike for example trailer bunks, to be covered with a slide-onto-able material like carpet.

I try to immobilize my SRT on a canoe cart with straps going through the slotted gunwale scuppers rather than the more distant thwarts . . .



. . . but the canoe still tried to slide and twist when pulling it out of ruts while loaded with gear . . .

 

[billconner]

I wonder if by my going to thwarts it prevents any flexing so it stays more positioned. And I don't go across like yours, just looped around end of thwart. 4 cam straps.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I wonder if by my going to thwarts it prevents any flexing so it stays more positioned. And I don't go across like yours, just looped around end of thwart. 4 cam straps.

Four straps might work better than the two I've used, but I think the twisting problem is mainly the result of the bunks being too narrowly spaced apart even for my fairly narrow solo canoe. If the bunks were far enough apart and wrapped up against the chines of the canoe, I think that would stop all twisting. In fairness, there is only a twisting problem when the canoe is full of gear and I am exerting heavy pushing or pulling forces to get out of ditches or down bumpy trails.



There is usually no twisting or other movement problem if I am on smooth trails or roads.

 

[Alasgun]

The mat material I have was easy enough. When I turned it over the bottom is more desirable to me.
And even had little pockets for my fasteners. Time will tell if it’s a good combination.

 

[billconner]

The twisting probably depends on canoe layup as well. My Tranquility seems more rigid than my Swift Prospector 14.

 

[alsg]

I have a different cart with bunks that run parallel to the thwarts (when the canoe is atop). I think it was designed as a kayak cart. As others have mentioned, I have experienced a lot of twisting and have had to run lines from the bow/stern as well as use both belly straps across the mid-section of the canoe to control the twisting.

Recently, however, I realized I was using the belly straps wrong and seeing Glenn's pictures, where each strap comes across the top of the canoe as a single stand, reminded me of this.

Instead of running each strap as a single strand (either completely under the cart or attaching one end to one side and pulling a single stand over the cart to the other side), try taking a strap around some part of the frame on one side of the of the cart and pulling BOTH ends of the strap back over the top of the cart before feeding the plain end of the strap around some part of the cart frame on the other side of the canoe and brining it back through the cam. This gives you two strands across the top of the canoe per strap.

This is the way I was taught do it when car topping the canoe (although the canoe is upside down on top of the car and right side up on the cart). I can't explain why this approach is more secure, however, I have found this arrangement much, much less prone to twisting on the cart as compared to running each strap as a single strand.

 

[Alasgun]

This looks like a good time to mention a previous thought i see mentioned above. Other than the huge tub used to haul the gear while portaging, is there any reason the canoe could not be upside down as it would be on a car top carrier? It would be much easier to tie down. It would be quite easy to make bunks to contain the canoe.