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Which portage cart?

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I took a trip to Low's last fall, and my wife went along on her first ever trip. She kinda pooped out halfway through the carry over Low's Upper Dam. To shorten a much longer story, I was told to get a portage cart. So, it's time to order one.

I occasionally pay attention when people discuss things, and two portage carts have been recommended in the past that stuck out as "these are good ones". The question for you all is "which one, and why?" Does anyone have one, what do you like about it, what do you not like about it, and would you buy it again? Here are the two I'm looking at:

These two appear identical, aside from a fairly big difference in price... Any idea which is "better"? Is the cheaper one also cheaply made, or is the expensive one simply proud of their product?
http://www.oakorchardcanoe.com/detail.php?product=Swedish-Style Folding Canoe Cart
http://www.amazon.com/Seattle-Sport...TF8&qid=1424590300&sr=8-5&keywords=canoe+cart

this is the other one:
http://www.paddlecart.com/paddlecart.html
 
I have two of the first kind, originally called the "Canadian Walker" I believe. It has high center clearance, good for portaging over uneven somewhat rocky trails that are cut wide enough for wheels. I've used that cart several times on the Adirondack 90-miler canoe race, at times transporting a 100+ pound cedar strip voyageur canoe. I will say that at a dead run during the race over a rocky/rutted trail, that the axles may bend a bit (hence the second cart, though the first one is still usable for lighter loads). A friend also has one that we use each year on the Cannonball-90 (the full 90 miler in a single day, though not at full out race pace run on the carries). For some reason his seems to regularly go through bearings on the 10 miles of portage, especially when carting his C4 canoe. The wheel bearings are not sealed.

On the other hand, the Lows upper dam portage is about as easy, smooth, and short of a portage ("carry" in the Adirondacks) that you will find anywhere. The second lower to the ground cart you show, or most any other more inexpensive cart that is at all capable of holding a canoe could make that trip. On other rougher portages the low ground clearance would be your first problem. Second would be an annoying tendency to tip due to the narrow wheel base.
 
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I'll still recommend a Rolleez, now called Wheeleez. Ultra low pressure polyurethane balloon tires and a folding aluminum frame.
If this link works, you can see part of a 5 mile walk in the park with my cart in the background.

Rolleez video
 
I have the Swiss-style cart shown in the first two links, and swear by it. It is rugged and can take a lot of punishment...although I have seen one of the spoked wheels fold like a taco under too much weight and too much lateral stress (the user was not paying attention to the orientation of the wheel relative to the travel vector of the boat). My cart has done well over a hundred miles of portaging, some pretty rough, with no problems other than a few flat tires, so I carry a repair kit or a spare tube. It does sound like my bearings need replacement, but that is an easy fix. The other cart you show doesn't seem worth the expense. Aside from not having as much ground clearance, the strapping system will not be as secure, so that the cart will be easily shifted and moved over rough ground. If all you are doing is easy walking paths with no rocks or roots, it would work, but if you plan anything more aggressive, go with the swiss cart.

The Rolleez looks interesting but I don't have any experience with it. I'd be concerned if you had a problem with the tire...if it broke, dented or got degraded by UV rays over time, there isn't any fixing it.

-rs
 
I took a trip to Low's last fall, and my wife went along on her first ever trip. She kinda pooped out halfway through the carry over Low's Upper Dam. To shorten a much longer story, I was told to get a portage cart. So, it's time to order one.

I occasionally pay attention when people discuss things, and two portage carts have been recommended in the past that stuck out as "these are good ones". The question for you all is "which one, and why?" Does anyone have one, what do you like about it, what do you not like about it, and would you buy it again? Here are the two I'm looking at:

Like everything else the “which and why” of portage carts presents design compromises. The Swedish boat cart/Canadian Boat Walker style seems to be a favorite. One the plus side it has good ground clearance for rough terrain, and it’s a center haul cart so the weight is balanced. The slight downside is a somewhat high center of gravity. The pnuemantic tires can be a plus/minus, depending on how soggy the terrain and how good you are with fixing flats.

We had an early Wheeleeze canoe cart. It has a lower center of gravity than the boat walker style, which again is a plus or minus, depending on how rough or how sideways sloped the trail. The fatter tires help on soft ground, mud and sand. Our’s breaks down into two frame pieces and two detached wheel, so it is easy to store in the boat.

http://www.wheeleez.com/kayakcanoecart-tuff-tire.php

The most difficult part of using a cart for me is getting the hull up on the stands, balanced and strapped down. Some kick stand arrangement that holds the cart securely upright while finagling the canoe in place is a boon, as is a thoughtful strap arrangement. That stuff largely boils down to how long and complex it is to get the boat on the cart and will it also support some weight of gear versus “Crap, by the time I’m done with this I could have just carried the canoe across and come back for the gear”.

Portage cart section verges on being one of those things you need to test to see how well suited the design is for your boat, purposes and trail conditions. Bought sight unseen and untested a cart in the Swedish Boat Walker style is probably the best bet, if pricey.

BTW, there are also end hauler carts. The upside is that they are dead simple to use; just set one end of the boat on (or in) the cart supports, and walk off with it. The downside is low ground clearance and needing arms like Popeye to support 90% of the boat’s weight while hauling the raised end. For a short, even portage, just to get the boat to the other side those work fine. Not so much if it is rough, steep or you want to haul some gear weight in the canoe.

http://www.seattlesportsco.com/productcart/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=77
 
Seeker, there is a off brand in our outlet store, "Ocean State Job Lot", they have Hydro Power brand lookalike to that Wheeleze (I have an older original brand that I can vouch for w canoes and kayaks), $50 w a instore rebate of $10. Seems a good deal, am encouraging a neighbor to buy one for the nearby CT River small boat launch... can pick you up one if it's worth waiting until my next ADK paddle trip to meet up... (sounded better a plan in my mind than it does seeing it on paper)
 
Or, now rereading, realizing that you are the one making the big trip if you are coming from LA state...?
 
Thanks all... exactly the input I was looking for... Thanks, Mikes, for the input on the WheelEez. Gives me another thing to look at, and all with good recommendations. I've seen the trips all you guys do, and value your opinions (hence my posting here!)

Southcove, I am coming up from Louisiana for this trip... I've run into a couple folks along my travels, but since I don't live locally anymore, it's tough. I have a cousin in Syracuse who stores my "NY Canoe" for me, and I'll whatever I get, I'll probably just have shipped straight to him. Funny... he got to paddle my 'new' canoe before me, got to test my 'new' paddles on another trip, and now he'll get to use my cart before I do...

I have done the Low's carry (yeah... you're right... it's not really a portage... lol) about a half dozen times in both directions, and it is (or was) easy in years past... but I'm 51 this year, and lifting a 16', 75# canoe overhead is no longer easy... once I get it up, it's not hard to carry, but the other gear I feel compelled to carry for my wife, new to the craft, far exceeds my ability to single-portage it like I do when I'm alone (17# of 'stuff' plus food). She wants to help, but was keenly disappointed in her own inability to help carry one end of it more than 1/3 of the way up that gravel road before her arms gave out. So I want to make the carries as easy and smooth as possible. I plan on being around for another couple years, and it won't get easier, and I will eventually get her to do the St Regis with me, so it's all short carries over decent trails for the most part. I just can't afford to get hurt... it's like taking my then 8 year old daughter... I'm just thrilled she comes at all.

Thanks again... and anyone else who gets to this late, please feel free to provide feedback... I'm not ordering probably for another week... still have to figure out the difference between the two Swedish cart models and do a little more research into the WheelEez.

edit: btw, we are planning this trip for after Labor Day... we'll be up for 2 weeks, 2-16 SEP, and have a lot of slop in schedule so we can go when it's nice... it rained the entire trip last time (granted it was OCT, but it can be nice then) and we had no wiggle room to move it... this time, I am bound and determined i will go during the best available weather... it also rained all 4 days of my last St Regis trip with my daughter (her last with me until she's done with college) a couple years ago too... Want to show my wife the NICE side of the Adirondacks sometime!
 
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This is the portage cart I use.
 

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This is the portage cart I use.

I heard someone made it illegal to buy and sell those models a while back. ;)

Seeker - one thing that I have noticed this time around is that at least some sellers of the Swedish cart supply two straps instead of the one mine came with. You really do need two straps with that cart.
 
Carts are a great idea. They are proof that the tripping population is aging, but a great addition to keep people out there. I have never used one, but portage little.
 
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Here are the Canadian Walker wheels in use during the Adirondack 90-miler. Note that for this 32 foot voyageur I have extended the support bars, and also note how the wheels are transported in the canoe. We have to be careful at one low bridge to lower the supports before we get there.

Also a photo of a solo overhead portage using a Knupac (a promo photo for the Knupac system at the time).
 

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This is the portage cart I use.

Yeah... I have one of those...used to work GREAT when I first got it. Now, though, it's kinda defective... just got old, I guess... The middle part bulges out a little, and part of the frame, also in the middle, but on the back side, hits this nerve that then locks up the whole works... I can't afford for it to go out on me in the middle of a trip, so I'm gonna get a different kind.
 
Yeah... I have one of those...used to work GREAT when I first got it. Now, though, it's kinda defective... just got old, I guess... The middle part bulges out a little, and part of the frame, also in the middle, but on the back side, hits this nerve that then locks up the whole works... I can't afford for it to go out on me in the middle of a trip, so I'm gonna get a different kind.

LOL! I get that. :)
 
When you look at wheels, the larger the diameter of the wheel, the easier it will be to get over obstacles, like rocks and roots. The wider the wheel, the better it will support the load on soft ground. I would favor a larger diameter wheel over a smaller wider wheel. Most good garden carts are made with bicycle style wheels. The ones with little red wagon wheels will only work on pavement. Bicycle wheels also tend to be lighter. My biggest concern after wheel size would be ease of storage. I would prefer something that comes apart over something that folds
 
Just found this in a 1947 film about the Allagash. It appears they had one or more of them at the Carry around the Falls.

Larger wheels that will get you over rough trails, although the thin tread might sink in muddy sections.



 
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Big wheels and a wide stance for a low center of gravity, plus four guys on the conveyance means a wide trail.

One issue I’ve had with carts is that the higher the bunks that the boats rest upon the higher the COG. Having a high axle position is great for ground clearance, until you get to some trail with a sideways \ slope and the whole dang mess topples over and rolls down the hill.

Along with same lines the wider the cart the more difficult it is to drag it along narrow trails. Making turns with a 17’ canoe on a cart is like cornering in a semi truck; swing wide if there is room and watch for low brush getting hung up on the cart or stern end.

The prefect canoe cart doesn’t exist. The best cart for the conditions probably does.
 
Heads up.. If anyone does Juniper Run in Florida , just after the rapids.. maybe three to five minutes down past.. in a deep part of the river before a left hand turn, there is a Swedish Cart.

Mine. or used to be. If you go get it its yours.

Have no idea if alligators prize canoe carts for hiding places.
 
Too funny YC... 'just after the rapids'... Just about where the canoe tipped over? Or did you throw it out in frustration? And is that a recommendation FOR that model? or against it?

I have it on good authority that alligators do NOT hide under canoe carts... they like holes.
 
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