PVC cart for TI

I have been using the Hobie HD scupper cart with cradle for a while and wanted to experiment with building a cart that might be better for my purposes. The goal is to make a taller cart to make re-loading on the trailer easier and also to widen the wheel base to make the cart more stable while rolling and rigging as well as avoid scraping the stern. The 26 cm Wheeleez tires on the HD cart feel marginal to me on the HD cart and do not roll easily because they tend to flatten a little. I wanted to try using the 38 cm wheels from the full cradle cart to see how they compare. The downside is that they double the weight of the tires alone.
When I got my TI I fabricated a large cart like the one Hobie offers but quickly found that it was too cumbersome to take with me when launching solo. I usually rig my boat on the cart, park the trailer, then launch from the cart. This makes it more convenient to take the cart with me than schlep it back to the trailer while the boat is in the water banging into the pier.
Initially I tried making a scupper cart with the 38 cm wheels but the additional clearance required for the scupper pins and the already fairly low back end of my trailer doesn't allow enough clearance to make the cart higher than the HD cart. In playing with this version I discovered that the collars under the cradle on the HD cart can be raised 2" from the horizontal bar with spacers and still expose enough pin on the topside to allow the holding pin to be inserted.

At this point I abandoned the idea of a scupper cart and started looking at the possibility of a cradle cart. I had a spare full size cradle from the pair I purchased to make my other large cart. I sawed the ama cradles off of the full size cradle and built a support structure out of mostly 1 1/4" schedule 40 PVC pipe. The cut down cradle is bolted to the cart in three places but is stabilized by the additional PVC cross pieces and spacers below. The axle will be a piece of 1" stainless tubing 3/16" thick running through the 1" pvc pipe at the bottom. The T's on either side of the cradle are to run two straps through to secure the cart to the boat. The cart is intended for the 38 cm wheels but the smaller 26 cm wheels with 1" bushings can be put on it and this would lower the cart to the height of a Hobie HD cart. Alternatively it would be possible to put two of the 26 cm wheels on each side for more stability. The 1" pvc pieces nearest the wheels are not glued in and only serve as spacers and have silicone grease on them so they can be changed. I don't have any sand tires but they would probably fit fine with the correct axle length and spacer combination.
It might be adequate to build this cart from 1" pvc but I went with 1 1/4" for the first one. It made incorporating a 1" axle a little easier.
Hopefully I will be able to put the boat on it this week but I wanted to post a few pics of the unpainted pvc to make the construction easier to see. Sorry for the small pics, I haven't figured out how to post larger ones from Flickr.
Chris

I'd love to hear how your cart is holding up.

I tried the cart once and it worked well unloading from the trailer but installing it in the water was difficult managing the two straps. The cart wants to turn over ( bow to stern ) because of the flotation of the tires and the straps get tangled and looped around things on the cart. I want to try again using a looped strap on each side to see if the cart is more manageable in the water. It may be necessary to add some pvc pieces to nest in the scupper grooves to keep the cart from flopping over from flotation while tightening the straps but I want to try different straps first before making the cart more complicated. I didn't feel that there were any strength problems with the 1 1/4" pvc.
It was much easier pulling the boat on the larger tires. They don't compress like the small Tuff Tires and they roll over obstacles much easier. The extra height is nice too and stops the stern from scraping while unloading and feels more ergonomic when pulling the boat out of the water.
I'll post more if I find a workable setup.

Chris

Thank you. Ive been meddling with a few PVC carts for my rigged AIs, however haven't had any luck with long term success. Yours looks great! Back to the hardware store