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PostPosted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 12:41 pm 
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Joined: Sat Aug 09, 2014 12:49 pm
Posts: 267
Location: Bethany, OK
Been browsing through various threads to get a list of goodies to go along with my TI next year, and am curious about beach carts / tires.

I've never been to a "real" sandy beach, closest we get here is a small area where someone dumped a bunch of sand to make a swim area, so I'm not sure how it compares to our normal shorelines.

We don't often have hard shores either, it's usually soft, sticky mud (lots of clay). Right at the water's edge it's also quite common to sink several inches into it if you stand in one place too long. A nightmare to clean all the goop off as well...

How well would the beach tires work in this case?

For my Outback, a standard cart with solid rubber tires is tolerable, though I have to drag the OB away from the water's edge before putting it on as the cart sinks too deep in the goop there to be pulled out.

My primary intent is to trailer-launch the TI, but it'd be nice to have options. Thinking particularly about camping, when the boat ramp is well away from the camping spot.


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PostPosted: Thu Nov 27, 2014 8:42 pm 
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Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 am
Posts: 3058
Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
You will find the ti when fully rigged with the amas on is a bit of a bear to move around at the shoreline. We have a pretty nasty launch ramp at smathers beach in key west where the concrete ends ten ft short at low tide into 6 inches of mud mixed with large rocks. I find in those conditions any type of cart or beach wheels makes the job a whole lot harder. It's easier for me to just drag the boat itself thru the crap. It's actually much easier to move the ti around without the amas, carry them separate then put them on at the water. I find it easiest to just drag the hull out of the muck to solid ground, flip the boat on its side, throw the scupper cart under it then walk the hull by itself up to the car. I almost always carry the amas separately on a second trip, as the full ti is simply too heavy for me with the amas attached.
Personally I find the HD cart with the foam filled tires to be the most versatile and the cart I prefer to use most often (I have both types of carts ( the HD, and trax 2).
We have a trailer which I feel is the preferred way to transport a ti, it's pretty easy to unhook the trailer from the car and walk the trailer and boat to the shore. I suspect if I invested in a set of those big beach wheels (which cost double the cost of my whole trailer) I would never use them.

We are campers and always take our ti with when we camp, chances of actually getting a real waterfront site is usually slim to nill. So we normally walk the ti hull itself thru the campground and down to the water, usually down trails. Then carry the amas on a second trip if we are planning to sail. Doing it this way you don't need any type of formal launch at all, you can launch from literally anywhere you desire, and we often do.
We used to launch the same way with our oasis, and in my opinion handling the ti hull alone is no more difficult than our old oasis , or perhaps your outfitter, it's just when you have the amas attached that it becomes unruly and difficult to handle in my opinion. Obviously if we are going river kayaking we don't even bother with the big sail and ama's, we just leave them at the campground. You will find the ti as a kayak (no amas) to be the finest kayak you have ever owned (as just a kayak, either single or tandem)
But that's just me and my opinions and experience.
Bob


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 28, 2014 6:28 pm 
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Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 8:48 am
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Location: Southwest Calif.
Mud seems to be so sticky that It seems to me that you might want to get some old water skis or snowboards and make a set up like a pontoon plane so you can skim across the mud. But then again, you'll still have to walk through the muck to be able to pull it.
Good luck with this.

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 28, 2014 9:40 pm 
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Joined: Sat Aug 09, 2014 12:49 pm
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Location: Bethany, OK
Salty Dawg, I don't think I need to go that far for the muddy areas I'm traversing! :lol: It's usually just a strip about 10 feet wide - maybe 20 feet at most - right at the water's edge, after that it's fairly hard packed. That narrow strip can be quite a mess, though...

Bob, I remember you mentioned elsewhere that you broke it down in these situations. Yes, that's probably the best idea. I'm prone to trying to get everything in one trip though, I hate making multiple trips no matter how short they are. :P Usually costs me more time and frustration than just making the extra trips, of course, but I can be a bit hard headed at times...

I do like the foam tires better than pneumatic. My first cart had pneumatics and the darn things were always flat when I needed it and nearly impossible to fill thanks to the stubby little valve stems. My current cart has solid rubber tires.

I never even thought about using the trailer as the "cart" - should have, I wheel my Yakima trailer in and out of the garage by hand to hitch to the truck. That's a good idea to keep in mind.


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 12:25 pm 
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Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2011 3:57 am
Posts: 244
Location: Fairfax, CA USA
I don't know about the TI, but the beach wheels work wonders on our nasty a@@ SF bay mud.

Sturgeon season is upon us, and the best launches to the best spots all have mud walks at low tide- which is of course the best tide to fish.

When the tide goes out here you get this mud, that you will sink up to your knees and beyond in. THe beach wheels will keep the AI on top of this muck. You not so much. We basically lay on the rear aka and "paddle" with our feet. you and all your gear get covered.
One of the main reasons i got the outboard- i can now launch from a ramp, and make a long way round to the spots.


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