The white washers holding the flange in place are cut out of plastic cutting board materiel. The holes in the flange are larger than the wheel holes but the rounded nuts center the flange perfectly. The "lug" bolts are 3/8" plastic toilet seat holdown bolts. There is a lip on the inside for a stop that I carved flush with the sidewall. The flange is a schedule 80- 2" socket flange $4.95 each. Got them from a local motorhead for 25 bucks. The wheels are Fast Trekker 22x11-10 ATV tires on aluminum rims with 3/8 four hole bolt holes. 083 wall I picked up years ago for about 30 bucks (I think they are around 80 bucks now so maybe a piece of conduit would work). This is what I ended up with: The tube is an Alcoa 6061, 2.25ODx. (Time to teach the grandkids how to sail) I didn't like the fact that my fullsize beach wheels would rub the inside of the Wave hulls and started to gather pieces to build a scaled down version. I faced a similar situation after selling my NACRA 5.0 and picking up an awesome deal on a '06 Hobie Wave. Was fascinated with Carolinacatamarans beach wheel build. I congratulate him for what he built, he has some pretty cool mag wheelsīombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD) I don't have the skills or the tools, so I had to build a sewer pipe/boatlift wheeled contraption, borrowing heavily from Cat Sailor Mike. His time is free, as it's a hobby project. The guy obviously has the tech tools due to his line of work, or he's a hobby machinist. That is like saying it cost me $500 to swap wheels because I use a compressor, & air wrenches. You really can't factor the cost of a lathe, TIG etc as he didn't buy them for the project. If no one ever tried to build a better mousetrap, we'd all still own cats. In the end he sits with those who think the real McCoy are not overpriced, but what's wrong with applying some skills to arrive at a logical conclusion? Use small tacks to get started.Īfter welding both sides of the plate I chucked the hub back into the lathe to face it up.Ĭarolina started his post by stating the fact that many believe it is cheap/easy to make a set, & rather than promulgate old wives tales & myths, he went ahead to try & prove or disprove the theory. I built a simple jig to help hold the flanges evenly on the tube for welding. Next I marked the flanges and drilled and tapped them. After this I cleaned up the rough cut from the saw. I did not take pictures but it is the same idea as above. I did this with another smaller hole saw. The next step is to open up the flange to allow it to fit over the 3" tube. (Your obviously using the larger diameter in this picture) You will probably need to make your own heavy duty arbor, none of mine where up to this job. Mark carefully to get the most out of the plate. The first step was to cut some 6" hub flanges for the wheels I did this by loading a big hole saw into the drill press. Here is a general mock of how the tube fits in the wheels (it doesn't) I paid $25 each for the wheels, $35 for the tube and $40 for the plate that is pictured. 5" aluminum plate and some 3" aluminum tube. I started thinking that these could easily be turned into cat-trax. This project started when I was at the local scrap yard and saw a set of aluminum golf cart wheels that were set aside for sale. I decided to make 2 pairs for myself to see if indeed it is any cheaper, I will also share costs and processes. Nacra: 6.0, 6.Every once in a while someone comes along and asks about homemade beach wheels convinced they would be much cheaper than a set from cat-trax. All boats between 8′ and 8’6″ need the 8′ axle. **Please note Cat Trax are built to order and can take 5-7 days to build prior to shipping**Ĭhoosing Axel Width: The best way to know which axle you need is to measure the width of your boat. Shipping Notes: Since Cat Trax is an oversized item, Shipping is a Flat Rate $129 Use the same tie down ropes to secure to your trailer tongue when transporting on the road. Just pull the CatTrax under the boat using the tie down ropes and, when balanced, secure the ropes to the stays. Tough and durable ABS molded and padded end caps center the boat and hold it in line. Twenty super hard and super slick delrin roller bearings per wheel provide smooth rolling.Ĭat Trax provide no-hassle, maintenance-free operation with no lubrication required, plus they cannot rust. Roller bearings give low-friction wheeling. Air pressure can be changed to accommodate the conditions. The Cat Trax feature strong aluminum wheel rims with two-ply pneumatic rubber tires that disperse weight and do not dig in. This lightweight, yet sturdy rustproof beach dolly will carry your catamaran easily over sand, rocks, mud or pavement.
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