A note on the first incarnation of the trolley which attached to the rear end of the kayak. It worked Ok but I wasnt too happy with the weight balance; ie with this configuration you have to effectively 'carry' half of the weight of the fully loaded kayak and over a long distance it can be tiring.
The current design locates the axle around the rear of the cockpit. There are two main advantages to this configuration:
Better balanced, ie more comfortable to walk with fully laden over a distance.
More manoeverable, the turning circle is much less than when the trolley is at the rear end.
A disadvantage is the lack of ground clearance.
The assembly consists of two wooden side frames, an axle and two wheels.
Spacer tubes on the axle keep the side frames apart.
The trolley attaches to the kayak by two regular carriage straps.
It comes apart by simply removing the 'R' clips from the axle ends.
Wheels
Pneumatic wheels are typically the lightest and most suitable.
I bought the Eckla 200 x 50 (the next size up were too big) pneumatic wheels from Brookbank canoes.
These will easily fit into most hatches; the rear hatch on my Alaw Bach is 24cm diameter.
They have a plastic centre and a 20mm internal diameter axle hole. Approx £11 each. Weight 400gms.
Axle
A stainless steel tube is best but I haven't gone to the trouble of finding one yet. I bought a 20mm steel tube from B&Q for £3 something. Stainless steel washers are relatively easy to come by at ironmongers or chandlers.
A slightly larger tube is used for spacers. The centre of an old roller blind is ideal as its aluminium, thin and lightweight. Small spacers are needed between the wheel and frame because the valve protrudes from the wheel and would otherwise foul the frame (or the kayak). Washers are needed between the spacers, frames, wheels and 'R' clips.
The axle ends are drilled for the 'R' clips which hold the assembly together.
Frames
Each frame is made from softwood 40 x 30 section x 500mm long. Shape the main length of the frame by surform / plane at an angle to conform to the cross sectional shape of your kayak.
A small piece of 40 x 30 is attached under the middle to give a bit more height. A piece of 70 x 45 section, 80mm long is at the bottom and is drilled to take the axle. Two long woodscrews hold the 3 pieces together. The 70 on the bottom piece is the dimension that the axle passes through; this gives the whole structure rigidity.
On the top of the frame a piece of foam is attached with contact adhesive. The wood is finished in Danish oil (only because I had some left over from making the Greenland paddle). Other wood preservative or paint can be used.
Notes
All up weight is about 2.4 kilos.
Make the frames / drill axle holes such that there is a slight 'flare'. ie If you look down on the trolley from above the distance between the frame ends at the front is slightly more than the distance between the frame ends at the back. This is to conform to the shape of the kayak.
Cut a slight channel underneath each end of each frame for the strap to slot into so that it won't slip off the frame when attached to the kayak.
When you drill the holes for the axle in the 70 x 45 x 80 piece use a 19mm drill then carefully file out the hole so the axle is a 'comfortable' fit. If a 20mm drill is used the axle might be a 'sloppy' fit and that would spoil the rigidity of the trolley.
Use a pilot drill first and be careful not to split the wood.
Use some form of lubrication between the wheels and axle. After use check no sand has found its way in.
When disassembling and storing in the kayak keep a couple of plastic bags to go over the axle ends so you dont get grease over everything else or dont use any lubrication (then something is going to wear - if its the axle no matter - cheap to replace but not so the wheels).
The mark 2 version
The trolley has been enhanced in two ways:
A retaining loop of rope that hooks over the front of the cockpit coaming to prevent the trolley from
being knocked back by uneven terrain
Bigger diameter wheels and wider and even lighter at 300gms each.
These are just under 24cm diameter and will fit through an Alaws front and rear hatches (not the day hatch).
Much better on soft sand due to the extra width. The compromise is that they take up more room in the kayak.
For day trips I'll take this trolley, when the kayak is loaded I'll take the smaller trolley that
fits on the rear of the kayak (not shown in this article).
All up weight is now only 1.9kg! See pictures at the end.
Images
Assembled. If you look carefully you can see the slight 'flare'.
