Build Your Own DIY Kayak Cart 

It's funny. We have definitely discovered that over the years of using it 🤣

Note taken. Thank you. We are actually thinking about updating the video so we will fix all of that. 😁👍

Thank you so much! We need to make a sequel! We have been trying to think of ways to make it better

Ive never heard that before. Thank you for the tip! They can get pretty bound up after a while.

Im sorry that the design gave you some problems. We are actually looking for a way to update and improve the design. If you find tires that work on sand let me know. The tires on our build are definitely not ideal for sand! Hopefully you find some that work better! :)

Glad you enjoyed it! You might be able to scale back on the tires to bring the price down even more, but these ones work pretty good on rough paths. Best of luck on your build. I'll see ya it on the water! :)

Honestly the T brackets and the caps were just a tad more than expected at my home depot. Still a super inexpensive build compared to a 75 dollar cart from a store. Thanks for the response!

That's a great idea! Thanks for the pro tip 😁👍

Hey Jimmy! That's awesome! So glad to hear that it worked for you!

Glad ya like it Mike! Hopefully it was helpful! We have gotten some great use out of these carts. Stay tuned. I am going to be hopefully making a tiny portable version soon!

That's awesome man!! We love ours! It will definitely make your life a lot easier! Happy paddling 😊

We are actually working on a second version and the kickstand is something that we are definitely looking into. It does make loading the kayak onto the cart a lot easier but it can catch on things.

We got our wheels at harbor freight. Hopefully that's cheaper.

Awesome! So glad that it worked out for ya! Im thinking mine is due for a paint job too.

Glad to help! We are thinking about doing part 2 with some design changes and we need to update the process due to all of the inflation.

That's a great idea. I'll work that into the next design.

Hey Kris The size and shape of your boat probably determines if the width is important or not. Ours are fairly flat on the bottom so it is good to support them. If you have something with more of a v shape you could probably get away with making it more narrow. That's weird that the parts were trickier to find. Probably all of the pandemic projects still going on. Best of luck!

Thank you! I had to barrow it from my dad. Hit him up! Ha ha

It can if you don't position it right or pick the nose up high enough. The design also works if you skip the kickstand and just set the nose on the ground.

Hi, we're not exactly sure about the weight capacity, however, we have used it to haul a 12ft, 75lbs kayak (Crescent Lite Tackle Kayak) with tons of gear loaded on it. Someone mentioned that it works great for their 14′ 6″ canoe. Another commenter said that they use it on a 10ft Jon boat, about 100lbs and it works great. Hopes this helps. 😊

Wow! Thank you for the update! That is crazy!! Hopefully, after all this covid stuff is over, the price will go back to normal. I got the tires at Harbor Freight. Not sure if it will cut the cost down a little.

I don't know what home depot you shop at, but not counting the tires from Harbor Freight the total cost I got from HD (today, 7 April 2021) was $40.98. That's adding two 1" plugs (for the wheels/axles instead of using caps - easier to center and drill), with pipe primer and glue and that's also in-store pick up. If you're paying that much, you're either trolling the video or seriously getting screwed by HD.

I just completed mine today and the total cost for me was $56 + tax. I already had a strap though.

Hey John! I wonder if a washer would help. If that doesn't work you might want to try some loctite. Hopefully that will help!

Use the nuts with the nylon locking feature, and washers help too.

@@4ustube Yea that is probably better than Loctite! :D

Gotta have the tools to do the job bud! I mean a hack saw would totally do it just as well, but why not take the easy route when possible.

Thank you for the heads up. I wonder if prices have shifted due to the pandemic.

Hey Ian! I assume that it could be done that way. The only way that I could see it as being a problem is if you heat the threaded rod up too much you could melt either the pvc end cap or the rim of the tire. If you take your time it would probably be fine! Best of luck!

Thank you!

I definitely think it would be better to have the wheel spin on the axel. If you give a good run to the inside of the hub with some sandpaper it may help it spin freely. :)

That Adventure Life I figured out. The large washer on the outside of the wheel was binding on the bearing housing, not the bearing, effectively locking the wheel on the axle. Solution was to remove the outer washer and just use the locking nut. I think that might be an alteration needed for the 1/2 rod and 8 inch wheel. Another modification with smaller wheels is to raise the height of the platform a couple inches to give more ground clearance. It’s working great now. Thanks for the reply!

@@johnhegarty1109 Awesome! Glad ya figured it out! Yea raising it up would be good. I'm going to try to make some mini karts soon. Hopefully, the fact that they will be lower won't be a problem. The only bummer about these is that you don't balance the weight so you do have to do some of the work to carry them.

Yea, probably a solid piece of advice.

There is a mute button on your volume control if it bothers you so much. Have a wonderful day. ❤️

@@LiveThatAdventure I guess he wants to listen to your instructions as you speak out, but at the same time he does not want to hear/listen to any background music:-) (By the way, love your design and detailed instruction. I am right now looking to build one myself)

So glad that we could help! :)

They do pretty good! I mean is the sand is super soft you might sink a little, but they do a million times better that the think hard rubber tires that you see at hardware stores.

Hey Mark! Try loosening the nuts on the ends. That should allow the wheels to spin more freely. Since these wheels don't have bearings, they need a little play between all of the nuts and washers to be able to spin. Did you use a tie-down strap to keep your kayak on the cart? That helps a lot. another thing that I find helpful is making sure that the weight of the kayak is centered over the cart. Hopefully this helps!.

@@LiveThatAdventure Sorry for the slow response. My issue for loosening the outside nuts is the wheel will eventually move and snug up against it or the nut could be worked off the rod. How do you prevent that? I'm pretty sure my issue on putting the kayak on the cart is the weight was not centered. I think I had the cart too far back. Once I solve the wheel problem, I'm going to test it with kids' lighter singles and see if centering solves the problem. Outside chance I made the distance between the support T arms too far. I'll turn the kayak over and see how it lines up. I'm sure you're right about centering and I need to do a better job with the straps. My bigger concern is solving the wheel problem. Thanks.

Use nylon nuts. They will stay where you put them without having to be 'tightened'.

@@normanacree1635 nylon nuts as in locking nuts? Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Thx! www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-6-Count-1-4-in-Stainless-Steel-Standard-SAE-Nylon-Insert-Lock-Nuts/4756509?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-hdw-_-google-_-lia-_-126-_-fasteners-_-4756509-_-0&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_8mHBhClARIsABfFgpgHH93jPWBOhisY-B74BCcyBkFdnTuO8pW3Vd81f3X4NeUxhQJn5_kaAu0MEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Hey Mark! Glad you found the video helpful! I didn't even think about getting the tires at the tractor supply store. Wow you have yourself a heavy boat there! I can definitely see why you would want a cart. Unfortunately we don't have any experience with anything that heavy, but we have loaded ours up full of gear and it has absolutely no problem or flex. Do you mean threaded rod or pipe? I don't think the thread of the rod matters to much as long as you find the correct nut for it.

As for design changes I would probably shorten the kickstand because your boat will have a bunch of leverage with the weight. I wonder if you can get the hardware store to cut the rod for you. I would build the cart first and figure out how long the rod needs to be. Best of luck!

@@LiveThatAdventure I was surprised at price discrepancies of tires. I looked because I'm trying to do curbside pickup and Harbor Freight didn't have it. Home Depot and Lowe's were no bargain. Without your suggestion, I'd have never thought of Harbor Freight. While I didn't use them, Tractor Supply has so many stores and fair prices. I looked at the hard plastic/rubber wheels on our old wagon and was like damn they're heavy and I know what it is like to pull that thing across the sand. These wheels are the tip of the century. Yes, I meant a threaded rod. Apparently, Lowe's will cut it but Home Depot doesn't. I think I can cut it with a hack saw. Yeah, I looked at the plans and will do a trial build without glue and look at the width. Yes, it is a heavy kayak. Without gear. Lots of these tandems are. I'm trying to examine the plans and see if there is a way to modify them and add distribute the load. I was toying with making it a 4 wheeler (not that the wheels are the issue but to distribute the load). Or just see how it goes and add a 2nd cart. I thought I could even connect the 2nd cart with another threaded rod between the 2 axles and they'd sort of be independent yet connected Otherwise just strapping 2 on the kayak would be fine before I over-engineer a good design. My next PVC project is to modify some of the plans I've seen for making a roof assist loader. I've got standard cradles and it is a bear to get on the roof. Thanks again!

We are glad that you liked it! Dont worry, yours isn't screwed up, its "customized". :) Enjoy it and happy paddling!

Sorry, we don't make them to sell. I'm sure you can buy kayak carts online though.

@@LiveThatAdventure I found one that will work. Thanks!

Mark Ortiz awesome! Glad to hear it :)

Hhaha yes sir!

Hey Jimmy! While not a total answer to the question, we have upgraded to Crescent Lite Tackles that are 75 pounds and the carts don't seem to mind at all. At 125 pounds you may want to consider a slightly thicker pipe just to be safe.

thank you @@LiveThatAdventure

They have done surprisingly well. We recently had our first break and it was one of the horizonal pipes that the kayaks rest on so it is an easy fix. One update that we did was to get some wheels off of a power Wheels car to make it easier to use in the sand.

Awesome. I'm going to make one similar. . I have a fishing kayak so it will weigh a bit more. We will see what happens. Thanks for the inspiration.

@@williamnelson2332 sure thing! Our crescents are about 75 pounds if that helps

We have gone to places with a mile walk from the car to the water. Definitely not carrying it that far.