# Surf/Peir Cart



## jfinch (Sep 13, 2011)

Here is a surf/peir cart that I put together.  Harbor Freight ran the Aluminum hitch haul on sale for 69.99.  I got two 5 x 13" tires there with coupons for 12.49 each.  Few peices of aluminum and a 1/2" bar for an axle and viola.  Cart is 48" long and 22" wide.  You carry it in any class III hitch and the steel tube removes with a couple 7/16" clevis pins.  The handle also comes off with a couple stainless bolts and wingnuts.  The thing that turned me off of most of the commercial and home made carts was how to carry them.  When we head to the beach the back of the SUV is full of our stuff for the stay.  With a wife and two kids packing lite isn't an option.  There isn't room for a cart even a colapsible one.  This one can actually be used to carry the stuff we need on the trip down instead of being something else to try and pack.  Tell me what you think and if you have any ideas for improvements.


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## breampole (Sep 13, 2011)

That looks great.  Can't think of anything except whether I want to front for the $70+ bucks with sales tax.  I love Harbor Freight.


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## Limitless (Sep 14, 2011)

JFinch, that is fantastic!  The creativity and innovation of some folks on the hunting and fishing forums is inspiring.  You took some simple and readily available unrelated "things" and basically invented a very useful new and improved product.  Great idea!


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## Walkerdawg (Sep 14, 2011)

I like it !


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## jfinch (Sep 14, 2011)

It pretty much all goes back to me being cheap and an Engineer.  A similar size Angler's Mate cart is about $250.  If you get the optional caddy so you can carry it in a class III hitch add another $150.  That's $400!!  I probably have $150 total in this cart.  Stainless hardware is expensive. Plus it will be able to pull double duty as a hitch hauller when I need one.  It is rated for 500 lbs.  Son is in Cub Scouts and I don't think we have camped many places that didn't require toting gear at least some distance.  So I can use it to haul the stuff there and then to cart it to the campsite.  I expect I will use it a lot and not just at the beach.


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## basser (Sep 14, 2011)

Good looking cart, but you will quickly find out that your wheels are not large enough if you intend to drag it across the sand.  I built a similar cart with 4 wheels and it would not stay above the sand.  Fortunately I, have two teenage son that have plenty of energy to drag it through the soft sand.


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## Paymaster (Sep 14, 2011)

I made a cart a while back myself.I found that the pnuematic tires are quiet and great on the pier but not so great in the sand. I now have a set of wide plastic tires from a kids riding yard toy that I switch up for the beach.


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## jfinch (Sep 14, 2011)

Basser,

You could be correct.  Especially if you really load it up.  I have 13" Diameter x 5" wide tires.  So they are pretty wide.  The Anglers Mate has 15" x 5" so I am only a little smaller in Diameter.  The next choice up at Harbor Freight was a 16 x 6.5 but the price jumped to $40 per tire.  For that money I would probably step up the Wheel Eez.  They are known to work very well in sand.  Anyway I will find out next week.  We are headed to Dauphin Island.  I will let you know how it works.


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## Dr. Strangelove (Sep 14, 2011)

That is seriously cool, I've seen a million beach carts and rod racks in my day, (used to fish Hatteras every year) but nothing like that. Wow! Great job!

Add another wheel in the front and that thing could be a great dead deer hauler-offer.

I'm going to keep this project in the back of my mind for a rainy day...


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## thomas the redneck (Sep 14, 2011)

i saw one kinda like it at edisto last oct. with taller tires and did have the third wheel and it was a steering wheel and yes he did use it in the woods looked a little tippie being that tall but yours should be plenty stable


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## jfinch (Sep 26, 2011)

Okay I had the chance to use the cart last week at Dauphin Island, AL.  I had it loaded with a cooler for bait/fish, 9 ft surf combo and 12 ft surf combo, 5 gallon bait bucket with live shrimp, cooler for drinks and snacks, two steel folding chairs, wife bought them because they were cheap and gave no thought to how much they weighed, beach umbrella, towels, and kids sand toys.  On Concrete, Grass, or wet sand the cart pulls easily even with that heavy load.  On loose sand it is considerably more difficult to pull.  I do need to modify my handle though to make it easier to pull.  I just wrapped the square tubing with rope for a handle.  I need to go back and add a cross bar handle.  This will make it easier to hold and allow two people to work together pulling it.

It was harder to pull through soft sand but it was still much easier than trying to tote all that stuff out there without a cart.


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## Reelfun27 (Dec 5, 2011)

War Eagle!!  Cart looks great..on the handle I would put a d loop..


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## Backlasher82 (Dec 6, 2011)

If you can find an old worn out set of ATV tires still mounted on the rims laying around for cheap it wouldn't take much to adapt them. They would handle the soft sand better and you don't really need tread so you should get 'em real cheap.

If it's just a problem of staying on top of the sand and not ground clearance you could always use longer axles, buy 2 more of the same wheels and bolt them together. It would give you a wider footprint without paying $40 per wheel.

On either setup, clearance is probably going to be a problem when mounted on the hitch so I would use hitch pin clips and remove the wheels for travel, let them ride in the carrier.


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## 4HAND (Dec 6, 2011)

Wow! I bought the same hitch rack at the same sale, but all I saw was a hitch rack. If they put them on sale again I might try to get another one & build a cart. Excellent idea!


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## jfinch (Dec 15, 2011)

Build the one you have.  That is the only one I have so it does it all.  It came in really handy on a cub scout camping trip last month.  Wound up having to carry our gear about 100 yards to our campsite.  I think half the people in our pack wound up using it.


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## HALOJmpr (Jan 8, 2012)

Great job!  Only thing I see is that I would have a baseplate on the front leg under the handle.  That way if you set it in soft sand it doesn't sink in.

Great Work!!!!


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## wecrzyhouse (Jan 17, 2012)

*Question?*

I love your idea so I went and got the same carrier. I had an old yard trailer in the back yard with the tires that I am using. They are 16x6.5x8 and I found new tires without the rims at Wal-Mart. How did you bend the square tubing for the handle?


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## SMonroe (Jan 18, 2012)

Very Nice!  I'm a civil engineer also.  I'm working on a removable casting deck for my fishing boat.  May post pics later on.  I really love ideas of making things on the cheap!  Necessity is the mother of invention.


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## jfinch (Jan 26, 2012)

Wecrzyhouse,

I made a form out of some scrap plywood to bend the square tubing.  I believe I used a 12" radius.  Cut the radius out and screwed it to a backer.  Then screwed a stop down to hold the other end.  Then it was just brute strength pulling on the long end.  Pull it out and check with a framing square till I had bent it 90°.


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