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.

I decided to make 2 pairs for myself to see if indeed it is any cheaper, I will also share costs and processes.

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 started thinking that these could easily be turned into cat-trax. The next step was to purchase some .5" aluminum plate and some 3" aluminum tube. I paid $25 each for the wheels, $35 for the tube and $40 for the plate that is pictured. The stick of 2" .125 tube for the axle was $140. Smooth tires are $65 each.



Here is a general mock of how the tube fits in the wheels (it doesn't)



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. Mark carefully to get the most out of the plate.



You will probably need to make your own heavy duty arbor, none of mine where up to this job. (Your obviously using the larger diameter in this picture)




Your left with this circle.





The next step is to open up the flange to allow it to fit over the 3" tube. I did this with another smaller hole saw. I did not take pictures but it is the same idea as above. After this I cleaned up the rough cut from the saw.




Next I marked the flanges and drilled and tapped them. I used .5" wheel bolts.



I built a simple jig to help hold the flanges evenly on the tube for welding. Use small tacks to get started.






After welding both sides of the plate I chucked the hub back into the lathe to face it up.

At this point I installed some stainless bolts from the back side as studs. I did not want to use bolts with the aluminum threading.

The next step was to make a collar to contain the bearings. I opened up the remnants from the flange centers. (4 of them in the chuck)




Installed in the hub here. (I made them a press fit)



The next step was to open up the wheel centers. My lathe wasn't big enough for this, I ended up using a fly cutter on the mill.



Next the wheel are bolted onto the hubs.



I used .303" rod for the bearings, the whole wheel is assembled here. You can see I decided to weld the collar into the hub to try it out. The wheels are basically complete in this picture. I bought an used cutting board from goodwill to make a UHMW washed for the cotter pin in the axle to wear against. It cost me about $300 per pair without cradles to build these wheels. Cradles cost $50 each used or $110 each new.

That's some sophisticated stuff compared to most "homemade beach wheels".

Did the big (is it 21 x 10 ?) tires from Cat Trax mount on your golf cart rims ok?

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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$5k in a lathe, $5k in a mill, $2K in a tig welder plus all the knowledge to make it work, all for cheap beach wheels? Seriously nice work but way way over most peoples heads. JMHO, Ricardo.

PS I have two sets, one I got for free when a guy sold the boat and the new owner did not pick up the wheels, the other set came with a 1500 boat. They show up used on craigslist and even on this site. No matter how old they are just put a set of tubes on them and good to go for a long time. It never ceases to amaze me how much people will spend to save money making something that someone else has already perfected. R.

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Lake Perry KS
H-18
N-5.5 UNI +spin
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I made a decent set once using the large plastic dock wheels, some conduit and homemade plywood box cradles. After all the time, effort and parts, i would have been better off just buying a commercial one.

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Hobie 16
Hobie 18
G-Cat 5.7
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very impressive. i thought about doing something similar but settled for this setup.


http://www.thebeachcats.c…ictures/?g2_itemId=82521

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Mike Conway
H16
Hilton, NY
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DamonLinkous

Did the big (is it 21 x 10 ?) tires from Cat Trax mount on your golf cart rims ok?

The rims are 10" rims, the smooth tires fit fine.

The conclusion was, IMO that cat-trax are a pretty good deal at $500. Hubs are the hard part to any beach wheels. One of the ideas was to find out if these hubs could be made for a reasonable price, would they be worth selling for others to build their own trax around there own axle and rims.

+!

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$5k in a lathe, $5k in a mill, $2K in a tig welder plus all the knowledge to make it work

the cost of equipment, fuel, time off the water and "opportunity cost" come into play here.

Don't get me wrong, they look nice, and if i had the shop/skills... i would make my own parts too.

Guys, why all the Killjoy's?
Carolina 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.
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?
If no one ever tried to build a better mousetrap, we'd all still own cats.
You really can't factor the cost of a lathe, TIG etc as he didn't buy them for the project. That is like saying it cost me $500 to swap wheels because I use a compressor, & air wrenches. The guy obviously has the tech tools due to his line of work, or he's a hobby machinist. His time is free, as it's a hobby project.
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..
I congratulate him for what he built, he has some pretty cool mag wheels



Edited by Edchris177 on Jul 01, 2013 - 03:31 PM.

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Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
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Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
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I was careful in my response not be negative, just trying to look at the whole picture.

Quote

Guys, why all the Killjoy's?

Edchris177

If no one ever tried to build a better mousetrap, we'd all still own cats.

Lost me for a second there!

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Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16
Clinton, Mississippi
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Now that's funny! And we all still do own cats!

Was fascinated with Carolinacatamarans beach wheel build. I faced a similar situation after selling my NACRA 5.0 and picking up an awesome deal on a '06 Hobie Wave. (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. This is what I ended up with:The tube is an Alcoa 6061, 2.25ODx .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). The wheels are Fast Trekker 22x11-10 ATV tires on aluminum rims with 3/8 four hole bolt holes. Got them from a local motorhead for 25 bucks. The flange is a schedule 80- 2" socket flange @ $4.95 each. There is a lip on the inside for a stop that I carved flush with the sidewall. The "lug" bolts are 3/8" plastic toilet seat holdown bolts. The holes in the flange are larger than the wheel holes but the rounded nuts center the flange perfectly. The white washers holding the flange in place are cut out of plastic cutting board materiel. Construction was sraightforward with careful attention paid to wheel spacing Early indications are....they work great! Left the end of the tubes open so the tiedown straps are just hooked into the bolts mounting the 2x6 "cradles" and really secures the boat. Last picture shows the comparison between the two sets of beach wheels. I think that if a guy is willing to do a little scrounging he can build a decent pair of wheels on the cheap. The only drawback is that they weigh 15lbs. more than the storebought but for the 300 bucks difference in price it's not an issue, besides I need the exercise! You can see clearer pictures on my personal album.

Nice one, I'm not clear how the white washers are staying in place. Is there a large cotter pin through the axle?

I don't know anything about plumbing parts, does a 2 inch Schedule 80 socket flange have a 2.25 inch hole that becomes the wheel bearing in your design?

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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A lot of weight could be saved smooth tires could be found. Maybe put your ATV treaded tires on a lathe and smooth them down. Wonder how much all that tread weighs.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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I just cut my 8' beach wheel tube in half, inserted a pipe into each half, then drilled holes for 8', 8.5' and 10' cats. Pete

Nacraman,

I like the idea. I some some concernes about the pipe flange not offering a ton of support for holding the wheel strait up and down. How much play is in the system now? Do you have a way to lubricate the flange?

Quote

Nice one, I'm not clear how the white washers are staying in place. Is there a large cotter pin through the axle?

I don't know anything about plumbing parts, does a 2 inch Schedule 80 socket flange have a 2.25 inch hole that becomes the wheel bearing in your design?

Hope this picture will clarify how the the wheel/flange/axle is put together. The axle is 2.25 OD but the hole in the flange is roughly 2- 3/8" so it allows the flange to rotate freely. The plastic washers are held in place by two stainless screws. You can see the flange holes are larger but the rounded nuts will center flange to wheel.

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I just cut my 8' beach wheel tube in half, inserted a pipe into each half, then drilled holes for 8', 8.5' and 10' cats. Pete

Pete, I thought of that too, but taking a hacksaw to a pair of $400.00+ beach wheels would make my feet sweat! This set will stay permanantly with the Wave, so if I'm off somewhere with the 5.7 one of the kids can still use it and have a set of wheels. Besides I was just curious to see if I could do it.

Quote

some concernes about the pipe flange not offering a ton of support for holding the wheel strait up and down. How much play is in the system now? Do you have a way to lubricate the flange?

I think, after using it that there would be more concern with the plastic bolts shearing off than the flange breaking. If that happens I would just rotate the flange a quarter turn, drill new holes and use stainless bolts. There is some play, but not much more "wobble" than the storebought. Getting the plastic washers tight to the flange helps. When there is weight on, the wheels stand straight. I just let water be the lubricant because I felt greasing it would attract sand and wear it faster.

pbegle

I just cut my 8' beach wheel tube in half, inserted a pipe into each half, then drilled holes for 8', 8.5' and 10' cats. Pete

We don't bother with the bolts, just let the tube float. This way we can launch three different width boats with the same wheels one after the other.

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Pete Knapp
Schodack landing,NY
Goodall Viper,AHPC Viper,Nacra I20
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nacraman57

Hope this picture will clarify how the the wheel/flange/axle is put together.

OK, cool. I like that you did so much with off the shelf parts, even the white plastic chopping block washers could be made by anyone with a jig saw.

But what would the total price really be assuming you need to buy everything at retail prices.

I've never found the smooth 21x12x8 tires used on the real Cat Trax for sale anywhere. Closest I've found were these 22x11x8 "turf saver" with light tread available from Walmart for $68.
http://www.walmart.com/ip…and-Garden-Tire/23597334

What about the aluminum rim? And the aluminum axel?

Can anyone come up with a complete parts recipe with links to purchase all the items needed?

Florida Sailcraft sells the actual Cat Trax tires for $55 plus quite a bit of shipping, or the tire/rim assembly for $129 which might be the best deal to be found.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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carolinacatamarans - that looks outstanding! I would love a set like that!

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Jim
New Orleans

'83 H18 SX mods 2013 -
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'80 P16 1980 - 1996
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Finally picked upwd the project again and got around to weighing all of my trax.

Bacho trax 51lbs
Cat-trax 37lbs
Euro-trax 41lbs

All measure on the same scale.

My trax were measured using 24-9.5 treaded ATV tires, I imagine I could drop a few ponds going to smooth tires.

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Greenville SC

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Quote

I've never found the smooth 21x12x8 tires used on the real Cat Trax for sale anywhere.

when in doubt.....look to the heavens.
http://www.backcountrypil…tires-mounted-today-5102

http://www.highwingllc.com/tires.html




Edited by arch on Dec 09, 2013 - 09:20 AM.

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I followed nacraman's build idea this weekend, I already had a 2" steel pipe as an axle. I ordered:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/…00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
and
http://www.amazon.com/gp/…00_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

(I like amazon's free shipping, especially for bulky items).
I got two 2" PVC couplings (< $1 each) to cut off the ends as wheel stops, had to re-drill the holes in the flange for the wheels, dremel'd out the stop in the flanges and attached everything with 1/2 inch nuts/bolts/washers.
All this took less than an hour and went together easily.

Thanks again for the idea to use the flange as a hub.

Michael

Quote

We don't bother with the bolts, just let the tube float.

Pete, can you send me some photos of your rig?
By "letting it float", do you mean you just insert a piece of tubing into the 2 axles halves & depend on the cradles to keep the halves from wandering outwards?
We have a homebuilt set for the Nacra's, & I got a double wheeled set with the Mystere 6XL. I'm thinking of dumping them both & just getting a single Cattrax, useable for both boats,(the Mystere came with beams/tramps etc for both the 8'6" width & the 10'wide setup,planning to leave it @ 10')

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Yes exactly as you described. Just put the loose tubing over the cut axle. Our sleeve is quite long and fits the
original axle very well. Got it from a local metal supplier. The tie ropes at the ends of the axle along with the
cradles help keep everything from moving. Originally we cross drilled it for an 8 foot boat. We still install
stainless eyebolts through these holes to tie them to the trailer. By cutting the axle we can split the wheels in two and fit them in a car. Comes in handy sometimes.

On another note my partner in crime came across what looks like a sailcraft Tornado for sale 15 miles from us.
Gonna have a look tomorrow morning. Might be time to let some Hobies go :)

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Pete Knapp
Schodack landing,NY
Goodall Viper,AHPC Viper,Nacra I20
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Thanks Pete. Despite that SCOC was located, & built Tornado's here for years, I could not find a decent one. Only old woodies, & I would have bought one of those, but the ones I found within 3 hours drive were all beaters/parts boats.
I ended up buying a 2001 Mystere 6XL with great trailer(I threw an album into Damon's "trailers" album, somebody might get some useful ideas) & all the fittings for both 8'6" boat & 10' beam. It came with a new spinnaker & fittings, though it is a tramp launch. I'm keeping an eye open for a good used SNU.
Not many Catraxx come up for sale close by. I'd spring for a new set, but we only use them once a year. Having a set that works both boats would be simpler, & the real McCoy are quite a bit lighter than what we made.



Edited by Edchris177 on Dec 13, 2013 - 05:57 PM.

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Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
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Ended up buying a Sailcraft of UK aka Reg White Tornado. Overall in decent shape. It came on an interesting trailer. The hulls sit in cradles on the center of the trailer and there is a wooden storage box along side the port hull. To assemble the boat there are four swing out arms with cradles that hold the hulls so that the cross bars can be bolted on. Kind of a neat design that I have never seen. I will post pics to the trailer
album when it gets warmer than 12 degrees outside. There is a thread on identifying this boat over on tornadocat.

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Pete Knapp
Schodack landing,NY
Goodall Viper,AHPC Viper,Nacra I20
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Quote

To assemble the boat there are four swing out arms with cradles that hold the hulls so that the cross bars can be bolted on.

That is exactly the design of the last T that I looked at. The package was only 6' wide for trailering. He claimed he could solo assemble & rig the boat in an hour. That boat is just east of Gananoque, Quebec. After looking at it,(he's down to $1000 CDN) I drove another hour + 30 to see the Mystere 6XL. The mast was pretty dinged, but it would be a good parts boat

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Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
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