[quote=liquidus99]I have made a couple of sets of home-made cat tracks for myself and friends over the years using 2 plastic 55-gallon drums. These are readily available from producers in the food and cosmetic industries. It takes some calling around to locate the drums but you can usually get them for free. Typically they were used to ship bulk quantities of food grade substances like molasses, canola oil, olive oil, propylene glycol, glycerine, etc.
I take two of these drums and drill a 2" diameter hole using a hole saw from the hardware store into the top and bottom of each drum along the central axis of the drum. I use a piece of galvanized electrical conduit (also from the hardware store) that extends about 2 feet wider than my catamaran. I thread the 2" diameter conduit through the holes that I have cut in the two barrels. I now have a long continuous "wheel" that fits nicely between the pontoons of either a Hobie 14 or H16.
You then mount some 1"x6" boards to the outside of the barrels to provide a place to attach the pontoons to the wheels. I use axle u-bolts (also from the hardware store) to attach the boards to the conduit at the spacing required to line up with the width of the pontoons. I drill an extra set of holes in the board and string some 3/8" line through the holes so I can secure the pontoons to the axle and the board. I have since added some closed cell foam on top of the boards for cushioning...
I have one set that I made 15 years ago and have used them 100's of times at the beaches here in North Carolina. The large surface area of the "wheels" floats the boat on top of loose sand. Trickiest part is getting the boat balanced but once you figure that out it becomes pretty easy.
The whole setup also fits nicely on the hobie trailer under the trampoline!
Total cost was about $30. Most expensive parts for me were the U-bolts and the 2" steel pipe. The drums were free for me and came from a bakery and were for propylene glycol, food grade. I have seen postings on craigslist in the past year where people are trying to get rid of these as well...
Good Luck!
PJ[/quote]
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