[quote=nacraman57]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:[img]http://www.thebeachcats.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=103163&g2_serialNumber=3[/img]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.[img]http://www.thebeachcats.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=103166&g2_serialNumber=3[/img] Construction was sraightforward with careful attention paid to wheel spacing[img]http://www.thebeachcats.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=103175&g2_serialNumber=3[/img] 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.[img]http://www.thebeachcats.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=103178&g2_serialNumber=3[/img] Last picture shows the comparison between the two sets of beach wheels.[img]http://www.thebeachcats.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=103169&g2_serialNumber=3[/img] 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.[/quote]
No HTML tags allowed (except inside [code][/code] tags)
