I know if I made the legs from a solid piece of conduit, that would solve the stress problem. However, I tried to find a solution other than this because I wanted the ability to have two different lengths for the pinning location of the legs and one piece of conduit would eliminate this option. If the legs were one solid piece I would have to have one pivot point and therefore one length to make the up and down position work. By keeping the legs separate from each other I can have one pinned location that keeps the wheel really close to the boat when stowed away. Then another pinned location where I can move the wheel out and be pinned about 3" away from the boat.
I would add a wooden filler to the inside of the conduit at the top where it pivots, drill through it and seal with some furniture oil, then leave the rest open so it can drain. As well place a sleeve at the base where the axle nut is, so that the tube does not collapse so easily. Yes larger wheels are a must, though they can be very light as well, not much mass to carry and also low duty cycle. Inside the kayak as well you really need a spreader plate so there is less stress on the GRP laminate, you can use thin plywood, and then use flexible sealer ( marine rated type of course) to bond it in place so the hull does not crack around there, as the top is not really a load bearing surface there without extra support inside.
Hey April. Pygmy and CLC kayaks have plans and kits for Wooden kayaks. Some as light as 30-40 pound range. CLC even has one called Shearwater Sport Sectional that allows you to separate the kayak into three pieces. If you really enjoy kayaking which it looks like you do, you'll find these marine plywood stitch and glue boats a dream to paddle compared to a huge plastic and extremely heavy boat. You guys have a great summer.
I love watching your videos. I love your workshop, i can hear your echo! I love watching your way, everyone does things differently. I love how quickly you learn, design, tools and add the "play by play description. Your video's are perfect for me, you can articulate and enunciate without your favorite music. Keep up the great work April Wilkerson! I promise your truly one in a million..
If you made the legs from one U shaped piece of conduit, you would have to make different wood bracket mounts, but you could also set it up so you only need one locking pin or even a spring loaded detent button instead of a locking pin.
Not everything has to be some perfectly and precisely engineered master piece. You had a problem and found a simple solution (the simple one's are often the best). Thanks for showing us the trials and errors. I think it's encouraging to see the process and know that not everything works out right the first time.
I used three different yard sale/trash picked golf carts and three different configurations before I got an assembly that worked well on all types of terrain. The secret to durability turned out to be an old heavy duty cast aluminum cart for 5 bucks from a yard sale, some PVC pipe, a pool noodle, screw eyes, and ratchet cords. I'm no engineer either, but that's part of the fun and satisfaction, solving problems on the fly. Nice work April.
Pretty cool build ! I have 2 aluminum Grumman canoes and I'm always modifying them...lowering the seats for better stability, rebuilt the transom to accept a bigger motor, little corner shelves made from aluminum for holding my beer or whatever. Never once have I been able to do those modifications on the first shot, so you're not alone. Trial and error. lol I think you did a really good job for the first time, thumbs up !
Why not just make a small wooden trolley that cups the underside of the kayak? You can then use bungee cords to attach the trolley to the boat (maybe use the two wooden blocks to keep the trolley firmly in place). This IMO would be a much stronger solution and would put zero stress on the boat. Also, if you place the trolley at the very end, there's no way the boat will scratch the ground. Just a suggestion. Anyway, I love your videos, April. Good luck!
0:40 "...stays permanently mounted to my boat so that I don't have to mess with attaching and detaching something and then storing it in the kayak while I'm going down the river."
I applaud your resourcefulness!!! I great first attempt at a diy landing system! As you said at the end you already see some room for improvements. Without having read all the comments (there are a lot of them lol) here are my list of ideas. Once you got it all figured out scrap the wood idea. As a wood worker myself i love wood. But it just doesnt hold up well for this. Find something stronger than the conduct. Maybe some ss tubing. I personally went with square tubing. This allowed for a down and a up with out having all the stress placed on a pin and the holes for the pin. You still want the pins but in this case there just insure the legs dont slip out. They bear no load. You can find 2 sizes that slip into each other. And do make the larger one go full length between the 2 mounts. This is going to involve some welding. If you dont have a welder you can get a harbor freight one cheap or find a local small weld shop. The welds dont have to be pretty and basic welding is easy to learn. After seeing your skill with wood working i fully believe a person such as your self could learn the basics in a few mins. This is how i did mine and you can see some of it on my full build video. But a better example of a professional version would be to look up the blue sky boat works system. TIRES!!! as you already noticed those narrow tires are no good off pavement. I wold personally recommend the inflate ones from HF. They are only 4 bucks each. Good luck with your adventures!!!
A couple of suggestions! I would definitely connect the two wheel assemblies with a cross bar or better yet, make one continuous axel. It would reinforce everything and not put as much flex on the body of the Kayak and the wheel assembly. Another suggestion would be to reinforce the mounting brackets with a piece of aluminum plate or even a 3/4" wood plate on the inside of the kayak under the mounts (providing you have access). This would also prevent the shell of the kayak from flexing and possibly tearing out down the road (which would totally suck). Bigger wheels definitely! Pulling the Kayak across smooth pavement is one thing, but pulling it across rugged uneven terrain is another thing. This puts tremendous stress on the whole assembly. Overall, good job!!!!! Love seeing the Ladies get involved in DYI stuff!!!
That's two advantages of being a big fat bugger like myself. Bending conduit is quite easy and carrying a 65 pound yak is also quite easy. The downside is I can't fit in a 65 pound yak :( Nice job on the kayak improvement.
Nice project and love to see your showing the issues and how you work through them instead of just showing a finished working project. Keep the mind working and nimble and the rest will follow.
One must remember whether it be April or anyone else on RUclips that person can’t do it all, of course unless your Jimmy Diresta LOL, and the videos that are put on are there for our entertainment and sometimes ways to copy. Yes there is a million ways to do many things, and we can only do what we think is best at the time and including finances. I respect people like April because she has started with no trade background and become a multi skilled very knowledgeable young lady that I would pay to do work around my house (even though I live in Australia)! April, don’t listen to the nay sayers they fill some hole that they have inside by pushing their negative insults onto others. You have started, learnt and achieved more in a few years than many of us have done in a lifetime! Congrats on this project! Cheers, Sean
I have two kayaks. For me I used PVC in the holes of the kayak. When we get to the water I pick them up and move the kayak to the side and put the wheels in the same holes upside down.
Hi April, Another suggestion to improve your dolly legs: stuff 'em. Get or make some dowels that you can shove/pound into the conduit where it connects to the yak mounts. Insert the dowels with a liberal slathering of waterproof glue or epoxy. THEN drill through after the adhesive has cured. The conduit is experiencing pretty high torque right there at the mounts and though it's steel, it isn't great steel and likely to tear, especially if you're putting a cooler in the boat tool. Adding the filler dowel will transfer some of the torque to the rest of the surrounding conduit material and it should hold up a lot better.
Great job! Looks quality, functional and relatively inexpensive! You built a great kayak dolly and did a superior job explaining the build! Thank you and best of luck to you always!
Guys April is not a engineer, she’s primarily a woodworker, with many many tricks up her sleeve. She said she wants to make improvements at the end of the video. In the end she made something that functions great for her and was kind enough to share it with all of us, for free. I don’t even have a kayak, but I enjoy April’s craftiness so I watched. Good work, always a joy to watch.
Funny, I was just thinking of making something like this the other day and here it is! Love your ingenuity and tenacity with trying different things. It’s refreshing that you share the goods, the bads and the uglies with us so we can determine our courses of action relative to yours. Thanks April and keep them coming. You’re amazing.
I congratulate you on your excellent videos, I do not miss any of them. I like them because I see that you are a very proactive woman and determined to do things .. A greeting from Venezuela ...
good piece of work and lots of useful general practical tips in the video, well done. I've gone for a different design strategy but there are many ways to solve the problem and you've got a very clear aim with this.
Might I suggest a compromise for the conduit axles that will give you more stability AND allow you to slide the wheels in and out? Redesign the wood mounts to hold a 3/4" straight conduit. The two 1/2" conduit axels will slide and rotate inside this allowing the wheels to be adjustable for rotation and width. I'll draw it up for you, if you would like.
I know one piece of conduit would solve the stress problem but it also eliminates the ability to have two different positions for the length of the legs. Which I think is more important and the reason I tried to find solutions that wasn't making the legs out of one piece.
April Wilkerson then hane one piece of pipe that fits inside another(a Sleve with a hole and a push pin in the middle) that way you have a solid axle then when rotating it up you can use the push pin to shorten the axle in the upright position.
Rather late to the party, but if you haven't already, I suggest you use "fender washers" under the nuts securing your mounts to the hull. This'll spread the twisting force on the hull. Should beef it up and prevent those nuts from tearing through the hull.
Great project ! I think I’ll follow your ideas and do the same for my kayaks 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I’m laughing now reading all of the comments about how you could have done it better. These armchair ‘experts’ are a hoot ! I hope you don’t read all of them. Just keep doing what you do and how you want to do it girl...
Try swapping the wheels out with a pair from a golf pull cart maybe? I’ve been toying with different ideas for something like what you made but while watching your video it hit me. Wheels from an old golf pull cart! I shall commence to tinkering! Love your videos!
The instant I saw the wheels I thought they needed to be bigger; the larger they are, the easier it is to roll over imperfect surfaces. Somehow, boat ramps always have gravel and small rocks strewn about. Enjoy your newly found freedom and thanks for the video!
April, search for Pit pins. They have push buttons on top which push a rod down with notched in them, they allow small ball bearing type ball to fall into the notch. When you release the push pin, the balls are pushed back out.. as well, they typically come with rings to attach a small cable or braided line. Nice design,, looks tidy and fitting for your craft.
A couple of thoughts: because it is just conduit material, I suggest turning plugs from plastic or aluminum (wood would soak up water) to use as plugs that would reinforce the area the axle bolts go through. The other idea is to make a single leg that mounts to the very front of the transom, and can swivel up 180 degrees. It might be lighter, further out of the way and perhaps the peak on the front (I assume there is a handle mounted on the front, too) is stronger than the top portion where you mounted the blocks.
Very creative design. The major flaw I see is that the deck of the kayak won't take having the weight 'hung' from those mounts, especially if there is any gear in the kayak. After a few uses, especially over rough ground, you will find the mount screws ripping through the deck. You can have one set of holes in the legs and instead put two sets of holes in the mounts for down and spread out, another set for up and tight.
Having had five boats, two kayaks and a canoe, I would suggest pneumatic tires and a strap on type kayak/canoe carrier. The after market type carriers can handle quite a bit of weight and the pneumatic tires will make pulling it a whole lot easier on uneven terrain. If your kayak has scupper holes for a proper kayak carrier, it would be much better. Good luck.
Thank you April, a creative solution and I know you will improve on it, that's your nature. Point to ponder; conduit is not engineered to flex so watch for cracks, also you are a welder consider using two sizes of square tubing one for the axle and the other for removable wheel mounts. Using pneumatic tires will lesson shock on the attachment points and placing the wheels on the outside will clear the Yak and provide stability. Looking forward to the next VOD. Cheers...
Really like this! Solving problems yourself by making solutions always beats store bought (in my opinion). I think this is a cleaver design that does exactly what you want it to do! (comment section is....fun...for this one, but don't pay attention to the nay-sayers)
April, I have a 12' sit on top about 70 lbs. I built a PVC cart that stows in my rear compartment and my crate/cooler fits on top of it so I loose very little space and everything is self contained. My yak has gunnels under neath and the pvc cart slips in the gunnels. Unless it's very rough terrain, I don't even have to strap the kayak to the cart. Slip it off the truck like you do, slip the cart under the back and go. I'd be happy to send you pics if you want, ping me.
Cool build I understand why you went with the two arms instead of the single. I've seen kayak dollies before they keep the wheels closer to the end which I think helps with clearance and mobility
You did a great job on this. May I add my opinion? I think you’d greatly benefit from having a one piece leg. As they are attached now they’re independent. Should you snag one side on something or turn it around 360 degrees it can twist the wooden mount and either break/crack/split etc the pieces or bend the leg. But If it was one solid piece the chance of twisting twisting the one mount would be eliminated and make it stronger. The second thing would be to get larger pneumatic tires. They’ll roll over things easier and make it easier to pull. This is just my humble opinion and in no way am i disrespecting you or your work.
You are amazing and I can't wait to see the collab with you and your bestie!! Safe travels! I learn so much from you and to think I found you a few months ago when I was trying to convince my husband that he should build me a patio cover. I found your video you did on your old house and we both watched, and now we are hooked! We are so inspired by you!! Thanks so much for all your videos and just for helping us to see that we can do it and it's not too late to learn. He and I just finished building a coffee table together thanks to your inspiration!
when on the water always make sure to have a buddy with you and always have pfd on. these two rules have saved my life more then i can count. ( i also paddle on river with a good flow so having a rope in a bag tethed to me and my boat has saved me from losing my yak)
not to pull you down but just a bit of friendly advice ,please use a vice or such to clamp your work piece when you use a drill press ,they aren't a forgiving tool when you mess up ,the torque from them simply is to strong to hold onto a work piece, it's good to see your projects and hope you do loads more without having prosthetic hands through something that could be avoided so easily ,yes I work in an engineering shop and drill press accidents happen all to often
Wow, was thinking of something like this for kayak but stuck on materials, the bending conduit idea is great! Thanks !! My kayak is bigger and heavier, a Hobie Outback, so will add a cross piece that cradles underside through the rear set of scupper holes. Also need more height.
Also, I noted you just painted the wood brace in-place. Make sure to pull it off and get the bottom too. Otherwise you'll get swelling from the bottom and rot. While it's off, get inside the bolt holes too. Finally, you may want to look at some clear caulk between the brace bottoms and boat-body, around the bolts. To minimize water intrusion into the body of the kayak.
Nice boat! Good idea to get out on the water and away from all the other noises. I would epoxy the brackets first then install them with backer plates. You might consider square tubing to take advantage of the 90 indexing through your brackets. I just love messing around with boats. Bsafe
Nifty. I fabricobbled a built-on dolly for my dad’s flat bottom fishing boat… I took two matching bicycles from the scrap yard. cut off the rear suspension, used the mounts to make two minmal brackets that I bolted to the bottom back of the boat, and mounted four eye-bolts to the top rail. one pin for each wheel, and one long cross pin through the eye bolts, and the wheels sat on the back *just* off the ground, like a moving dolly set down on it’s rails. Pick the front of the boat up six or more inches, roll it around anywhere you want. The wheels took up hardly any space when stowed, or you could leave them on in the water with little interference. Later on I put a bracket on the front and made up a single wheel with a tiller, and mounted the motor from an electric bike on it. You could sit in the boat and tool around the beach… but I wouldn’t recomend it. :)
LOVE it! You are genius to come up with this! So much trial and error going into this project. Thanks for showing things don't always work the first time and how you fixed it.
Just a thought: Apply finish to the bottom of the brackets. Water will get in there and stay longer. The one-piece leg would definitely be stronger. You could make the "up" hole(s) in the cross brace wood.
I think she's still waiting on the electric utility; the panel cover was off her breaker panel and it looked like she was backfeeding it with a generator. But it should be any time now.....
the golf cart dollys (Walmart, kmart) have wheels that work well for that, they are very light all plastic so no rusting and they are very wide to float over soft sandy areas.
Some comments recommend using 1pc of conduit. That's a good idea. However, if you keep this 2 pc design, you could flip the conduit while stowed for use on the water so that the wheels are inboard instead of outboard.
Whatever you do, attack a stainless steel "beak" to the tip of the kayak, otherwise you'll drag it to a hole in time. It only takes a drag here, a drag there to pierce.
Good job April. What if the legs were extended to about a few inches of each other and use a coupling of sorts like electricians use to secure the legs. I think that would make the legs sturdier not just relying on one point if contact.
Cleaver idea. Next time when you bend the conduit put the longer end on the ground. It will be much easier that way. I’m interested how the Emt conduit will hold up over time. I’d think that a thicker walled conduit would work better like Ridged or stainless. But that is harder to bend and more expensive.
April nice work,try spraying the EMT with zink-it . Drilling and cutting conduit removes the galvanized coating and it would start to rust over time...
Might need something on the bottom to prevent a hole being worn into it. It seemed it was rubbing just a bit on transfers/slopes. Also maybe two tubes of different size that overlap and then pinned or screwed in the middle together to relieve stress. Great idea
You should try making the wheel bar one whole piece an then make your brackets in two half's a top and a bottom. Then put it all together. It will give your wheels more strength, possibly reduce the load weight.
I know if I made the legs from a solid piece of conduit, that would solve the stress problem. However, I tried to find a solution other than this because I wanted the ability to have two different lengths for the pinning location of the legs and one piece of conduit would eliminate this option. If the legs were one solid piece I would have to have one pivot point and therefore one length to make the up and down position work. By keeping the legs separate from each other I can have one pinned location that keeps the wheel really close to the boat when stowed away. Then another pinned location where I can move the wheel out and be pinned about 3" away from the boat.
I would add a wooden filler to the inside of the conduit at the top where it pivots, drill through it and seal with some furniture oil, then leave the rest open so it can drain. As well place a sleeve at the base where the axle nut is, so that the tube does not collapse so easily. Yes larger wheels are a must, though they can be very light as well, not much mass to carry and also low duty cycle. Inside the kayak as well you really need a spreader plate so there is less stress on the GRP laminate, you can use thin plywood, and then use flexible sealer ( marine rated type of course) to bond it in place so the hull does not crack around there, as the top is not really a load bearing surface there without extra support inside.
Hey April. Pygmy and CLC kayaks have plans and kits for Wooden kayaks. Some as light as 30-40 pound range. CLC even has one called Shearwater Sport Sectional that allows you to separate the kayak into three pieces. If you really enjoy kayaking which it looks like you do, you'll find these marine plywood stitch and glue boats a dream to paddle compared to a huge plastic and extremely heavy boat. You guys have a great summer.
Think all you probably need is a brace of some sort to keep the legs from flexing.
I love watching your videos.
I love your workshop, i can hear your echo!
I love watching your way, everyone does things differently.
I love how quickly you learn, design, tools and add the "play by play description.
Your video's are perfect for me, you can articulate and enunciate without your favorite music.
Keep up the great work April Wilkerson! I promise your truly one in a million..
If you made the legs from one U shaped piece of conduit, you would have to make different wood bracket mounts, but you could also set it up so you only need one locking pin or even a spring loaded detent button instead of a locking pin.
Not everything has to be some perfectly and precisely engineered master piece.
You had a problem and found a simple solution (the simple one's are often the best). Thanks for showing us the trials and errors. I think it's encouraging to see the process and know that not everything works out right the first time.
I used three different yard sale/trash picked golf carts and three different configurations before I got an assembly that worked well on all types of terrain. The secret to durability turned out to be an old heavy duty cast aluminum cart for 5 bucks from a yard sale, some PVC pipe, a pool noodle, screw eyes, and ratchet cords. I'm no engineer either, but that's part of the fun and satisfaction, solving problems on the fly. Nice work April.
Wow, gr8 dolly & gr8 innovation in making the dolly. Thx 4 showing your building process with the internet. Have fun kayaking.
Nice build. I always appreciate how you are not afraid to use new materials and tools. This was a good solution to your problem.
Pretty cool build ! I have 2 aluminum Grumman canoes and I'm always modifying them...lowering the seats for better stability, rebuilt the transom to accept a bigger motor, little corner shelves made from aluminum for holding my beer or whatever. Never once have I been able to do those modifications on the first shot, so you're not alone. Trial and error. lol I think you did a really good job for the first time, thumbs up !
That sounds awesome. Thank you!
Great trial and error. The new shop is super and you have lots of great toy/tools. I'm envious.
Why not just make a small wooden trolley that cups the underside of the kayak? You can then use bungee cords to attach the trolley to the boat (maybe use the two wooden blocks to keep the trolley firmly in place). This IMO would be a much stronger solution and would put zero stress on the boat. Also, if you place the trolley at the very end, there's no way the boat will scratch the ground.
Just a suggestion. Anyway, I love your videos, April. Good luck!
0:40 "...stays permanently mounted to my boat so that I don't have to mess with attaching and detaching something and then storing it in the kayak while I'm going down the river."
That’s what I did
Agreed and would take less time to add and remove than messing with the pins!
I applaud your resourcefulness!!!
I great first attempt at a diy landing system!
As you said at the end you already see some room for improvements.
Without having read all the comments (there are a lot of them lol) here are my list of ideas.
Once you got it all figured out scrap the wood idea. As a wood worker myself i love wood. But it just doesnt hold up well for this.
Find something stronger than the conduct. Maybe some ss tubing.
I personally went with square tubing. This allowed for a down and a up with out having all the stress placed on a pin and the holes for the pin. You still want the pins but in this case there just insure the legs dont slip out. They bear no load.
You can find 2 sizes that slip into each other. And do make the larger one go full length between the 2 mounts.
This is going to involve some welding. If you dont have a welder you can get a harbor freight one cheap or find a local small weld shop. The welds dont have to be pretty and basic welding is easy to learn. After seeing your skill with wood working i fully believe a person such as your self could learn the basics in a few mins.
This is how i did mine and you can see some of it on my full build video.
But a better example of a professional version would be to look up the blue sky boat works system.
TIRES!!! as you already noticed those narrow tires are no good off pavement.
I wold personally recommend the inflate ones from HF. They are only 4 bucks each.
Good luck with your adventures!!!
A couple of suggestions! I would definitely connect the two wheel assemblies with a cross bar or better yet, make one continuous axel. It would reinforce everything and not put as much flex on the body of the Kayak and the wheel assembly. Another suggestion would be to reinforce the mounting brackets with a piece of aluminum plate or even a 3/4" wood plate on the inside of the kayak under the mounts (providing you have access). This would also prevent the shell of the kayak from flexing and possibly tearing out down the road (which would totally suck). Bigger wheels definitely! Pulling the Kayak across smooth pavement is one thing, but pulling it across rugged uneven terrain is another thing. This puts tremendous stress on the whole assembly. Overall, good job!!!!! Love seeing the Ladies get involved in DYI stuff!!!
That's two advantages of being a big fat bugger like myself.
Bending conduit is quite easy and carrying a 65 pound yak is also quite easy.
The downside is I can't fit in a 65 pound yak :(
Nice job on the kayak improvement.
I kayak by myself a lot. I have a wheel thing for my kayak.....but I didn’t make it myself. I admire your independence. Good job
This is such a good work around I wouldn't be surprised if a company took this design. Super cool
Excellent job April! Great results!
Thanks so much!
Nice project and love to see your showing the issues and how you work through them instead of just showing a finished working project. Keep the mind working and nimble and the rest will follow.
One must remember whether it be April or anyone else on RUclips that person can’t do it all, of course unless your Jimmy Diresta LOL, and the videos that are put on are there for our entertainment and sometimes ways to copy. Yes there is a million ways to do many things, and we can only do what we think is best at the time and including finances. I respect people like April because she has started with no trade background and become a multi skilled very knowledgeable young lady that I would pay to do work around my house (even though I live in Australia)! April, don’t listen to the nay sayers they fill some hole that they have inside by pushing their negative insults onto others. You have started, learnt and achieved more in a few years than many of us have done in a lifetime! Congrats on this project! Cheers, Sean
Well said!
👍
You damn skippy 👍👍👍
I have two kayaks. For me I used PVC in the holes of the kayak. When we get to the water I pick them up and move the kayak to the side and put the wheels in the same holes upside down.
Hi April,
Another suggestion to improve your dolly legs: stuff 'em. Get or make some dowels that you can shove/pound into the conduit where it connects to the yak mounts. Insert the dowels with a liberal slathering of waterproof glue or epoxy. THEN drill through after the adhesive has cured. The conduit is experiencing pretty high torque right there at the mounts and though it's steel, it isn't great steel and likely to tear, especially if you're putting a cooler in the boat tool. Adding the filler dowel will transfer some of the torque to the rest of the surrounding conduit material and it should hold up a lot better.
Will definitely be making these for my son's Yak's. Thx for neat ideas again.
Add to your kayak playlist. Love your work and new shop.
Great job! Looks quality, functional and relatively inexpensive! You built a great kayak dolly and did a superior job explaining the build! Thank you and best of luck to you always!
Guys April is not a engineer, she’s primarily a woodworker, with many many tricks up her sleeve. She said she wants to make improvements at the end of the video. In the end she made something that functions great for her and was kind enough to share it with all of us, for free. I don’t even have a kayak, but I enjoy April’s craftiness so I watched. Good work, always a joy to watch.
Walter Welch ... There are engineering Concepts in woodworking
Nice solution to your problem, April. Shake the haters off; keep kickin' ass.
Funny, I was just thinking of making something like this the other day and here it is! Love your ingenuity and tenacity with trying different things. It’s refreshing that you share the goods, the bads and the uglies with us so we can determine our courses of action relative to yours. Thanks April and keep them coming. You’re amazing.
Great idea and well designed.. Thanks for sharing!!
I congratulate you on your excellent videos, I do not miss any of them. I like them because I see that you are a very proactive woman and determined to do things .. A greeting from Venezuela ...
Really enjoyed the troubleshooting/design on the fly of this video. End product came out great.
Just a quick tip, When bending the conduit turn the bender around so that the conduit longer behind it. Hopefully this helps
good piece of work and lots of useful general practical tips in the video, well done. I've gone for a different design strategy but there are many ways to solve the problem and you've got a very clear aim with this.
Great effort...works well enough...To think I was going to buy one...
You are one handy little lady! I really enjoy your videos! Keep it up!!
Looks great, check out boondox landing gear before you make changes. It might give you some ideas.
Dood - haters gonna hate. You had a need and you got it done. Good on you.
Might I suggest a compromise for the conduit axles that will give you more stability AND allow you to slide the wheels in and out?
Redesign the wood mounts to hold a 3/4" straight conduit. The two 1/2" conduit axels will slide and rotate inside this allowing the wheels to be adjustable for rotation and width.
I'll draw it up for you, if you would like.
The conduit should be one piece. That will eliminate most of the stresses being placed on the axles and the axle mounts and will last much longer .
I know one piece of conduit would solve the stress problem but it also eliminates the ability to have two different positions for the length of the legs. Which I think is more important and the reason I tried to find solutions that wasn't making the legs out of one piece.
Yes, but what if you use two different diameters (for the tubes) and telescope them into each other?
April Wilkerson then hane one piece of pipe that fits inside another(a Sleve with a hole and a push pin in the middle) that way you have a solid axle then when rotating it up you can use the push pin to shorten the axle in the upright position.
Rather late to the party, but if you haven't already, I suggest you use
"fender washers" under the nuts securing your mounts to the hull.
This'll spread the twisting force on the hull. Should beef it up and prevent those nuts from tearing through the hull.
Great project ! I think I’ll follow your ideas and do the same for my kayaks
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I’m laughing now reading all of the comments about how you could have done it better. These armchair ‘experts’ are a hoot ! I hope you don’t read all of them.
Just keep doing what you do and how you want to do it girl...
Try swapping the wheels out with a pair from a golf pull cart maybe? I’ve been toying with different ideas for something like what you made but while watching your video it hit me. Wheels from an old golf pull cart! I shall commence to tinkering! Love your videos!
Nice job coming up with solution to fix a problem👍👍❤️🙏
The instant I saw the wheels I thought they needed to be bigger; the larger they are, the easier it is to roll over imperfect surfaces. Somehow, boat ramps always have gravel and small rocks strewn about.
Enjoy your newly found freedom and thanks for the video!
Endlessly inventive, April. Nice work.
Clever concept. Solves your problem nicely. Good job!
Genius idea! i hope it works on my 15' Coleman canoe! Thank you!
Great thinking outside the box. Like they say "Work smarter not harder"!
Great video, no advertising how refreshing.
April, search for Pit pins. They have push buttons on top which push a rod down with notched in them, they allow small ball bearing type ball to fall into the notch. When you release the push pin, the balls are pushed back out.. as well, they typically come with rings to attach a small cable or braided line. Nice design,, looks tidy and fitting for your craft.
A couple of thoughts: because it is just conduit material, I suggest turning plugs from plastic or aluminum (wood would soak up water) to use as plugs that would reinforce the area the axle bolts go through. The other idea is to make a single leg that mounts to the very front of the transom, and can swivel up 180 degrees. It might be lighter, further out of the way and perhaps the peak on the front (I assume there is a handle mounted on the front, too) is stronger than the top portion where you mounted the blocks.
Very creative design. The major flaw I see is that the deck of the kayak won't take having the weight 'hung' from those mounts, especially if there is any gear in the kayak. After a few uses, especially over rough ground, you will find the mount screws ripping through the deck.
You can have one set of holes in the legs and instead put two sets of holes in the mounts for down and spread out, another set for up and tight.
Having had five boats, two kayaks and a canoe, I would suggest pneumatic tires and a strap on type kayak/canoe carrier. The after market type carriers can handle quite a bit of weight and the pneumatic tires will make pulling it a whole lot easier on uneven terrain. If your kayak has scupper holes for a proper kayak carrier, it would be much better. Good luck.
Everything you do is just cool. Outtakes would be awesome too.
Thank you April, a creative solution and I know you will improve on it, that's your nature. Point to ponder; conduit is not engineered to flex so watch for cracks, also you are a welder consider using two sizes of square tubing one for the axle and the other for removable wheel mounts. Using pneumatic tires will lesson shock on the attachment points and placing the wheels on the outside will clear the Yak and provide stability. Looking forward to the next VOD. Cheers...
Really like this! Solving problems yourself by making solutions always beats store bought (in my opinion). I think this is a cleaver design that does exactly what you want it to do! (comment section is....fun...for this one, but don't pay attention to the nay-sayers)
I always learn from your videos...you have a gift.
April, I have a 12' sit on top about 70 lbs. I built a PVC cart that stows in my rear compartment and my crate/cooler fits on top of it so I loose very little space and everything is self contained. My yak has gunnels under neath and the pvc cart slips in the gunnels. Unless it's very rough terrain, I don't even have to strap the kayak to the cart. Slip it off the truck like you do, slip the cart under the back and go. I'd be happy to send you pics if you want, ping me.
Cool build I understand why you went with the two arms instead of the single. I've seen kayak dollies before they keep the wheels closer to the end which I think helps with clearance and mobility
did you just put training wheels on a boat ?!? :)
Balaclava Bob hi
Yup so she doesn’t try to ride it upside down in the water 🤷🏼♂️😑
Jimmys gonna need need one of these for his for his canoe.
You did a great job on this. May I add my opinion?
I think you’d greatly benefit from having a one piece leg. As they are attached now they’re independent. Should you snag one side on something or turn it around 360 degrees it can twist the wooden mount and either
break/crack/split etc the pieces or bend the leg. But If it was one solid piece the chance of twisting twisting the one mount would be eliminated and make it stronger.
The second thing would be to get larger pneumatic tires. They’ll roll over things easier and make it easier to pull.
This is just my humble opinion and in no way am i disrespecting you or your work.
As always,entertaining and informative.
Always nice to watch your videos. I like it how you realize projects. Always a pleasure... 👍🏻
Amazing job. Really like the way you showed the real stuff. Everything does not always go so smooth and some make it seem that way.
You are amazing and I can't wait to see the collab with you and your bestie!! Safe travels! I learn so much from you and to think I found you a few months ago when I was trying to convince my husband that he should build me a patio cover. I found your video you did on your old house and we both watched, and now we are hooked! We are so inspired by you!! Thanks so much for all your videos and just for helping us to see that we can do it and it's not too late to learn. He and I just finished building a coffee table together thanks to your inspiration!
when on the water always make sure to have a buddy with you and always have pfd on. these two rules have saved my life more then i can count. ( i also paddle on river with a good flow so having a rope in a bag tethed to me and my boat has saved me from losing my yak)
not to pull you down but just a bit of friendly advice ,please use a vice or such to clamp your work piece when you use a drill press ,they aren't a forgiving tool when you mess up ,the torque from them simply is to strong to hold onto a work piece, it's good to see your projects and hope you do loads more without having prosthetic hands through something that could be avoided so easily ,yes I work in an engineering shop and drill press accidents happen all to often
Very cool! I took the PVC pipe cart route and it works great but like you mentioned I have to find room in the kayak for the cart.
Nice idea, you can see the boat does touch the ground almost when going up hill.
Like the idea. I was thinking of making some canoe stabilizers for fishing. I may use this concept and incorporate it into the design. Thanks!
Wow, was thinking of something like this for kayak but stuck on materials, the bending conduit idea is great! Thanks !! My kayak is bigger and heavier, a Hobie Outback, so will add a cross piece that cradles underside through the rear set of scupper holes. Also need more height.
Also, I noted you just painted the wood brace in-place.
Make sure to pull it off and get the bottom too. Otherwise you'll get swelling from the bottom and rot. While it's off, get inside the bolt holes too.
Finally, you may want to look at some clear caulk between the brace bottoms and boat-body, around the bolts. To minimize water intrusion into the body of the kayak.
Nice boat! Good idea to get out on the water and away from all the other noises. I would epoxy the brackets first then install them with backer plates. You might consider square tubing to take advantage of the 90 indexing through your brackets. I just love messing around with boats. Bsafe
Simple enough and effective great video April keep up the good work
Nice truck! I love that color on the taco!
Nifty. I fabricobbled a built-on dolly for my dad’s flat bottom fishing boat… I took two matching bicycles from the scrap yard. cut off the rear suspension, used the mounts to make two minmal brackets that I bolted to the bottom back of the boat, and mounted four eye-bolts to the top rail. one pin for each wheel, and one long cross pin through the eye bolts, and the wheels sat on the back *just* off the ground, like a moving dolly set down on it’s rails. Pick the front of the boat up six or more inches, roll it around anywhere you want. The wheels took up hardly any space when stowed, or you could leave them on in the water with little interference.
Later on I put a bracket on the front and made up a single wheel with a tiller, and mounted the motor from an electric bike on it. You could sit in the boat and tool around the beach… but I wouldn’t recomend it. :)
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LOVE it! You are genius to come up with this! So much trial and error going into this project. Thanks for showing things don't always work the first time and how you fixed it.
Really enjoyed watching your process for problem solving and designing on the fly.
Just a thought: Apply finish to the bottom of the brackets. Water will get in there and stay longer.
The one-piece leg would definitely be stronger. You could make the "up" hole(s) in the cross brace wood.
Like the concept and see the need. Would love to see any improvements you might make.
I bet you’re happy to finally have power to your shop so that you can get back to making things.
I think she's still waiting on the electric utility; the panel cover was off her breaker panel and it looked like she was backfeeding it with a generator. But it should be any time now.....
another brainstorm by April. great job
You are amazing! Very impressed April!
Awesome work April! 👍🛶👊
Brilliant, I was thinking something very similar to this!
I’m attempting to build this with a little smaller diameter conduit. I’m hoping the pins work out fine, obviously they’ll be smaller pins!
the golf cart dollys (Walmart, kmart) have wheels that work well for that, they are very light all plastic so no rusting and they are very wide to float over soft sandy areas.
I don't like kayaking but omg, this is a great idea. Watching April's videos is better than almost anything on telly :-) Keep 'em coming, girl :-)
very nice job. my kayak is so heavy its a struggle for my wife to help me carry it. I plan to make something like this as well.
Love your creativity and positive attitude all the time April! You have great trouble shooting skills, I enjoy seeing how you figure things out.
Some comments recommend using 1pc of conduit. That's a good idea. However, if you keep this 2 pc design, you could flip the conduit while stowed for use on the water so that the wheels are inboard instead of outboard.
Whatever you do, attack a stainless steel "beak" to the tip of the kayak, otherwise you'll drag it to a hole in time. It only takes a drag here, a drag there to pierce.
I agree with that..Saw how the tip dragged a bit when putting back on truck
Just need to move to wheel closer to one side, to prevent the unnecessary wear
She mentions using larger wheels to get the 'yak farther off the ground, which should resolve that issue nicely.
Great idea and easy solution.
Good job April. What if the legs were extended to about a few inches of each other and use a coupling of sorts like electricians use to secure the legs. I think that would make the legs sturdier not just relying on one point if contact.
Do you have a plate of some sort on the inside of your mount on the inside of the Kayak... To give the plastic some more strength...?
Much like the boonedox landing gear system I've been looking at
But they’ve already engineered out all of the problems 😉
Cleaver idea.
Next time when you bend the conduit put the longer end on the ground. It will be much easier that way.
I’m interested how the Emt conduit will hold up over time. I’d think that a thicker walled conduit would work better like Ridged or stainless. But that is harder to bend and more expensive.
I've got addicted to your videos. You're just great and I love love love your content. Thank you and keep killing it!!! :)
April nice work,try spraying the EMT with zink-it . Drilling and cutting conduit removes the galvanized coating and it would start to rust over time...
It’s a brilliant idea, thank you for sharing your amazing video. God bless you and your family
Might need something on the bottom to prevent a hole being worn into it. It seemed it was rubbing just a bit on transfers/slopes. Also maybe two tubes of different size that overlap and then pinned or screwed in the middle together to relieve stress. Great idea
You should try making the wheel bar one whole piece an then make your brackets in two half's a top and a bottom. Then put it all together. It will give your wheels more strength, possibly reduce the load weight.
Genius now I would like to hire you to do that to mine! My garage doesn’t look like yours…