Thread: PDR, side dolly.

Originally Posted by nickpullen

Thoughts and comments please?

I'm not trying to force you to be conventional or anything ... but most people use them things with the wheels on the bottom

It's a good idea, the duck being square and flat sided. You may find problems in wind or rough ground though. Are you planning to walk beside it (in which case wind and rough ground don't matter) or are you planning to pull it? Or push it, that might work too.

I often carry Redback on my shoulder, and she has to be heavier than your average PDR, and her fairly square sides (at the gunwale) make that quite easy ... not that I'm suggesting you indulge in that sort of lunacy either.

I tried carrying the skiff on my shoulder but her wildly sloping sides make it impossible, that and the fact that at 15'6" long, she catches any wind like a square rigger and once some momentum gets going, you can't stop her twisting. Wheels of some sort for her.

Richard
utterly knackered so I hope this is coherent

Originally Posted by Daddles

Are you planning to walk beside it (in which case wind and rough ground don't matter) or are you planning to pull it? Or push it, that might work too.

My idea is to hold the boat from the front facing the back, one hand in the mast partner hole, the other on top to balance... Its only intended to wheel the boat from trailer to waters edge and back. Once at either destination, the boat is laid back down on its belly...

It's worth a try mate. Should work a treat on smooth ground and by standing with the boat, you'll have lots of control over it. Rough ground might test it out - that is where a nice, stable, wide footed dolly with the boat down low and you tugging has an advantage, but I really think you're on a winner with your idea. Well done.

Richard

Thanks, I appreciate your comments...

Ill be building a simple frame that fits into the box trailer that the boat can sit on top of. The idea is to roll the vertical PRD up next to the trailer, tip it over so that it is leaning against the wood frame, then lift the other side and push to slide it on.

My motivation has been to work out a system that will allow me to get my boat on the water without any assistance... The minister for war and finance doesn't like being in small tippy boats, and I like doing things on my own...

Hi Nick,

It's good to see someone else thinking about single handed transport solutions, your method is unusual, and requires a trailer, the method I have come up with is also unusual, but allows single handed car topping ( using a simple set of clamp on beams and removable ramps - no trailer required ), and allows loading and transport over rougher terrain ( can be easily modified to suit a large variety of flat bottomed boats too ), once my PDRacer is loaded onto my trolley ( in sailing position ) it can be fully rigged ready to sail ( sail lowered ), before being moved to or from the water, without problems in any weather that you would normally sail in ( possibly in worse weather too ), all while doing it single handed ( I am working on the free plans now, after successfully demonstrating my system in a series of pictures already posted on this forum ).

Have you thought about any scratch proof material to apply to all surfaces contacing with your PDRacer yet, I will be using seat belt webbing, as it is slightly slippery nylon that should easily just be able to be glued into place where needed, and is completely weather and rot proof.

It is always good to have more than one transport system to choose from, as everyone has different needs ( using a trailer you might also consider being able to take multiple boats at once ), I wish you every success with your system, and have a safe and Happy Easter too.

Originally Posted by dhgomm

Have you thought about any scratch proof material to apply to all surfaces contacing with your PDRacer yet, I will be using seat belt webbing, as it is slightly slippery nylon that should easily just be able to be glued into place where needed, and is completely weather and rot proof.

On the dolly, to stop it slipping I will use the non slip carpet underlay matting, available at grocery and home ware stores. On the trailer frame I have decided to use the seatbelt webbing you came up with, as I need the boat to slide but not scratch...

I must admit, I got many ideas from your system, I just didn't want to put the heavier PDR on my old car's roof...

Originally Posted by nickpullen

Thanks, I appreciate your comments...

Ill be building a simple frame that fits into the box trailer that the boat can sit on top of. The idea is to roll the vertical PRD up next to the trailer, tip it over so that it is leaning against the wood frame, then lift the other side and push to slide it on.

My motivation has been to work out a system that will allow me to get my boat on the water without any assistance... The minister for war and finance doesn't like being in small tippy boats, and I like doing things on my own...

Here is my solution; I modified a simple hand truck (I don't know what you call them in Oz) and I simply roll the boat right into the bed of my truck, or into the water.
Rick.

Cool!

MIK

Hi Everyone,

Glad to see so many ideas coming out of the woodwork ( pun intended ), just as Nick didn't want to put his PDRacer on his car roof, so he developed his solution to make use of a trailer, I could not make use of a trailer because of lack of room to store it, and increased cost of registering a trailer, as well as the car.

This, and other solutions, come about because of specific needs, and I would encourage everyone to help each other, by sharing their ideas freely, and encourage people to use them, or whatever parts they can use fot their own solutions, this can be very useful to beginers, and will increase the appeal of the Woodwork Forums in general to everyone else.

And pdr311, your sugestion of using a hand truck ( in OZ they can be known by various names, sack trolley, delivery trolley, etc. ), hand truck is descriptive enough that everyone should know what you mean, and because of the much narrower spacing between the wheels, your solution should work on even rougher terrain than my solution, and is so much simpler for beginners to set up.

In Australia some of the major cities have wheel shops. There is one in Brighton or Hove in Adelaide for example.

Often you can get something like a sack truck which might have narrow wheels and find a direct substitution that might manage rougher or softer surfaces a bit better.

MIK

Originally Posted by Boatmik

In Australia some of the major cities have wheel shops. There is one in Brighton or Hove in Adelaide for example.

Often you can get something like a sack truck which might have narrow wheels and find a direct substitution that might manage rougher or softer surfaces a bit better.

MIK

The 'sack truck' I purchased has a resin frame, steel handle and plate, and pneumatic tires (tyres? Why not?) which work well for sand or rough terrain. The only issue I have with the lightweight frame and tires with air in them is that they float! This along with the timber framing, gives the dolly positive floatation which makes unloading in deeper water a challenge. But this turns into an advantage when loading, as the unit floats beside the boat and I can easily mount it overtop without grounding out the hull on the concrete launching ramps.

Rick.

Hi Everyone,

The possible floatation effect of using hollow frames and pnumatic tyres can easily be offset by using metal rims and solid axels, the wheels ( includes the weight of the rubber pnumatic tyres ) and axels on my trolley, are about 2/3 of the weight overall, any buoyancy from the pnumatic tyres, and wooden frame should be completely offset by the overall weight.

If needed, adding weights to your trolley will compensate for any buoyancy, if your wheels are ball bearing types like mine, the extra weights will not affect moving it around on land enough to worry about.

I tested the dolly and loading onto the trailer. Even a 10 yr old child could do it, so easy, no straining at all!!! I am very happy with the end result.

Pictures and a Vid soon.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions...

There's a lot to be said for the solution Matt Layden used on his Enigma for the
Florida ultra challenge. Stub axles poked into reinforced sections of the boat's
chines. His wheels didn't quite last the portage - tyres disintegrated after 20
miles or so - but no problems with the structure of the boat. It becomes its own
trolley.
Of course, this may not help getting it on or off a roof-rack or trailer...
cheers
AJ