Pier and Surf Forum banner
1 - 20 of 56 Posts

· Registered
Joined
·
387 Posts
Discussion Starter · #1 ·
I'm in need of a new beach cart for my surf fishing trips.

I have always used four wheeled garden carts that can be bought at any hardware store, ziptie pieces of PVC tube and I'm good to go. It is hard to pull through loose sand, but generally it's less than 100 yards to the firm wet sand where it rolls fairly easily, on several ocasions I've pulled it a couple miles without problems.
The big problem is that they are very heavy and since they are built from cheap steel, they rust quickly - which is why I'm in need of a new one.

For some time I have been thinking about splurging for one of the comercial surf fishing carts.

One of my concerns with the comercial carts is that they all have two wheels. Seems to me, that unless your load was perfectly balanced, you'd either be pushing down or pulling up on the handle while trying to pull the cart.

I like the fact that the comercial carts are much lighter and won't rust, but if they are not any easier to pull I could spend the extra money better elsewhere.......................Any thoughts?

And Wheeleez are not an option at this point.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
2,557 Posts
I just make sure my stuff is balanced somewhat. Depending on how loaded my cooler is, I will have the tackle bag in front, cooler in back, or vice versa. It isn't that difficult to get it close enough not to be a problem.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
126 Posts
Even if its not balanced it is not that big of a deal. I usually put my big cooler on mine and have never had any problems. You can also adjust the height o the arm so that you don't have to push up or down so much just kinda pick it up and go. Mine even has a place where it hooks up to my reese hitch>
 

· Registered
Joined
·
104 Posts
I haven't had any balance issues with mine. As long as your handle height is correct in the front there are very little issues while pulling. I have my handle adjusted so the when I pick up on it the caster wheel in the front barely brushes the sand, but when on a hard surface I can let the 2 large wheels and the caster wheel do all the work. I don't know how I managed without it in the past.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
1,032 Posts
I know you said that wheeleez are not an option. But I have to say my cart with wheeleez is priceless. If you look around you can find some decent deals. I don't go to the beach without my cart, even if we aren't fishing.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
3,327 Posts
I'm in need of a new beach cart for my surf fishing trips.

I have always used four wheeled garden carts that can be bought at any hardware store, ziptie pieces of PVC tube and I'm good to go. It is hard to pull through loose sand, but generally it's less than 100 yards to the firm wet sand where it rolls fairly easily, on several ocasions I've pulled it a couple miles without problems.
The big problem is that they are very heavy and since they are built from cheap steel, they rust quickly - which is why I'm in need of a new one.

For some time I have been thinking about splurging for one of the comercial surf fishing carts.

One of my concerns with the comercial carts is that they all have two wheels. Seems to me, that unless your load was perfectly balanced, you'd either be pushing down or pulling up on the handle while trying to pull the cart.

I like the fact that the comercial carts are much lighter and won't rust, but if they are not any easier to pull I could spend the extra money better elsewhere.......................Any thoughts?

And Wheeleez are not an option at this point.
Byron, I had a garden cart I bought from Lowes or Home Depot and though it was a bit heavy, it worked fine for pier fishing. As for going out on sand, wrong answer! Four wheels as narrow as most garden cart wheels go just sink in and cause twice as much drag as a two wheeled cart. Keep an eye out on the marketplace because usually a commercial made pier cart will pop up. Especially once it gets too cold for most to hit piers, then they will show up. The wheels that came on my commercial pier cart handle sand well. Probably not as well as wheel-eez would but good enough for me.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
387 Posts
Discussion Starter · #9 ·
abass105; That is some sweet looking rig you got there, gives me a goal to shoot for:rolleyes:

And thanks for the other replies, I think my back will thank me for getting one of the comercial ones..............the one made in the USA.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
287 Posts
You can get a two wheeled cart up and down beach access stairs, especially the Jr sized one, by less than back breaking methods by oneself. Lots of holes around without easy cart access from the road. I don't have the nice wheels on mine but it pulls fine, I just get to hard sand as quick as feasible :)

Abass 105, That wheeleez cart is really nice. Did you mod that larger cutting board or is that available somewhere?

Thanks,
George
 

· Registered
Joined
·
1,032 Posts
Jakuka, I had a friend make a "v" shaped support of aluminum. The top of the "v" has angle aluminum welded to it. The axle runs through the bottom. For the front swivel caster, I have an aluminum square box that it mounts on. This was added so the cart would sit level. When I want to fish the pier, I just unscrew four bolts for the rear wheels and four for the front and I can go back to the original wheels. I hope this helps. If not I can take some pics of it.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
119 Posts
All I can say is that when you get onto soft sand you will realize why you need the wheeleez wheels. Stock wheels will turn you into a triathlete........................or a EMS patient. Don't be fooled.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
355 Posts
If you buy a cart made by Reels on Wheels or Fish -n- mate do not forget to buy the liner that goes with it, makes the cart even better. Since I add the liner , small stuff does not fall out and does not add a lot of weight to the cart. I am considering changing to the large wheels ( wheeleez) in the future.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
287 Posts
George, yeah I took the original cutting board off and replaced it with a larger and thicker one. It works great when I want to clean a few before heading home.
If you dont mind me asking, how did you remove the original cutting board from the tube aluminum frame and affix the new one? I have been thinking about doing the same thing you did, and that looks like a really clean installation.
 
1 - 20 of 56 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top