Submitted: 07-22-2002 by Donald Bergstrom
My wife and I paddle a plastic Necky Amaruk double kayak (90 lbs empty, about 20 feet long). My wife has always had trouble carrying her end of the kayak, and I can only carry it very short distances alone. So we decided to buy some wheels to help with carrying. I looked at bow/stern wheels, I looked at center carriers with hard rubber tires, and also at the Heavy Lifter with nice big pneumatic tires. In the end decided to pay a little more for the Heavy Lifter.Major advantages: 1) Breaks down quickly into four pieces. The wheels do not need to be removed. Other carts with pneumatic tires have a small cotter pin holding the wheels on, which is just asking to be lost!
2) Can (and have) transported the kayak (loaded) several city blocks from parking to the ferry terminal with nearly zero effort. This opens up new trip possibilities for us!
3) Glides flawlessly over soft sand and rock beaches. Pneumatic tires handle many obstacles well, including dropping off a curb from sidewalk to street. The ONLY disadvantage was that the manufacturer did not include straps for securing the boat to the cart. I have an extra strap from my Yakima rack which I use for the cart. The greatest paddling accessory I've bought, hands down! |