IkemanTX
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2015
- Messages
- 3,501
Well, I decided to get back into hunting from my kayak. I am starting with pig hunting and crappie/white bass season.
I think it is kind of crazy that I hunted more from water access when I didn’t even own a canoe/kayak than I have in the past 3 years of owning a kayak. I previously BORROWED something more often than I have used my own KAYAK in the last 3 years.
Much of my kayak access has changed in that time… a few of the authorities in charge of the many properties I hunt have restricted access with gates and fences, or have established restricted access points. Almost all of these are “Walk-In” based, and have no thought to water access. As such, I stopped dragging my kayak to water. Access points can easily be 200-400 yards to water. Ow on many of these old county road access location. Even with short drags, I have almost drug the keel off the back of my kayak… gravel and asphalt apparently don’t mix well with root-molded plastic.
As such, I decided to build a set of landing gear for my kayak. I have used a kayak cart in the past, and I just can’t stand them. I know they work for MANY guys, but I just cannot find a way to make them work in my context/creek systems. I have been teaching myself welding, and decided that this was a great first project.
I cut some plate steel to mount to the old rod holders, and welded a piece of square tubing to it.
There are plates on the inside of the root-mold that sandwich together so the force is not simply the 4 bolts.
Next up was the legs and wheels. I wanted the wheels to store out of the way when on the water, and the square tubing allowed me a vertical and horizontal orientation with the same plate and tube mounting hardware.
There was a LOT of slop between the size of the larger and smaller tubing, so I did a little 3D modeling and had my brother (who has a 3D printer) print a sleeve to go inside the larger tube and take up most of the excess space.
This shored up the legs a ton. They are firm and fairly quiet as well. A little Jb weld, and they won’t be coming out.
I used it this morning for the first time, having to park 200 yards from the water. I quickly realized that my tubing was too thin to constantly handle the strain of a 200-400 yard drag without bending… so, I added some 1/4” plate steel to reinforce the 90° angle. It is not sturdy as an ox!
Don’t judge the welds… I’m still learning. They don’t look pretty, but they penetrate well. In fact, I blew through the tubing wall right at the end and had to fill it. There’s no chance of bending now.
This pic was before the plate reinforcement and the sleeve, but gives an idea…
A cotter pin and some drilled holes, and the wheels lock in nicely. I don’t even have to lift the wheels to load in the truck. The wheels end up about 6” behind the open tailgate.
I totally forgot to take a picture this morning on the inaugural hunt. I’m kind of bummed about that…
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I think it is kind of crazy that I hunted more from water access when I didn’t even own a canoe/kayak than I have in the past 3 years of owning a kayak. I previously BORROWED something more often than I have used my own KAYAK in the last 3 years.
Much of my kayak access has changed in that time… a few of the authorities in charge of the many properties I hunt have restricted access with gates and fences, or have established restricted access points. Almost all of these are “Walk-In” based, and have no thought to water access. As such, I stopped dragging my kayak to water. Access points can easily be 200-400 yards to water. Ow on many of these old county road access location. Even with short drags, I have almost drug the keel off the back of my kayak… gravel and asphalt apparently don’t mix well with root-molded plastic.
As such, I decided to build a set of landing gear for my kayak. I have used a kayak cart in the past, and I just can’t stand them. I know they work for MANY guys, but I just cannot find a way to make them work in my context/creek systems. I have been teaching myself welding, and decided that this was a great first project.
I cut some plate steel to mount to the old rod holders, and welded a piece of square tubing to it.
There are plates on the inside of the root-mold that sandwich together so the force is not simply the 4 bolts.
Next up was the legs and wheels. I wanted the wheels to store out of the way when on the water, and the square tubing allowed me a vertical and horizontal orientation with the same plate and tube mounting hardware.
There was a LOT of slop between the size of the larger and smaller tubing, so I did a little 3D modeling and had my brother (who has a 3D printer) print a sleeve to go inside the larger tube and take up most of the excess space.
This shored up the legs a ton. They are firm and fairly quiet as well. A little Jb weld, and they won’t be coming out.
I used it this morning for the first time, having to park 200 yards from the water. I quickly realized that my tubing was too thin to constantly handle the strain of a 200-400 yard drag without bending… so, I added some 1/4” plate steel to reinforce the 90° angle. It is not sturdy as an ox!
Don’t judge the welds… I’m still learning. They don’t look pretty, but they penetrate well. In fact, I blew through the tubing wall right at the end and had to fill it. There’s no chance of bending now.
This pic was before the plate reinforcement and the sleeve, but gives an idea…
A cotter pin and some drilled holes, and the wheels lock in nicely. I don’t even have to lift the wheels to load in the truck. The wheels end up about 6” behind the open tailgate.
I totally forgot to take a picture this morning on the inaugural hunt. I’m kind of bummed about that…
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
. The wheels came with grade 8 bolts, washers, and lock nuts… but the bolts weren’t long enough to accommodate the thickness of the tube steel.
