Break-down cart design

With my 27th. annual Canadian fishing trip coming up in a month, I usually come-up with an idea to enhance the trip with technology. Last year was the radio controlled trolling boat...too windy and cumbersome and a general PIA. This year I was thinking of a cart to haul our gear up and down the "Cardiac Hill" that is about 150' long by 50' high. The camp is about ten miles up the lake by boat. It's not too bad unless you have to carry about a thousand pounds of stuff in the heat and bugs. The van won't make it up and down the hill, even if it were 4WD.

I'm thinking of a 4'x4'x4' cart that will break down for transport. For some strange reason, I have a couple of wheelchairs around for wheels that are light and big enough to handle the rough terrain. I am thinking of making a fixture that would fit into the hitch receiver on the van with a small electric winch mounted. Thus, run the cart up or down the hill with

64 cubic feet of gear on it. (Not as much beer and hooch as there used to be, the drugs of choice are now Naproxin and Tums)

My fear is that it will weigh 500 pounds, have independent suspension, cost thousands, won't fit in the van and not work right when I'm done designing and building it...and I only have a month. Any ideas would be appreciated, is there a commercial thing I could buy?

Reply to
Tom Gardner
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There are four wheel garden carts that I have seen, fat flotation tires, with two steerable wheels controlled by a handle, sort of like an old Radio Flyer wagon. Add a cable winch and you should be in business.

Ace hardware sells a "Garden and Farm Utility Cart", but there are many others. This one has a deck about 3 feet by 1.5 feet.

Richard

Tom Gardner wrote:

Reply to
Richard Ferguson

Reply to
Randy Zimmerman

Personally I think I'd start with something like this:

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Add a floor, sides and a removable front wheel and you can use your winch to lower it down the hill and bring it back. It wouldn't need to collapse and take up space in the van either. :-)

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

"I'm not grown up enough to be so old!"

Reply to
Keith Marshall

You might look at

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for game carts. They have collapsible models rated for 500 lbs., weigh 30-40 lbs., and cost less than $200.

Pete Keillor

Reply to
Pete Keillor

"Tom Gardner" wrote: (clip)and I only have a month. Any ideas would be appreciated, (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ When I was a kid on the farm, I recall that we used to use a horse-drawn wooden sled for some of the harvesting. So, how about taking some lumber and building a sled at the foot of the hill? You could run it with a winch, as you suggested, or pull it with the truck, as someone else suggested.

You COULD prefab some metal brackets and runners to make the sled quicker to put together, and more durable if you see fit.

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

I've got at least ten old bicycle frames you can have to make a light weight foldable cart out of if you are close to me. I'm in Surrey B.C.

Pete

Reply to
Pete

Actually, I'd start with a small Quad ATV with cargo racks, or a John Deere "Gator" 6x6, and a utility trailer to get it there - bada-bing, fast and easy, no fabrication needed. ;-) But there are often spoilsport Forest Rangers and stupid "No Vehicles" rules to contend with...

Or you can start with one of these pneumatic tire garden carts:

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If you don't feel like pushing it up the hill, or hauling it on a rope tied to the car bumper to get the cart up and down the hill, you could build a modern version of the logger's 'Steam Donkey' winch. A small Briggs engine, a BIG muffler (see Ranger comment above), suitable speed reduction, and a windlass drum.

Three or four wraps of rope around the drum, and when you keep the free end tight it pulls - want to stop, just slack off on the free end of the rope and let it slip on the drum.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

You might also look into electric propulsion, with the cart dragging an extension cord. Not usually practical, but doable for short runs like

150'
Reply to
Nick Hull

Reply to
larry g

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