Loop_Dad
Petty Officer 2nd Class
- Joined
- May 29, 2012
- Messages
- 103
Hi there.
I own Intex Mariner 4.
Where I go fishing, I need to set things up in parking lot and bring it down to launch area. The boat ramp is quite busy. The problem is I cannot do this myself.
There are ready made dollies out there. But they all look too narrow in order to support my boat underneath the tube area. My boat's width is 57". I don't know if supporting the boat's weight by the bottom sheet area is a good idea or not. I feel that area is not strong enough when it is not in the water. I think those dollies are made for narrower boats, hard bottom boats and kayaks primarily.
I see for folks who have a dinghy with transom, there are launching wheel option available to purchase from many companies. With those, you can just roll the boat into the water, flip them up and go. How cool is that! And when you come back, you can flip them down and roll it out from the water. That part is actually more appearing for me. If I get one of dollies that you have to lift the boat up on top of dolly, it would be difficult for me.
I looked for some sort of launching wheel for inflatable without transom, but didn't find anything.
I have found some home made dollies on the web based on steel rod axle and pvc pipes. I've been trying to come up with design which somehow allows me to put it on and off from the boat on the water, so the launching would be less of hassle. So far what I came up with is to have very long axle wider than the boat's width. Attach two ropes from near the wheels. Then I tie the two ropes together over the boat. When I want to attach this from on the boat, I can throw this set up in the water from the back of the boat and position it to where I want it to be, then tie the ropes. Possible drawback would be that this would be a long (and possibly heavy?) piece and might not be good to carry with me on the boat. And the diameter of the wheel needs to be big, because the ground clearance would be basically only the half of it. Other idea I am toying with is to use two pieces of wood to make some sort of clamp on type of device to go on the side tubes.
How do you carry your inflatable to the water? Please share what you came up with.
I own Intex Mariner 4.
Where I go fishing, I need to set things up in parking lot and bring it down to launch area. The boat ramp is quite busy. The problem is I cannot do this myself.
There are ready made dollies out there. But they all look too narrow in order to support my boat underneath the tube area. My boat's width is 57". I don't know if supporting the boat's weight by the bottom sheet area is a good idea or not. I feel that area is not strong enough when it is not in the water. I think those dollies are made for narrower boats, hard bottom boats and kayaks primarily.
I see for folks who have a dinghy with transom, there are launching wheel option available to purchase from many companies. With those, you can just roll the boat into the water, flip them up and go. How cool is that! And when you come back, you can flip them down and roll it out from the water. That part is actually more appearing for me. If I get one of dollies that you have to lift the boat up on top of dolly, it would be difficult for me.
I looked for some sort of launching wheel for inflatable without transom, but didn't find anything.
I have found some home made dollies on the web based on steel rod axle and pvc pipes. I've been trying to come up with design which somehow allows me to put it on and off from the boat on the water, so the launching would be less of hassle. So far what I came up with is to have very long axle wider than the boat's width. Attach two ropes from near the wheels. Then I tie the two ropes together over the boat. When I want to attach this from on the boat, I can throw this set up in the water from the back of the boat and position it to where I want it to be, then tie the ropes. Possible drawback would be that this would be a long (and possibly heavy?) piece and might not be good to carry with me on the boat. And the diameter of the wheel needs to be big, because the ground clearance would be basically only the half of it. Other idea I am toying with is to use two pieces of wood to make some sort of clamp on type of device to go on the side tubes.
How do you carry your inflatable to the water? Please share what you came up with.
