One of the challenges of owning a kayak is having to transport from your car to the water’s edge. This could mean that you will have to carry your kayak quite a ways. Even with our Pelican Mustangs, some of the lightest kayaks in the industry, it will still tire you out if you need to carry it 0.5 miles or more. I don’t know about you, but we would rather save our energy for paddling. As we started looking into kayak carts, we realized that they can get very expensive. Luckily, we figured out how to build a DIY kayak cart that is not only inexpensive but affordable as well. Here is a quick video of the build.



WHAT YOU NEED:

The great thing about this design is that it doesn’t take a lot of mechanical skill. It’s also not very time-consuming. You can probably finish the DIY kayak cart in about an hour. Here is what we will need to make our cart:

(1) 10ft section piece of schedule 40 PVC pipe – $3 (Make sure it’s schedule 40 since it’ll be more durable)

(7) 1 inch PVC tee fittings – $3.50

(3) 1 inch PVC caps. – $1.20

(1) PVC glue – $3

(The glue, pipe and all of the fittings should be on the same aisle at the hardware store.)

(1) 3 ft section of 5/8 threaded rod – $4

(1) 5/8 inch create-a-bolt kit that comes with the nuts, washers and lock washers. (This should be on the same aisle as the threaded rod) – $3.80

(1) Jumbo fun noodle (Target or the 99 Cent store) – $3.88

(2) 10-inch Pneumatic tires (Harbor Freight) – $12

This DIY kayak cart comes to a grand total of $34.38 before tax. One thing that I really like about the design is the rubber tires. They do weigh more but it also delivers a much smoother and quieter ride than the pre-built kits with the hard power wheels types of tires.



INSTRUCTIONS:

Once you have everything that you need for your DIY kayak cart, it is time to cut the PVC pipe into different sections. There are multiple ways to cut the pipe. Pipe cutters are obviously the best. A chop saw is also a great option. If you don’t have either of those, you can also use a hack saw. The good thing is that all of your cuts will be going into either tee’s or end caps, so the cuts don’t need to be pretty.

You are going to need the following lengths of pipe:

1 x 18 inches

1 x 10.5 inches

4 x 8 inches

2 x 4.5 inches

4 x 3 inches

2 x 1.75 inches





Next, we need to drill a 5/8 inch hole in the center of (2) end caps. If you want to make your life way easier, pre-drill it with a smaller size first. Do your best to drill the hole in the center of the cap. Otherwise, your cart is going to be a little bit lopsided.





It is now time to assemble the bottom portion of the cart.

Take those (2) end caps with the hole and glue them into (2) of 1.75-inch pieces separately.





Take those and glue them into one side of the (2) tee’s





Now glue those into the 4.5-inch pieces.





And finally, glue both sides into (1) tee. This part is very important because the center hole of the tee that you are gluing both sides into will be used for the kickstand. The angle just slightly past 90 degrees seems to work the best. It is super important to glue this joint. Otherwise, the kickstand will collapse under the weight of the kayak.





Now that we have the bottom section assembled, you’ll need to cut the threaded shaft and slide it through. You can measure the amount you need to cut by measuring the lower section of your cart and then add 8 inches. This will give you enough room for the wheels and hardware. We are going to cut ours to be 26 inches long. Having a grinding wheel here will make things a lot easier.





Once the threaded shaft is cut, you can slide it through the pipe. Be careful if you used a grinding wheel because the end of the shaft can be quite hot. Take a quick measurement to make sure that the threaded shaft is sticking out both sides equally. Once it is centered, lock it into place with a lock washer and a nut. Then, you can slide the wheels on and lock them into place with the other nut.





The bottom section is now complete. It is all pretty smooth sailing from here. See what I did there. It’s a boat pun.

Next, we will take (2) tees and put them on both ends of our 10.5-inch pipe. That’s pretty much it for the top section.





Now connect the top section and bottom section with (2) of the 3-inch pieces with glue.





From here, you’ll make the two railings that the kayak will rest on. Take the (4) 8-inch PVC pieces and attach them with (2) tees. Then, you’ll take the other 3-inch pieces and place them into the bottom of the tee.

These pieces go into the top of the cart. This is one of the joints that I don’t glue. It is because I want the rails to be able to swivel to conform to the bottom of my kayak.





You should, at this point, only have (1) piece of pipe (18-inch), a cap, and a fun noodle left. This piece is going to be your kickstand. You can put the end cap on the last opening of the cart. I don’t glue the kickstand in because I like to be able to remove it to make the cart a little bit more portable.





The last thing that you need to do is slide on the fun noodles and you are all set. You’ll need to cut the fun noodles into (4) equal sections. To measure these sections, you’ll hold them up to the rail and added a couple of inches. I found that taking a file or sandpaper to the edges of the pipe will help a lot. Otherwise, there is a good chance that the sharp edges will tear your fun noodle.





Congratulations! You are the proud owner of a kayak cart.





Now let’s get into using it. The best way to do it is when you balance the center of mass over the wheels. If you do this, the kayak should almost float in your hand while it is on the cart.





I always run a strap through the middle of the cart just so the kayak doesn’t fall off on the way to the water.

Now that you’re done, be sure to comment to let us know where is your favorite place to kayak. Our favorite one is kayaking at Sand Harbor in Tahoe. Our second favorite is at Mono Lake.

Happy Adventuring. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, subscribe to our Youtube channel, and sign up for our newsletter!



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