The ultimate beach cart..

[GiantSquid2008]

I fish the NJ shore and most of the beaches that I fish require a walk-on. I usually carry on two rods, bait bucket (incl sm soft cooler), sand spikes and a tackle box. Frankly I'm sick and tired of carrying all of this crap. I've seen guys with carts/wagons with fat tires for the sand and they look pretty cool. I get the impression that he ones that I've seen were "custom engineered" because they're all different. I'm looking to build the ultimate beach cart.

I have a plastic radio-flyer wagon that I used to pull my kids around in. It has removable sides and a sturdy plastic base that I think would be ideal for mounting rod holders to and a good platform to sit on at the shoreline. I'm wondering about the tires though, mainly if they're going to be wide enough. I guess I'm gonna have to take it to the beach and pull it with some weight on it to really find out if it will work.

Before I waste a lot of time on this project I was wondering if anyone out there has done any extensive testing/development of a good beach cart? Does anyone have any pics or design tips that they'd be willing to share? How wide or big (diameter) do the tires have to be to be effective?

[CalabashFishman]

I have seen these carts you are speaking of. The price of these carts are UNREAL. Some of them go for more than 200 dollars. I think they are made out of light aluminum, but not sure. You might be better off price wise making your own.

Good Luck and keep us updated

[nautiduck]

I tried a set from northern tool I think they were 10-12" in dia, and about 4-5 inches wide. They were air filled rubber, and they didnt work very well but I only used two tires with the support in the front. I did see one guy with a modified pull behind golf cart with the really wide plastic wheels he had a cooler bucket couple of poles and it went really well. I would recommend wwiiddee lightweight plastic wheels.

[luv2fish67]

Well the wheel was invented quite some time ago, so half the work is already done. I'm thinking maybe a golf cart....like the ones you strap your golf bag to and pull by hand. I'm sure it would hold a bucket, just as well as a golf bag. Should be pretty easy to modify one to suit your needs.
The golf bag cart I have has wide plastic wheels that should do well on sand, and I think the cart was only about $20