Myself and a couple of friends recently decided it would be a good idea to take up canoeing and duly purchased our vessel, The Jolly Wobbler! Now, I’m not saying any of the 3 of us are carrying a bit too much weight but the canoe we chose was the one that could carry the most weight without sinking. This in turn seems to mean the canoe itself is quite heavy also and carrying it the water any distance of more than 30 yards has proven to be quite tiring. With this in mind a set of wheels for her was required. We could have just paid about £60 for a brand new fit-for-purpose set of wheels but where is the fun in that!
Whilst clearing out the garage loft space I came across my old golf trolley. Old, as in it was last used about 30 years ago when I quickly decided golf was not the sport for me.
I must say this appears to be one of my better bodges and took less that 30 minutes to complete with minimal effort and no destruction. It survived its maiden voyage recently across the grass to the Thames so has survived until at least the next adventure.
STEP 1: The first task was to remove the bag support from the base of the trolley.
STEP 2: Fashion a front supporting foot from a couple of bits of wood glued/nailed together, drill a hole and slot onto the trolley handle. This is to keep the front of the canoe off the ground upon loading the canoe onto trolley and when we need a little tea-break during the journey to the water. I drilled the hole slightly wider than the diameter of the handle so that it swings freely with gravity.
STEP 3: On the 2x golf bag attachment points I tied on some foam type packaging material I had laying around to protect the base of the canoe.
STEP 4: I added some support between the 2 wheel legs to stop it from collapsing under the canoes own weight. For version 1 I simply used a couple of short bungee cords that were stretched to their maximum. Or so I thought! It became apparent that with the canoe on board they could stretch several more inches with the wheels ending up much further apart than desired. Version 2 has been upgraded with a strong chain to reduce the chance of a total collapse. The reason for the cord and chain versions rather than a wood or metal cross-member is simply so that the trolley can be fully collapsed down for transporting.
STEP 5: There is only a step 5 if I give up canoeing and take up golf again. Nothing has been sawn off or smashed into shape, the whole process is completely reversible to reconstruct as a golf bag trolley.