Hobiegary or Doug Snell,

I have an older cat trax with the one piece hubless Firestone tire/wheel that is no longer manufactured. The 25 year old tires are split. I'm thinking of using my 2" axle bar and your syrup barrel wheels (brother-in-law works for Coca Cola). The lids or ends of these barrels must be really thick or it would appear that the rolling stress would crack them around the axle penetrations. Your plastic washer seems more like a bearing surface for the couplers. Are these barrels really thick or did you reinforce them somehow?

Well...after all the hullaballoo regarding how I was going to scratch build hubs so as to use some new turf tires that I already have, I broke down and bought two of these wheels (see link and/or attachment) for about $80 total. They just arrived and I am quite impressed - especially for the money. They are 12 pounds each with a huge 2 foot diameter and rated for 600 lbs each. With these wheels, I can now simply go with a 2 inch aluminum axle and some lock collars or cut some delrin bushings for better roll and use a narrower axle.

In either event, this was the simplest, neatest way for me to come up with a good set of Hometrax for about $100 total.

Now (unfortunately) I have a few nice (brand new) turf tires/rims that I`ll have to find another purpose for...oh well.


Dave

http://www.premiermaterials.com/Premiermaterials/dock_wheels.htm

Captain_Dave,

I've been reviewing this discussion on the Home Trax with some interest and I was wondering if you ever finished your Home Trax project. If so, could you please give an update? By the way, nice job on the H16 restoration. That is one beautiful boat.

Bulldawg

BullDawg,

I am sorry to say that due to a death in my immediate family I have put all projects on hold.

Perhaps in a few months I will finish this project (and a few others). As it stands now, I am not far from completion. When I finish, I will be happy to post details and photos.

Thanks for the interest,


Dave

My condolences, Dave.

Dear Mary,

Thank you,

Dave

Captain_Dave,
I too, want to express my condolences to you and your family on your loss.

Sincerely,
Bulldawg

Here is what I came up for a hub design using a machineable plastic. I can't think of the name of though. GMHW something like that.

That's exactly how Cat Trax makes thier wheel bearings. The just use the axel and the wheel as the races. The plastic is Ultra High Molecular Weight (UHMW) Polyethylene. The stuff is great for applications like this. This is the same material they use too.

Guys/Gals:

Danny did a REAL good job of taking the ideas I found and taking it to the next level! $125 and NICE!!
http://dgaleana2.proboards56.com/index.cgi?board=tips&action=display&thread=1143785090

Way to go Danny.

Doug Snell
Hobie 17
Soon to be Mystere 4.3
www.tcdyc.com

Those look great! Anyone have any working experience with those wheels? How do they do in soft sand? How durable?

Matt:

Go on the site. Register and ask Danny. He is giving them a try with his 14 and Randy's Getaway.

Doug

I too have been working on a similar design with those exact wheels which I posted earlier in this thread. However, I found out this past weekend that the materials and axle diameters (at least the 1.5 inch) mentioned in the above link allow way too much flex to be useful for the purpase of moving catamarans. It looks good, but the flex is a problem. I believe I already have a low cost solution and will post back within the next few weeks with photos.

Also, I found that simple ABS piping is not good as a bearing or bushing. It doesn`t glide very well - even worse when it warms up. I found that nylon or similar poly material glides much better.


Dave

Has anyone seen these ?

Those are half the price of what I found.

As for bearing material, use UHMW. It is very "slick" and very durable.

Matt,

Nice find on those wheels. I searched high and low for a suitable and affordable air-filled wheel. Clearly you had more success than I in sourcing the part. And I searched a lot!

One question though. What is the hub/rim configuration of that wheel? This entire thread was started in order to solve the "hub" issue - which ,as it turns out, is no minor problem unless one wants to use the standard metal trailer hub assemblies (4 or 5 bolt configuration, heavy and rust prone). This is why I went with the plastic wheels with the 2 inch diameter bore as It is much easier to convert over to our purposes while avoiding metal parts.

After checking that link again I cannot seem to find any info on the hub/rim for that tire. I get the impression the price is for the tire only and a rim would be a separate purchase of the standard ATV setup/configuration ie. 4-bolt hub. Its not too clear from looking at the link.




Dave

Good question on the hubs. I emailed the supplier this morning and will report my findings. The photo shows a hub but I have a feeling that they are just selling the tire. I think the standard ATV wheel has a 4 bolt pattern. I might end up machining a hub out of UHMW. I need some more lathe and mill experience anyways.

I figured the rim would cost extra. That makes the combo a little more spendy. Still a lot cheaper than buying the wheels from someone like roleez. Of course the roleez wheels would be a lot closer to being functional with the hub and bearings already done.

Dave:

I used 1 1/2 inch pipe from a electrical supply place. EMT I think, but not sure of the exact name. I haul my 17 with no problem. Send Danny a PM he is trying them on a 14 and a Getaway. That should be a good test.

Doug Snell
Hobie 17
Soon to be Mystere 4.3
www.tcdyc.com

Hi all,

As promised, I will be posting pics of my completed Hometrax. I`ve already been asked to build a set for someone else, so I may be getting busy for a while.

Since this thread is getting so long, I will make a new post - keyword " HomeTrax"

cheers,

Dave
Dave