Getting sib down over pebble beach?

[Fenlander]

Yes F1 is just Max's name for Sandhoppers.

Be wary you are getting what you need in that link. The sandhoppers are 260mm dia and 98mm wide. The larger 293mm dia one is not a Sandhopper but a solid rubber tyre just half the width.

I had these briefly but soon outed them onto a trolley. Too narrow and they are heavy to carry being solid rubber.

[Windsurfer]

Well spotted , I was just assuming they were the same type of wheel in a bigger diameter.

Ok I’m going to order and test the F1 Hoppers !

[SMelmoth]

Hi, this is my first post. I've just bought a Honwave 32 airfloor, with a Honda 10hp and am excitedly waiting for delivery (I'm rather more excited than my wife, whose birthday present it is supposed to be!) I live on a shingle beach with about 20m of flat shingle and then a steep shingle incline to the sea. I've bought some (v expensive! Why?!) OE transom wheels but am now pretty sure from what I have read here these will bog down in the shingle particularly with the engine on. I've bought some inflatable rollers in case that happens. But really I'd like to try some Sandhoppers as if they work in Sussex they should work in Kent.. Does anyone know if you can swap the OE wheels on the Honwave transom wheel set up for Sandhoppers directly or if this would require modification of the brackets in some way?

[Fenlander]

Hi and welcome to the forum. You have to be a little careful of those transom wheels with the legs that curve backwards to clear the tabs as thy are easy to strain/twist.

I guess you just need to measure the overall diameter of your existing wheels and compare with the sandhoppers to make sure they wont rub the floor when bouncing about down the beach with the outboard weight. Also check the dia of your leg tube compared with the bore of the sandhoppers which is usually 25.4mm to slide on 25mm.

[SMelmoth]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

Hi and welcome to the forum. You have to be a little careful of those transom wheels with the legs that curve backwards to clear the tabs as thy are easy to strain/twist.

I guess you just need to measure the overall diameter of your existing wheels and compare with the sandhoppers to make sure they wont rub the floor when bouncing about down the beach with the outboard weight. Also check the dia of your leg tube compared with the bore of the sandhoppers which is usually 25.4mm to slide on 25mm.

Many thanks, Ferlander. Looks like I had better wait until I actually have the transom wheels to check the leg tube diameter. If anyone else has actually tried to do this I'd be very interested to know how they got on.

[0ldbloke]

haven't posted in quite some time and haven't used the boat for even longer ...
but I had this issue ...
but didn't bother spending money on extra wheels etc ...
I made what could best described as skis ... about 10"ish wide and about 18" long corrugated iron ... curved the front a bit ...
a couple of ubolts allowed me to tie them tight to the axle of my trolley ... kept the wheels in place ... they sat in the middle groove of the corrugated iron
worked a treat ... cost me nowt but time ...

[Peter_C]

https://wheeleez.com/wheels/ Best wheels for launching on soft sand and over gravel. They will require a custom leg, and are rather expensive, mine were purchased on Ebay for far less. The 49cm version was the only option I could find available to launch a 500lb(227kg) Zodiac 4.2m over soft sand. They worked perfectly! My trailer sank with it's skinny tires in the sand, but I never tried letting most of the air out of them.

Leg design dictates how hard they are to get bring up and to get them back under the boat. Didn't take long to figure out a paddle made short work of it.

[SMelmoth]

Originally Posted by 0ldbloke

haven't posted in quite some time and haven't used the boat for even longer ...
but I had this issue ...
but didn't bother spending money on extra wheels etc ...
I made what could best described as skis ... about 10"ish wide and about 18" long corrugated iron ... curved the front a bit ...
a couple of ubolts allowed me to tie them tight to the axle of my trolley ... kept the wheels in place ... they sat in the middle groove of the corrugated iron
worked a treat ... cost me nowt but time ...

Sounds like that would work...if I had a trolley. At the moment I just have transom wheels so ideally I'm looking for something that I could use with these. Though may have to think again if all else fails.

[SMelmoth]

Originally Posted by Peter_C

https://wheeleez.com/wheels/ Best wheels for launching on soft sand and over gravel. They will require a custom leg, and are rather expensive, mine were purchased on Ebay for far less. The 49cm version was the only option I could find available to launch a 500lb(227kg) Zodiac 4.2m over soft sand. They worked perfectly! My trailer sank with it's skinny tires in the sand, but I never tried letting most of the air out of them.

Leg design dictates how hard they are to get bring up and to get them back under the boat. Didn't take long to figure out a paddle made short work of it.

I've looked at these and they are available in the UK- for about £65 a wheel. I did wonder if they were so large that they might obstruct the motor. If not, I'm definitely going to see whether they make them to fit the Honwave transom wheel axles. Will mean though, if I go for this solution, I will have spent about £350 on a transom wheel kit by the time I'm finished! Over a third of the cost of the SIB....I'm hoping that as the SIB is much lighter than a Zodiac there is still a possibilty that the OE transom wheels may work with very low inflation.

[Peter_C]

For a smaller boat these may function well too. They are super quick to deploy and recover.
https://www.beachmaster.co.nz/

[SMelmoth]

Those look good and chunky but in my case it would mean I had to ditch my new Honwave transom wheel kit altogether and start drilling holes in my new transom which would be good to avoid if possible. I also wonder about the extent they would obstruct a 10 hp outboard on a smaller SIB like mine.(3.2m)

[Fenlander]

Your Honwave 3.2 air floor has tabs that are part of the floor sticking well beyond the transom so conventional transom wheel legs an those such as in post #30 can't be fitted. Hence the special OE curved type which you will be getting.

[0ldbloke]

Originally Posted by SMelmoth

Sounds like that would work...if I had a trolley. At the moment I just have transom wheels so ideally I'm looking for something that I could use with these. Though may have to think again if all else fails.

trolley or transom ... can't see why it mattters?? ...
I didn't tie the skis to the trolley ... just went up and over the axle of the wheel and back to the other ubolt... i used 2 ubolts per ski ... it's all I had ... one front and one back of the wheel ...
the rope went from front to back ... then back to front via the other side of the wheel trapping it down on the ski ... but other ways would work ...
it allowed the ski a little up and down movement like an ankle would on a real ski ...

but if you want to buy expensive wheels ...........

[Grayskull]

As Oldbloke says, use a sledge.

Put one of these under each tube or wheel.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-Snow-S...6clp%3D2334524

[Windsurfer]

So I tried the sand hoppers today and I would say they were worse on the single than the original honwave inflatable tyres .
So the next on the list is the larger inflatable type !
Although I do like the idea of a large sledge of some sort , it would only have to cover the rear section of the keel ..
The kids fly down the steep sections of the beach on the bogie boards .

Anyone want some used once sand hoppers cheap?

[Kong]

Another vote for the Wheeleez. I got these last year, night and day difference they glide over any surface.

Only problem is they are big so would need to put them back in the car before you set off.

[Peter_C]

Originally Posted by Kong

Only problem is they are big so would need to put them back in the car before you set off.

Why not bring them with you so you can pull the boat up onto any beach? Plus I liked to stand up and drive at slow speeds for which the wheel is soft and comfortable to lean against.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Peter_C

.......soft and comfortable to lean against.

Oh aye!

[xpertski]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Oh aye!

[emoji23] oh dear - hope this thread isn’t about to go south