Launch Wheels for Soft Sand

[Kong]

Hi all

As per the title

Just come back from my first week of this seasons Sibbing in Cornwall. I found launching downhill over soft sand almost impossible and recovering completely impossible without recruiting strangers to help push.

I already have the sand launch wheels, they look like the generic ones approx 9cm wide but they are useless.

It was suggested I try the ‘balloon’ wheels from beach wheelchairs but these are laughably expensive like £400 a pair, so they are probably out.

I’ve seen some people use ‘turf tyres’ as typically seen on golf buggies but I’m not sure what wheels you would fit them to in order to fit the 1” launch wheel axels?

Alternatively perhaps I could just bolt two pairs of the existing wheels together for a simple solution?

Thoughts greatly appreciated

[Fenlander]

You have the same solid tyre "sandhopper" as mine I guess...

https://www.force4.co.uk/maypole-lau...iABEgIq2_D_BwE

I assume you are recovering with OB still on plus fuel and kit still in SIB. Only advice is to remove all the kit and the OB from the sib before travelling over sand. Even then it can still be problematical in very soft sand.

Some folks have fitted huge balloon tyres but they are quite awkward/comedic and still can be caught out.

Doubling up on the wheels will help of course.

I'm not being flippant but having bust a gut trying to do this in the distant past I never book a holiday where the launch is like that.

[Kong]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

You have the same solid tyre "sandhopper" as mine I guess...

https://www.force4.co.uk/maypole-lau...iABEgIq2_D_BwE

I assume you are recovering with OB still on plus fuel and kit still in SIB. Only advice is to remove all the kit and the OB from the sib before travelling over sand. Even then it can still be problematical in very soft sand.

Some folks have fitted huge balloon tyres but they are quite awkward/comedic and still can be caught out.

Doubling up on the wheels will help of course.

I'm not being flippant but having bust a gut trying to do this in the distant past I never book a holiday where the launch is like that.

Thank you for the reply

Those are the ones I have, trouble seems to be they’re such a small diameter, if they were twice as tall I think they’d roll over the same sand easily.

They are cheap enough so I’ll buy a second set and just bolt them in parallel with some threaded bar and report back, worth a punt.

I take the gear and petrol tank out but still absolutely no prayer of pulling the boat up.

It’s an Aerotec 380 with a 15hp 2 stroke so it doesn’t get much lighter but there’s only me and my 8 year old son. I will explore carrying the engine up separately but I’m pretty slender so need to watch the spine!

[JamesF]

I've never used one, but perhaps something like this would be better: https://www.force4.co.uk/inflatable-boat-roller.html


For what it's worth, we used to have doubled-up wheels on our launching trollies (for 4.2–4.8m RIBs), but they would still dig right in to the shingle and take some fairly serious effort to move. You might have better luck with a lighter load on sand. Nowadays we have tyres about a foot wide, which are better, but again not easy when faced with a bank of shingle.

[Limecc]

I went on holiday once and forgot the 12" wheels but was able to purchase some 10" ones for temporary use and was surprised how much more easily they sunk into soft sand for a seemingly small difference in diameter (same width).
They are not much money on Amazon, going bigger diameter is probably better than doubling up stubby wheels. 14" plastic wheelbarrow wheels are the largest I've seen.

[jeffstevens763@g]

Ride on lawn mower wheels front would be great
https://www.google.com/search?q=lawn...obile&ie=UTF-8

[Kong]

Spent hours last night looking for these. The best one I could find which would fit the launch wheel 1” axel are these:

16 " PNEUMATIC WHEELBARROW WHEEL / INFLATABLE WHEEL - 4.80/4.00-8

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F222317885588

They are 15mm narrower than the sand hopper wheels are a regular tyre instead of the ‘squared off’ sand style, but I imagine 16” diameter versus 10” could make a difference. Maybe double up and go for 4 of these could be the best budget solution.

The lawnmower turf tyres look perfect. The problem is they would need converting to a 1” trailer hub to fit my launch wheels but they also look too wide to fit on the axle so that would probably need lengthening approx 2” which would require some custom machining. That plus the cost of the wheels themselves is getting incredibly expensive again :O

I like the look of those rollers though, they would definitely work although it’s a long beach!

[Fenlander]

These are my standard Zodiac wheels that are from my gen Zodiac HD transom legs for the Aerotec. They are 15" overall dia but the same width as my sandhoppers at 9cm.

I only use the sandhoppers as the Aerotec wheels are too buoyant and a pig to push down into the water.

[jeffstevens763@g]

any good


https://www.homebase.co.uk/wheel-pne...-1-brg_p408173

[Kong]

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

any good


https://www.homebase.co.uk/wheel-pne...-1-brg_p408173

That is a fantastic spot! Usually with these things they’re available under a dozen different brand names but I can only find these in Homebase.

I suspect they will be too wide to fit on my launch wheels but for that price I could have them extended. I think these are in pole position so far, I will report back with what I go for

[Limecc]

Originally Posted by Kong

That is a fantastic spot! Usually with these things they’re available under a dozen different brand names but I can only find these in Homebase.

I suspect they will be too wide to fit on my launch wheels but for that price I could have them extended. I think these are in pole position so far, I will report back with what I go for

My larger wheels had bearings that didn't fare well with salt and sand particles and also rusted badly over time. Personally feel wheels with plain nylon bushes work best.

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by Limecc

My larger wheels had bearings that didn't fare well with salt and sand particles and also rusted badly over time. Personally feel wheels with plain nylon bushes work best.

i dont think they are bearings just inserts onto the axle, worth having a look easy to extend the axle if needed

[Kong]

So I ordered a pair of Wheeleez which just arrived , they are eye wateringly expensive for what they are but they might just work. I just need to figure out the best way to extend my launch wheel axles for them to fit.

[Bushrider]

Look for used go-cart wheels .
Cheap and extremely low ground pressure