Northwest Fishing Reports

With the long weekend and a couple of my fishing cronies involved with family functions, I decided to tackle an issue that I have been dealing with for the last couple of years. You see, since I am not getting any younger each year and my pontoon boat seems to get heavier each year, I thought that I would take the time to deal with the problem.

I made a maiden run out to Amber today to give it a try. It works quite well and sure saves on the back.:thumright

Darn smart Sir! What a great way to tackle the problem, and take the pain out of a long path to some lakes. Bravo!

Nice! Watch out for those copper thieves though. May want to switch to galv pipe for the production model.

Nice job Marc! One question tho.. what is the different between your Right and Left ramp?:-k

I have a suggestion for your next upgrade, figure out a way to replace the wheels with some that have some type of electric gear system (like the ones on those little electric scooters), put the controls on the handle of your you cart, hook your trolling battery up to it and WhaLa! No more need to push/pull!:cheers:

You crack me up Marc.

Looks like you are up near 5 mile? Kinda where the city has been trying to annex for a while now?

E

Gringo Pescador wrote:Nice job Marc! One question tho.. what is the different between your Right and Left ramp?:-k

I have a suggestion for your next upgrade, figure out a way to replace the wheels with some that have some type of electric gear system (like the ones on those little electric scooters), put the controls on the handle of your you cart, hook your trolling battery up to it and WhaLa! No more need to push/pull!:cheers:

I took the two ramp kits and cut them in half, making four ramp transitions. Each had two hole drilled in it for pins. Cut in half, the holes are off centered. So the ramps are lined up with the bed grooves, I marked them for quick reference.

I thought about electrifying, but that gets into a whole lot more money. On most ramps, parking facing the lake reduces the ramp angle greatly, making it rather easy to push the boat up into the truck. I may in the future make up a double pulley system to reduce the force needed by 1/2.

I may change the wheels to pneumatic tires which would roll over rough ground easier.

Still refining the idea. So far the principal works great.

Marc Martyn wrote:I may change the wheels to pneumatic tires which would roll over rough ground easier.

I was thinking about that (I love this kind of stuff, and it is a slow day at work).

What about this...

Take the bottom out of your cart, put an axel from one side to the other and mount a couple small bicycle tires INSIDE the box. That way they wouldn't stick out and rub the toon when rolling, and you can mount them to the height needed to still fit under your canopy.

Then remove off all 4 casters and take two of em (the ones that turn, not the fixed ones) and mount one front/center and one rear/center. But mount them a little higher up than the bicycle wheels so when level the bicycle tires are holding the whole works up, but the casters are dangling. But when tilted or left alone one caster or another are keeping the works from tilting too far.

(Kind of like those metal plywood carts you see at Home Depot or Lowes).

That way you have the benifit of bigger diameter tires over the gravel and rough stuff, but still maintain your low clearance. You only have two wheels on the ground in rough stuff and use balance as your friend. Because you can spin the whole thing 360 in one spot, you increase your maneuverability, and the casters enable you to roll it as is when you are in your garage or driveway!:cheers:

Copper handle?? Must be rich, lol. Copper is pretty spendy now a days. Just asking, why not pvc?

delyakguy wrote:Copper handle?? Must be rich, lol. Copper is pretty spendy now a days. Just asking, why not pvc?

Materials on hand from years past.

Is this clever or what? Stuff like this makes the task parts of fishing easier so you want to go more often - cool!

nice job marc. this is what happens when General conrtactors have to much time on there hands. this is what happened to me the last time i had "extra" time on my hands. i made a toon toter.

I saw that in one of your earlier posts. Very cool! I was wondering how that handles on the road at 60 mph.

My toon has a wheel that came with it.But I like your to help get it down from my PU.I dont have a canopy on my bed so I dont like carrying much that tweekers can walk away with.I agree Marc the pontoons get heavy with age.(my age not the toons)I like your idea cept I think I'll need wider ramps to unloadit.Very cool Idea.

Marc Martyn wrote:I saw that in one of your earlier posts. Very cool! I was wondering how that handles on the road at 60 mph.

60 mph? thats the speed limit . no it is the stable-ist thing ive towed in a long time. it is bouncy (the toons not the trailer)so dont leave any lures in the cup holders as they wont be there when you get there. i run two straps front to back on the toons and the canoe has its own straping. other than hitch chatter you dont know its there.






:viking:

What are the dimensions of the trailer deck. Where did you get the trailer and how much?

the deck is at the outside width of the toons.harbor frieght for 189.00 and about 100.00 in steel pltwood and carpet and paint.
there is a box down the middle for battery,,trolling motor, tackle box, fishin buddy, waders and boots. there are some refinements that i want to make, but the one thing i did thats cool is the retractable hitch. its a 9' peice of 2" light weight tube that sticks out 8' when deployed and when retracted is no longer than the boats them self. no triping on a tongue. the whole package is no bigger the the toons them self.

p.s. harbor freight has a big sale going this weekend. :thumright




:viking:

VERY clever, Mark! nice job.

TroutCowboy wrote:VERY clever, Mark! nice job.

i do have to say "prop's" (check with your kids) marc if i had a closed bed truck i would like something like that.








:viking:

I have discovered that there will be a lot less wear on the pontoon skins also. The bed liner is rather rough and has been scuffing up the material. So far after several trips, I am pleased with the system.