ZÜCA All Terrain Carts

[Peter De Smidt]

I saw this cart on Facebook. It was new to me:

http://www.zuca.com/control/category/~category_id=10210/~s_category_id=10211;jsessionid=C57AA258B2CB4764D6734BA944284B8B.jvm1

It looks like it might be a decent option for carrying LF gear off of pavement.

[Drew Wiley]

Wishful thinking. There one NP beginner "backpacking" campsite only about a mile and a half from a paved road, itself on a very easy fully graded unpaved road.
I've seen young city types in utter misery trying to pull loads on these kinds of contraptions. More a paved path city park option; "all terrain", yeah, sure....

[Peter De Smidt]

Yep. I'm sure it's not good underwater as well.

[Drew Bedo]

Looks like it will go about anywhere a golg bag pull cart will.

Does it fold up to go into the trunk (boot) of a car?

Wish there were pics of it opened up .

[Alan Gales]

I like the big wheels!

[Drew Wiley]

Not long ago somebody posted a cute Utube episode of trying to haul their gear up the trail from Glacier Point to Ostrander Lk with one of those rigs. That's kinda
a beginner trail, but even so, they were making about a fifth the time of regular backpackers, then finally abandoned the contraptions halfway, and repacked enough of their gear in gunny sacks to sluff it up to the lake for an overnite stay. More torture on the way back. So again. "all terrain' as long as the terrain is
reasonably paved!

[Peter De Smidt]

There are regular threads here talking about appropriate carts for hauling LF equipment around. None of them work well if the terrain is too rough. I hope that experienced LF photographers considering a cart would have a decent idea of the environments in which they'd like to shoot. For my commercial work, I use a hand cart. It has solid tires, and so it can give a fairly bumpy ride for the load. I'd like it to be lighter and have better pneumatic tires.

[Drew Bedo]

Yeah . just MHO. . .A cart is really best used on terrene that is wheel-chaie accessible, or at thee most rugged—a golf course.

[AuditorOne]

Anything of this nature throws your balance off and makes hiking a real chore. It also seriously limits your carrying capacity on steep grades, and don't even start thinking about maneuverability. Oxen and horses are far, far better at pulling loads in wagons and without roads people put packs on their horses, not wagons. And they are equipped with 4 foot drive traction.

Believe me, if these things actually worked Uncle Same would be issuing one to darn near ever infantryman in the Army.

[Drew Wiley]

Put a lawnmower engine on one, and it looks a lot like some things on the freeway these days. I just don't like it when they split lanes like motorcyles.

[Drew Bedo]

Did I skip over a post where any sort of cart was seriously proposed as a load transporter solution for hiking over trails? Previous threads on carts that I recall were directed at load carrying for those of us who can't backpack any weight.

A set of fold up luggage wheels have long served to keep the 25 pounds of my complete 4x5 kit off of my shoulders and hips. I would never think of dragging this load anywhere that isn't pretty much "wheel-chair accessible". A set-up with bigger wheels and higher ground clearance would allow that load to be pulled through a park or over golf course type terrain.

Backpacking? Wish I could any more. One summer, a long time ago (1970) I made my way to the summit of Long's Peak via the now closed Cable Rout—twice. . . .a life-time ago.

[Drew Wiley]

I wasn't aware the Laramide revolution had occurred yet in 1970. ... thought Colorado was still a shallow ocean with plesiosaurs in it. But I do remember what I
was doing in the Sierra, back before I discovered large format photography and the need for heavy pack capacity.

[Drew Bedo]

Well that was then. things are different now—for me anyway.

I'd like to see a photo dedicated cart based on a golf-bag pull cart. Pretty light and foldable. Dr. Tran has posted pics of one he did in a thread here (or in the DIY forum) last year.

[AuditorOne]

You could probably mock one up pretty quick with pvc pipe. Then take it down to your local metal fab shop and have them put one together using aluminum. Axles and wheels with bearings can be quickly and economically sourced through McMaster and Carr.

[Drew Bedo]

Audition)ne: you are probably right and I have done the mentsal exercise a few times. Yet my ability to image in this type of project is not possible for me for several personal reasons.

This topic comes up here several times a year though and I'm a little surprised that no-one with more skill, ability and resources has done something commercial. Not even a crowd-sourced effort.

There is a nitch here for a kit to modify a golf bag pull cart. I would hope that most of it could come from Home Fepot, Lowes or Granger as off-the=shelf bits that can be bolted together. One year I strapped an external backpack frame to one with hose clamps. worked for hanging a LowePro Trekker pack on but was a little clunky and it looked 'rigged".



Cheers to all