Trail cart

[Peter De Smidt]

Recently, I bought a Nikon AF-S 300mm f/2.8 D, a lens which weighs 7.5 lbs. I would like to be able to carry gear easily on non-rugged paths. I wanted something that would work well, be light and compact, and it should be easy to use. I remembered that for the last 25 years or so, I had a push-pull golf cart in my basement. It was probably from the 1960s or 70s. Well, I cleaned it up, and it looked in pretty good shape. Here it is:



I modified it by removing the part on the bottom of the shaft, i.e. the shelf that a golf bag would sit on. I drilled it out so that it could be moved up the shaft. I've ordered a rubber bumper for a cane from Amazon. That will go on the bottom of the 3/4" open shaft. My Thinktank backpack fits nicely. On the bottom of the pack there's a loop that fit's over the aforementioned shelf, and the straps go back around the main shaft of the cart. It's plenty secure. The cart is light, being all aluminum except for the bolts, the handle breaks down quickly. It only takes a few seconds to mount the back pack onto the cart. Hopefully, I'll get to test it out in the field soon.

[Tin Can]

Who will be caddy?

[Jody_S]

I toyed with the idea for my 8x10 kit, as it's getting too heavy for my arthritic shoulders, arms, hands, back, hips, and knees to handle. Actually might be easier to list my body parts that don't have arthritis.

In the end I went with a rolling tool box from Home Depot, for 2 reasons: if there's a big obstacle in the path, there's a handle on the tool box to lift it up and over, and when I'm tired and want a break, I can sit on the tool box. I'm still toying with the idea of taking the wheels from my old golf caddy and fitting them to the tool box, perhaps as a clamp-on undercarriage for when I'm going into rougher areas. Please tell us how it fares and on what sort of trails, I think a lot of us have similar ideas. I'm also considering a pair of child's bicycle wheels (in the 10-12" range), which I thought would have the ideal weight/diameter ratio.

[Kirk Gittings]

I bought one of those, used on Ebay, but have yet to try my pack on it. I like your mods and might work on it. Thanks.

[Peter De Smidt]

Here's some more pics:







For trails like this:

Photo by Janice

[morecfm]

This may work. It can go where wheels can't.

[Vaughn]

I got something for the 11x14...

[Carl J]

I got something for the 11x14...

Can we see it loaded up when you have the chance? Interested.

Thanks!

[Vaughn]

Can we see it loaded up when you have the chance? Interested.

Thanks!

Haven't had the chance yet. Doing some backpacking with the 5x7 soon -- will see about a bike trip after that.

[Vaughn]

Can we see it loaded up when you have the chance? Interested.

Thanks!

Loaded the 5x7 on the bike yesterday for a 20 mile ride -- mostly single track, but some old road and new roads. Started off with a slight climb, and then a 1100 foot drop in less than a mile. Bike did great. A beast to lift over fallen trees -- had to unpack once. The bike does have a "Walk" mode which came in handy through excessively steep/rough sections, deep sand, and mud where I could not or decided not to ride...or to help 'walk' the back tire over a log.

Started out with the pack loaded on the right side...1) Takes too much time to unpack for a quick image. 2) Bike difficult to balance when loading/unloading. 3) To easy to whack it against an immovable object (a redwood for example).

Shifted the tripod to the side, camera pack on top. Worked well with 5x7. 8x10 and 11x14 will take more thought.