Hi:

I've used both cattrax and the Eurotrax that came with our Marstrom Tcat. The cat trax lasted me 14 years. The Eurotrax have lasted 4 so far and I see no reason why they shouldn't last 14 years as well. I like the cradles on the Eurotrax better than the cattrax. I like the bearing access on the Eurotrax better than cattrax. Eurotrax gives access to the bearings and adjusts wheel position on the trolley by loosening / tightening a screw on a coller. Easy to get to and easy to service. My old set of Cattrax used a stainless steel washer and cotter pin to establish position of the wheels. Eventually the washer dug a groove into the aluminum. I imagine that some strength in the aluminum tube was lost, and it looked ugly, although I never had a problem.

I haven't yet had any problems with the wheels on my Eurotrax, although I worry a little about UV degradation of the plastic. The guys at Playabouille claim that I don't need to and that the wheels won't fail. I've never heard of a Tcat trolley wheel failing and there are lots of Tcat trolleys (Eurotrax) around that have been in use for a good long time The catrax wheels were aluminum. No problems with them at all. I have never had to replace a tire on either wheel and can't comment on how hard it is to do on the plastic rim vs the aluminum one.

Conceptually, both catrax and Eurotrax are identical in that they use a plastic roller bearing to reduce fridtion between the wheel and an aluminum tube that is the trolley axle. Eurotrax does a nicer job of making the bits, and on system integration. Eurotrax's clamping scheme is nicer than Cattrax. Eurotrax's bearings are contained in cute little plastic bearing spacers that keep the bearings from rubbing on each other - a bit nicer than just shoving rollers between the axle and wheel. Eurotrax cradles are nicer, or at least the ones supplied on Marstrom's Eurotrax trolleys are.

If I were in the market for a trolley right now, I'd buy the Eurotrax. I'd also get a center mounted handle, which makes shoving the trolley under the boat a whole lot easier.

My trolley has smooth wheels. I think smooth wheels throw less stuff around.

-Greg