Thinking about purchasing some beach wheels.I know that eurotrax has plastic bearings and hubs and seem to be very reliable,What type of bearings do cattrax use??, I know they have an alloy hub,Do they have any corrosion problems within the wheel?? Do they roll the same?? Any input welcome,as if there is no difference i could save my self the $150.00 AUS dollars difference
Cat Tracks have plastic or nylon needle type bearings, about 1/4" diameter and about 5" long, I would guess maybe 18 or so per hub, they do not fail as long as you keep the cotter pins that hold the end plates on in good shape. They might get some sand in them when launching in surf, by you can easily wash it out in the water or with a garden hose, just roll them under water and it washes out.
The only problem I've seen is after many years, the big black rubber tires may start to leak (or maybe it's the valve stems) and you will have to use a bike pump or gas station air hose, but be carefull not to overdo it, and pump them up. I have not had to put any air in the ones I bought new a year ago. The last set I had was about 8-10 years old and also held air pretty long (2-3 months) before I had to put any in.
Thanks for the information Thanks timbo on the bearings,i wondered if they where plastic or not Hi Mary ,we can still get the eurotrax here but as i said they are about $150.00 more
The eurotrax have adjustable cradles (i believe) that can be easily adjusted for different sized cats where the CatTrax are determined by the length of the axle and the holes for the cotter pins.
Newer ones have holes for 8’ & 8’.5’ cats (i think), but you still need to remove cotter pins and re-pin them to adjust... not hard, but not an on-the-fly adjustment. Pliers are needed and would wear out the cotter pins.
I have CatTrax and ended up latter needing 1. cradles added and 2. an axle extender for my new (8 1/2') cat. In the long run... it cost me more than if i bought eurotrax
Re: Eurotrax vs Cattrax beach wheels
[Re: ]
#143113 05/13/0811:51 AM05/13/0811:51 AM
The bearings in the eurotrax are black plastic type material. I have eurotrax and enjoy the adjustability. I can use them on my boat or freinds boats when sailing.
The bearings in Florida Sailcraft cattrax are made of delron and there are 20 per hub. I have used cattrax for over 15 years and the only problems have been with the valve stems, either replace them every few years or add inner tubes.
As people have said, the cat trax are bomber. I bought a set of eurotrax for our fleet and they lasted about 1 summer before they needed a rebuild. We have had a set of Cat Trax from the '90's that are still going strong. You may want to get some inner tubes for them as they are known for springing leaks around the bead and valve stem. It's an easy fix.
What inner tubes do you use? I have one wheel that leaks pretty regular. But I agree Cattrax are rock solid. I was lucky, mine had a sleeve with 2 holes and a bolt to expand them when I went from TheMightyHobie18 to F18 width.
Well thanks for the karma, dude! Just when a thread starts about cat wheels, and I'm thinking about whether my old cattrax may need an inner tube, the damn things blow away in a storm & float across the lake never to be seen again. Guess I do need an inner tube after all.
Jim Casto NACRA 5.5 & NACRA 5.7 Austin TX Lake Travis
Re: Eurotrax vs Cattrax beach wheels
[Re: jcasto1]
#143119 05/20/0804:15 AM05/20/0804:15 AM
Cattrax build a good product - I bought a pair new in 2000 and just sold them with my F18 a month ago. After the initial assembly, I only had to put air in one tire once in eight years.
Jake Kohl
Re: Eurotrax vs Cattrax beach wheels
[Re: hobiesailor]
#143122 05/20/0808:24 AM05/20/0808:24 AM
Do the Cattrax still use those aluminum hubs? I went to their website and that's what it said there. So I'm thinking all those rusty and corroded car rims you see on the streets in winter, you know they are done after so many years. Eurotrax are using plastic hubs which can never corrode in a thousand years. So the question basically is: Are you willing to pay more for your EuroTrax or do you risk having to buy a cattrax every two or three years. And of course there are always exceptions meaning some cattrax will last a lifetime others a month. All I can say is that you don't see Cattrax in europe anymore as the Eurotrax have proven their worth and durability. And bad hubs are the reason for getting flat tires too. The valves will not give up as fast in saltwater as metall hubs.
Last edited by sailing4life; 05/20/0808:27 AM.
Re: Eurotrax vs Cattrax beach wheels
[Re: sailing4life]
#143123 05/20/0808:37 AM05/20/0808:37 AM
Do the Cattrax still use those aluminum hubs? I went to their website and that's what it said there. So I'm thinking all those rusty and corroded car rims you see on the streets in winter, you know they are done after so many years. Eurotrax are using plastic hubs which can never corrode in a thousand years. So the question basically is: Are you willing to pay more for your EuroTrax or do you risk having to buy a cattrax every two or three years. And of course there are always exceptions meaning some cattrax will last a lifetime others a month. All I can say is that you don't see Cattrax in europe anymore as the Eurotrax have proven their worth and durability. And bad hubs are the reason for getting flat tires too. The valves will not give up as fast in saltwater as metall hubs.
You're probably seeing eurotrax in europe because you don't have as high shipping costs to get the cattrax from the states....and aluminum doesn't rust. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Many people have had cattrax in saltwater environments for a long long time.
With the dollar value like it is now, I doubt you can even buy a set of eurotrax for a reasonable figure.
Has anyone fixed "hubs" on their really old Cattrax? My really old set had mild steel tubes with the rubber tires glued to them: the Delrin/Nylon rods rolled against the aluminum axle just fine-- until the steel tubes rusted into a big horrible mess, with leaks. I fiberglssed inside the tube but this was very messy, with leaks.
Dacarls: A-class USA 196, USA 21, H18, H16 "Nothing that's any good works by itself. You got to make the damn thing work"- Thomas Edison
Re: Eurotrax vs Cattrax beach wheels
[Re: dacarls]
#143125 05/24/0810:57 AM05/24/0810:57 AM
I Just happen to have disassembled one wheel from my cattrack, going to take it to a local tyre centre to see if the can plug a leak foor me. Does anyone know if that is feasible or not? Anyway I have taken some pictures of my trusty old cattrack to illustrate some of the points people have made in this thread. I don't know my cattrax's age, I bought it secondhand together with my boat. It appears to be old, but apart from the leaking tyre it does its job well.
Last edited by Genealex; 05/24/0811:07 AM.
Re: Eurotrax vs Cattrax beach wheels
[Re: Genealex]
#143126 05/24/0810:59 AM05/24/0810:59 AM