Anyone out there who has used both Cattrax and Eurotrax care to provide some comaparative insight?

I have a H21SC and have been borrowing a friends Cattrax. They work well but the time is approaching when I will need to obtain my own wheels. Plus the Cattrax are rubbing my hulls, so need to be adjusted to fit my boat better.

If you have used both, which would you favor?

The Cattrax seem to handle the 600 plus heft of my boat well enough, Eurotrax up to the task?

George VS

Cat Trax was the original, and then came Rolleez (now known as Cateez), and now EuroTrax
You really ought to look at them all.
By the way, All of them are available on our Online Marine Store at http://store.catsailor.com/tek9.asp?pg=products
Good luck,
Rick

I saw a set of Eurotrax this weekend. If I could wave my magic wand, I would turn my cat trax into a pair of Eurotrax. The look like they're much more user friendly to assemble. No drilling involved, and the width of the cradles is easily adjustable with a knob. Best of all, you can easily break them down for transport.

Follow Rick's advice, and check 'em out at the store!

Tim J.

We are the distributor of EuroTrax in the USA and I thought our input may be of value with this post.

Its true that EuroTrax has only been in the US for the past year. They have in fact been the most popular beach wheel system in Europe for more than 10 years. They are standard issue for Tornado's from Marstrom and a number of other cat manufacturers. There are a number of key features that have been patented. See our site at www.playaboule.com

As was pointed out by another member the EuroTrax does not need holes drilled and can be changed to suit a Hobie 16 to a Hobie 21 to a Tornado etc. in seconds.

Best of all we are offering (limited) introductory pricing on these at $349-00 and you can choose from 4 cradle styles. Marstrom sells them in Europe for more than $600.

Because they break down the worst case shipping cost in the Upper 48 is less than $30 and there is no tax (except WA).

If you have any questions please call us toll free at Ph 888-225-2865.

Regards
Bede
Playaboule

What are the opinions on knobby tires versus the slick tires? Seems like the knobby would be less likely to puncture. Are these repairable if they do get punctured.

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

A couple of new questions have been raised about the EuroTrax.

The fiberglass reinforced rims have been treated to make them UV resistant. This is not a surface coating but is added to the composite mix before the wheels go into the mold so the UV protection is all the way through the rims.

The rims have been tested at a university in Germany. Even rims that had been in use and in the sun for 3 years showed NO signs of failure when on a test rig that had a maximum load of 1400lbs per wheel!! See here http://www.playaboule.com/estore/UserMods/Test_Results.asp

The tires we use are tubeless ATV tires so are designed for aggresive use on a motorised vehicle like a Quad bike. Considering the low speed use and lighter loads of a cat these tires are only likely to wear out or perish due to years of sitting exposed in the sun. In the unlikely event that they do puncture you can easily repair them the same as a car tire.

Another interesting feature of the EuroTrax is that you can lock them to a fixed object like a tree or post while you go off sailing. This is unique to the EuroTrax because of the open spoke design of the rims. Just run a long series bike lock cable (found in most bike stores) through the rims and padlock the cable.

I hope this information is of interest
Bede
Playaboule

http://www.playaboule.com/estore/UserMods/Test_Results.asp

Mary

I was waiting for a post from you about using the forum for adds to push sailing gear.

I remember you getting in a big e mail war with Mark about using this forum for the same reason.

The guy has a right to respond to posts about his product. Also, the manufacturer of Eurotrax is an avid sponsor of this web site. I doubt if Mary will think it's a problem, and if she does, she'll be glad to chime in. He's simply answering technical questions which he is most qualifited to answer.

Cheers!

Tim J.

No, I won't chime in. The last time I mentioned that something looked like an ad, everybody got mad at me, so I said I would never say anything again. Rick is the forums administrator, and if he has a problem with it, I'm sure he will contact the party involved.

Mary,
This seems like good product info. more than pushing a product. I applaud your not stopping this thread.

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I had the original Cat Trax before they went to a rim, the tire turned on the axle on delrin rods. Cat Trax are good I borrow a new pair now from a friend. The problem is that a 400 lb boat on Cat Trax up a 15 foot dune is a lot of work. I like to single handle and it is almost impossible to get the boat back up by myself. It usually takes four people to get the boat back up the dune to the trailer.

I am in the process of developing a motorized set of beach wheels that I will call Dune Dog. It resembles the standard type of beach wheels using knobby ATV tires that bolt to a custom made hub. There is center tube and a rear wheel for steering. The boat will sit on the Dune Dog and the press of a button will run an electric motor to drive the Dune Dog. The Dune Dog will disassemble to three pieces so it can be carried on your trailer or hulls as other beach wheels. The prototype will be complete by the end of next month. I hope to make modification to carry any type of light boat.

Anybody interested in this project can Email me at mikeshappell@sprynet.com