Eurotrax vs Cattrax beach wheels

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

CatTrax have never failed me in the last 7 years of mostly saltwater sailing. They are TOUGH!!!

Doug

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.

I don't know about Australia, but Eurotrax are not available any more in the United States.

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

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.

The tubes I have here are ATV tubes 22X11X8.

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.

Have never seen Cattrax but use Eurotrax and I have not looked back.

Can not believe people still persist with the plastic rollers or thin tyres.

We sell inner tubes on our site, right here! at https://store.catsailor.com/ProductCart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=0&idproduct=20045

Also, in the USA the only beach wheel still available are Cat Trax, so not much debate.
Euro stopped marketing here and Cateez cannot get wheels.
Rick

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.

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.

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.

view of the bearing rollers in place

Roller diameter after a being used a lot of seasons

The bearing rollers, all 20 of them

The wheel with its leaky tyre

Closeup of the hub

The Leak is inside the orange triangle. Does anyone have an idea how to fix it?

you can get those little plugs that work on real tires at walmart. I think you basicly shove a plug in through the hole with a wire type thingie. I wonder whether they would work. I am not sure though, they might rely on higher PSI. Worth a shot though I am sure given the $$ to replace one of those tires.

Thanks for the suggestion, it could be worth a shot because it wouldn't involve lifting the tyre from the rim. I'll try to locate a kit like that in the good old Netherlands.

Reminds me of the tire repair kit they gave my Granddad when he rode a motor-bicycle for the Post Office, Fresno, CA, 1906...a knitting needle, a package of rubber bands and a foot pump with the instructions to keep stuffing them in 'til it stops leaking.

Add some superglue and something to scratch up the area around the leak and thats about all you need to fix a leaky tube or tyre especially one running less then 5psi.

Darryn
Mozzie
1782

Those tire repair kits do not work in side walls and most are for tires with steel belts. Just install a inner tube or patch the leak from the inside at a tire shop.

Second that - get an inner tube and it won't leak again.

Thanks for the responses, obviously fitting an inner tube is the best answer. Does anyone know where to get them in NL or do I have to order them on line? But if anyone knows of a quick fix some of us might still be interested.

Try these guys: http://www.buggywielen.nl/

Thanks for the tip Tony, just ordered the tubes.

I took delivery of the tubes last tuesday. Fitted them this evening, an easy job for a dutch boy used to fixing his own bicycle tyres. Took some pics to show how easy it is. Here's the wheel in its initial state, make sure is is supported on a flat surface that will prevent damage to the rim.

Spray some glass cleaner to make the rim as slippery as possible, soapy water works fine aswell

Use a pair of pliers to rip out the valve

Probably you won't rip out the whole valve, but don't worry as long as the air can get out you're fine. The valve is destroyed but you won't need it anymore, the tube has its own valve. You can remove what's left of the valve in the rim later.

Now the air can move freely out of the tyre, it's time to break the bead. This means unseating the tyre from the rim. You do this by applying downwards pressure on the sidewall of the tyre as close to the rim as you can. Put both knees on the tyre and use your thumbs to push down as hard as you can.

If things get tough this is a quick way to break the bead http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/bead-breaker/motorcycle-tire-bead-breaker.htm

The first tyre went off easier than the second, so enter the wedge which I could put very close to the rim and lean on, which did the trick. If this fails, the link in the previous post shows a method that wil work any time.

And off it is!

Trim off what's left of the valve on the outside of the rim so you can pull the rest out from the inside.

The tube, ready to be fitted

The tube inside the formerly tubeless tyre. This view of the rim shows that once you get the tyre to budge it'll slip off quite easily.

Again slap on some glass cleaner or soapy water to make the rim slippery so that the pressure inside the tube can push the tyre back into place again.

Pump the tube until the tyre is seated properly on the rim again, you will probably have to release pressure to get it down to the proper level.

And presto! Two Catrax wheels that hopefully won't let me down in the near future. But at less than €30 including postage and all in all less than two hours work to pull the cattrax apart an reassemble it I think I can't go wrong. Thanks everyone for your input, especially Tony for your link to http://www.buggywielen.nl, very helpful people at that shop.

I change my own trailer tires this way too - I've found another way to break the bead - sometimes very stubborn on smaller tires. Take a car ramp, the type that you drive your car on to work underneath, and place the vertical edge on the sidewall of the tire/wheel (as the tire lays flat on the ground). Drive you car up the ramp until the bead lets go. Voila!

steel on rubber will break the bead with a car's weight behind it on a short ramp
another way is with softer material and a longer ramp. like a 6foot length of hardwood 2x4, or softwood 2x6. lay on tyre and then slowly drive up wood until weight of car breaks the bead

Never broke or tore a bead this way...but then again, I didn't care since I was changing the tire.