Best wheels/tyres for transom wheels.

[Peter_C]

Originally Posted by Kong

Yes there’s zero chance of deploying them on water because they are so buoyant. But there is an easy technique, you drag the boat as far as you can out of the wake, lift one side up to fit one wheel then do the other side. You can even chock it with a piece of timber so you can do it solo.

The only compromise is you really need to leave them behind in the car. But if you can do that then these are the best solution.

Or fix them up to pivot with a locked position in the down and the up positions. The wheels I had were permanently stored on the transom, even on the trailer. Nice to be able to land most anywhere, and have wheels down to protect the outboard and the boat.

The design options are many.



Bow wheels do not go out with us, but sure did make a heavy boat easy to roll.

[Fenlander]

>>>despite me kidding myself to the contrary, it’s just too heavy to manhandle on my own.

Shame but sometimes the only way to find out... is to find out.

[GuyC]

Apologies for the slight thread creep but the question relates to transom wheels.

I've just bought some Trem transom wheels for my Zodiac CFR 360. The legs have a hinge at the top and a little 'button' at the bottom that locates and hols the legs in place.

That button is prettyclose to the bottom of the trasom and I'll have to drill through the tape where is wraps up and over the edge of the transom. On the inside of the transom the securing nut is level with the air deck.

I can minimise the length of the bolt and put a cap on it to reduce the chances of the nut rubbing against the air deck.

I can coat the bolts in Sikaflex to maintain the watertight integrity but I'm slightly concerned about drilling through the tape.

Is drilling through the material where it overlaps the bottom of the transom normal?

[Fenlander]

>>>Is drilling through the material where it overlaps the bottom of the transom normal?

Yes if required by positioning. On the Aerotec the buttons are there as standard drilled through the tape at the factory and when fitted to an old Avon similar was reqired... like this...

[Fenlander]

The original Zodiac buttons look like this so need a double diameter hole drilling very accurately but when done neatly leave a very shallow dome inside...

[Fenlander]

I guess you have the ones with the Trem kit like these. To make a better job on one setup in the past I've used a SS coachbolt from the inside cut carefully so there is the correct length of thread on the outside of the transom to mount the buttons and do them up with grips using Loktite.

BTW those HD Trems with the buttons are about the best folding transom wheel set made... very strong on long bumpy hauls. The only issue you might have is getting the wheels down due to buoyancy in which case Sandhopper wheels are a cheap answer.... or perhaps the latest green type I've posted about above (#33) but I've yet to road test them so holding back for now on fully advising them.

[GuyC]

Fenlander - Thank you very much for the answers.

The coach bolt idea is very good and I'll probably steal that idea.

Noted on the buoyancy of the wheels. I'll try the current wheels for now and see how I get on during my hols - I'm new to SIB ownership.

[Fenlander]

Well the green wheels are the best so far. Roll very easily, particularly on the road as they are as hard as if pumped to 60psi. They have a minimal buoyancy so are no trouble to push into the water.

[Fenlander]

Update...

Going to have to pull the recommendation for these green wheels. While they were great re buoyancy to fit/remove in the water and for how they rolled making the SIB easier to pull a distance Mrs F commented they were really heavy to carry back to the car after launch and I found they had leaked water into the car on the way home.

Experimented yesterday in a tub and it seems there are loads of voids that fill with water that then takes ages to leak back out through gaps in the construction. Long and short of it their waterlogged weight post launch is just about 10lbs per wheel which compares to my Sandhoppers at 3.5lbs each. When added to the weight of the transom legs not a comfortable carry for Mrs F on a 5min walk back to the car.

Also a right pain to need a totally waterproof bag for the car journey home.

So they are already consigned to wheelbarrow duties.

[Fenlander]

And their replacements are these which I noticed on some dinghy launch trolleys on the hard last weekend...

https://www.homebase.co.uk/walsall-p...-wheel_p392500

14" overall diameter so the same as the OE wheels/tyres Zodiac legs come with and loads better than the 10" of the Sandhoppers. I have tested one in the tub for a 10min immersion which is longer than they'd be in for a launch/recover and there was no measurable take up of water.

They weigh 3.6lb so very close to the sandhoppers and without the legs attached have almost neutral buoyancy.

They might look a bit narrow but measure 75mm which compares well to the 80mm of tread that contacts the road in a normally inflated OE tyre.

They're rated to 150kg per wheel in Wheelbarrow use and even if they were supporting the total weight of my outfit (forgetting that I take some weight at the bow) it only amounts to about 72kg per wheel.

Seem good on a lap of the garden but the test will be our usual 275m launch trundle in a couple of weeks time... weather permitting.

[Yabadabadoo]

Should go along nicely with the central spine of the wheel being the main contact on hard surfaces. Like a skinny sand hopper?

Thoroughly enjoying your wheel obsession keep up the good work.

[Fenlander]

Fully tested the yellow wheels at the weekend.

Brilliant to handle in the water when fitting and removing... and a really easy lightweight carry back to the car with zero water retention. Trundle well on tarmac road far better than sandhoppers. Good on both hard packed and softer gravel at slipway.

Having used them at 50% of their weight capacity I'd not want to try then anywhere nearer their quoted full capacity of 150kg per wheel with a much larger SIB/OB combo as I don't reckon they'd stand it.

But for now they rate as no.1 for our use... until I find a colour I like better of course......

[GuyC]

Originally Posted by GuyC

Fenlander - Thank you very much for the answers.

The coach bolt idea is very good and I'll probably steal that idea.

Noted on the buoyancy of the wheels. I'll try the current wheels for now and see how I get on during my hols - I'm new to SIB ownership.

I've now used my Trem wheels in anger albeit trundling up and down a slipway but I thought I'd provide some feedback.

Fitting then was relatively straightforwards. You need to make sure that when the wheel goes from fully up to fully down, it clears the tubes and when fully down, it is clear of the bottom of the boat.

In one of the pictures there is a grey piece of plastic that sits behind the upper mount. I had to file some of the plastic away to allow the leg to sit properly but that was the only deviation from the instructions.

I used Sikaflex 291i on the through transom fixings to seal them.

On the inside of the transom I used an eye nut on the bottom mount which means I can use it to ratchet strap the boat to the trailer. It's probably overkill but I've just towed it nearly 700 miles without any drama. I replaced the small pin and R clip on the top mount with a drop pin to reduce the chances of losing bits.

In operation, the tyres which are 8 x 3.50 trundle across rough concrete and hard sand very well.

I don't have an issue with the buoyancy of the tyres but I am a fat knacker with long arms. Clipping the arms into place at the top and bottom is a bit fiddly initially but you soon get the hang of it. You'll only leave your fingers between the arms and the transom once!

On concrete I use a swimming pool float between the keel and the slipway to protect the hull although it does need a second person to position it.

In the up position, I've yet to find that they impede anything although they are mightily close to fouling the throttle when the outboard is on full lock. I didn't even think of this when fitting them but I'll take that piece of luck.

In the down position they work very well. You have to remember to deploy them before it gets too shallow and I can vouch that they will prevent you from getting on the plane even at WOT if you inadvertently leave them down.

All in all, I'd recommend them and well done to Fender for the research into tyre types.