Kayak Carts Compared: Fit, Wheels and Ratings

Choose a kayak cart when the walk from your car to the water is too long or awkward to manage comfortably by hand. Match the cart’s supports to the shape of your boat’s underside, then choose wheels for the ground you will cross. Before buying, compare the cart’s rating with the weight you will roll.

Key Takeaways

Carry the kayak alone or with a partner when the walk is short and manageable.
Choose a padded frame cart or a cart with straps by checking how its supports meet your hull.
Use a scupper-post cart only if your kayak maker allows it and the posts fit the boat’s drain holes.
Add the boat and anything riding aboard it, then compare that total with the cart’s rating.
Choose wide beach wheels for soft sand; airless wheels suit many firm paths and trails.

Do you need a cart?

For a short walk that you can manage comfortably, carrying the boat may be simpler. A suitable kayak can be carried alone, and a partner can carry one end while you carry the other. A cart is useful when the distance or the boat’s size makes carrying difficult, especially if you are going alone.¹²

Think about the whole route. Wheels can make a parking-lot walk or a smooth trail easier, but steps and obstacles may mean you still need to carry the kayak. There is no single distance or weight that makes a cart necessary; consider your boat, your route and what you can manage comfortably. Kayak trailers (coming soon) and lift-assist and loading a kayak alone (coming soon) are covered in separate guides. How to tie down a kayak covers carrying a boat on a car.

Match the cart to your boat

The hull is the body of the kayak, including its underside. Choose supports that hold the hull in a stable position, with padded surfaces touching the boat. “Sit-in” and “sit-on-top” describe where you sit, but do not tell you the exact shape of the underside. Check your kayak maker’s model description and the cart maker’s fit guidance.

A frame cart supports the boat from below. Some use padded bunks, which are parallel support bars; others use a saddle or cradle shaped to support the hull. Many frame carts also have straps, so “frame cart” and “cart with straps” are not separate, exclusive types. A V-shaped underside slopes down toward a center line and may suit a cart designed for that shape, while a flat platform or adjustable bars may fit other undersides. Check the actual support contact and wheel clearance for your model.³⁴⁵

A scupper is a drain hole in the open deck of a sit-on-top kayak. A scupper-post cart holds the boat by inserting upright posts into those holes. Not every sit-on-top is suitable for one. Hobie makes plug-in carts for its own kayaks, while Old Town advises against scupper carts for its kayaks. Eddyline says not to use one with its sit-on-top kayaks and excludes resulting scupper-cart damage from its warranty. Check your kayak maker’s guidance before choosing this type.⁶⁷⁵⁸

Check the load and compare carts

Find your exact kayak model on its maker’s product page. Look for Weight, not Weight Capacity: the first is the boat’s weight; the second is how much it is designed to carry on the water. Add the parts and gear that will ride on the cart, such as a seat, pedal drive, battery or packed equipment. Keep the total within the cart’s stated rating. Makers do not all describe their ratings in the same way, so follow the instructions for the exact model and wheel version.⁹⁵¹⁰

The figures below are makers’ published specifications, not results of comparative testing. Imperial figures come first; metric equivalents in parentheses are rounded conversions. The rating bases are not stated consistently: Wilderness Systems specifies kayak and gear, YakAttack gives surface- and drop-specific limits, and RAILBLAZA labels its figure static and says moving capacity varies by terrain. For the other listed carts, the cited maker pages do not define whether the rating includes gear. As a cautious comparison, count the boat and everything aboard against each rating.

Cart	Maker-stated load rating	Wheel size and type	Maker’s terrain description
Malone Nomad™TRX	150 lb (68 kg)	10 in (25 cm), airless	Rough and rocky ground³
Malone WideTrak™ ATB	250 lb (113 kg)	12 × 3 in (30 × 8 cm), airless	Rough and rocky ground¹¹
Suspenz Catch-All Universal Airless	300 lb (136 kg)	12 in (30 cm), airless	Pavement, trails, gravel, packed sand and rocky ground¹²
Suspenz Catch-All Universal Beach	240 lb (109 kg) on current product page	13 × 7 in (33 × 18 cm), beach wheels	Packed and soft sand¹³
Wilderness Systems Heavy-Duty, no-flat wheels	450 lb (204 kg), kayak and gear	12 in (30 cm), airless	Rough terrain¹⁰
Wilderness Systems Heavy-Duty, beach wheels	330 lb (150 kg), kayak and gear	13 in (33 cm), balloon wheels	Sand¹⁴
YakAttack TowNStow Bunkster, sold by Old Town	450 lb (204 kg) on flat surfaces; 300 lb (136 kg) on trails; 200 lb (91 kg) for its stated 5 in (13 cm) drop rating, meaning a drop down a step of that height	12 × 2.5 in (30 × 6 cm), airless	Ratings vary by surface and drop¹⁵
RAILBLAZA C-Tug, standard wheels	260 lb (118 kg) static rating; moving capacity varies by terrain	10.3 × 3.6 in (26 × 9 cm), puncture-free¹⁶	Maker names gravel, grass and concrete¹⁷

The Suspenz beach-cart figures conflict: its current product page rates the cart at 240 pounds, while the linked manual says 300 pounds. The page also lists 13-inch wheels but says its box includes 12-inch wheels. If either figure is close to your needs, ask Suspenz to confirm the rating and supplied wheels before buying.¹³¹⁸

RAILBLAZA’s C-Tug figure is a load held still, not a rolling limit. Its maker says the capacity while moving varies with the terrain; do not treat 260 pounds as an unconditional rolling rating.¹⁷

Choose wheels for the ground

For pavement and firm paths, hard airless wheels are a practical place to start. Makers describe their airless models for trails and gravel too, and Malone describes the Nomad TRX for rough, rocky ground.⁵¹²³

Packed sand does not always call for beach wheels: Suspenz lists its airless Catch-All for packed sand. For soft sand, look for wide, inflatable balloon beach wheels designed for soft ground. REI says wider tires handle soft sand better, and Malone describes the WideTrak SB balloon-wheel model for beaches and soft ground.¹²²¹⁹

Compare the wheel type and width as well as the diameter. Airless wheels do not need inflation; balloon wheels are wider, inflated tires intended for soft ground. Terrain descriptions are specific to each maker and model, so do not assume that a larger diameter alone means a cart will roll better on sand.¹⁹¹³

Use the cart without damaging the boat

Set the boat on the cart’s padded supports, not on exposed frame parts. Adjust the supports to match the hull and check that the wheels clear the boat. Follow the manual for the right position, strap route and fit for your cart. For example, the Suspenz Catch-All manual specifies at least ½ inch (1.3 cm) between its wheels and the boat. That clearance instruction applies to that model; use your own cart’s manual for its setup.¹¹¹⁷²⁰

Use the cart’s supplied straps as its maker directs, and tighten them only as instructed. No single strap route or cart position applies to every boat. If the boat shifts or rests unevenly, stop and check the fit before continuing.

Carts are for transport. Suspenz warns that leaving a kayak on its Catch-All for storage can damage its airless wheels, so remove it after the walk.¹²

For more about carrying, care and storage, see the care and transport guide and how to store a kayak.

REI Co-op, Transporting Your Kayak. ↩
REI Co-op, How to Choose Kayak Accessories. ↩ ↩²
Malone Auto Racks, Nomad™TRX Standard Kayak Cart. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Suspenz, Kayak Cart Fit Guide. ↩
Old Town, A Guide to Fishing Kayak Carts. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
REI Co-op, How to Choose a Kayak. ↩
Hobie, Carts. ↩
Eddyline Kayaks, Frequently Asked Questions. ↩
Eddyline Kayaks, Sky 120 Specifications. ↩
Wilderness Systems, Heavy-Duty Kayak Cart With 12-Inch No-Flat Wheels. ↩ ↩²
Malone Auto Racks, WideTrak™ ATB Large Kayak/Canoe Cart. ↩ ↩²
Suspenz, Catch-All Universal Airless Cart. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Suspenz, Catch-All Universal Beach Cart. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Wilderness Systems, Heavy-Duty Kayak Cart With 13-Inch Beach Wheels. ↩
YakAttack, TowNStow Bunkster Kayak Cart. ↩
RAILBLAZA, C-Tug Cart Dimensioned Drawing. ↩
RAILBLAZA, C-Tug Kayak and Canoe Cart. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Suspenz, Catch-All Universal Beach Wheel Cart Manual. ↩
Malone Auto Racks, WideTrak™ SB Large Kayak/Canoe Cart. ↩ ↩²
Suspenz, Catch-All Cart Manual. ↩