Gear Review - Malone Kayak Cart

With the new Old Town Predator 13 kayak I'm riding this year, transporting my kayak became a little more difficult.   The Predator, being 93 pounds empty, is a lot heavier than my Old Town Dirigo recreational kayak.   I can pick the Dirigo and carry that boat fairly easily, but the Predator is tough!

To address this, I picked up the Malone Kayak Cart from Paul at Eco-Logicial Adventures in Oromocto.   Paul recommended this, and knowing that Paul really knows his stuff, I took him at his word.   This kayak cart has big rubber wheels, adusts to width of the scupper holes to fit virtually any sit on top kayak, and breaks down very quickly for easy transport in the kayak.

 Launching yesterday at the Hampton Dock, I decided to make use of the kayak cart and fully load up the Predator up in the parking lot.    5 rods, a full milk crate with 6 plano boxes of gear, my anchor, several rod holders, net, a cooler with snacks and worms... all adding up to somewhere between 150 and 200 lbs.   With the kayak cart placed in the scuppers directly under the rear of my seat (closer to the middle than the rear of the kayak), I was able to easily trasport my kayak around the parking lot and down to the water with just 1 hand!   No more multiple trips from the vehicle to the water!

Once at the water, it was pretty easy to lift the rear of the kayak off the cart and have it just fall out.   Then I just unsnapped the tires and put them in my front storage bin, and put the frame of the kayak cart on the far rear of the Predator, secured with the bungee cords.

The return trip however proved to be trickier.   Once finished with the fishing trip, I had to get the kayak cart fitted back into the scupper holes.    The only way I could do this on my own was to tip my kayak sideways.   With a second person, one could lift the kayak while the other maneuvers the cart into the scuppers, but that's not possible on your own.    You have to take off whatever loose gear is on your kayak, tip it sideways and put the cart into the holes and then reload the kayak (quickly as it's about to be unloaded at the vehicle) before walking it back.  

Pulling over 150 lbs back up the hill wasn't as easy as coming down the hill obviously, but with 2 hands this time on the kayak, it was easy enough!

Need a kayak cart for your sit on top?  Then check out the Malone Xpress Cart from Paul at Eco-Logical Adventures.   I'm sure you'll be as happy with it as I am with mine!