By Robert Richards

Ever question how to get your kayak easily from the truck to the water? Who hasn’t? After pouring over all the options, composing pros/cons lists, comparing features to cost, reading reviews and observing friends’ use of kayak carts, I finally settled on the Wilderness Systems Heavy Duty Kayak Cart (Wildy Cart).

Why I like it: Simple and functional design that holds a lot of weight and is easy to use!

Coming from using Hobie kayaks with the reinforced scupper holes to prevent scupper hole damage and easy to use scupper carts, I found searching for a kayak cart to be a difficult task. Since I now fill an Ocean Kayak Trident Ultra 4.7 with a fitted cooler and all my fishing gear, weight limits on carts and ease of dragging through the sand were the leading factors for me spend so much effort researching kayak carts. I was looking at about 210lbs (dry) worth of carrying weight. Now I could have chosen a different cart and unloaded gear on the beach, but sometimes that simply isn’t an option.

So, my minimum needs for a kayak cart were to transport at least 210lbs, and have beach wheels. I noticed that most kayak carts rely on kick stands to keep the cart in position and ready for loading. Potential problem with other carts is not being able to balance properly in sand or be easily tipped over if bumped, or the stand could even get broken, since these carts are meant to have the kickstand forward for use. Some carts have 2 stands on one side, which certainly would reduce forward tipping and provide overall stability. Though there still is a chance the cart could tip backwards, and you must start the loading process all over again. The Wildy Cart’s bunker bars are designed in such a way as the bars act as a stand in either direction! If the cart tilts the other way, the bars act as a teetertotter and you simply load the kayak as usual. As a bonus, I have found that I can easily load the kayak onto the cart by simply lifting the tail end of the kayak and slide the cart under the kayak or if I am in the water just slide the cart under the kayak and strap it. This cannot be done as easily with any of the kayak carts on the market.

Furthermore, most carts on the market have a one size fits most frame with little to no flexibility to adjust to fit your kayak perfectly. Here is where the Wildy Cart shines again, because you can not only adjust height (2 settings), you can adjust the width as well. On top of that, the Wildy Cart has the option to swap out the wheels from beach wheels to all terrain and vice versa! Other carts do have wheels that can be used for sand and all terrain, but I found they don’t do as well as purpose-built wheels. For strapping, pretty much all the carts (including the Wildy Cart) are a chore to strap; you must loop the straps around the kayak and cart to hold the cart onto the kayak. Though there are a couple of DIY modifications you can do, which I may cover in a future article.

This brings me to a few observations I have about the Wildy Cart, now that I have spent nearly a month with it. Aside from easily loading it as described earlier, I did notice that the height setting had a huge impact on how you load the kayak. With the higher setting, the higher you have to lift the kayak to put on the cart. This can be a very difficult task if you must lift the kayak onto the cart on the beach. I tend to prefer to slide the kayak onto the cart in the water. I figure it is best to let the water do most of the heavy lifting. You only need fight the buoyancy of the wheels this way. However, this does expose your cart to the salt frequently and I have yet to learn of the possible damage that I will cause the cart from this loading method. With submerging the cart in water, it tends to fill the bars with water and there is no draining that can take place in the bunker bars except at the plastic piece at the four ‘T’ junctions.

Wilderness Systems Heavy Duty Kayak Cart specs (MSRP $199.99) :

-As promised, the cart looks and feels as though it can handle 450lbs

-13” x 7.5” beach wheels

-Bunker bar frame

– Easily adjustable width that does help from kayak twisting upon loading.

– 2 height options

– 2 security straps

– No scupper posts

– Built from aluminum

– easy to load and unload kayak

– collapses with 4 bolts to fit within the hull of my kayak

Specs not listed:

Weight: ~15lbs, Length: 32”, Height- High: 17.5”, Low: 15”

Width: Beach wheels- 33 ½”, Bar adjustment range: 16″

I have got to say that I am loving this kayak cart! I would highly recommend getting one or trying one out. I purchased mine during a 20% REI sale but had to pay extra shipping for the oversized item. It’s cheaper to buy it at $199.99 from Amazon Prime.

Disclaimer: I am not yet affiliated with Wilderness Systems, I did this review purely out of love for this cart!