People living within walking distance from a beach may want to launch a fishing kayak or a lightweight microskiff there, and the S4 Microskiff can be launched anywhere.
However, carrying a large-size fishing kayak or a small boat over deep sand, rocks or tree roots can be hard, especially for one person, and a wheel cart designed for this task must feature wheels that are both very big and lightweight –
Typical fishing kayak cart wheels are between 12″ and 16″ in diameter, and they are not tall enough to overcome the resistance generated by deep fluffy sand, rocks and roots, especially when you go up the beach and your fishing kayak or microskiff is heavy, and it always is when you’re coming back from a fishing trip…
The solution is either to drag the S4 on the ground, as shown in this video, or build a wheel cart using 24″ diameter Polyurethane dock wheels that are wide, lightweight, and inexpensive. These wheels can do the job even on beaches with deep fine-grain sand, rocks, and roots.
Note that dock wheels are designed to be submerged and fill with water in order to stabilize the dock above them, which is why each wheel features a small hole.
An S4 Microskiff weighs 100 lbs and a 6 HP outboard weighs around 60 lbs, total 160 lbs. This can feel a bit too hard to carry uphill for a person who’s not very strong, and the solution is to outfit the wheel cart with a mounting plate for the motor, and carry the boat and the motor separately.
The mounting plate is fixed, and it fits between the hulls of the S4 and under its saddle.
Dock wheels feature large-diameter axle holes that match PVC pipes. The axle of this wheel cart is made from such pipes with a stainless steel pipe inserted into the inner PVC pipe in order to stiffen the axle. Alternatively, the PVC axle can be attached to a 2″x 4″ pressure treated (PT) lumber.
Loading the S4 on top of this wheel cart can be done from the front or from the back.
Lubrication is done by spraying lubricant into the narrow gap between the wheel and the axle.
This beach cart works equally well for the W720 Kayak-Skiff, and since the W720 is 15 lbs lighter than the S4, and it is rated for motors up to 3 HP (2.5 HP effectively) that weigh up to 40 lbs, it shouldn’t be a problem for one person to carry their W720 on it with the motor attached to the kayak’s mounting plate.
Note: This type of wheel cart is designed for hand carrying over short distances, and it cannot be used for transportation with a motorized vehicle. In other words, it is not a boat trailer, and it should not be towed by a motor vehicle.
Food for thought –
It shouldn’t be too hard to outfit your S4 with a pair of such XL dock wheels, that is one on each side, without an axle connecting the wheels to each other. This would allow for either driving your S4 wheels-on and enjoying the extra stability they would provide, or quickly removing them from the sides of the boats and storing them in the front of the cockpit where there is plenty of storage space even for such bulky objects.
The advantage of using the S4 as its own cart is that taking the wheels with you would free you from worrying about leaving a cart behind, and it could be useful for carrying your S4 over a beach in a new place, such as when you go camping, hunting, etc.
Using PVC pipes for such a configuration should simplify things.