kayakamper wrote:My thought would be to modify this design either with the tires from Northern or a modified verson with the Northern wheels and a stainless steel axle so that the wheels come off for Kahuna storage....but then the con of " too many parts" still exists.
You can of course build this PVC cart (in your link) with Northern Tool 12*1.75 wheels. But PVC elbows with bolts attached to the wheel make this part TAD bulky, and bearings in those NT wheels are not stainless, and like you said, there are still too many parts. Why not getting Nemo then? Nemo's wheel with halfmoon piece is about same bulky as in that PVC elbow assembly (even with NT wheel on PVC elbow), and bushings don't corrode, and there are just 2 П-shaped parts, connected by short strap (in addition to wheel asemblies).
I still like the idea of your Aluminum set up because of its compactness.
This is THE most compact cart I've ever seen. (Design wasn't mine, though I've modified it). You can build these T-shaped alumium pieces using 2 aluminum tubes and a PVC plumber's Tee (in lieu of aluminum welding, if this is a problem). I also think I have a pair of these welded T-shaped aluminum pieces to spare - would be a shame to throw away aluminum these days. They are from my first version, made for 9" golf-cart wheels (highly recommend trying these wheels), so the legs are 1 inch shorter. You'll still need to drill stainless axle (for pins) and machine it to 0.1mm smaller diameter, as the bearings in NT wheels ar made with negative tolerances (usual thing with bearings).
I recently purchased a Seattle Sport "Mighty Mite".
Herr Captain - you probably loaded it with 100 lbs Klepper double and other gear. Though, it still should've been able to handle it without bending - these and similar carts by Wheeleez or Primex or some by Klepper (all 3 identical) are rated to 180-200 lbs. It is interesting that they used a wheel with bearings in this Mighty Mike - apparently inserting the bolt into the tube of the frame. But its frame is absolutely the same as those 3 mentioned above. People used Primex cart with swamped boats, and with Folbot singles and doubles - these are heavy even when empty, and frame didn't bend. Bearings don't fall out of Primex - because it doesn't have bearings (and this in itself is a source of many complaints). Most of these carts are made in China nowdays, and may be your Mite was made by some factory with particularly low quality standards.