Wheels for a Civil Defense Stretcher

My wife and I have three large dogs and participate in animal rescue. A few months ago we had situation where we really could have used a stretcher to move a wounded dog. So I acquired a civil defense era stretcher for future emergencies, and while it is robust the stretcher would be difficult for one person to use. In order to overcome this difficulty I decided to add wheels to one end of the stretcher so it would be easier for one person to move. However, I didn't  want the wheels to be permanently installed as there are instances when it would be better have a wheel-less stretcher. Here's how I did it.

Step 1: Materials & Tools

The materials (all reused items except the hitche pins) I used for this project are as follows:

• 1 wood framed civil defense era stretcher
• 2 plastic wheels (approximately 6" diameter)
• 2 carriage bolts with holes in their end
• 4 washers that fit over the bolts
• 2 hitch pins that fit in the holes of the bolts

The tools I used for this project were:

• Drill and drill bits
• Drill bit sizer
• Tape measure
• Pencil/pen

Comments

[RedneckEngineer]

This looks good but I think you should use bigger wheels. The ones you got are OK but I think some slightly bigger ones will help out going over rough terrain. Once you add a load the ones you have may not work as well, depending on the wieght.