Ever want to cart everything down to the beach in one trip? Here's what you need, a surf/beach cart. I use this for hauling the cooler, beach chairs, fishing rods and tackle. This is basically a plastic crate on wheels but the frame and wheels detach to make loading in the back of the car/truck more space efficient.

Step 1: Materials and Tools.

Plastic crate or tote, whatever you can find, have available and that fits in your car!

Repurposed golf cart. Check you local thrift shops for golf carts. They come in many shapes and sizes but for the beach the widest / largest diameter wheels are the best for loose sand. Typically $5 to $10 which is a bargain since you cannot find a pair of wheels for anything near that price. Above is a photo similar to the one I bought. If you have very deep pockets check out Wheeleeze www.wheeleez.com for the real McCoy.

PTO pins, hitch pins or fasteners. Use what is available and suits your cart/crate. I used a pair of PTO pins. You can get a set of 20 from Harbour Freight for $9.(http://www.harborfreight.com/20-piece-pto-pin-asso...

Plastic or metal pieces to make the odd pivot plate or bracket.

Tools: Saw, file, drill, screw driver, wrench.

Step 2: Golf Cart Conversion.

Dismantle the golf cart removing the bag cradles, straps etc and cut off or shorten as necessary to suit your crate. The golf cart I got had angled pivots for the two wheel legs so it resembled a tripod when opened. I cut these of and fashioned a pair of flat brackets for the wheel legs to pivot on to allow the crate to sit flat on the spine and two legs.

The cart I got also had removable wheels, another plus for dismantling and folding compactly.

Step 3: Fitting Crate to Frame

Position the crate onto the frame and drill holes through to join the crate to the frame. I had a crate with external flanges allowing use of a PTO pin. If drilling through the base of the crate into the frame you will need a 2 piece pin and lock pin. Avoid threads since these will be a bear to disassemble/reassemble once sand finds its way into them.

I connected the crate front and back with the PTO pins and installed a long bolt upwards near the wheels to engage into the base of the crate at the edges. This keeps everything aligned and the wheels running straight. To help align everything when assembling, a length of wire wrapped around the two long bolts help maintain the spacing when inserting the PTO pins.

With these wheels a loaded cart works great on all except the deepest softest sand (but still drags well with minimal force).

Step 4: Cart Complete!

Go and enjoy the beach. Add a rod holder to the outside or put some tie wraps in the corners to hold your home made PVC sand spikes vertically in the corners to hold the surf rods. Hopefully this will inspire your to create something unique that makes your commute to and from the beach with family, children, toys, fishing gear, chairs, shade, kites, drinks and food a whole lot easier!