cheap dolly for a laser 2?

J

jen23

New Member
Hi! I want to make a dolly for a laser 2. I don't want to spend a lot of money ($500). Since I'll have a friend with me I am not overly worried about how easy it is to manoeuvre. I found a design for a dolly made out of plastic pipes for a laser which I could probably modify for a laser 2, but I was wondering if anyone else had any suggestions. The dollies I have seen around are made of metal pipes. I could probably get a metal shop to make one like that if I had a design for it, but I haven’t seen any designs on the net. Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
If you do decide to build the PVC one, make sure you use Schedule 80 pipe. Schedule 40 pipe will break for sure under the weight of the Laser 2 (It breaks fairly often with a Laser on it)

Why not measure up one of the metal dollys and replicate that

You'll also need to hunt around for decent tires if you plan on using it on a beach - for hard packed surfaces, wheelbarrow wheels will be fine.
 
Structures made out of PVC are generally not worth it in my mind. What you'll save in money will be more than made up for in frustration with breakage and poor performance. The stuff is not made to do that work. Have one welded or buy threaded pipe and make it that way.
 
49208 said:
If you do decide to build the PVC one, make sure you use Schedule 80 pipe. Schedule 40 pipe will break for sure under the weight of the Laser 2 (It breaks fairly often with a Laser on it)
Click to expand...
Last summer, I built a Laser 1 dolly out of schedule 40 (the ABS black pipe), and my laser has been on it 100% of time on the dock, and it hasn't broken, or become visibly brittle. The axle pipe has a piece of wood tightly fit into it, so most of the weight is there anyways. I used these plans : http://www.jdecm.com/laser/dollies.htm#Dollies

Just last week, I made a Laser 2 dolly out of the same material, for my new L2 addition to the boat family. I haven't used it "in action", but I've pulled it around the yard. It's basically a Triangle frame, so it'll use less joints (which are expensive), and also be stronger turning-wise. I made it so the support strap (which is carpet) is directly under the mainsheet block, which is where the seitech ones are, and also where a bulkhead is inside the hull. For the axle, I just stuck a metal rod through the axle pipe, and used the equivalent of a cotter pin to hold them on, with spacers. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow, and post it up here.

The pipe alone for the L2 dolly came out to be 49 dollars. I already had the wheels, pipe-joining solution, and axle laying around. From what I remember, two wheels are 16 dollars? Sure you could find something dirt cheap at a flea market.

I'll put up a quick sketch of the dolly with dimensions and some pics in a few minutes.
 
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