Making a dolly - can I use a sunfish plan?

kraken

New Member
Looking over plans and videos for making a dolly, I see more for sunfish than lasers. I checked and I see that the sunfish is nearly identical in length and weight and about 6 inches less beam. So, is it reasonable to think a sunfish dolly would work just fine?
 
From looking around a bit (here and elsewhere) it seems like there are a few nice designed. I like this one:


The thread, though, had comments that the centerpiece would bend and also after a few years in the sun the UV weakened the PVC. I'm thinking I can fix the breaking by using 2 inch PVC (still schedule 40 - schedule is very expensive) and making two pieces that go from the axle forward, to the forward support, then become just one to act as a handle. It would be nice if he handle could disassemble.

Anyone have any experience with this design?
 
I only have a Sunfish... but have to imagine the same dolly could be used/tweaked for a Laser.

this is the version I came up with:

1617207541756.png


I later added a handle to it:

1617207561777.png


if you would like to create your own dolly out of PVC, the dimensions should give you a pretty good head start (download a copy of the .pdf plan here). and here is a drawing for the handle (download a copy of the PVC dolly handle drawing .pdf here).
 
Hey thanks @tag I actually have studied your design pretty carefully. You did a great job. I'm wondering though, was 1.25 inch schedule 40 PVC strong enough, especially for the handle? It looks like you used furniture grade PVC, is that right?

If you had it to do again, what mite you do differently?
 
kraken, I just bought the PVC at Home Depot and/or Lowes, so I think it was all schedule 40. tbh, I don't know what "furniture grade" even is...?

my dolly works great on pavement, grass, gravel, etc - but the foam wheels aren't great in soft sandy beaches. I've not used a commercially available dolly to be able to compare how well they work in sand.

my handle was an afterthought, so it "swivels" freely, which I don't love, but it's not that big of a deal. if I built it again, I might try to glue the handle in to the dolly axle so that it doesn't rotate like it does currently.

overall, it has held up well and no damage or wear/tear really after multiple years.
 
With a Laser being significantly wider than a Sunfish, the dolly would have to be wider as well. Would that put too much stress on certain parts?
 
Per google the width of a Laser is 6” wider at the widest. I’m not sure if that’s significant enough to matter? My dolly width was a function of the threaded rod length I found at the hardware store... you could always get a longer length if you wanted the supports closer to the rolled edges.

I would keep the two main supports vertical... if they are angled/splayed outward, it would definitely put a torque stress on the PVC glued joints.
 
Yeah I had the same thought, that it's only 6 inches wider. It's also pretty much the same weight and length. If the 1.25 inch schedule 40 has held up for the sunfish I would think that there won't be a problem. I was thinking of making it wider, just to have a wider wheel base to make it a little more stable. The 3/4 inch threaded comes in 3, 4 and 5 foot sections.
 
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