A stupid simple hand cart for hauling gear

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I've been using a stripped down wheel chair for a shop cart for years. With the hand rims, foot rests and arm rests removed it folds up narrow and fits under the work bench. It'll haul two truck batteries at a run across the parking lot, and with the arm rests installed it can have all sorts of stuff strapped to it. I looked at ways to cut it down further, but it's very functional around the shop as is.

 

Although the waggon appears to have struts to provide some support and rigidity for the the wheel assemblies...what the wheels need is an axle to provide support for the structure, help with load bearing, and prevent the wheels from collapsing inward or outward. Such an axle could be designed to be easily installed and removed without special tools, and possibly be stored when the cart is folded up and not in use, by utilising the void / space in the pulling arms.

The wheels don't appear to be particularly robust

AS a bugout vehicle....canary yellow would seem to be a poor colour scheme choice. demountable struts to support canopy / camouflage netting might be a useful feature.

Mounting points for flotation equipment...(proprietary or improvised) would be an attractive feature for negotiating water crossings.

 

BTPost, my interest in the use of the handcarts and many other innovative actions taken by the LDS was started when I had a roommate in USAF in 1959 who was Mormon and whose ancestors had been in the Navoo forces and had stories from his grandparents about the campaign and occupation that he told me.. Got me interested in the whole military and settlement operations. Some argue that the lack of a satisfactory conclusion to the Mormon campaign had a major impact on the Civil War as the US Army found out the hard way that you can not fight without supplies and that the successes of the Mexican War were not repeatable against a determined foe. Thus almost all battles in the 1860's were fought near either rail or river supply points. The Navoo forces burned the grass, destroyed all supplies, drove off the cattle and when the army arrived in Utah they found the houses etc evacuated, straw and brush in the buildings, and fires at the street intersections that could be used to fire the houses. The army marched thru, set up camp out of town and "bought" rather than took supplies. I am sure that is a romanticized version but micro filmed copies of documents and letters of the period that I used in college papers confirmed most of it. Lot to be said in studying that period of history as the LDS and their repression by the various states and the federal government indicate just how secure our 10 amendments are, sarcasm off. The army demanded they give up their religious rights, 1'st, be disarmed, 2'nd, quarter and supply troops, 3'rd, search their houses etc for contraband, 4'th, have military courts and enforce legal actions taken in Washington were the defendants weren't present, 5'th thru 8'th. And of course the 9'th and 10'th didn't count as there was no recognized "state or territory", Been part of Mexico until the Treaty of Guadeloupe Hildago, and thus the whole region was in a state of flux. When they say it can't happen as we have the constitution to protect us, it has happened many times in many places in the past and the tyranny of the majority, as the left so desires, has many very dark scenes. From civil war, to native removals, loss of legal rights, inability to have firearms, etc .

 

The Indiegogo campaign is over 30% funded. Campaigns that reach 30% or more in the first two days have a high probability of funding. You may ask... "how do you know this?" I have a friend that does product validation testing on Indiegogo. We are both trying to start our own campaign for an app this Summer.

 

There is a steel cross brace member below the main cart that adds horizontal strength. Not as strong as a solid axle, but it is there.

The wheels are made of the same military grade polymer. You can see in the "spokes" that they have inner members for added rigidity, but allowing for reduced weight.

The cart comes in three colors: yellow, desert tan and moss green.

They are highly considering a UTV hitch for towing.

 

But is there an armored version?

 

That has been my impression for many years and I had a friend who was a bishop and directed my masters thesis back in the late 1960's at what has became the University of Texas at El Paso and who was very helpful to me and fostered my interests in ways that required resources that I still don't understand how he had access to. He got me copies of the reports sent back from the scouting parties, invoices and information on materials bought to create the original infrastructure, etc and copies of some of the speeches and sermons on the planned develop of Deseret. Today with the internet, digitization, and all we take it for granted, but in the 1960's someone had to dig out the microfiche and make a copy. All he ever asked was for a copy of every paper I made using the materials and he would often suggest further areas to study and furnish more original source materials. He wanted me to get a PHd in the area of the Mormon industrial and agricultural development for the 1 st 20 years or so in Deseret. I was actually more fascinated by the planning of Nauvoo and the governmental and religious interaction on its economy prior to the migration to Utah. Had a church scholarship to do so offered, but I went Michigan State University instead and eventually dropped out of economic totally. Often have thought about how different things would have been if I took up the offer . Not a LDS, but have over the years been treated very well by them and have many friends that are members of the church. Many members of the LDS have remembered the times of troubles like Haun's mill and the Missouri Executive Order 44 as well as the Mormon Wars etc and have a different cultural attitude towards government help and survival that I have always agreed with, some of my ancestors were Lakota and the stories I heard from some of my elders and I read in the journals sounded very similar. Your opinions might be different but history tends to at least rhyme if not repeat.

 

Hi all,

Mind if I hop into the conversation? I'm the founder and creator of the Polymule. I'd love to get the chance to answer your questions and play devils advocate. I welcome your critiques. I have nothing to hide. I've spent the last two years designing this cart. I've worked hand-in-hand with master's prepared mechanical engineers in its design and have real world experience torture testing a prototype.

"I'll await real world testing to include this power assist bit."
UPHILL ASSIST:
This is nothing more than oversized socket wrench hardware. A socket wrench uses a 'gear and pawl' mechanism. The pawl allows the gear to travel in one direction...in this case forward...and restricts reverse travel. It can easily be engaged and disengaged. This system makes going uphill MUCH safer and easier. If you need to adjust your footing, your grip, or take a rest, you don't need to keep constant force on the handle, as the cart will not roll backward. This feature is patent pending.


"The wheels don't appear to be particularly robust"
WHEEL DESIGN AND STRENGTH:
Some have questioned our wheel design or strength. As has been mentioned, there is a reason the pioneers used 48" to 60" wheels. The larger the wheel the less likely they would get stuck and the easier it is to roll over rough terrain. However, for most of us, a pair of 48" wheels are not something we can easily throw in the back of our SUV's. In designing the Polymule, I struck a balance between wheel height and portability. Our design calls for 28" wheels that are each rated at 300 lbs (600 lbs combined). Marathon tire, a respected wheel manufacturer makes a 26" poly wheel that is rated at 300 lbs. They are located here: Marathon Tires Flat-Free Tire on Plastic Spoke Rim — 3/4in. Bore, 26 x 2.125in. | Northern Tool + Equipment We took that design, made it our own, and beefed it up. We got rid of the 2" rubber tire, which essentially added two pounds, and we used the extra two pounds to beef up the ribs. This wheel is no joke. I invite you to compare the wheels visually.



BALANCE BETWEEN PORTABILITY AND WHEEL HEIGHT:

CARGO CARRIER MODE:




"what the wheels need is an axle to provide support for the structure"
FRAME DESIGN AND STRENGTH:
You'll note the strut and frame system. Two triangles are formed on each side, although in the graphic below I've only highlighted one triangle on each side. One triangle is formed by the strut itself (purple), and the other is formed by the strut, cart bottom, and metal frame (yellow). These two triangles together provide the rigidity needed to offer a cart with 20" of ground clearance and no common axle. The bottom of each strut (just below each axle) cannot hyper-extend or hyper-flex because of how this frame is design. We always had the option of putting an axle straight through both wheels. This would have added weight and significantly reduced the ground clearance. The design we have now is extremely rigid without a common axle and IMHO is quite frankly an engineering marvel. Patent pending.



"Mounting points for flotation equipment...would be an attractive feature"
MOUNTING POINTS:
The Polymule has pass-through mounting points on both sides of the cart which could easily accommodate flotation equipment. See the recessed rectangles below:



"AS a bugout vehicle....canary yellow would seem to be a poor colour scheme choice."
COLOR OPTIONS:
Yellow isn't the only color available. See below.

 

Similar to how the old 4-wheel drive trucks required you to lock the hubs.

Also if anyone is wanting more details about Polymule or how to get one, go here:
POLYMULE - INDIEGOGO

 

This is a cart I made using fixtures for canopys and steel conduit ,the wheels are from a broken down wheel chair .
The beauty of this design is that it can be reconfigured in several different ways, both at home, on the road and in the field so that as things change the cart can evolve with the problems .
It is good for 400 Lbs and I use it on my property hauling things around ,
I configured the joints so that it can articulate a bit going through odd terrain and not fall apart .
The gaps can be filled with any number of ways and even configured for sleeping or use the framework for bolstering your shelter .
On the Polimule I admire the braking system an innovation worth admiration. and the large wheels do make a giant difference .
I have tried single wheel operations and it's not for me you really can't carry much weight in them.
The tub of the polimule is a bit small for me, If what I'm doing needs auxiliary carry I prepare for the worst and it usually pays
off.
I do wish them luck on their venture,,
I'm satisfied with my own design though .

 

If this venture comes to fruition it looks to be the best all around design for it's purpose out there. Having built carts before I like the tare weight considering the ability and features of your cart. Good luck with it.

 

Thanks for the kind words. We will reach our goal. We raised the first 1/3 in three days....still have 60 days to go.

 

I've used these to haul gear some distance.


stable, the tires float on soft ground - the cost ($537) isn't cheap however....


with cheaper wheels - goes for about $140.

 

DKR, when I was a kid every farm had them and used them to take grain, silage and baled hay chunks to the cattle and the old steel wheeled one I showed to take the milk cans. Some of the wealthier farmers had a large fire extinguisher that sat on two steel wheels and gave you at least some chance of stopping a small fire. A lot of us kids used to use the two wheeled horse or pony carts with 1 horse for fun. They would go almost anywhere and a good sized pony could pull a cart with 5 or 6 kids and all the watermelons and musk melons we could "beg?" in the fall. Always called breaking carts and I guess first used to train animals, never knew where they came from, were just around and much sturdier and larger than a sulky used in racing.
Don't know how the new cart will work out but am very open to see how it works out. The cheap Chinese ones are too lightly built and have narrow wheels and the game carts are excellent for some uses, but not really designed for day in and day out use around the place and while I get excellent use out of the heavy garden style 4 wheel wagons, the wheels don't work well in rough ground or the woods.

 

With this statement, you sir now understand why it was built in the first place. If there was something like the Polymule already on the market, I would have been a customer and the Polymule would never have been created. Certainly would have been easier...

 

Still looks like a very high center of gravity

Had the wheels been mounted closer to the top (less 'tippy') maybe. I like to move my loads close to the ground.

Kinda like this

or this


lots of ideas out there, good luck with yours

 

The Indiegogo campaign is 40% funded, there's great momentum and a high probability it will go into production. Polymule has set up a new "perk" for those who've already contributed to the campaign. If you are still interested in backing the product you can use this link: POLYMULE: The All-Terrain Cart With Uphill Assist If enough people use this specific link I could potentially get anther cart for $1. Just throwing that out there in case anyone was still considering the cart. Thx!

Here's the link again:
Easier Hauling: 'Polymule' Rethinks The Wheelbarrow

 

I looked but did not see how high the bar is from the ground. I am 5' 1" so the bar height is important..