Tube gauge

[Ram4x4]

What gauge steel tubing do you guys use for building your boat carts? I think I'm going to use 1.5" square, but not sure how thick the walls need to be? Seems 1/8" walls would be a bit on the heavy side. Was thinking 12 gauge would be strong enough and save a little weight, or will an even thinner gauge work?

[Adams52R]

I use 1 inch square tubing with an .095 wall. Plenty strong.

[ZUL8TR]

If you use aluminum, 1.5" square with 1/8" wall, light, strong and no rust.

[3 Point Drifter]

Built my first one over the winter. I tried a modular design using inch and a half, inch and a quarter and 1 inch tube. It's an experiment which hopefully makes transportation easier.

[Shane_B]

Recommend you use solid tires for your cart build - cost a bit more and heavier but won't deflate on you and won't float (pain in the a$$ when recovering boat when the cart floats up due air in tires). My cart is constructed of aluminum like ZUL8TR mentions - also modular so longest part is roughly 6 ft long (use lynch pins for quick assembly).

[Ram4x4]

Yeah, aware of the solid tires, but too pricey at the moment (I already have some regular air-filled ones), same for aluminum. Just going to crank out a very basic steel one for this year. I have plans for one that folds and is telescopic, but not going to try to create it this year, too much other stuff to get done and spend $$$ on.

Since the aired tires have tubes, I could fill them with water to keep them from floating.