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Monday, April 04, 2022

KCS Compact Day Trolley... test to destruction!!

KCS have produced and refined a lot of new designs over the period of the Covid pandemic. This is the KCS compact day trolley. It is ideal for day trips when you might need to carry your unloaded kayak for some distance over a hard surface from the car to the launch site. I found it especially useful when it is windy or if there are a lot of people about... think Charlie Chaplin's ladder!!!

It is custom made to fit each kayak, which ensures a really snug fit. On a P&H Cetus MV it did not budge once. However, it does not fit my P&H Aries 155 at all. Perhaps if you have two boats, you could get a trolley to suit the one with the thicker stern and pad it out with some removable black foam?

The prototype I had out on test worked really well  carrying all my day trip gear in the cockpit. However, this type of trolley is not designed for a fully loaded boat on a camping trip! The trolley is easily strong enough but your arm won't be strong enough to lift the bow for any distance!

The wheels coped with tarmac, paving bricks, fine but unsurfaced hardcore, short and long grass and firm hard sand. They did not work on soft surfaces such as dry sand or shingle. The wheels coped with small potholes and ridges but not a full sized kerb.

Talking of strength, like all KCS gear this is designed to last. Indeed, I will not be surprised if future sentient beings discover examples which have outlived the Anthropocene!

Let me introduce you to a friend:

Jimmy drives a 4WD tractor. I left the KCS Compact Day trolley on the grass verge at the side of the road leading to the beach (the small wheels are no good on soft sand). The trolley had a black strap and of course the rest of it is pretty black too. Anyway to cut a long story short, Jimmy did not see the trolley and ran ran over it twice. On the way down to the beach it was two tractor wheels and on the way back it was two tractor wheels and one boat trailer wheel that ran over the poor wee trolley!

I thought it would be trashed!!! How wrong could I be. The trolley body was completely unscathed, the axle was completely straight, the only damage was that both plastic wheel hubs were broken. Once these were replaced, the trolley was fully functional again. Ronnie from KCS even supplied a fluorescent yellow strap so that Jimmy could see it better next time!

At £82 not only is this trolley near indestructible it is also a bargain!