If you’re reading this then you’re an outdoorsman, and like most of us your have accumulated a lot of gear.  Some people (your wife) call it junk, I call it gear.  And with all this gear comes a need to get it from your house to the place you actually want to use it and sometimes the bed of your truck just isn’t big enough.

I’ve run into this problem.  A trip to the beach with the family means I have to pack 4 kayaks, plus paddles, PFD’s, rods, tackle, chairs, canopy…..a lot of gear.  My truck runneth over.

So, I just happened to luck into a trailer that an old man (my dad) had sitting in his barn that hadn’t moved in the better part of a decade and this is going to be turned into a cheap and easy project designed to haul all our gear on weekends and still be functional as a utility trailer if I need to use it to haul other junk sometimes.

There are just a few goals for this project.  It has to be cheap, it has to be something anyone could do, and it has to be ready in two weeks.  OK, it won’t be completely ready in two weeks since I want to paint it, add rod holders, water jug holder, waterproof and lockable storage but in two weeks it will be able to carry four kayaks safely.

The goals for this week are simple. First the trailer has to be legal which means rewiring the lights and getting it registered. The lights should be simple and a trailer kit can usually be picked up for about $25. Second, it has to be road worthy which means new tires and probably repacking the bearings.  I’m checking Craigslist and the local classifieds for some used 15 inch tires.  Next week’s goal will be to build a kayak rack that is removable.

I’ll keep you updated over the next few weeks on how this project is going and hopefully in about 15 days you’ll see pictures of it on the beach loaded down with kayaks.

The Pack Mule