Best Paddle Board Carts

Looking for a great paddle board cart to get your SUP to the shoreline?  Today, Zoe and I will be reviewing our favorite sets of wheels for your beloved paddleboard! 

With a variety of paddle board trailers to choose from it can be a bit daunting to find the right one. One of the worst things to happen while transporting a paddle board is for the wheels of the cart to break! But have no fear, with these high quality carts you’ll hopefully never have to experience this.  Many of the carts offered now have airless tires which means you’ll never have to worry about getting a flat tire!

Looking for the Best Paddle Board Cart?

…All of the carts reviewed here:

• Are stable and can support one and sometimes two standard-sized stand up paddle boards.
• Have foam pads/bumpers that protect your board from scratches and keep it from slipping.
• Have high quality wheels that can withstand a variety of terrains including sand, gravel, mulch, grass, and much more.

Quick Comparison

Apex Paddle Board Dolly Dolly

Price Range: $

Item Weight: 8 pounds

The Apex Paddle Board Dolly is made from aluminum construction and has nice big tires wide, that can handle sand, grass, mulch and more.

This dolly has a flat bungee cord strap that ties your board to the cart, and the aluminum frame of the cart has foam bumper pads to protect your board from scratches. This cart can also fold up for storage convenience. In fact when I need to transport my board hundreds of yards to a launch site I strap the folded up cart to the front of my board. Rather then carrying it all the way back to the car or truck I have found this a convenient way to save some precious time!

Most of the reviews note that the Apex Paddle Board Dolly is easy to assemble and keeps the board secure and in place. The average review rating of this board is decent and one of the reasons I use this cart myself.

Just note that this paddle board cart is designed for boards 5 inches thick or less BUT… This is what the manufacturer claims, but in reality there is some flexibility for several reasons. The first is, no matter how thick your paddle board is, you will never slip this cart into the middle, thickest part of your board. You’ll be attaching the cart near the tail or nose where your board is always much thinner. Also note that the pad and aluminum bars have a wee bit of give in them too. In short, I ride one of the biggest rigid boards on the market and I have no problems using the Apex dolly.

If you have been a reader of our blog here, you know I like to ride a very large board so that our dog can ride too.  This means my board is quite long and has the thickness to go with that.  My board fits into this cart fine but it is a snug fit for sure.

Suspenz Double SUP Airless Cart

Price Range: $$$

Item Weight: Approximately 13 pounds

This paddle board cart is built to handle two boards at once, which is great for those of you that have partners that paddle board with you.

It has a heavy duty aluminum frame that is coated with stainless steel, so there’s no room for rusting. The frame is stable and strong enough to support two paddle boards.

This double SUP cart also has thick Neoprene foam pads covering the metal arms that the boards rest on. This prevents damage to your boards while simultaneously preventing the boards from slipping out of the cart.

The cart also has airless wheels, so it’s impossible to get a flat tire and it’ll also save you the hassle of inflating! The wheels can also handle any kind of ground, whether it’s sand, gravel, dirt, mulch, or anything else. The cart itself also has a weight capacity of 150 pounds.

The customer reviews note that this cart is very easy to assemble and gets everyone’s boards to the beach as easy as it can be! It’s no wonder the average rating on Amazon is so high!

Malone SOLOCART SUP Cart

Price Range: $$

Item Weight: 7 pounds

The Malone Solocart SUP cart has a strong frame made of anodized aluminum, with a stainless steel hardware. With airless tires, there’s no need for inflating and it’s impossible to have a flat.

The Malone SUP cart carries your paddle board lying flat, not on its side. Therefore, the width of the frame is larger than a normal SUP cart. The width of the Malone cart also adjusts from 14 inches to 21 inches.

This dolly is our first pick if you have a ton of non-flat terrain to transport over.  Because the board lays flat the wheels are really far apart with a low center of gravity.  This is especially important when making turns on hills.

Can this dolly 2 boards at once?  Smaller boards yes, but you will have to use your own, longer bungees to wrap around.  Also worth mentioning since you have to hold up the boards by their noses, two can get heavy.  With those considerations you should be able to use this cart to carry two small boards at the same time over flat ground if you are careful and are open to adding a few modifications to the setup.

Overview of Best Paddle Board Carts

*  The Malone will carry 2 small boards with modifications.

Here’s a quick run-down of the specialties of each cart listed in the article:

• If you need to carry two boards to the water instead of just one, the Suspenz Double SUP Airless Cart is the way to go. It has a heavy-duty frame, a padded exterior, and airless wheels.  You just won’t be able to take it with you while paddling. For most people that’s not a concern.
• If you only have one board that you need to carry to the water, you can choose between the Apex Paddle Board Dolly or the Malone Solocart SUP cart. We love the Apex, but you just have to be careful about it tipping over while turning on steep hills.

Our Favorite Cart! (The One I Use)

I own and use the Apex SUP Dolly.  It has been an absolute game changer for transporting my rather large paddle board to and from the shoreline.  I have some back problems and carrying my board under my arm gets very uncomfortable.  I’m in decent shape but the asymmetrical weight of the board on one side of my body when carrying it by hand without wheels is uncomfortable. Especially when we paddle at a state park beach and the distance from the parking lot to the water is really far.

Funny enough the cart we like the best happens to be the most affordable too!  Win-Win

While it’s not perfect, the Apex currently is in our opinion one of the best offerings out there for comfortably rolling your paddle board to and from.

Not without it’s flaws the Apex suffers from a few shortcomings like most other carts.  If you have to traverse across a steep hill the cart has the tendency to tip.  This is rare though.  You have to be pulling the board sideways on a hill for this to happen.

The airless tires are awesome because they never have to be pumped up or will ever go flat.  Great!  The frame is made of lightweight aluminum tubing. This is a great because aluminum is rust resistant and really lightweight.  This is perfect for long journeys in which you want to take the cart with you on your paddling excursion.

I sometimes do.

Because most of the parts are aluminum, plastic or rubber I don’t have to worry too much about the salt water corroding the paddleboard cart.  (Of course I still rinse it off with fresh water when I get back home or near a hose)

The Apex cart folds up and sits flat and steady underneath the tie-down straps on the front of my SUP.

APEX Cart Assembly

I documented my assembly of this cart with pictures to make easier if you buy this model.

The assembly of the APEX a snap if you have some mechanical know-how.  Anyone with mechanical common sense can put together the Apex dolly in a few minutes.  It comes with directions but I noticed a few people online were confused about the proper assembly.

So here goes…

You should have all the parts pictured below:

If your axle is in pieces the next few photos will help you get it into proper shape.  See those plastic prongs?  Those are nifty little expansion units that hold the axle onto the main, paddle board cradle.

Make sure the plastic prong is fitted into the axle with the provided screw just like the image below.

Next you’ll fit the other half of the plastic prong to fit into the one that is already on the axle…

Like this:

(You can see it in the photo above but make sure the nut is screwed onto the bolt.  It sits deep in the plastic expansion unit)

Next you attach the axle to the carrier.  Look closely at the photo below.  See how I’m pushing each set of plastic expansion units into the carrier tubing?

Now we let those plastic expansion units work their magic.  Simply use the provided hex key to tighten the screws on the bottom of the axle.  Make it snug but don’t over-tighten it Hercules;). Those little units expand outward so that the axle doesn’t fall off.  Throughout the season you will want to keep an eye on these as they can loosen up a bit.

Attaching the wheels couldn’t be easer.  Slide each wheel onto the axle and push the cotter pin thingee through the axle’s hole.  Make sure the ring is pushed down around the axle end or they will fall out.  Obviously do this for each wheel.

Now you are ready to go!  It really is a nice little dolly for your SUP and one I use constantly now.  Once folded up it stores easily in the car or even on the front of your board while paddling!