What is a good cart for the price?

[jaytori220]

I've been searching online for a good pleasure/trail/road cart for the $. So far I think I have found one. But don't want to spend over $500 with shipping. I have been looking at the Kingston carts with the motorcycle tires. It looks like a nice cart for $450 shipped. Does anyone have one of these? Recommend what tires for road and trail? Or even recommend another USA made cart. Of course would love a hyperbike. But defiantly not in my budget. Would take me too long to save and I am in need of a new cart pretty soon.

 

[paintponylvr]

Sent you a pm...

 

[horsenarounnd]

You may have set some unrealistic expectations for yourself with your 500.00 price limit. Too many of the carts you see on eBay are imported from China or Mexico and are made of very light and poor quality steel tubing. I've seen too many carts that simply forld up at the front of the basket because the tubing simply can't support the weight. You really do need to bite the bullet and go for a good quality cart made in the USA that has a good reputation.

That being said,t he wheels on the Kingston Carts are pretty good. The tires seem pretty good and the wheels themselves are strong enough to take some beating. In my experience the inner tubes are poor quality and may not stand up to too much use, but Slime will help with some of that.

In my opinion, about the best cart you can find is the Fox Lane cart, made in Ohio. WEll built of good material, very adjustable and steel wheels with hard rubber tires. Cheap? No, about 1650.00 plus shipping, but will last a long time, hold up for any use you want and well worth the money. Our picture at the top of this post shows us driving two Fox Lane carts.

Good Luck with your search and remember safety is cheap but is always important.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

If I had had to wait for a $1600 cart I would never have begun to drive. Sometimes people can spend too long being "waiters" instead of "doers". Safety is important, but sometimes one just has to get started! Better equipment can come later as one learns how exactly he wants to enjoy the sport.

My Jerald Runabout is about $700 now, I think. It was $450 when I bought it 15 years ago. I'm still enjoying it immensely. I see some carts I like better, style-wise, but I don't think most of those were available when I was looking around.

If I had a CDE near me, I'd be looking for a performance vehicle. But for area shows, parades, trail drives, and taking passengers for fun my Jerald has been wonderful. A driving friend bought a Chinese EE. It is holding up fine for her, but the balance isn't the best. If she decides to upgrade, I don't think she would lose much money reselling the cart.

jmo

 

[Dreamer]

You get what you pay for and it will be hard to find a good new usa cart for $500 shipping included. That being said I too can't afford a $1600 dollar cart much as I would like to have one. I did a lot of research when I purchased my cart last year. I ended up buying a G&S cart and while it is a little bit more than what you have in mind it is a great cart for the price. Made in the USA, very well balanced, sturdy, nice ride and great looks, and I really like the fact the unlike most metal easy entrys the shafts have a bit of curve to them instead of being straight. Shipping when I got mine last year was $110 which was cheaper than many quotes I got for other carts. The cart was $645. I've had it a year and its seen hard use. I've done parades with it, traildriving, did a CDE playday and for the most part drive with it 2-3 times a week in my pasture. Other than a couple of small scratches it still looks brand new.

If you can't afford a bit more than the $500 have you tried looking for used ones in your area? Often times you can get nice carts for a better price than buying new and you don't have to pay for shipping. Sometimes you get lucky right away other times you might need to employ a little patience and time to find one.

 

[Peggy Porter]

Although I agree that the Fox Lane carts are beautiful and very well made, they are no longer in production.

 

[Max's Mom]

You asked if anyone has a Kingston. I asked that same question here about a year ago and got similar answers. But I had to be honest about my budget, and after I looked and looked unsuccessfully for an appropriate used cart I ended up "risking it" and purchasing the Kingston- in fact the one with the motorcycle wheels. I'll give you my opinion after using the cart all fall and now as spring is coming around. Yes, it is made in China. But honestly, it is just as sturdy as many of the other inexpensive pipe type carts that I have seen other people use. The motorcycle wheels are excellent and very sturdy. The cart is nicely balanced.

It is a huge pain to put it together and the directions are almost laughable they are so bad. It took three of us hours to get it exactly right. It looks nice, but it isn't very comfortable on the trail, but I guess that is what you get in this type of cart. It is okay for what we need- mostly riding on dirt roads and grass fields.

If you are planning to use the longer set of shafts, a warning- they are not designed right and you probably won't be able to use them. They put the bend in exactly the same place as the shorter shafts, which means that basically the cart will end up in exactly the same place as the shorter ones with the shafts just 5 or 6 inches longer in the shoulder, when you want them longer behind. I think the company that designed it just didn't have much of a clue about how carts actually work.

If you think you can swing it, getting a better cart will probably be a great way to go, but if you only have $500 to spend and want to drive now rather than waiting for a long time to save up the money, I'd go for it with the Kingston. My feeling was that if I eventually have the money to upgrade, I can always sell the Kingston. At least around here used mini carts get sold quickly and hold their value well.

 

[susanne]

CTM carts are excellent, sturdy Easy Entry carts and are currently priced at $415, if (and this is a BIG if) you can get hold of them. I believe Ozark and Star Lake still carry these carts, but at a markup.

CTM is located in Oregon, so their direct price plus shipping may be about the same as ordering from Ozark or Star Lake, who would be closer to you. If you are going to Nationals, major tack stores typically have booths (some may attend shows closer to you), so you might be able to order and skip the shipping costs.

The Lil Beginnings Sales Board occasionally has carts, and keep your eye on Craigslist, but be careful what you buy -- there are good carts and there are junky ones. Watch for name brands like Jerald, CTM, and the original Frontier (the real Frontier company went out of bursiness a few years back --beware the new ones that are cheap and easily bent). There are good carts to be had, but you might want to take an experienced carriage driver with you if you are at all in doubt. Very occasionally a HyperBike or a Trail Boss comes up for resale, but because they are rare, you will seldom save. Nonetheless, keep your eyes open. If there are any carriage auctions nearby, definitely check them out, but again, you may want a knowledgeable friend to lend you their experienced eyes.

I would bypass Ebay all together -- you have no chance of checking it out and a great likelihood of getting ripped off.

 

[Foxhaven]

A note about shafts not made correctly... I've done a lot of fabricating and whatnot in the 4x4 world, and if you can find a custom 4x4 shop or hot rod shop that will work with you, and have an example of an incorrectly made shaft and know what you want corrected, they can likely source the correct tubing and bend up shafts for you in a jiffy. Some performance muffler shops also dabble in the rollbar world and might have the right bender dies, For that matter, an enthusiast down the street might have pipe benders, and if you can locate the correct pipe (probably HREW would be easiest to find in the right gauge, they will know what that means) at a steel supplier that might solve your problem too.

Who knows... you might spark an idea in their head for a side business... especially if you bring in the whole cart. But it's a hotly competitive price sensitive world lately with the Chinese playing in the market, might not be worth it to them, but might help you out of a tight spot.