Hobie Revolution Anchor Trolley Install

Sarah and I have been fishing some lakes recently, and they have become some of our favorites. The problem is that Sarah has nicknamed them Windysport for a reason. They set up high in elevation and don’t have a whole lot of cover. If projected winds are 10mph or more we go somewhere else. Boat position and drift speed are critical, these fish are lazy and don’t really move to fast, so we needed to slow down.

We discussed the wind issue and she gave in and decided to let me install an anchor trolley on her kayak. She is very picky about what goes on her boats and where so the other night I worked from 2300-1100 and stopped by Sarah’s work for lunch and discussed installing the anchor trolly. She gave me the ok.

When I got home I let Ady out in the front yard to sun bathe 70deg in February who would imagine? I went around back to the boathouse and grabbed Sarah’s Revolution and brought it around to the driveway in front of the attached garage and placed it on the PVC work/storage stand that I made.

Tools needed/used
12V cordless drill with 13/64 drill bit
Philips screw driver bit for cordless drill
Red Sharpie Marker
Philips Hand Screw Driver
Utility Knife
Crescent Wrench
Lexell
Pliers

Safety Equipment
Steel Toe Boots
Leather Palmed Gloves
Safety Glasses
(Made sure of no loose jewelry or loose fitting clothing)

Before I started I had a thorough job briefing with myself.

She said she wanted it on the left side so I eyeballed it and figured out how far fore and aft I wanted it, then found the height that I wanted. I gave her the option of 2 trolleys one fore and one aft and she wanted to go with the full length trolley. I like to keep it low on the hull so it doesn’t ride up over the rails easily.

First I took the Red Sharpie and Nylon Pad Eyes and marked where I wanted them set.

Then I took the drill and drilled out the holes 13/64. I like drilling the holes just smaller then the hardware. After drilling both holes fore and aft a total of 4 I got out the hardware Set E and coated the stainless steel pan head bolts in Lexell to ensure a good seal and also for lubrication of the nylon lock nut.

I did place a flat washer on the inside of the hull between the hull and the nylon lock nut. I then used the crescent wrench on the nuts on the inside of the hull and a Philips bit on the 12V Drill and tightened the nut then finished it off manually with a Philips screwdriver to ensure a good water tight fit.

Next I took a piece of Nylon rope and cut two 8-10” sections, these sections will be to connect the pulley to the pad eye.

After your trolleys are attached it’s time to cut a section of 1/4″ Nylon rope I cut mine to about 19′, and a piece of shock cord 8″-10″.

First I tied a double over hand knot with my 1/4″ Nylon Rope to my Nylon ring and ran the tag end of my rope from the underneath of the rear trolley up over the top, and back thru the nylon ring.

Then went all the way to the front pulley from over the top down thru the bottom and back toward the nylon ring.

Then I made a loop with the 1/4″ nylon rope and crimped with the C-Clips, and took the 8″-10″ piece of bungee and ran thru the loop I created with the 1/4″ nylon rope and crimped the bungee/shock cord with C-Clips. Then I ran the rest of the shock cord/bungee thru the 1 1/4 nylon ring and crimped it securely. The reason for the bungee/shock cord is to give it some elasticity/shock, and won’t sag as bad if slightly stretched out.

I am aware that the trolly is slightly below the water line, but we had it out this past weekend in 1.5-2′ waves and no water was in the hull, and the trolly worked as intended.

Jeremy Meier