Smittolis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2017
As a family of 5 (11,7,5) we experience the usual dilemmas of 'what stroller'... do we stay on a monorail resort to make travel easier, what do we do with the 3rd child who never gets to sit! lol...
I researched and checked out all of the current boogie boards that are available and eventually settled on the the baby jogger boogie board as you can store it connected to the stroller and the stroller still folds up. Couldn't find one anywhere, out of stock everywhere! However, I managed to track one down and had it delivered. The design concept is really cool, multi-positional length of pull for smaller - taller children, you can also alter the pitch of the platform to make it more comfortable. While it was good on paper and in theory, it is wayyyy too flimsy to be of any use. The plastic platform would bend when anything remotely approaching 40+ pounds was put on it, as it would bend the wheels on either side would bow out making it impossible to turn the stroller. So while an ingenious idea, its execution was poor for my needs...
I checked around and there was just nothing that would cater for anything over 50lbs, my 10 year old (at the time) was closer to 85lbs+ so it was just pointless.
As a result I wanted to see if I could come up with my own design that we could use in the parks but without having to be too bulky, too time consuming and something that we would have to constantly take on and off. I looked into making my own from scratch, there are a few youtube video's that show some nice wooden ones, but by the time you have purchased all the materials you are well into $50! I wanted a quality solution that didn't require a big price.
Up step's Harbor Freight!!
They had a special on a furniture dolly with a 1000lb limit (250lb per wheel / corner x 4)... I think I ended up getting it for $6! The wheels are heavy duty and work great for the applications of moving stuff, however, they are solid plastic with a limited rubber outer coating so 'click clack' when moving, not something I wanted for a week! So i also purchased a couple of 'clear' roller blade type casters with a load rating of 200lb each:
I then set about dismantling the dolly and removing the wheels, it was a simply exercise and required minimal tools... socket set and a screwdriver. The holes that are drilled of the existing wheels almost matched the new base plate, so i used 2 of the existing holes and made 2 new ones. I used the existing bolts and nuts to secure the wheels. I removed one of the end cross members to create a 'U' shape and then removed 2 of the wheels permanently as we will only be using 2. I cut the length of the dolly down by a few inches so that it would clear the handle when my daughter was on it but not so long that would protrude into the seat back when folded up. I then wanted to figure out how to attach it so went really simple, U bolt style clamps from home depot! This would allow me to remove it quickly but also allow some 'slack' so the dolly could be folded up. I went with 'wing nuts' so it would be easy to remove if needed.
Here it is!
I actually used the reclining straps to help keep it out of the way when not in use which was an added bonus! So we took it and tested it out for a week at Disney World! It worked great! While not always really easy to push 200+lbs of kids around a park, it certainly allowed us to get the kids all corralled together and mooch about the crowds. All in all i think it cost around $14!
All in all a very cool little fix for our then 10 year old to hitch a ride when she was tired! And just for clarification, the stroller would fold away with this still attached. It would push on the seat back a little but nothing drastic! So no need to take it off, went through TSA as you see above so no issues there either!
Hope this may help people feel inspired to do their own! ;o)
I researched and checked out all of the current boogie boards that are available and eventually settled on the the baby jogger boogie board as you can store it connected to the stroller and the stroller still folds up. Couldn't find one anywhere, out of stock everywhere! However, I managed to track one down and had it delivered. The design concept is really cool, multi-positional length of pull for smaller - taller children, you can also alter the pitch of the platform to make it more comfortable. While it was good on paper and in theory, it is wayyyy too flimsy to be of any use. The plastic platform would bend when anything remotely approaching 40+ pounds was put on it, as it would bend the wheels on either side would bow out making it impossible to turn the stroller. So while an ingenious idea, its execution was poor for my needs...
I checked around and there was just nothing that would cater for anything over 50lbs, my 10 year old (at the time) was closer to 85lbs+ so it was just pointless.
As a result I wanted to see if I could come up with my own design that we could use in the parks but without having to be too bulky, too time consuming and something that we would have to constantly take on and off. I looked into making my own from scratch, there are a few youtube video's that show some nice wooden ones, but by the time you have purchased all the materials you are well into $50! I wanted a quality solution that didn't require a big price.
Up step's Harbor Freight!!
They had a special on a furniture dolly with a 1000lb limit (250lb per wheel / corner x 4)... I think I ended up getting it for $6! The wheels are heavy duty and work great for the applications of moving stuff, however, they are solid plastic with a limited rubber outer coating so 'click clack' when moving, not something I wanted for a week! So i also purchased a couple of 'clear' roller blade type casters with a load rating of 200lb each:
I then set about dismantling the dolly and removing the wheels, it was a simply exercise and required minimal tools... socket set and a screwdriver. The holes that are drilled of the existing wheels almost matched the new base plate, so i used 2 of the existing holes and made 2 new ones. I used the existing bolts and nuts to secure the wheels. I removed one of the end cross members to create a 'U' shape and then removed 2 of the wheels permanently as we will only be using 2. I cut the length of the dolly down by a few inches so that it would clear the handle when my daughter was on it but not so long that would protrude into the seat back when folded up. I then wanted to figure out how to attach it so went really simple, U bolt style clamps from home depot! This would allow me to remove it quickly but also allow some 'slack' so the dolly could be folded up. I went with 'wing nuts' so it would be easy to remove if needed.
Here it is!
I actually used the reclining straps to help keep it out of the way when not in use which was an added bonus! So we took it and tested it out for a week at Disney World! It worked great! While not always really easy to push 200+lbs of kids around a park, it certainly allowed us to get the kids all corralled together and mooch about the crowds. All in all i think it cost around $14!
All in all a very cool little fix for our then 10 year old to hitch a ride when she was tired! And just for clarification, the stroller would fold away with this still attached. It would push on the seat back a little but nothing drastic! So no need to take it off, went through TSA as you see above so no issues there either!
Hope this may help people feel inspired to do their own! ;o)
