Do-It-Yourself Project (DIY) – Collapsible Pier Cart Rod Holders
Eugene L. 10.20.23
I feel if you’re going to do any sort of extended fishing trip on a pier or bridge a pier cart is a must-have piece of gear. Especially if you plan on keeping fish you need the cart to lug your cooler around along with the rest of your gear. So I’m going to show you how to make any of those “cheap” collapsible carts into a pier cart today. You see them everywhere nowadays for anywhere from $50 to $100 dollars. Add in another $20 in materials and a bit of work and you’ll have a very capable collapsible pier cart for much cheaper than commercially available pier cart options. The pier cart I am working on today is one I have been using for several years now so it already has a rod holder equipped but it’s starting to break down so it’s time to rebuild the rod holder.
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To build this rod holder and attach it to the cart all you need tool-wise is a saw and drill. Materials-wise for this project you will need at least 4ft of 1.5″ PVC pipe, at least 3 ft of 2×2 lumber, 8 – 1.5″ screws, 2 – 2″ screws, a screw-in utility hook, a 2.5″ Lock Pin, black spray paint, and black Plasti-Dip.
You can fit about four rod holders on the back of these collapsible carts, any more than that and you will have issues with your reels being too crowded. Cut your PVC pipe into four 1-foot long segments. Then mark them at 4″ and again at 8″, this is where you drill your first holes through both sides of the pipe. Make these first holes to be just big enough for the screw shank to fit through but not the heads. Then on one side of the pipes, you want to enlarge the holes to be all big enough for the screw heads to fit through so you can assemble the rod holder later.
On only one of the rod holders, you want to drill through perpendicular to the original holes. This will be where you put the 2.5″ Lock Pin later. These holes should be right above the very bottom of the rod holder. This gives the rod holder a double purpose later.
Once the pipes have all been cut and drilled you want to scuff them all with some sandpaper so the paint will adhere better. Wipe them all down with some alcohol afterward to clean off the dust and possible oils. Then take them and spray paint them if you like, you can choose not to, but you do have to paint the wood later so it lasts longer.
Now for the frame of the rod holder. Using my original frame pieces as a reference, I cut two 17″ pieces of 2×2. This is just a little narrower than the metal frame piece of the cart. If you want to go wider you can, but I don’t recommend going past the sides of the cart. You risk running into stuff and damaging your gear if they stick too far out the sides.
Once the two pieces of frames are cut, predrill the screw holes to attach the rod holders later. This will help reduce splitting in the 2×2. We are also going to drill a hole into the side of one of the 2×2 pieces to put the utility hook into later.
Just like the PVC pipe give the 2×2 pieces a good scuffing then wipe down to just smooth the surface a little bit. Then paint it just like the PVC pipe.
Now back to the PVC pipe pieces, once the paint has dried and cured it is time to dip the top ends of them into the Plasti-Dip. This will help protect your reels from the PVC pipe. Just follow the instructions on the Plasti-Dip and leave the rod holders out overnight to let the Plasti-Dip cure. It will look a lot neater once the Plasti-Dip dries and cure so don’t worry too much if it looks messy right now.
Once all your paint and Plasti-Dip is dried and cured it is time to assemble the rod holder and then attach it to the pier cart. It’s pretty straightforward to put together. Get the two wood frame pieces and line them up. Then just screw the hold holders into place. A couple of things to note, make sure the frame piece with the utility hook hole is the top piece, and make sure the one rod holder with the lock pin hole is one of the outside rod holders. Once you complete the assembly here it is time to attach it to the cart.
Get a drill bit long enough to go through both the wood frame and the top metal of the cart frame. Then just drill through both. After which just screw it all together and the rod holder is pretty much done. The last little step is to install the utility hook on the side of the pier cart.
Now that the cart is ready, you can load it up with whatever pier or bridge fishing gear you need. While the rod holder with a pin in it can be used as just that, a rod holder. It can also do double duty as a sunshade holder. Most fishing piers and bridges don’t have any cover so a bit of shade can be a lifesaver during the hottest parts of the day. I like to park my cart right next to a bench to have a nice spot to take a break when the fishing slows down. The utility hook is a great spot to hang buckets and other things as well. Like in the first picture my pier gaff. Hopefully, this helped ya’ll out and saved you some money if you were in need of a pier cart.
