I’ve shared many stories about the fun our family have had since BJ got his own beach wheelchair many years ago (Here’s one to get you started.) Many of you have expressed a desire to buy one but told me that your budget won’t stretch that far. I’m hoping that the NDIS might make this liberating piece of equipment available to more people but even with the NDIS, not everyone will be able to do this or may not have it as a priority in their plan. Knowing this, I was excited to stumble upon a solution that can transform a manual wheelchair into a beach wheelchair for a quarter of the price. And this year (2019) the options just got easier.
UPDATE – NEW MANUAL TO BEACH WHEELCHAIR CONVERSION KIT NOW AVAILABLE
Like the kit below I shared some time ago, the WheelEEZ all-terrain conversion kit turns a regular manual wheelchair frame into a beach wheelchair, at a fraction of the cost of a dedicated beach chair. The new kit makes it even easier to convert, with no drilling required. Now you can ‘Go Anywhere’ in your very own chair, simply by adding the WheelEEZ® all-terrain conversion kits.
Image credit www.simplyemma.co.ukThe conversion kit has front and rear components. You can see the front section of the kit here and the rear and video of how the conversion works here.
ORIGINAL DIY ALL TERRAIN CHAIR KIT – REQUIRES DRILLING
We still have BJ’s old manual wheelchair which we keep as a backup chair for emergencies. It’s great for when BJ’s current chair is in for a repair and having the old chair at home means we don’t need to bring his chair home each day. If we didn’t already have a beach wheelchair for BJ, the old chair’s frame would be perfect to modify with the kit. I’m sure we are not the only ones with an old chair sitting at home?
I’m thinking this would make a fabulous gift with Christmas around the corner.
This option saves a lot of money. The only compromise I can see is that it is not recommended for use in the water due to the risk of rusting of the frame. I can see this being a wonderful solution for many people.
The kit contains
2 x 49cm Wheeleez Wheels
2 x 42cm Wheeleez Wheels
2 x Anodised Aluminum Axles
4 x Alloy Axle Brackets with Alloy Tube Housing
8 x Stainless Steel Bolts and associated nuts and washers
4 x Stainless Locking Pins
The kit can also be provided with 30cm Wheeleez Wheels for smaller frames
BJ in the Sandcruiser and AJ in the smaller Sandpiper beach wheelchair. You can contact Beachwheels Australia
Call: +61 (07) 5528 3478
Email: [email protected]
Oh, I would love this!
And the price is not too bad either.
Unfortunaly our climate is much cooler then yours, so I would only use it a few times in summer.
We have dunes here and they are rather steep with a manual chair.
On the beach there are more and more places were you can rent a beachwheelchair.
Funny enough the one I used this summer was called a “wombat”.
Carine
It’s fantastic isn’t it Carine.
How funny that the beach wheelchair you can rent is a wombat. Very Aussie.
Julie
Great to read, Julie, I am sure this would be a good option for lots of Aussie families. Freedom and fresh air and salt water and a sea breeze, guaranteed to put a smile on anyone’s face.
It’s just so great to see more options becoming available and cheaper options too. Disability equipment is frightfully expensive most of the time.
Julie
I just used a town’s beach wheelchair and I had to find someone to transport it. It was too big to even fit into my ramp van. He had to put it into the back of his pickup truck. How wide and long will the beach chairs be?
Hi Heather,
I’m sorry but I don’t have those dimensions. You could contact Drew from Beach Wheels who supplies the chairs to the life savers. Often the life savers will be accommodating with transporting them if possible but no guarantees. Obviously they like to keep them at the beaches where they are stored.
Julie
sorry for writing in caps
thank you for the great post
i just wonder if this kit can be modified to get motorized sand wheelchair?
Interested, how much is shipping to the USA,?
Hi Celia,
You’ll need to contact Beachwheels direct for costing.
Julie
https://wheeleez.com/product/wz1-wc-bck-30xl/
This company is in California.
Hi Geoff
Beachwheels in Queensland offer this kit. They ship Australia-wide. The head office is in the US. Hope that helps.
Julie