All aboard the Cruzin' Cooler for the ride of your ice

Generally, ice chests are easy to move … until you fill them with drinks and ice. Then they weigh a ton and are more likely to put your back out than help you kick back and enjoy the great outdoors. Hence, Kevin Beal created the Cruzin' Cooler for those of us who take our ice chests seriously (and want to race them!). The Cruzin' Cooler is a motorized ice chest that can carry up to 200lbs of cargo (including the rider), tow a cooler trailer (or three) and carry just about everything from drinks to dogs.

The Cruzin' Cooler has a top speed of around 13mph and comes in five models with different power options. The standard model has a 4-stroke electric start motor. And new models are on the way.

Kevin says the Cruzin’ Cooler is the lightest motorized product in the world you can sit on a drive. Empty, the units weigh just 38lbs and are easy to load and unload. The lids open up to reveal 100 quarts of storage. Tires are pneumatic and can travel over sand or around a golf course. Gas-powered motors are optional.

Their cargo area allows them to hold not just cold beverages or food but also hot foods, tools, clothing or almost any small cargo items. Kevin said he has even known people to carry cats around in them.

The trailers all come with foot pegs for any passengers and have rack and pinion steering. The detachable front handles can be used to pull the cooler like a wagon when not attached to a power unit.

You can also hook several trailers together in series to form a Cruzin' Cooler train! Beal says the 500W electric motor and 33cc gas motor provide ample power to pull a 400lb load on level surfaces. The electric-powered Cruzin' Cooler can last about eight hours between charges. It should give the Boom Cooler a run for its money.

Overall, the unit measures 17.32 x 18.11 x 27.56in. (w x h x l) or 44 x 46 x 70cm, and prices range from USD$299-799, depending on configurations. (Check out the image of the fully-specced model designed for Ellen DeGeneres.)