Canoe/kayak transport, any of them stand out?

[Jim Hatch]

Hi Folks,

Some of us paddlers are getting past our peak.*G* Have any among
us found any rack systems/loaders that really assist in getting our
craft from the ground to the racks? I know there are some advertised
but do we have any that we can address with personal experience?
Pro's and cons? Thanks! Warm regards, Jim

[Gigmaster]

I am 47 years old, 30+Lbs over-weight (245 lbs at 5'7"), and have a steel-rod in place of a left thigh-bone, a re-constructed hip (also lft side), and pins in my knee (also left side). I don't have any trouble with my yak, but it only weighs around 40 lbs ( I probably make hamburgers at home that weigh that much). I just carry it, without any kind of carrier.

If your yak is too much for you to just lift, then maybe you could lift up one end and get it up on the roof, then go to the other end and lift it, and slide it all the way up on top of the car. Then it would just be a matter of getting the pads under it and securing the straps and ropes. I tried it with mine, and it worked easy, but bear in mind that I usually just pick it up at the center of gravity and throw it up on top.

Hope this helps.

Semper Fi!

[teasels]

A friend has the thule system for his car with a load bar. Sticks out 1 bar and you set one end on it then lift the other.Slide the free end in place then slide the end you sat up first in place. He loves it and uses it on his old gruman alluminum canoe.He also has a canoe dolly to transport to the lake from the car.He puts that near the center so it is near ballance,no weight on his back with his 2 fused vertabreigh (sp).
He seems to think no canoer should be without either!
Dennis

[Jed]

I have a Yakima rack and bought a $7 steel rod that slides inside the Yakima bar. It works the same way and saves about $75.

jed

[Hextall]

What kind of car/truck do you have?

On my Outback, I have 2 kinds... the J bars (by Malone), and the rollers and saddles (by Yakima).

I use the rollers with my fishing 'yak (Redfish)... as I can't really lift it to put it on J bars (just not good enough hand holds to lift it up and onto the J Bars). I like the rollers, as all I have to lift up is the front of teh boat and put it between teh rollers... then slide it up onto the car from the back of the boat.

Thule makes a J-bar like rack that rotates down the side of the car... I think it sits then about chest or gut high. Then it pushes up onto the roof, and the boat lays flat. (see it [url=http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/carrier_water1.asp:46ecd]here[/url:46ecd]).

[Jim Hatch]

Hi Hextall,

I drive a user friendly truck. This querry is for anyone starting to
experience similar problems as a result of questions from a friend.
Appreciate any thoughts/ideas you folks may have in resolving the
issue. Warm regards, Jim

[Spek]

I have the Yakima rack, and went the extra mile (i.e. paid the extra $75) for the rod that slides out making it possible to load one end of the canoe at a time. Works VERY well for me!

[GILs_GONE_WILD]

Maybe someone else can help me find it ... I got tired of looking. There's a kayak rack made by ????? out there that swings down to the side of the vehicle. You load the kayak and the whole system swings back to the top of the vehicle.

I've seen it ... I just can't find it.

Help!

[JME]

There was one made by Thule. I heard that they discontinued it a year of so ago. I tried looking on their site but it is a pile of poop and I cannot get it to load properly.

I am using the hydraglide which works pretty well.

[JME]

Just had a quick squizz using Google searching "kayak roof rack loader"

The Thule one is #847 Thule Outriggger it works on the same principle as the Yakima EZ Loader