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PostPosted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 8:45 am 
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stringy wrote:
Have you seen Nohuhu's clever home made loader for his SUV?
viewtopic.php?f=73&t=41502&p=170434


Interesting concept! I was thinking more of something along the lines of the showboat; I have an Explorer with no spoiler and almost vertical rear window so I don't think I need the supports to get up to the roof rack. The water slide might work, unless the 'yak slips sideways! The idea of lifting up one end and then picking up the other to slide/roll it onto the rack/supports sounds awfully attractive!

Regarding supports... I bought a pair of Hobie foam supports which slip over the cross-bars of the factory roof rack. Are they durable? By that I mean, are they suitable for general transport or are Mako saddles, Hully rollers, etc., more appropriate? Any advice?


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PostPosted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 2:40 pm 
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Okay. Got out to fish a bit today. Here are photos of my loading method. (See my post above to see how the Hully Rollers are mounted.

Photo #1: Prangler positioned and ready to lift. Note the small stool I use under the bow and also to get me up to work the tiedown straps later.
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Astroturf mat hung from support bars:
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Bow lifted and placed between rollers, resting on mat:
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Boat lifted and pushed into position. (Front bar is under the mirage drive hole, rear rollers are under cart scuppers.)
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And tiedowns in place. Not shown is the parachute cord tied from bow handle to truck front bumper.
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 8:13 pm 
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Are there no supports on the front cross-bar? What keeps the 'yak from sliding around? I know it's strapped down, but would this work for longer trips... without front supports?


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PostPosted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 8:14 am 
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Location: Ogden, Utah
Nope, no supports up front. The first time I carried it was when I picked it up at the dealer - more than 150 miles from home. It never budged even at highway speeds and in pretty hefty crosswinds.

I run the straps under the carry handles. That keeps the yak from sliding forward or aft, and since the yak is as wide as the crossbars, it can't slide more than a couple inches laterally either.

I bought a foam support block for the front bar, but it was so slip resistant that I couldn't get the yak fully up there with the foam in place. Only used it once.

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PostPosted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 8:11 am 
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Location: Sarasota FL
I used to live on a bumpy island, and invariably one strap would loosen a bit, so having four straps gave me piece of mind.

I also put the four cargo straps THROUGH the scupper holes in my tandem, rather than simply over the top of the kayak. Two go through the front and two going through the back scupper holes (where the mirage drive goes on my tandem), and then through two holes/mounting points on the rails so there's no way the thing can slide and I don't have to strap it so hard that I deform the kayak.

The kayak rests on the two aluminum crossbars I have attached to the rails, and I use a simple "swim noodle" under the crossbars to protect the roof because the bars do flex a bit. (non-flexing bars are on my budget list)

Loading from the back would be nice if my stupid brake light weren't right at the roofline. I used to worry about scuffing the bow on the ground when I raised the rear to the roof but after three years, it's no more scuffed than the rest of the boat.

I load the rudder/rear to the front of my Jeep because the scupper holes line up better with my rack/tie-downs. I have a tandem, so it might not matter with a single.

------
re: LIFTING the kayak to the roof...

I've been dreaming of a RAIL that slides out from my garage. :D
The rail has a sling pulley that raises the front of my kayak up to the vehicle roof line. And all I have to do is extend the rail to my Jeep, lift up the back of the kayak and slide it over the sling onto the roof. This would solve 1/2 of the loading problem, thus cutting the potential for an "old guy pulled back" by 50%.


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 8:55 am 
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Location: Amelia Island, FL
Your bow and stern tie-downs are probably more important than the tie-downs to the rack. I have seen a kayak fly off a roof with the rack still attached :!:


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 10:46 pm 
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Location: Sarasota FL
islandspeed2001 wrote:
Your bow and stern tie-downs are probably more important than the tie-downs to the rack. I have seen a kayak fly off a roof with the rack still attached :!:


Yikes! Another thing to worry about now!

How can we tell if our factory installed roof rack is firmly bolted?


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 1:09 pm 
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The rack can be firmly bolted and still fail as the faster you drive, the greater the upforce is applied to the hull.....lifting it up.....at some point the hardware on the roof pulls out.....rack still attached to the hull.
So, bow and stern tie down lines are a must to prevent roof rack failure.....cheap insurance! :wink:

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 6:16 pm 
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I did!

15 bucks worth of PVC stuff and a couple of spring clips, a piece of closet pole, a piece of pool noodle, a piece of pipe and two ratchet tie downs, all stuff/scraps from my garage, and I have a fully functional roll-on loader!

1 1/4-inch PVC reinforced with the closet pole, a couple of Tees, a couple of 90-deg elbows, spring clips to hold the spreader in place and the pool noodle on the pipe roller, all secured to the roof-rack side rails with the ratchet tie-downs... piece of cake!

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 10:33 pm 
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Location: Sarasota FL
Would love to see a video of it in action.


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PostPosted: Sun Oct 21, 2012 9:06 am 
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I don't have a video but it's pretty simple to visualize: mount the loader, lift the front end of the kayak up onto the roller, pick up the rear end and roll it up until the kayak can rest on the saddles, then slide it into position with the Mirage drive well at front saddles and rear scuppers at the rear saddles. Extremely simple... and much less expensive than store-bought!


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:59 am 
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My inner-MacGruber likes the fact that you made it out of garage scraps.

I'd be concerned about cracking the PVC -eventually- with it hanging out the back while I tipped my tandem up onto the roller. A lot of weight on the fulcrum where the pipe contacts the back of the roof. (Again, I'm looking at this from a tandem point of view)

Instead of the fixed cradle like you have, I have two aluminum poles that form the crossbars on my rack, and over time its suprising how much they have deformed under the weight of the kayak, even though they feel very stiff. So I'm wondering about the PVC.

(Been thinking of a pvc 'sliding' rig to assist in one-man loading of a tandem. Something practical, cheap, back saving, and godawful looking no doubt.)


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 7:42 pm 
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The rear factory crossbar forms the fulcrum for the loader. I bench-tested the loader to the full weight of the Revo (approx 68 lbs) and the reinforced PVC hardly flexed at all. It will only have to support half that weight and then only for a few minutes as I lift and slide the kayak onto or off of the saddles so I'm pretty confident that it will serve. I should think it would support your Tandem... And, it's pretty good looking!


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 1:50 pm 
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Thanks for showing this data and link to the Thule 854 water slide.

In August, my grandson and I were walking towards one of the docks at Benicia, Ca.

This guy about my aged and maybe more beat up/battered, beached his Revo, put the kayak trailer in the scupper holes and pushed it towards his Jeep Liberty.

When he got to the Liberty, he pulled down, thanks to you, I now know, the Thule 854 water slide. He put the bow of the Revo up on the mat, walked to the stern of the Revo, picked it up and pushed it forward into the yokes. He grabbed his bow line, walked to the front of the Liberty and pulled the yak forward a bit, and secured the bowline hook under the front bumper. Then he walked a couple of steps, fastened the starboard side of the Revo to his roof rack, then walked back and secured the aft line, threw his paddle and pfd in the back of the liberty and then secured the port side of the yak to the drivers side of his roof rack.

Then he got in the Liberty and drove away. He probably spent about 2 minutes doing the whole process.

Revo_1756 wrote:
I have one and it worked great. I don't use it now and just use the Thule water slide.
http://www.rackattack.com/product-pages ... nQodPRkAbw

The water slide is simple fast and easy to use and nothing permanent need to be mounted on your vehicle.

Revo

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Last edited by Grampa Spey on Thu Oct 25, 2012 6:13 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 6:29 pm 
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I bought a water slide but I was intrigued with the idea of building a roll-on loader... It was easier than I could have imagined! (Well, actually, it was pretty easy after I thought it through and found all the stuff I needed...)


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