Hobie Cat Forums

I've been looking all over the site and see that most people mount the cradles directly to square/rectangular crossbars or to 2x4s. Has anyone mounted the cradles to Yakima round bars? If so, what did you use for attachment?

Hi sebby,

How will you be mounting the Yakima rack? Is it standard roof top? Do you have the PA 12 or 14?

GR8 Laker

Hi GR8 Laker,
I guess a bit more detail would be in order. I have a PA14. For Christmas, I received a little giant trailer with The base rack (see image). My thought is to attach the cradles to that and use it for storage as well. Have also seen some creative use of PVC pipe, so I am also considering that, but would also need to figure how to attach them to round bars.

Here is a picture of the trailer

Do a search for Yakima Snaparounds that are designed for round bars. You mount them on the bar then attach the PVC pipe to them with a bolt, washer, and nut. You can drill a hole in the PVC pipe then try to insert the washer and bolt through the end of the pipe or drill a hole directly through both sides of the PVC pipe and use the first hole just to pass the bolt through and to help hold the bolt down while it is being tightened. The extra hole will not change the strength of the PVC pipe enough to be of concern.

Here is a link to them on sale at eBay but if you keep looking you can find them elsewhere too.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yakima-581271-U ... 5aec8a38ec

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PA12 Dune
That is why they calling it fishing and not catching.

Nice rig, sebby,
If you decide to go with the cradles, keep in mind the spacing requirement of +- 67". If the bars are spaced closer than this you might consider attaching rails to the bars (running front to back) to gain the needed length and then attaching the cradles to the rails. I use the cradles with my set up (for storage as well) and love them.

Good luck and Happy New Year!

GR8 Laker

Thanks for the tips and happy new year to all!

The rails on the trailer can be adjusted to any position, so i can move them to 67". I will give the Yakima snaparounds a try as an anchoring mechanism for the cradles (though the PVC is substantially less expensive, so that may have to do short term). From what i've read, the cradles are just that, without any attachment hardware, or am i mistaken?

One quick question for those of you that have gone the PVC route. What spacing did you use on the crossbars for the PVC? should i just go with the 67" as if i were using the cradles or should they be at a different distance?

You can use whatever spacing you want for the crossbars and PVC pipes, just make sure the crossbars are not so far apart that the PVC sags too much in the middle.

Thanks Atavuss,
My problem seems to be the opposite. The PVC is not flexing enough so it's not cradling the PA no matter hor far apart I place them. Weather may be a factor here or I may need to switch to smaller pipe.

try using thin-walled PVC? most PVC is schd 40, so it can carry hot and cold water. the cold water is a schd 20? it has a thinner wall, so it would be more flexy.

cheers.
drew

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You be moving in the wrong direction. I used 2 inch schedule 40 PVC and set the pipe centers on each end at 10 inches apart. The mid portion of each pipe flexes downward and outward to match the hull.

Thanks Tom, roughly how far apart (front to back) are your supports for the PVC pipes (the space between the support arms)? my thought was to put them at 67" like the spacing for the hobie cradles, but that distance with the bigger pipe gives very little flex. I will go out and get 2" pipe tomorrow to try it out.

In order to support and conform to the hull along the greatest possible length, we located the supports at about 86 inches apart. The pipes extend a few inches beyond each support.

Thank you Tom, you are a gentleman and a scholar...