PA 14 Trailer

The trailer posted by Str8shooter is not something I would recommend. The PVC pipes don't provide good support towards the outside of the wide boat, and with the ratchet straps, those rails are being pulled down. I strongly recommend additional support to the rails like STLKayak has done with the RhinoRack cradles on the outside. Ratchet straps are no recommended either. They get way too tight too easily. You need to be careful with those. The cam buckle straps are all you need.

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Brendan Castile

Easy there big fella. You can recommend or not recommend anything you wish, but in this case I humbly suggest your reasoning is flawed. For one, I would never place my PA at risk of damage. I take great care and pride in every thing I do and own. The ratchet straps are fine provided the correct amount of pressure is applied. No need to crank them down! If you took the time to look a bit closer, you would see the straps do not extend over the rails. The Bulldog Folding Trailer is a great transportation mode for a kayak, including the larger beasts like the PA14. I welcome you to make your recommendation once you have taken the time to actually load and secure the kayak, travel with it and unload it, as I have. It is simply one of a number of transport methods for a kayak. I too like the idea of the Rhino Rack cradles, nice way to go.

Probably speaking out of turn, but the bull-frog or Hobie trailers are probably a MUCH better base to start from than my Harbor Freight 1090lb 40-1/2" x 48" trailer. The difference is when I decided to make/modify a trailer, I had NO IDEA what I was getting into, I just knew that I could buy the HF for $189 vs $1500+ for anything else. I have had over a year to refine my trailer carrying my old kayak, and then refined it even more over the last couple of months for my Pro Angler 14.

I would love to take credit for everything on it, but I got the main idea for the bunks from a video by MoFishYaker, and using a HF trailer came from Ty at YaknTexas (who I thought I saw was on the Hobie Pro Team), etc, etc. I thought the cradle idea was novel, but have since found quite a few similar designs. All of this can be found in different postings here, and other places online. I just refined a few of their techniques. And applied some paint!

I will say this, I really do like the way my little $189 trailer came out, and how incredible it now trailers, as it has served me well on way more than 100+ outings. At this point in time, I would like to say that it is done, but we all know that it will never really be done.

FYI - I have been thinking about adding some 10' long self retracting ratcheting transom tie-down straps to the sides of the trailer. Thought it would be nice to have them permanently attached to the trailer. Now I am not sure if I should stick with the cam-buckle or just be careful with the ratcheting straps.

...see, there I go, the project is never really done.

(Rain or shine, I am up at 4am, on the water by 6...we have been doing pretty well throwing Z-Man NED rigs here in the Middle of the country.)

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STLKayak
2020 Pro Angler 14 360
St. Louis, Missouri
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005695487937

STLK you have done a great job putting your trailer together. I too am a fabricator of sorts, love to work with metal. Once I learned about the Bulldog Folding Trailer it was an easy choice for me. I will most likely go with the Rhino Rack cradles also, as they will provide an extra measure of support.

Keep up the good work!

I also started with harbor freight and never stop thinking about modifying it.
If you have the money go for aluminum trailers like Trailex. I'm really happy with my decision of giving up with harbor freight one. I like the look and weight of my used Trailex with cradles and Trailex winch and the thought of having leaf spring designed for kayak. I also like the thought that I can use the trailer as my dolly if the need arises since it light enough for me to move it around. I think the right starting point is aluminum trailer if budget permits. Just my opinion. I'm now going to use my harbor freight for hauling two kayaks.

I like the flexibility of your rack-top cargo bin and the yak cradles. I don't see how the cradles connect to the rack...can you show that set up with a pic?

thanks

Northern - are you asking about the kayak cradles that I want to use for the Ladder Rack? If so, right now I have an extra set of Malones that will fit both the horizontal tubes of the roof-rack itself, and the horizontal tunes of the ladder rack, if I have the roof rack removed.

I am still shopping another kayak. I really want an Outback, and if I come across one that is a deal, I will pick it up. Right now my guest kayak is a Pelican - and a bit of an embarrassment - buy it only weighs 35 lbs and I can strap it upside down to the top of the cargo rack. I can even strap it to the underside of the ladder racks using cam straps, leaving the cargo rack open for storage.

When I buy my next 'guest' kayak, I will probably buy a new set of saddles for it. If it ends up being an outback, I will probably add PVC bunks on top of the ladder racks and move the roof cargo rack to the top of my SUV.

Also, on Friday I picked up an extender from Cabella's for the roof cargo rack. Mine was branded by TMS, but Cabella's sells the exact same roof rack and had the 22 1/2" extension on sale for $25. This takes the overall length of the roof top rack from 43 1/2" to 66", which I think looks nicer, but also gave me better mounting options.

(By the way, I am not embarrassed by the Pelican. I am embarrassed that if the GF or a kayakless friend wants to go out with me, they get to paddle a 10' Pelican, while I am peddling what in my humble opinion if the best fishing kayak made.)

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STLKayak
2020 Pro Angler 14 360
St. Louis, Missouri
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005695487937

I'm using Malone Trailer, work OK

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One thing worth mentioning about trailers & yaks: the recommended tire pressure is stoopid high. For example, HF manual recommends 90psi (at that pressure the tires might as well be made out of solid plastic).

Yaks weigh nothing. Most trailers are sprung for 1000#+ weight. So, drop the pressure and enjoy much smoother ride and transfer less stress to the hull when travelling.

The Malone trailer is very nice, but the PA is elevated way up too high for easy launch and recovery....you need a quickly falling ramp/shore line to submerge the trailer.
It's for this reason, I like my Hobie Trailex as the PA is much closer to the ground.

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Dr.SteelheadCatcher
Warrenton, OR

I looked, in depth at the Malone, as it is one of the few readily available kayak/sport trailers I could actually see in person. I did not want to fork over the cash. I do agree with Dr.StealHead, the rack system is way to high to make it easy to load/unload. Better than putting it on a roof, but no way to float on/off the trailer. If I had purchased, the first thing I would have done was remove the cross bars brackets - they are just U-Bolted to the frame - and install either the Hobie Cradle or PVC bunks directly to the frame. You could use the same Unistrut method as a lot of others. The only negative, is that you would lose the ability to haul more than one boat with the way it sits now, cross bars over the tires.

r11 - Dr.StealHead suggested that earlier in the post as well. The first time I took the trailer out i had the tires inflated to 60psi - I am not positive, but i think it was in the air more than on the road. I removed two of the additional leaf springs, so I had only a single, and I then ran it at about 30psi for almost a year. In the last few weeks I have been running at 15psi. IT MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE! The other thing about using a HF steel trailer is that additional weight on the trailer is directly proportional to its riding better (there are limits). Since adding the ladder rack on top and hauling a PA14, I have significantly increased the weight. That plus the right amount of air in the tires equates to this trailering riding orders of magnitude better than in the past. The negative is, adding weight means it is significantly harder to pull up the hill from behind the house where it is being stored.

Life is full of trade offs. Most of them can be resolved with a little bit of ingenuity, or a fist full of cash.

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STLKayak
2020 Pro Angler 14 360
St. Louis, Missouri
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005695487937

Here's my rig for the PA and bike. I added a mount for a spare battery and I'm still working out a rack for my genny.



Brian

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On the bank of the Bow River

Tombsy...Nice set up!

One important, but subtle thing I forgot to mention about your tires is to have them balanced.
Trailer tires are notorious for needing to be balanced......lowering the tire pressure makes a "Yuggee" difference, but so does balancing

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Dr.SteelheadCatcher
Warrenton, OR

Please keep in mind the tire pressure should not go lower than whats the low end on the tire. Going lower will result on excessive heat and wear on the side walls of the tires and damage. This leads to tire blowouts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Firsttrimer.....The high speed trailer tires only carry a sidewall max load and inflation specification "cold".
It stands to reason that if the load is considerably less that the max load, then the tire inflation pressure should be reduced so you don't wear out the middle of the tire from over inflation.

As an example, my Hobie Trailex all aluminum trailer (220# capacity) has a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Rating and Canadian MVSR with ST4.8 x 8B tire inflated to 15 psi MAX....they spec 12 - 15 PSI. The tires carry a side wall load capacity of 715#'s when inflated to 50 psi cold.

I have owned the trailer since 2011 and towed it at 70 mph for several hours and never detected an overheated tire or abnormal tire wear.

Last year I upgraded the tires to 5.7 x 8B and run 14 psi in them.....same results as before and a very smooth ride on the road....And these tires have been balanced at my local Les Schwab Tire Shop.

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Dr.SteelheadCatcher
Warrenton, OR