99 replies to this topic

[smlobx]

3 Hobie 11' Revolutions - wife, daughter and myself all enjoy.  We've done quite a few day trips on the flat waters around Reno.  Working up to our first overnight.  Also do some fishing off of mine.  
 
My winter project is to come up with either a kayak trailer or easier way to put them on the roof of the camper.

Vic this was one of my dilemmas with purchasing a truck camper. I did not want to haul our yaks up on our roofs. After a lot of looking around I found a Dinoot trailer with a pair of Thule racks on it that will allow us to not only carry the yaks but also more supplies for some extended trips we are planning.

Here's a pic of our partially dissassembled prior to sending the frame off to be sandblasted and finished...

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Vic this was one of my dilemmas with purchasing a truck camper. I did not want to haul our yaks up on our roofs. After a lot of looking around I found a Dinoot trailer with a pair of Thule racks on it that will allow us to not only carry the yaks but also more supplies for some extended trips we are planning.

Here's a pic of our partially dissassembled prior to sending the frame off to be sandblasted and finished...

 

Nice!   We just bought a small aluminum utility trailer for our small business, and I am thinking about throwing a set of Yakima Quik-Rails on it to take our gutter mount towers.

[Squatch]

I like water and boats. Paddle, sail, and power. it all works for me. I've owned canoes, yaks, and bassboats. I like to fish too. At the moment I'm down to my Old Town Disco 119 solo and my Jet outboard bassboat at the moment. I sold my tandem canoe last fall. I hope to find a suitable square stern replacement before the end of the year. This will be to tow behind the Camper.

 

A pic a friend took a couple of years ago on a float trip. 4 days worth of camping gear in the boat.

Edited by Squatch, 06 August 2016 - 06:41 PM.

[OutbacKamper]

 

Both boats load up well with Yakima roller/saddles on factory Yak tracks.

KAYAKER HAULING ADVICE REQUEST:

I am looking at the possibility of buying a 1-3 year old, used Hawk or Granby and am wondering about the practicality of hauling 2 kayaks on the roof. I owned a Hawk from '03-'07  but that was before the gas struts were commonly available on Four Wheel campers. Is it practical to raise and lower the roof (with gas struts) with 150lb of racks and kayaks on the roof or do you still need to remove the kayaks first?

 

Since selling my Four Wheel Camper I have had a Northern Lite Camper (too high to safely load kayaks) and a pop-up trailer that was great for loading kayaks (but I hate trailers!). 

 

 

Here are my Kayaks on the trailer:

 

...and in action:

 

This is my current setup (Tent camping with kayaks on ARE canopy mounted racks):

 

I also have a Folbot, but much prefer using the 2 rigid hull boats:

[Wandering Sagebrush]

My 2¢... It's going to be easier to remove the kayaks, or make one of the speaker lift systems to raise the roof with the boats on top. I'm getting closer to 70 than I care to think about, so not blowing out my back is always a consideration.

[Alley-Kat]

I can carry four of my blue kayaks shown on page #1, message #5 of this thread on the roof.

I have the outside gas shocks, 2x 50 lb lifts in front where the solar panel is located and 2x 30 lb lifts at the rear.

I leave the kayaks on top and use the speaker stand lift device to raise and lower the roof.

 

It's easy with the right equipment.

 

Your two kayaks are probably about 2/3 of the weight of my 4 kayaks.

[TGK]

Used to be into white water canoeing and kayaking, but not in recent years.  Wife and I stick to flat water now.  Have had a variety of wood canvas canoes over the years, but they were getting difficult to hoist up on the FWC.  So, we popped for a Souris River Kevlar 17.5', which we love.  Also have a 1966 Old Town 18' freight canoe.  Weighs 115#'s, so it rides on a trailer.  It paddles like a slug with it's 42" beam, but rows very nicely.  However, we primarily use it with a 2hp Honda, which pushes it along with ease.  We have camped out of both but, since gas motors have banned at a few lakes, we use the standard canoe in those locations.   We love to take them to some of the great mountain lakes and reservoirs in Oregon. Have also enjoyed boating at Ross Lake in the North Cascades and at Ozette Lake in the coastal section of Olympic National Park.  There are also some great lakes in the NW corner of Glacier NP and Teton NP. lakes.  There's lots of great opportunity to get out on the water.

 

 

Souris River loaded on FWC.

 

 

Old Town on Trailer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lighthawk]

My 2¢... It's going to be easier to remove the kayaks, or make one of the speaker lift systems to raise the roof with the boats on top. I'm getting closer to 70 than I care to think about, so not blowing out my back is always a consideration.

 

x2, minus a decade 

We have lifted the top with both boats (2x50#), prefer to offload the boats.  Key tool is a solid wide-step ladder for us.  

[TGK]

Getting a canoe on the roof of a FWC is a serious issue and the reason we switched to a Kevlar canoe.  Admittedly, a pricey option, but we weren't willing to give up canoeing due to their load capacity and ability to carry a dog/dogs and camping gear.  Had to sell some other toys to make it happen.  It is 17.5' in length and weighs 46 lbs.  To mount it on the FWC, I'd lay the bow on a Yakima crossbar at the rear of the camper and then walk it up and forward, with my wife's help.  I'd then step up on the stool we use with the camper and drop the bow onto the front Yakima bar.  We were able to still lift the roof with some extra grunt but, since then, we have added the FWC hydraulic lifts, which should make it easier.  We also have a ratcheting truck bed load stabilizer that we've used to lift the roof in the past.

 

 

Lot of gear in this photo, including a cooler.  Water jugs are empty though as we use a gravity fed purifier to treat the lake water.

 

 

 

 

Edited by TGK, 21 August 2016 - 09:14 PM.

[OutbacKamper]

Great info everyone, thanks. If I manage to find a used camper I will look into the speaker lift device in combination with the exterior gas struts.