Kayak trailer

First trip for my morphed raft/cargo/kayak trailer. We’re heading down to Moab today, and spending the next 5 days on the Green River, Stillwater Canyon. I got this trailer about 5 years ago for my raft. It’s really an ATV trailer that my rafting buddy modified for me. He added the stakes pockets & the removable metal mesh sides (6 panels) so that I could use it as a cargo trailer. When the sides are off, I add some 2X6 cross boards & carry my raft rigged & ready to float. Now I’ve added some basic Thule cross bars so that I can carry kayaks/canoes + cargo. I needed a quick & easy way to attach them, and the heavy duty zip ties have worked wonderfully on the cross boards for my raft, so I went that route again. Two zip ties criss crossed over the cross bar + a cam strap for good measure. Belt & suspenders. In 5 years I’ve never had a zip tie break with my raft, so I think this method will work just fine. Here are some pics of the trailer with a kayak on it, plus one of the trailer with the raft.




Nice job! Deep enough that the stuff can’t bounce out! Have you taken that down Mineral Bottom Rd? ( that road scares me just in a regular truck with no trailer)

Suggestion: carry the kayak deck down. You do risk hot weather denting of the hull, even with the crossbars padded. Who cares if you get a crease in the deck? Also keeps rain from getting in the boat while hauling and I suspect it is a bit more aerodynamic. I switched to hauling all my kayaks inverted 5 years ago and would not go back.

@willowleaf said:
Suggestion: carry the kayak deck down. You do risk hot weather denting of the hull, even with the crossbars padded. Who cares if you get a crease in the deck? Also keeps rain from getting in the boat while hauling and I suspect it is a bit more aerodynamic. I switched to hauling all my kayaks inverted 5 years ago and would not go back.

+1…that was my first thought after seeing the pics…deck down. I’d also mount the cross bars farther apart and just use two (good) cam straps(one on each bar) to hold the kayak…nothing more is needed. If the kayak can’t slide forward and can’t slide back (due to the kayak getting larger in both directions, relative to one of the straps) then it’s not going anywhere.

Another tip: U-bolts work well for fastening crossbars to trailer railings. Also back to back pairs of metal conduit “broom clips”. Much as I like wire-ties for a lot of things (been an electrician for 36 years) I would hesitate to trust them the way that you have. The plastic does get brittle over time. And an abrupt wrenching impact can break them.

I agree with Willowleaf here. Zip-ties aren’t made for this sort of thing. One simple alternative would be a plain old-fashioned square lashing with something like para-cord. This would be simple and much stronger, and would result in cinching the bar to the to the rail of the trailer 100s of times more tightly than either zip-ties or those auxiliary cam straps can do, on account of the tension-multiplying effect of the square lashing’s finishing wraps. U-bolts are great for clamping too, though you need oversized ones in a case like this where the two bars being connected are at right angles to each other. Also, to make the best use of U-bolts here it would be best to have something stronger than the base plate that they come equipped with, since that base plate is intended to function as a washer for the nuts, not as a structural piece (in a case like this, that plate will easily bend and wrap itself partway around whichever bar it’s in contact with, and if it wraps far enough it will pull the ends of the U-bolt closer together, possibly making a mess of things when it’s time to disassemble and/or re-assemble). In an application like this, a short length of angle iron with a pair of holes drilled at the proper spacing will work far better than the base plate that comes with the U-bolts (if you have a hacksaw and an electric drill you can make each replacement base plate in about three minutes, so we’re not talking about major work).

Just got back from my Stillwater trip. The trailer set-up worked great. I have been using the heavy duty zip ties on this trailer with my 2X6 cross boards for my whitewater raft for about 4 years and have never had one break. The trailer & raft have thousands of miles of highway and rough road usage with no issues. I always double them up plus use a cam strap over top. When I remove them, I have to use wire cutters to get them off. The U-bolt idea is good but doesn’t hold the cross bar securely due to the angle they have to attach to the top rail of the trail sides. I had not thought of paracord. This trailer gets changed from one function to the other frequently over the course of the year, so the attachment needs to be something that can be put on and off quickly & easily. The zip ties do get changed out a lot, so they aren’t left on long enough to become brittle.

That kayak is the only one I carry right side up at times. It was a flat bottom that rides well in that position. All the other boats I carry go upside down.

I have been hauling my kayaks on a trailer for many years and I believe they are best transported on edge–especially long kayaks. On edge, most designs are inclined to be more rigid and should resist flexing from harder bumps. I support the boats on deeply padded crossbars in four locations that do not include the skinny ends.

Eddyline recommends transporting the Caribbean 14 SOT flat with the cockpit down/hull up. That’s probably the best way to transport my Necky Vector SOT also, although I’ve been carrying it hull down/cockpit up for two years with no problems of hull deformation. With my trailer, the kayak is resting on 4 points of padded contact. I carry my Eddyline on my roof rack, because flipped over on the trailer, the bow hatch cover rested right on the front rail of the trailer and that pressure didn’t look like a good idea. If I had to put the Eddyline on the trailer, I might invest in some cradles.

I morphed my all purpose rafting trailer when I knew I’d be transporting 3-4 people and 3-4 kayaks down to Moab for the Stillwater trip. I can carry 2 kayaks on my roof rack, and 2 on the trailer. Sure was nice not to have the back of my 4-Runner crammed full of gear. All our gear went in the trailer.

I sure love my little trailer. Memorial Day weekend it will carry my 10 foot Mini cataraft & a bunch of IKs up to Flaming Gorge to run Sections A & B of the Green below Flaming Gorge Dam. Then in July it will carry my fully rigged and loaded 14 foot raft up to the Main Salmon river for an 8 day whitewater trip. Nice way to transport my water toys.