We have a Honda Pilot with nice Yakima racks on top to hold our OT Guide 147. Problem is, if I’m out with my daughter, she’s only 11 and can’t help me hoist it up there. It’s too heavy.
I have looked at the hitch-mounted loaders that have a T-bar to put one end of the canoe on so one person can load it.
Anyone have one of these? What brand is it and does it make loading a heavy canoe easier for one person?
Canoe loader
Take a look at this one. Cabela’s Canoe Loader and Rack Item:IK-017442
$89.99
Keep the open side up :~) Dave
if the canoe loader you are talking …
… is like the Reese canoe loader , then yes , they work excellent .
Has an adjustable height vertical tube with a swiveling T top . Makes the loading a piece of cake … once you put the canoe end up into the T , you could do the rest with one hand from there if you wanted to … just keep a little forward pressure on the canoe as you lift and walk it 180 degrees around to the front so it doesn’t try to jump out of the T .
It works best if you lift the canoe to level or a bit higher before walking the 180* to the front .
Loading your canoe by yourself.
I actually have an Old Town Guide 147 that I load myself. Do you have the Yakima round bars on your Honda? If so, Yakima makes a 'Boat Loader" that slides into the round bars for about $65. I just bought one for my rack, and it works great! I can load and unload my Guide 147 easily by myself…without worrying about damaging my truck. This is allot cheaper than the hitch loaders…works nice for me!
I have one - a mod that worked for me
Congrats on getting your boat and the paddling life into your kids lives!
I have the Cabella’s model. I found that swithing out the factory little bolts at the end of the bar with a munch larger eye bolt allowed the canoe to be ‘held on’ better…the boat didn’t jump off as easily when I was swinging it around my old SUV.
It sits in attic- now I have pickup and smaller Pack canoe (12ft) so it just goes in the bed…instead of the 17ft fiberglass monster i inherited - old/patched/ canoe was over 100 pounds! (yuk!) anyway, my ‘modification’ worked for me. good product, works great.
enjoy.
-jn