I’ll say it again
Aluminum Aluminum Aluminum !
How much would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood !
Chuck the wood idea !
If you can afford a nice yak you can afford a nice rack !!!
What are you carrying?
What are you carrying that requires 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" EMT? I carried 2 plastic touring kayaks (65 lbs each) on a rack built from 1" EMT. There are all kinds of T, L and other fittings available for EMT. Check out canopies on line. If your truck has a receiver hitch, check out the bed extenders at Harbor Freight. They are cheap.
rack
jerlfletcher, I was giving that very idea some thought yesterday. I may just build the rack to sit tightly in the bed so it can’t slide out the back. If I had used the rack holes, I would have done it ion a way so as to not allow the load tyo rest on them. It would only have been for a side to side support.Thank you for telling me this. I may not have thought about it at all. I am going for my 1st try on the Redfish 12 this afternoon. I’ll let you know what i think of it. By the way, if you know anything about the Redfish 12, please tell me about it on my Redfish 12 subject. I am really getting anxious for a yak. The only thing that could stop me now is if I get the good sense not to spend that money. I think it has gone to far for that now.
aluminum
Rickers, don’t give up on me man. I will build my rak out of plastic tubing to begin with, but I will probably make one out of aluminum after I get my yak. It is just esier for me at this time to build it out of plastic. I have a lot of things going on, and I want to take my time if I do decide to build my own rack out of aluminum. I would have to build it with bolts and nuts because I am not a welder. I know you’re right about the aluminum.
1 65 LB yak
will be all I’ll carry at this time. The front will be supported by my toolbox and the rear would be the rack. I think it will work just fine for me uintil I decide on something different. kfsrmn, thank you so much for your info. If there is a better type of plastic that I could use for my rack, if I were to go to Lowes, what would that be?
EMT
kfsrmn, sorry I wasn’t thinking. I may take a look at the EMT. Someone mentioned that before. It could be much better than the plastic.
E+MT is cheap. get it at +Home Depot+++
and they will cut it to size for you. They say its 35 cents a cut, but they’ve always cut it for me free. +I’d still use at least 1 1/4 tubing though.
EMT fittings
http://www.tarpman.bigstep.com/
EMT is used to build shade canopies. The above link sells the fittings.
When and if you do
finally get to making a metal one, steel could be bolted together ok but an aluminum one really should be mig welded. The vibrations I am sure will cause it become real wobbly unless you incorporate good diagonal bracing at every corner.
If and when you build a metal one
if you choose aluminum don’t bolt it together , that’s ok for steel I guess, but aluminum will work itself loose and wobbly. Find someone who has a mig welder, true M.I.G., not just flux core wire. If I was there I would weld it for you for free.
rack
Rickers, I like the idea of aluminum, but I do not have anyone that could mig woeld for me unless I paid for it. I would be able to make a rack out of EMT or PVC much cheaper. Thank you for your advice. I’ll still keep the aluminum in mind, just in case I do fid someone that would do it for free, except for the material. I wish you were near by.
rack
jerlfletcher, I still like the idea of the PVC too, but I will see what it will take and cost to use the EMT. I think I could build the rack tight enough with the PVC that it would sit in the bed of my truck with no side to side movement to mention. I could use enough Ts to strengthen it also. When I tried out the Redfish 12 and the Old Town Derigo, the young man who went with me had a truck like mine, He did not have a tool box in the bed. Both yaks went in with about 4 ft sticking out the back. He just used rope to secure them. I can see that however I build my rack, it would have to extend out the back a couple of feet.