Hi Guys,
I recently purchased a fishing kayak (Lifetime Yukon) which is 78 lbs.
I am getting better at loading, but my frustration is usually the wheel under the stern side.
When i prop it up on its stern and lean the bow on SUV rails, the stern usually starts to roll away.
What can i do to make it easy to load? Your advice is much appreciated.
Your boat has wheels incorporated??
Maybe a block of wood for a chock? If you tied in to the stern so it dragged behind the boat perpendicular to the wheel when it was moving forward but blocked the wheel when it tried to move back? You could remove it or just toss it in the boat still tied when moving the boat to the car.
It’s a shame that they didn’t include a ratchet mechanism that could be engaged that would temporarily prevent the wheel from rolling backwards. Maybe you could suggest it to the manufacturer.
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You could try loading it stern first instead of bow first?
Yes, it is incorporated.
I could, but i would be damaging or scratching my bow too. At the moment, only the stern gets dragged on concrete when launching at boat ramps, sometimes i don’t have a choice but to launch it from there.
Loading upside down scares me, Seems like it will catch wind and give more stress to the ties…idk…I could give a shot though.
Boats are fine upside down. As to scratching it, it is plastic. Lay down a blanket or a towel on the ground if it’ll make you nuts.
That said, can you just stick a wedge into the wheel when loading? Confess it was not at all clear to me in the manufacturer photos how the wheels are embedded.
Use a piece of rope. Tie a carabiner to one or both ends. Clip it onto the rear of the boat and either clip it or loop it to something handy on your SUV.
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I will try loading it upside down too. See if that is easier.
Ok this is not a bad idea. You got my mind churning on creativity now.
When i prop my Kayak bow on the side of SUV, i don’t have anything to hold on to, except a finger through those scuppers…Rope might to the trick.
Man, and I thought getting my 60lb boat on the roof was tough.
Yeah the stupid part about my Yukon 116 is i can’t grab anything from underneath while i am trying to prop it up on my car roof. But hey, live and learn. Thanks to all of you for helping me with ideas.
when loading upside down sometimes that means the seat back will drag on the car roof. Get an extra cam buckle strap and wrap it snugly around the boat over and through the seat back securing it so it won’t flop) Then having that strap snugged around the middle of the boat may give you something to grab onto. You can do something similar by geting a couple of 8’ loops of 1" webbing (or cheap straps) and tie or buckle them to create loops. Throw one over each end of the boat and cinch one end through the other loop. We used to carry a couple of webbing loops like that to move loaded canoes and kayaks around camp sites (the handles they come with can break if you use them with a loaded boat.)
Get yourself some rubber backed bath rugs. They are great to use to protect the car(SUV) roof when loading or the boat from the ground. Buy cheap ones, toss them when they get too beat up.