Have a 2006 Honda Pilot. Need suggestions on best way to load a 16’ canoe myself. Do the suction cup rollers attached to rear window worth buying. Open to any suugestions on what rollers that would work best.
What sort of rack are you using?
– Last Updated: Jun-20-16 11:00 AM EST –
I have a Chevy Blazer, and with Yakima cross bars attached to the factory rack, it's a simple matter to slide the canoe up from the rear via the rear cross bar. With the canoe on your shoulders, you just walk the canoe to the back of the car and set it down with one end on the rack and the other end on the ground (same method is used for other load-assist methods described below).
Another option is to attach lengthwise bars to the main crossbars, one bar on each side of the car. Then you can slide the canoe up from one side or the other, then straighten the boat once it's up there. I have that setup too, and it's really handy when parked on a steep sideways slope which makes the rear-loading method much more difficult for one person.
A third option if you have aftermarket cross bars, and probably the most popular, is to use a load-assist bar that extends out from one of the cross bars. Walk the canoe up alongside the car and set the forward part of the canoe on the load-assist bar, lift the rear part onto the rack, then shuffle the forward part off the load-assist bar to the rack.
I wouldn't use any of the rollers I've seen when loading a canoe. Those rollers are made to carry the hull (as when loading a kayak), and sliding a canoe up, right-side up on rollers, only to have to flip it once it's up there, would NOT be a one-person job, and if you have two people you don't need a load-assist device anyway. Maybe you could get by with a rubber-backed bath mat and slide the canoe on that, gunwales-down.
I have them but…
– Last Updated: Jun-21-16 9:05 AM EST –
(Oops, I clicked wrong. This is a reply to the OP, not GBG.)
Thr Amagansett Roller Loader. Good for a kayak but l would go with the above suggestion for a canoe. First, you load a canoe upside down anyway. The bottom of the hull is weak in strength and stability for teaveling. The gunwales are your friend.
Second, the wheels are so close together you are as likely to roll a much wider canoe off onto the ground as get it to the roof successfully.
IF the rollers would be on the very
backend and would not be carrying the canoe at all…then they might make sense, but in complete agreement with GBG, if they would be carrying the canoe in any way = they don’t bring any stability towards holding anything motionless.
T-loader
Does your SUV have a trailer hitch? I have used a Rhino Rack T-loader with good success. I’m a 5’5" female who loads a 60 lb. kayak by myself easily using this system.
stepladder and load from the rear
You really only have to lift half the weight. Then slide along the bar to the front bar.
No rollers here. Truck is too high for parking garages. I am 5’5"
Reese towpower
– Last Updated: Jun-20-16 1:07 PM EST –
I just got this one -
https://www.amazon.com/Reese-Towpower-7018100-Canoe-Loader/dp/B0024FOTOW
- but haven't had a chance to try it out yet. It's half the price (or less) that most of the other ones I've seen.
loading a 16’ canoe
I used a Thule Hulavator on a Yakima cross bars on my RV. I put my 17’ canoe with the gunnels down. I know it is for kayaks top up but I used it with a canoe round side up. The hydraulic assist work well.
kayak loading
I had racks on the top of my very tall Plymouth Voyager. I put down a piece of large cardboard behind the van, then put a piece of carpet or blanket on the back of the van at the top. I pull the kayak onto the top of the vans back and slowly push it up making certain it does not go left or right on me, it slides up fat and easy.