Hello! Nice forum here, I’ve enjoyed my browsing so far and will dig in a lot more, it looks like a great resource!
So this is yet another post asking “how do I transport all this stuff?” I’m not sure it’s doable on one vehicle but I’m hoping!
So, my wife and I canoed for years before kids. Lately, one or the other of us has canoed with our two boys. Boys are 12 and 14 now, and have been gravitating towards kayaks. So, we now have our beamy old Rogue River canoe, plus two 10ft Zenith 100 kayaks for the boys. The hope is obviously that we can now all paddle together. The question is how to transport all this.
Trailer would work but hoping to get it on our vehicle so we can tow our camping trailer for trips.
Back-of-camping-trailer upright rack would work except it would be great to be able to take day trips without camper, plus camper does not have rear tow hitch receiver to mount a rack.
2 vehicles will work but it would be more convenient not to have to.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get these three boats on 1 Chevy Suburban? I’m wondering if extended roof rails would accommodate 1 canoe on the gunwales, plus two kayaks on their sides in fairly upright J racks? Or is there a technique to stack this stuff somehow?
Anyone doing anything similar? Any ideas, equipment suggestions etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Super easy. Get a Yakima or Thule system rack with 65" or 78" wide bars and you can carry a 36" wide canoe on its gunwales with two kayaks side by side (use a kayak stacker for maximum efficiency, or if you can afford two j-cradle systems, that would work too).
If your side rails are raised (meaning they have gaps between rail and roof) you can very economically use Malone Steel “Square Bar Style” Racks in 65 inch size. They will cost about $144 on Amazon. Couple with an inexpensive stacker to hold kayaks upright, and you’ll have plenty of room. I did this with my wife’s Honda Pilot regularly.
Spend a few dollars extra to get a stacker that folds down when not in use. Otherwise it will have to be removed to fit in the garage.
Strap all watercraft down separately (6 straps + front and rear tie downs). If you’re anywhere near Philadelphia, PM me and I’ll sell you my 65” crossbars cheap, as we sold the Pilot last year.
I have used Malone Crossbars for 10 years on my Subaru and I love them. The Subaru uses 50” bars or you risk hitting your head every time you walk near the car.
As above, long bars with something for th4e kayaks that gets them up on their sides. IMO a stacker most efficient spacially and easiest to load. Tennis balls or some such for the ends of the bars, lest you find it with your head,
Put all three on edge and you would be able to fit them on a 50" bars - here are two canoes (including a Spirit II tandem) on edge along with my daughter’s kayak.
All three are strapped down individually, and then there are 20’ straps over all over them. With long boats it is definitely a good idea to use bow and stern lines. I’d skip the stackers and cradles. The boats become their own stacker, and with at least one strap (or rope) around all three to hold them together, they are not going anywhere.
Another alternative would be to put the canoe flat, one kayak on its side, and one kayak on top of the canoe. Once again, this is two canoes and a kayak, but the same idea should work for you.
Getting yourself a couple of 20’ straps will give you a lot of options to try. Getting that Rogue River canoe on top of your Chevy Suburban might be the biggest challenge.
With the round Yakima bars, I have seen guys with a pipe inside the round bar that they can pull out when they need more width. Not quite sure how they did that, but it beats having those long bars sticking out all the time.
Good stuff, thanks guys! The kayak stacker concept (whether or not an actual stacker is used or the boats become their own stackers) is new for me, and this seems a lot more doable now. And yeah, that canoe is a nice mix of maneuverability and stability… but she’s not built to portage ;-). I can get her up on the roof myself, but it hurts!
I will look into all the suggestions and figure out what’ll work. Looking forward to a river trip with the whole family this summer!
If you have a hitch you may want to consider using a T-bar extender (got mine at Harbor Freight for $78). I can easily carry 3 boats - four if I use my Yakama XL crossbar. Here’s a photo with the T-bar supporting my kayak with room for the other kayaks on J-racks on each side. My only complaint is that it block access to my hatch.
a less permanent solution is to lash (think pioneering merit badge) some 2x4s to your existing rack. Strap or tie each boat individually. Then to each other and then open the vehicle doors and run a strap or two around the whole mess. 8 boats is my max on the minivan. pic is of just 2x4s. Some racks are worse for head smacks than others. Length and height are both factors
If you have not thought of this, be sure to check your vehicle owners manual and see what the total weigh limit is. With three boats and the rack, you may exceed it, my understanding for my vehicles is that the additional roof rack equipment is meant to be included in the total weight tally.
@eckilson said:
Put all three on edge and you would be able to fit them on a 50" bars - here are two canoes (including a Spirit II tandem) on edge along with my daughter’s kayak.
All three are strapped down individually, and then there are 20’ straps over all over them. With long boats it is definitely a good idea to use bow and stern lines. I’d skip the stackers and cradles. The boats become their own stacker, and with at least one strap (or rope) around all three to hold them together, they are not going anywhere.
Another alternative would be to put the canoe flat, one kayak on its side, and one kayak on top of the canoe. Once again, this is two canoes and a kayak, but the same idea should work for you.
Getting yourself a couple of 20’ straps will give you a lot of options to try. Getting that Rogue River canoe on top of your Chevy Suburban might be the biggest challenge.
With the round Yakima bars, I have seen guys with a pipe inside the round bar that they can pull out when they need more width. Not quite sure how they did that, but it beats having those long bars sticking out all the time.
Yakima makes that pipe. It is a great assist for loading large, heavy boats.
Another reason I use the T-bar is due to the 165 lb total weight limit of my Yakama round racks. I can focus the majority of weight of two kayaks on the T-bar so I don’t go over the limit carrying 4 sea kayaks, each weighing 50+ lbs as well as 20+ lbs of J-racks.
