Carrying a canoe while towing a TT?

First Travel Trailer with our Suburban:







First duly pick-up truck with foam supports under the canoe on the roof of the cab:



First duly pick-up truck with my own home made ladder rack, made out of chain link fence pipes, a few long screws, 2x4 wood planks, and wire:



Then we got a real shell, but it did not have a ladder rack. So I made one myself out of chain-link pipe, lots of flattening, and lots of drilling holes for self-tapping metal screws and such. I found lots of uses for those pipe too, but it did carry the canoe just fine!



Then we got a different truck and we got a different construction style shell with the ladder rack already installed. Now we finally arrived:



This shell has been on the last 2 trucks we've had. Unfortunately, I had to take the ladder rack off the shell, because the newest truck bed is over an inch and a half higher that the previous truck. With the ladder rack on, it's now too tall to fit inside my garage door. So I've removed the ladder rack.

We're also getting older and have not used the canoe in the last couple years. It's getting too heavy for me to left now. We've had it 13 years now!

I use to carry my Mad River 16 on my Silverado 1500 using the foam blocks. Like in this picture.




But this only worked for short trips because after a while the foam block would compress down and the canoe would end up on the cab and the camper shell and that resulted in scratches on both. The canoe also slide around in high winds no matter how tight I strapped it down. I don't what to use that system on my new truck. I need a much better system.

I use the Reese hitch mount for my Scanoe. I mounted the pivot post to my trailer hitch under the sway control ball. This made it easy for me to load/unload without my wife's involvement. I found the wind would move the canoe to much at highway speeds so I added the Malone Big Foot Pro to my Expeditions roof racks and that took care of all the sway. I can provide pics if you PM me your address.

Reese one man hitch mount

Malone Big Foot

I just bought a TracRac ($300 at Home Depot) for my Silverado so we can haul our kayaks on our next trip. I've tested it out with two #60, 11' kayaks on top and they seem to ride nicely. Getting up there is a bit of a challenge if I'm doing it alone, but still manageable.

I built a ladder/pipe type rack using unistrut, so I can dismantle it quickly, I use the foam blocks on the rack and carry my 13.5ft kayak right side up along with a motorcycle in the bed of the truck.


If I was going to haul it across the country I would build some V blocks rather than using the foam blocks.

The problem I have with the racks that go on the bed of the truck is that my canoe is 16 feet long and my bed is only 6 feet long. This means that I have 10 feet of canoe outside the rack. So I either have to push way back towards the trailer or hang it out over the cab with no support. I need something on the front of the cab to secure it too. Is there some kind of temporary rack that attaches over the cab of a truck?

bobndot,

Are those custom made tie down brackets on the fenders?

ADK Camper wrote:
I mount my 17' Grumman standard on roof racks similar to bobndot. For us the biggest problem was raising the 75 lb canoe to the height of the truck roof. I solved the problem by constructing a roller system for the rear roof rack using a length of metal electrical conduit inside a length of PVC pipe. Before hitching the trailer we support the front of the canoe on the raised tail gate while DW supports the back. Then I climb into the truck bed, lift the front of the canoe to the roller. Then we walk the canoe forward until it is centered over the roof racks. Then I remove the roller and secure the canoe to the rack. Centered on the roof, the canoe does not overhang the rear of the truck so hitching the trailer is no problem.

That's a good idea. My kayak is 45#, and I have a hard time getting it up onto the rack. I'll have to play with some wire and pipe.

I have an F-150 with a cap. I use a Yakama rack on the front and a home made rack on the truck cap. The canoe overhangs the back of the cap about a foot which makes for a nice tie down. The front is tied to the bumper over the hood.

The center is held to the front and rear racks with ratchet straps.

The front Yakama bar has an internal extension bar that extends out past the cab; so you can set the front of the canoe on the bar with the back of the canoe on the ground, then lift the back of the canoe up onto the rear rack, then scoot the front over to the front rack. Then extension is pushed back into the Yakama front rack tubing.

I have never notice any gas mileage deference when towing my TT, with or without the canoe. The frontal area of the TT is so large it never sees the canoe in front.

Good luck

Google Tinnie racks. (That's what Australians call aluminum car top boats, they have a ton of different products and home made racks for transporting boats/kayaks/canoes while towing. For what its worth, I have a 12' Porta bote. We have a short bed F150, I have a canopy (topper). I put roof racks on the canopy and one on the cab of the truck to support the Porta Bote.