How to put kayak on top of TC

[punomatic]

No, this is not a how-to. It's a "how do you?" I just acquired a 12' polyethylene kayak. There is room on top of my TC to carry it. Any idea how I can get it up there and then secure it for travel?

Thanks for any clever schemes you may have to offer.

[Geewizard]

My wife's kayak is 10', mine is 12'. Both are about 45# each. I found a used Yakima crossbar system meant for a pop-up camping trailer. Looks like this but without the bike rack portion. The triangular rack feet are bolted through the roof. I put 4 Yakima Mako kayak saddles on the crossbars. One of us climbs up on the roof and we load/unload quickly.

Works for us.

[kawa900stx]

ttfire24 wrote:

Click For Full-Size Photo.
Sorry just figuring out as I go

ttfire

would yo happen to have any more pictures or care to share the build of this interesting rack. Would love to be able to carry my kayaks in the same manner.

[Buzzcut1]

well it got me out there Fly fishing

(caution I dropped a F Bomb at the end (for a good fisherman's reason))

http://youtu.be/28URZ5zcOMA

[punomatic]

ttfire24 wrote:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ys9oqqaot0gm6k0/2013-09-17%2018.14.41.jpg
This work for me. Home made 2 boats no roof no fall

That is nice, but my kayak is 13' long. Gonna have to go on the roof, methinks.

[ttfire24]

Click For Full-Size Photo.
Sorry just figuring out as I go

[ttfire24]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ys9oqqaot0gm6k0/2013-09-17%2018.14.41.jpg
This work for me. Home made 2 boats no roof no fall

[Buzzcut1]

Just put my kayak on top for the first time. biggest pain was just figuring out how I wanted to secure it to the crass bars and to the TC rack system itself as a back up. Just hoisted it up with a knotted line tied to the bow, at 63 pounds it was a piece of cake

[punomatic]

Powelligator wrote:

billtex wrote:

punomatic wrote:
Thanks for all the great ideas, everyone. We have had a new grandchild born in our family and two family emergencies since I first posted this, so I have not been able to try implementing any of these great ideas. Powelligator, like FreeLanceing, I am especially interested in the roof rack end supports. How do they attach to the camper, and where did you get them?

Probably these;
Thule Gutter Mounts

It's what we used on our last camper. They are a pretty universal fit. The gutter mounts with a 96" bar are pefrect for the TC.

Bill

Those are exactly what I'm using - the Thule gutter mounts with a set of really long bars. If you look closely at the photo on page 2 of this thread, you can see the PVC pipe that I use in the center to keep the weight of anything from bowing down. None of that penetrates the roof, that was my concern also, and I've got thousands of miles with no issues.

Joe

Thanks, guys, that is just what I needed to know.

[Powelligator]

billtex wrote:

punomatic wrote:
Thanks for all the great ideas, everyone. We have had a new grandchild born in our family and two family emergencies since I first posted this, so I have not been able to try implementing any of these great ideas. Powelligator, like FreeLanceing, I am especially interested in the roof rack end supports. How do they attach to the camper, and where did you get them?

Probably these;
Thule Gutter Mounts

It's what we used on our last camper. They are a pretty universal fit. The gutter mounts with a 96" bar are pefrect for the TC.

Bill

Those are exactly what I'm using - the Thule gutter mounts with a set of really long bars. If you look closely at the photo on page 2 of this thread, you can see the PVC pipe that I use in the center to keep the weight of anything from bowing down. None of that penetrates the roof, that was my concern also, and I've got thousands of miles with no issues.

Joe

[billtex]

punomatic wrote:
Thanks for all the great ideas, everyone. We have had a new grandchild born in our family and two family emergencies since I first posted this, so I have not been able to try implementing any of these great ideas. Powelligator, like FreeLanceing, I am especially interested in the roof rack end supports. How do they attach to the camper, and where did you get them?

Probably these;
Thule Gutter Mounts

It's what we used on our last camper. They are a pretty universal fit. The gutter mounts with a 96" bar are pefrect for the TC.

Bill

[punomatic]

Thanks for all the great ideas, everyone. We have had a new grandchild born in our family and two family emergencies since I first posted this, so I have not been able to try implementing any of these great ideas. Powelligator, like FreeLanceing, I am especially interested in the roof rack end supports. How do they attach to the camper, and where did you get them?

[Kidoo]

I have a canoe and it takes 5 minutes at the most. I lean it up against the Roof rack. I use an aluminum pole, about 6 feet long with a clamp at one end. I clamp the pole at the back end of the canoe, then I lift the back of the canoe up and plant the pole on the ground, the wife just keep it steady from falling. I go on top, pull on the canoe and while I pull and bring the canoe down on top of the camper, the wife pushes up with the pole to bring the back end up, very easy to manoeuver. I then attach the canoe to the rack. I also installed two round attachement at about middle of the camper so I can attach the canoe at the front to. The front end is sitting on top of the camper with a piece of foam.

Taking down is just the same reverse procedure.

[FreeLanceing]

Powelligator; where did you get those gutter mount racks. Do they clamp to the gutter system. That looks like a great solution if you dont have to penatrate the roof. I have 1 pc alm. Have you had this system a while do you find it holds up.

[wintersun]

The OR is a great design and would be good for lakes and protected waters. It should be a lot faster to setup and take back down than an inflatable kayak like the ones from Advanced Elements though more limited in terms of where you can take it.

I opted for two sub 12' kayaks and am having a RV Kayak Racks built so I can carry the two kayaks vertically along with two bicycles. The rack has a swing away design for fast access to the rear door of the camper. I could use a lighter rack from them if I had a side entry for the camper.