TexasKayakFisherman.com est. 2000

[straw man]

I just built my third carrier for my 5th thought I would just see what kind of advice good and bad on the design from some other yakers. It is 2x2 steel tube main support with a ss cable ran through a post back to the frame it slides into the hitch and will have lights. I can stand on the back with less than 2 inches of deflection. when I took it out for a test it did very good a little bounce on big holes ( I live on a very rough FM road) but in no way did the yaks come close to touching. The reason for this is I dont care to put a 13 foot on the truck cab diffecult to load and intefears with vision and a trailer is difficult to back when you get in to some of the places I go. So if you have any comments please feel free. Thanks
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=10i9i0l&s=5

[Z~MAN]

WOW! That makes for a long 5th wheel!

Personally think it sits too low on a steep inclined will lose the nose of the kayak.

IMHO I would add a small trailer to avoid any accidents plus I can attach it to ur truck once at the campsite and take ur kayaks anywhere.

Just a thought

Z-man

[Hirsch]

Good idea. Maybe redesign/ modify so you place the kayak in the rack in that position with a hinge that allows you to swing them up flat to back of trailer.

[Fished]

How about a pivet point so you can swing them up?

[straw man]

I thought about the steep incline like on driveways in and out on some parks the lenght does not bother me you just must be aware of it all the time. I tried the incline behind the trailer and with to 10 ft it works great but with thw 13 it get alittle high at 14ft 10 in so I tried to put it a a 30 degree angle and that worked but to load it was a real pain not a one man job and my wife just wont help me much anymore. I have a trailer and it works ok just wanted to try something different. Iam just like that always wanting a new way to do stuff. Thanks for the info.

[larry long shadows]

my question is is it legal.? and you will need lights on it..

[straw man]

The length is under 65 ft and yes I do have lights. I have raised the back up 10 inches to get away from the ground if it hits now I am in a place I should not be. After all its a project in development but thanks for the input.

[Iamdamoder]

I bent the spare tire holder on my 5er pulling into U haul for propane. Sooner or later those boats will get pummeled.
Get them up off the ground so you can keep an eye on them.

[dtrojcak]

Eventually, you're going to enter a gas station, parking lot, whatever, that has a dip for rainwater drainage. When your truck is on one side of the dip and your trailer tires are in it, your kayak rack will be on the ground. You'd be surprised how small of a dip will cause that, especially with the length of your rack. My brother has a normal sized hitch-haul rack on the back of his 5th wheel. It will drag going into most gas stations. His only sticks out a couple of feet.
Eventually, it will either break the rack, break your welds, or break your trailer frame.
Also, whenever you turn, your kayaks will swing out into the next lane. Sooner or later, you will make a turn off of a highway and someone passing you will hit the kayaks.
Also, that is a lot of weight hanging off the back of your aluminum frame trailer. Your trailer frame was not designed for that type of load.

I applaud your out of the box thinking, but there is a reason you don't see this setup.
The picture of the over the cab kayak would be a much better solution, IMO.

[straw man]

Hay thanks everyone first that is is a nice rig with the yak on top I just worry about wind nose and two on top with no bow line have a plan for that rig would like to know if it hurts fuel mileage and wind noise? The idea of dum people hitting the back is a big problem until the Aliens come back for them I thought lots of bright lights. It is a big swing almost got my own fence post first night out tight turn. I have to say I like the input and will probable keep trying just remember its going to be two 13 foot yaks on top not one and we will be living with them there full time when on the road. One other thing the idea was to keep it simple enough that the average guy could build his own not looking for a pat here just away to do this.

[dtrojcak]

That swing is going to get you.
It would be bad enough off the back of the truck, but the 5th wheel will only make that worse.
You already have to swing out wide because of the 5th wheel, that just sets up that 13' of kayak hanging off the back to swing into something even easier.
Plus, you'd be surprised at how little of a dip would cause the kayaks to drag when they're sticking out that far back.
I'd go with the over the cab design, and possibly tie the noses down to the front bumper or grill guard if you have one.

[SmithFamilyTackle]

Ok here is my two cents
Obviously you know how to weld.
I would put two hinges on it so it can swing up toward the back of the RV.
So they mount up and down.
This way they will be out of the way and more secure. While laying flat they hangs too far back where it has more possibilities of getting damage while turning, or having someone rear ending them and damaging your yaks.

[SpoiledRotten]

Most likely illegal. Sticking too far back behind the bumper. The next would be the safety issue. If you swing and take someone's car out, it will most likely mess up a vacation. Then the damage potential to the boats is obviously there.

Although, I'm not too scared of pulling a long line of toys.

[KayakingChiver]

Ask for help and experience. Get help and experience. Choose to ignore help and experience. You just can't help some people...

[tentex]

This is how we travel with our Kayak, 2" hitch on the front with a bed extender, then a Yakima tower system on top of the cab with a boat loader rod. It is getting to hard to load due to our age and we have now bought a small 5x8 trailer that I adapted. When we are in Rockport I use the truch but when going back to CAnyon Lake my wife pulls it in her PT Cruiser.

[tgoy]

If possible I would like to steal some of yours ideas fair and square. You have been successful at building carriers so, rather than reinventing the wheel maybe you have better ideas than I have.

I plan on building a vertical kayak loader since my shoulder prevents lifting a kayak into a vertical position. The kayak from RVkayaks.com are hoisted up vertically by hand so that type of carrier is not considered.

Just looking for options, any help would be greatly appreciated.


Tim

[texnomad]

Changing to a travel trailer like I have and putting the boats on the truck would solve most of your travel troubles. I have been on the road since October 2007 with yaks most of the time.

[Bow-Yak]

Here is what I came up with.

13’4” was to long to stand up on the back of the 5er.


Land or Sea Blessed by Thee!

[texnomad]

On the idea of tilting the extension up. A kayak sticking up higher than the RV will be a tree limb or other overhead objects magnet. The after effect is not pretty.

[Barrynoids]

I am looking for a cabin in the mountains of SC or NC to rent for a weekend. I want something back in the wood and quiet for me and the family dont need nothing fancy and by a stream would be great to if anyone can help.