DIY kayak lift assist? Hullavator?

[oredith]

did some demo, and managed to find the wife and I a pair of used kayaks that suits our needs for the right price (X-13 for wife, and Stealth 14 for me). after a quick outting though, it was VERY apparent that i'm going to have to come up with a better solution to loading and unloading the Kayak from my Ford Edge.

I'm 5'6", and my wife is 5'0". i bought a pair of cheap kayak J-carriers from amazon for the short term. Getting the kayaks on and off was "challenging" to be very generous about the experience.

it's not just a problem of height either, it's the weight. I can manhandle the kayaks by myself to chest level, but with the bulk, pressing it above my head is pretty near impossible, at least at my current level of practice (not sure if it would get better with more practice?).

my wife is all about going paddling with me, and engaging in some light fishing, but she is totally NOT about the loading and unloading.

are there good tips/tricks to loading/unloading a pair of big kayaks on roof top? i don't think i have enough room for side by side with them flat using roller types?

I was looking at the Thule Hullavator. the mechanics seem pretty simple from what I can see on youtube videos. I'm a handy person with my own welder and have made some pretty complex welds. has anyone done a DIY? or maybe someone with a hullavator that I can come up and check out in person for a closer look?

totally did NOT anticipate loading and unloading to be a semi-large hurdle in kayaking!..

[jruiz]

I would first conclude whether in fact you were able to go side by side with roller saddle. That would be the most economical.

DIY a hullavator may not be as easy as you think. There are gas springs incorporated in the design. You would probably need to do it with aluminum or stainless if you wanted it to last.

[oredith]

from the videos, it wasn't very apparent how much the gas struts really help.

My thinking is that if i was able to uniformly load the kayak on the side of the car at my chest level, i would be able to pivot the weight of the kayak up pretty easily vs. essentially doing a military press. The gas struts would be good to dampen it on the way down. I still have about 30 gas struts from past projects that I can use

current thinking is maybe going to one of my job sites and get some unistruts from my electrical contractor, and use them for a sub-frame and using a roller caster (something like this)to slide the piece on and off the top.

[Croaker Dave]

I can get two kayaks side by side on my Subaru roof using Hully Rollers on the back, saddles on the front, and crossbars that are wider than the car roof.

[Dave Legacy]

I can relate to this! The day I got my kayak my wife was helping me unload it and it accidentally got dropped on her head. It was a rough start, but with time and experience you'll develop a method that works for you. Try not to let your first few attempts discourage you.

[Bruntoj]

If you can lift one end of the kayak to roof height (the other end on the ground) then you should get one of those extending crossbars.

Edit: Something like this.
https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories...ma/Y04018.html


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[dorado123]

I would use roller saddle for stealth 14 and J carrier for X13 that's how I did for my cobra fish and dive(36in wide about same as Stealth) and X13 for my ford explorer

[Stuck20]

I just got a Yakima Showdown which is their new kayak load assist much like the Hullavator. I think the gas struts in the Hullavator help with 40lbs or so when lifting.
I, too, needed an option to load two kayaks at times. I put my Prowler Big Game 2 in the Showdown and use J-cradles on the opposite side of the crossbars. I can lift my frenzy or prowler up into the cradles by myself though so that isn't an issue for me. If your crossbars are 66" or wider I think you can use two Showdown units but that gets expensive (mine was $350 on amazon in addition to the roof rack).

[Harry Hill]

I finally went the trailer route. It was killing me lifting the Pro2T on top of my truck roof rack. I could put one end on a mat and lift the other end and then push it up but it was a job. I kept coming up with different assists but I decided it was just too much work and after the boat ramp at Dana I decided I couldn't keep doing it that way. The trailer makes loading and unloading much easier but parking more difficult.

[DanaPT]

Those gas struts on the hullivator really help. I have an suv, way too high to get kayak on/off by myself.


I am a fan of the hullivator. I've seen used sell between $350 and 400. Still not cheap, especially if you have two kayaks.

If you can design and kick them out like rod leashes or bamboo gaffs... then you may have something!

[kirkdavis]

This is the best pic I have. Can take more if you want. The cable on the lower part stops it at about 45 degrees for loading. On the roof rack there pvc tubes but for hauling 2 I use j hooks.


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[oredith]

i think i'm going to try the design as I have it first though, since i have a lot of scrap tubing and i can cannibalize my long board to test it out first.

looking at some of the rhino t-load videos, i'm not too comfortable with the amount of swinging that happens with the stand when it goes from the ~45 back to upright.

one key concern i have with the current design is that the roller is offset from the center from the hitch, and with a lever arm of ~3'6", i don't think the angle support will be sufficient, especially when i'm trying to put the kayak on. I may look at having a telescoping pole that goes down to the ground instead.

project for next weekend.

[greenscales]

I bought the TLoader for my 4Runner that has a spoiler that gets in my way - loading a PA 14 was impossible w/o it. But the TLoader is heavy and can be difficult if on a steep slope - and I need to put my ice chest up front to balance suspension for camping trips. That being said, It acts as legitimate 3rd support for the PA and has allowed me to use the 4x4 to secluded beaches in Baja.


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[Harry Hill]

Originally Posted by greenscales

I bought the TLoader for my 4Runner that has a spoiler that gets in my way - loading a PA 14 was impossible w/o it. But the TLoader is heavy and can be difficult if on a steep slope - and I need to put my ice chest up front to balance suspension for camping trips. That being said, It acts as legitimate 3rd support for the PA and has allowed me to use the 4x4 to secluded beaches in Baja.


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I built a T loader for my Ram 2500. It is almost impossible to use on a steep ramp especially if the ramp is slick. A.t Dana Harbor all the boat people stood around and watched me struggle, not one of them offered to help. I've quit loading on my roof rack, it just got to be too much of a struggle by myself. Now I either load onto the trailer or into the truck bed.

[oredith]

Originally Posted by Harry Hill

I built a T loader for my Ram 2500. It is almost impossible to use on a steep ramp especially if the ramp is slick. A.t Dana Harbor all the boat people stood around and watched me struggle, not one of them offered to help. I've quit loading on my roof rack, it just got to be too much of a struggle by myself. Now I either load onto the trailer or into the truck bed.

how about a winch assisted loading? just thinking outloud.

[Hunters Pa]

Originally Posted by oredith

how about a winch assisted loading? just thinking outloud.

I have been thinking about this for a while. Would love to find a 500# winch that I could make an easily removed mount to attach to the front rack, plug into the utility outlet and use a remote to power pull the kayak up on the racks.

[steve999]

I've got the Yakima boat loader which is just a telescoping bar inside of the rack crossbar. Works really well. Plus cheap and real simple.

[Harry Hill]

Originally Posted by oredith

how about a winch assisted loading? just thinking outloud.

I'm thinking about a winch in the bed of my truck near the cab on a rail. That way I can slide it to either side for loading the trailer or the middle for pulling into the truck bed. I am giving up on putting it on the rack. I thought about a winch for the rack but where to mount it? On the front bumper means the cable has to go over the hood and the cab. I can see wearing grooves into the hood and not being happy.