Kayak Loading
 

Hi guys,

I'm looking for a bit of advice on loading my Outback on top of my Ford Escape. Most of my fishing routine is in good order but the loading and unloading continues to be a pain and a struggle. So far I have tried the following:

-struggle to load myself (scratched the side of the car when I lost my balance).
- Ask random people at LJ for a hand.
-Pay a homeless guy in my alley a few bucks for help.

I know there are tools you can buy like a hullivator or rollers. Any suggestions? The hullivator seemed expensive until I compared it to a back injury or repairing scratches in my paint. Does anyone have a good one man system for loading without damaging the rudder, car, etc that doesn't run you $600?

To make matters more complicated, my driveway is on a pretty steep slope.

Thanks guys,

Pat

Ive been meaning to get around to building something like this:

http://oi41.tinypic.com/i5d7aw.jpg
Gotta load from the rear. Probably wont work with "J" cradles.

With the Thule load bars you can get the outrigger that retracts and extends from the front bar, this allows you to rest the bow on the bar and pick up from the stern.

If factory load bars the best option that I know of is buying a door mat to protect the vehicle, set it above the rear hatch and you can rest the bow on it, picking up from the stern and sliding it across the rear load bar. If you have saddles just tie it down if not you need to step up on the wheel or foot stool and flip over and tie down. Slopes do make loading much trickier

I load up my x factor the way ICEMAN said. I use a moving blanket folded over several time (harbor freight has them very cheap) and set it on the rear edge of the roof. Set the kayak with the rear centered behind my jeep grand cherokee and have the bow a couple of feet forward of the bumper off to one side. Then when I lift the bow I can walk it over and set it on the blanket on the roof. With the kayak standing up I lift the rear end and slide it forward onto the crossbars. I lift up the adjustment levers on the crossbars beforehand so when the kayak slides forward it can't slide of the side of the car. I then flip it over so when it rests on the edges of the deck it it level. Then I tie it down with a couple of ratchet tie downs. It is very fast and very secure way to transport if your car had factory crossbars. It saves a lot of money in not needing accessories and save your back in only lifting one end at a time. Hope that helps.

I do similar as the two above me. But I used a bathroom mat. The rubber bottom is nice cuz it grips the car and the mat wont slide around. And the soft fabric on the top is nice cuz it allows for an easy push.

You may want to go thicker than just a bath mat though... like a moving blanket suggested above. I do this on my beater CRV, so I dont care about scratches. If a little sand gets on the rubber, it can leave marks, especially since the mat is fairly thin, so theres not a lot of buffer between the kayak and your cars paint.

I keep forgetting to see if theres ways to make your own outrigger bars like the thule system that will adapt to any rack. Perhaps I will do that now.

When I had my civic I was trying to do what Iceman is talking about but I never got around to it. The easiest way that I found was to:

• lay the kayak next to the car
• grab the kayak from the stern and flip the kayak over(bottom side up)
• place a towel, matt, etc under the bow
• once it was upside down I would walk under the kayak (from the stern) until it was almost vertical
• with the kayak vertical I would place both hands(opposite sides of the kayak) right where I could balance the kayak on my head
• once I had the kayak balanced I would place the bow on the front rack and slide the stern onto the rear rack.

It sounds silly but this was the best and easiest way for me to load the kayak without having to rest it on the rear of the car. One other suggestion that I can give is that whenever you go out always leave your straps on your drivers side floorboard. Once you're done fishing and load your kayak if you ever get sidetracked and forget to strap your kayak you'll realize it as soon as you get ready to drive away.

The first couple of time I tried loading my x factor on top of my jeep grand cherokee I also tried that but at 65lbs and 14' 4" trying to balance that above you head since my jeep and your Escape are much higher than a honda civic is worthy of having a go pro camera running. Save your back and your outback which only weighs 3lbs less than the x factor.
Good luck what ever way you choose to load it up. Make sure it is secured to the roof rack.

Save the grief and get the slipstream....if you have the money the hullavator that thing is worth every penny

I agree. It's not the best way to load it but for me it was the easiest.

Tony has like 27 gopro camera's, Maybe We can have him set them up and give it a try:D

Thanks guys. Some good ideas to try before I go out this weekend. I'm sick of asking strangers for help at the launch. Really appreciate the help from the forum. Thanks again.

How about something like this?

http://www.autoanything.com/roof-rac...FQNqfgodFhIA9A

Years ago when my shoulder bursitis/tendinitis/ligament damage was really acting up and I couldn't lift much weight over head, I found a workable solution. I brought along a 6' step ladder and leaned it against my car on a bathmat. I was now able to slide my Fish And Dive up the ladder like a ramp. You could cover some galvanized pipe with PVC and connect them to the supports on the car rack. They may be long and cumbersome but sliding up a ramp is easier than lifting.

If your street is less of a slope, load on the street.

Easy way


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Found the answer to my question regarding a homemade outrigger... thank you Scoop for figuring this out.....

Post #107 on this thread..
http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwevb/s...?t=6394&page=6

I guess we should have probably asked.... do you currently have racks on your vehicle? How are you transporting it on your roof at the moment?