I want to bring my 14ft Hobie Pro Angler Kayak with me while towing my 26ft FC

[bibbs]

One more reason to use a van for a tow vehicle plenty of room for a bigger boat

[bolerama]

Our Hobie is 18 feet long and very heavy ... too heavy for a Hullivator, which I suspect yours is too.

We bought the cradles for our specific boat from Hobie (meant to be used with the Hobie trailer.) We mounted the cradles to the roof rack and then mounted a Thule "Goal Post" to the front end receiver on our Jeep.

We don't have a front receiver on our truck, so it's more complicated: put Goal Post in rear receiver, slide Hobie onto the roof, remove Goal Post, store in pick-up, hitch up Airstream. You can see the cradles more clearly in the last picture.

Lisa

[uncle_bob]

Hi

If you are putting "heavy" on top of a vehicle, it's probably best to check what the manufacturer thinks the weight rating on the vehicle's roof *is*.

We ran into this on a couple of vehicles in the past with various boat mount arrangements. One would *think* that with roll bars and the like built into vehicles they would take anything you could get up there .... not so much ....

Indeed this could get into the "payload" numbers for your vehicle as well.

Bob

[JamesnPcola]

Originally Posted by A W Warn

To give you advice, knowing what tow vehicle you use would be helpful.

This thread was very helpful to me when I was trying to figure out how to bring along my Grumman 15' aluminum canoe.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f382...nu-118091.html

Excellent point. I have a 2019 F250 4door 4WD Platinum with the glass roof

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

If you are putting "heavy" on top of a vehicle, it's probably best to check what the manufacturer thinks the weight rating on the vehicle's roof *is*.
Bob

The owners manual for my 2004 4Runner says the roof rack maximum is 120 lbs., so I'm well within the margin at 92 lbs.

[farmeric]

I do just what you are asking, took me a lot of research to get it done. Contact me if you need help. I have a Toyota Tundra with a shell pulling a 30 ft airstream. Works great. 775-741-2705. Eric. I could take a picture but I don’t know how to send it.

[farmeric]

Sorry my number is(775) 741-2605

[BoscoMN]

I needed to change things a bit when I replaced one of our 38 pound recreational sit-in kayaks with a 77 pound NuCanoe Frontier 12 sit-on-top kayak. I could not believe how unwieldly an additional 40 pounds is!

Many of the options already listed are great but would not work for me given my F-250 with the Thule TracRac SR Rack sits about 7' 8" above the ground. Plus I wanted a system where I did not have to lift the kayak above my head. I can do it now (64 years old) but it is getting harder and I want this system to work when I am 78 years old as well.

I tried the Malone Telos™ XL Load Assist with Seawing Kayak Carrier which has a 75 pound capacity.

https://maloneautoracks.com/Telos-XL...e-MPG3511.html

I found my 38 pound kayaks to be difficult to load as the bottom of the ramps wanted to move forward and aft too much. In addition, when I tried it with my 77 pound NuCanoe by myself, it was impossible given my upper body strength. I could not lift it high enough to gently place it into the cradles.

I really wanted to buy the Rhino-Rack Nautic Kayak Loader.

https://www.delawarepaddlesports.com...-kayak-lifter/ (probably not in stock)

https://www.austinkayak.com/Rhino-Ra...ACK19637P.html (out of stock)

https://westcoastsailing.net/hobie-r...-kayak-lifter/ (may be in stock)

I could not find it in stock in the United States and I could not find anyone that could tell me if the stock ramps would work with my 7' 8" rack height. So I went and purchased the Nautic parts I needed to match up with the Thule Rack and made up my own ramps out of 2 x4s. So far it has been working great! A lot of lessons learned in the process of getting this to work. I plan on replacing the 2 x4 ramps with aluminum bars soon. If anyone wants more info send me a message for my phone number.

[GMFL]

Best way as stated is a roof rack....

[TouringDan]

I considered the hullavator but it was too pricey and too heavy.

I went with a Thule rack and cradles. It isn’t easy to load and unload but I do manage and do it by myself. I use a tall step stool and actually stand on the door window openings to secure it properly. I have traveled to Michigan and down to Florida. The kayak(s) stay secure. I don’t use a bow or stern tie down.



I recently got a tandem fishing kayak. It is heavier than my sea kayak and weighs about 72 lbs. I will probably need to use some kind of a roller on the hood to load it onto the kayak rack.



Since the first photo was taken, I now have 400 watts of solar on my bed cover.



Dan

[Moflash]

We carry two Hobie 12ft Outbacks with us.I use a Tough Truck rack from Spring Creek Outfitters In MN.It has built in extendable loading bars.I have yet to see a better made product.

[Moflash]

Originally Posted by Moflash

We carry two Hobie 12ft Outbacks with us.I use a Tough Truck rack from Spring Creek Outfitters In MN.It has built in extendable loading bars.I have yet to see a better made product.Attachment 353675Attachment 353676

Here is the link

https://www.springcreek.com/shop/ind...l-truck-racks/

[sgschwend]

They make very nice inflatable kayaks that can be pressurized to a higher pressure 6-10 psi, which makes them very solid and stiff. I have tested them and they move as fast and the same size plastic boat.

Tote bag, double action pump and no need to carry that long boat.

[emelaich01]

We occasionally take a pair of 10' kayaks using a TracRac we purchased for about $300 a few years ago. Works great, weighs very little and gives us plenty of room towing a 25 FB even in sharp turns. No drilling, easy off/on and the finish is a great match for our AS.

[2dabeach]

Originally Posted by JamesnPcola

Hi Everyone,
I've recently purchased a 26ft Flying Cloud. I also have a 14ft Pro Angler Fishing Kayak that I want to bring with me. Any ideas on how to tow my Airstream and also bring the 14ft fishing kayak with me? custom made? I can't figure it out. Would love some ideas. Thanks in Advance
James

James....I have two Current Design 13' 6" X 25" kayaks mounted on Yakima cross bars with kayak pads on the top of my cap on a GMC Sierra and we have no problems with them. You will need two people to get the kayaks up on the roof because of its height. Now that I am older, I would install the Thule Hullavator Pro racks on the cross bars that swing down from the roof to the side of the vehicle to make it easier to get them on the roof.

[Minnie Jewel]

I too have the 14’ Hobie Pro Angler. Yes, this thing is a beast. The only thing we have come up with is to buy a trailer and haul it like a boat with a second TV for short trips. It’s too big (too long and too wide) to put on top of a TV. And far too heavy to lift up there. I feel your pain. As much as I love my Pro Angler, it may not be a travel kayak if taking the AS. If you could get several men to help you lift it onto a custom iron rack that fits above your TV, that may work. My husband and I couldn’t lift it up that high ourselves, and we would possibly be in a bad situation on a trip where we would be required to do it ourselves. A custom lift mounted onto your custom rack?

[Kblitch]

I saw a nice rig on a pickup truck while camping a couple of weeks ago at a lakeside campground. The Rack is called “Adarac” and they are about $300. What I really like was that I could keep my foldable hard bed cover AND the rack fastened on each side with quick releases. You could just have it on your pickup truck for camping adventures. I’ve been looking at Fishing Kayaks and Canoes lately and have found a brand of canoe that people like for fishing called SportsPal. Very stable and almost unsinkable while weighing as little as 47#. That’s the rig I’m going to get.
Ken Blitchington

[dvgofaz]

We carry two yaks, my 13 foot Predator PDL and my wife's 10.2 Hobie Passport on the roof of our ARE camper shell.
Rails are hard mounted to the top with 6 stainless bolts each that go through the top to the inside. Then Thule Aerobars mount to the rails, and then the boats sit in Malone Saddle Racks. The Hobie is light so its no big deal to lift up and down.

The tricky part is loading and unloading the bigger boat. For that we found a thing called a Sherpa.(https://www.rei.com/product/853261/s...ak-boat-roller) . It is a temporary boat roller that suctions to the back window of the shell and allows me to lift/place the nose of the boat there, then walk to the rear and lift the tail and slide the whole rig straight up to the roof. I can manage it alone but it's much easier with one person on each side. It would easier if the truck were not so tall.

Anyway we bought the boats on our travels this Summer at REI Pittsburgh and carried them home to AZ without any trouble.

[mtpeeps]

We also have Hobie Pro Anglers (two of them), we can't find a satisfactory way to carry them because as you know, they are heavy. But I came across this, so check it out. We did not end up getting one. https://www.ezrecreationalracks.com

[Grace-n-Pup]

Here is our set up. I apologize if something similar has been posted. We have the retrax pro which allows us to get into the bed to help hoist the Hobies on the J-lows by rolling the cover back. A cap in the back was pretty much out of the question do to the weight we would have to lift. The set up is the Yakima Overhaul. Which easily can carry the weight of the Hobies. You do pretty much need two people to do this. I am 5'2 and so I just lift the back end of the kayak long enough for my husband to finish pulling it up onto the Yakima overhaul. This set up definitely adds to you payload!! The retrax and Yakima overhaul together are about 155#. Our Hobies together weigh about 150ish. I have revolution 11 and my husband has the outback. So this is why we went with a 3/4 ton. A 1500 wasnt going to cut it with everything we wanted. So definitely factor that in. We looked at the hulivator but was told by tule we couldn't use with two Hobies due to the weight. Dont know if they miss understood but in the end this works pretty good. We were able to even fit a small third kayak once between them. Hope this helps. Sorry for any typos....