Any opinions on this concept? http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/featured_product_hullavator.asp Yakima is supposed to have a similar design. It isnt cheap but then again the idea of eventually blowing out my back lifting a kayak onto the roof of my CRV is much less appealing than spending $350. Jim et al *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> [Original Message] > From: Jim Farrelly > Any opinions on this concept? > Yakima is supposed to have a similar design. It isnt cheap but then > again the idea of eventually blowing out my back lifting a kayak onto > the roof of my CRV is much less appealing than spending $350. > You Still can blow your back out lifting it up to the lifting part anyway. I've seen two plus another Thule setup. One was purchased by an absolutely new paddler with tons of money. Was blown away and spent a lot of time muttering under his breath when he saw the rest of us flipping our not-exactly-ultralight canoes onto our cars. It's a godawful contraption to stick on top of your car. Another was used by a woman who had some arthritis to get her kayak atop her car. She still needed help to get it up and clamp it to the lifting part. Then it still had to worked manually. Thule makes another unit which works as well so far as I can see and is much cheaper. It's essentially a permanently affixed extender bar that folds out of the way when not needed. This too saves 50% of the work. You only lift half the boat at a time. It's not such a drag when driving down the road. It's something you can take off the car when you don't need it. Try that with the lifting device.... In short, I was underwhelmed. Joe P. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> Thule makes another unit which works as well so far as I can see and is > much cheaper. It's essentially a permanently affixed extender bar that > folds out of the way when not needed. This too saves 50% of the work. You > only lift half the boat at a time. It's not such a drag when driving down > the road. It's something you can take off the car when you don't need it. > Try that with the lifting device.... I'm using an extender with Thule rectangular bars ( inserting a half of round rod from Home Depot with a piece of old carpet on the other end - Thule end cap needs to be removed). Cost me about $6 - don't remember. But, lifting the low end, with a relatively short section of bow fore of the front bar (where the extender is), I'm lifting more than 50% of the boat at the beginning. And my car is a low compact, which makes things easier. There was an electrical gadget somewhere, with something looking like a rope-ladder, winding on the winch (the kayak is attached to this ladder) - this would make some sense. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On 29 May 2005 at 10:10, Jim Farrelly wrote: > Yakima is supposed to have a similar design. It isnt cheap but then > again the idea of eventually blowing out my back lifting a kayak onto > the roof of my CRV is much less appealing than spending $350. At that price, added to fuel costs over time, a trailer starts to make a lot more sense. Is the CRV too tall to use an outrigger bar? I've just made one for Amie and it cost me less than $10. I used some aluminum angle and an old hockey stick that I found to make it. The cost is for nuts and bolts, paint and such. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I too was underwhelmed by a similar device. I tried one on my Safari van and found it to be too much of a "contraption". I ended up getting an extender bar for my van which works great. This roller loader system looked interesting for loading from the rear... http://www.amagansettbeachco.com/indexrl.asp?type=RL At 07:10 AM 5/29/2005, Jim Farrelly wrote: >Any opinions on this concept? >http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/featured_product_hullavator.asp >Yakima is supposed to have a similar design. It isnt cheap but then >again the idea of eventually blowing out my back lifting a kayak onto >the roof of my CRV is much less appealing than spending $350. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
For my canoe, I have used an item which mounts to the hitch on my pickup truck. It's called a Fulton Canoe Caddy, and is essentially a t-bar which swivels. In use, one end of the boat is placed on the t-bar, and tied down. Then, the other end of the boat is lifted and placed on the roof of the truck, SUV or the like. I haven't tried this yet with my new Impex Assateague, but expect will work as well that way. Of course, it requires a hitch. I found this item at Cabela's. I guess it's similar to a Thule item, which I think does not swivel. I recall an $80 price tag. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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