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Recommend a car to transport a kayak?


whiskey299

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Hi guys,

I have to buy a second hand car soon and I'm also intending to buy a hobie outback as well.

wondering what vehicle you currently use and or what your recommended vehicle would be?

ideally a 4 door vehicle is preferred as I need to transport 2 kids occasionally to school for drop offs and pickups.

my initial budget would be something under 15k.

thanks

Brad

 

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Hi Brad,

I have a hobie outback and have been transporting them on a 2007 corolla sedan with no problems over the past few years. I use a thule hullavator side loader and because the car is fairly close to the ground there's barely any lifting required to fit it into the kayak bracket from the ground. I would imagine any sedan with roof racks would be fairly similar. I've actually recently bought a new triton but have yet to fit it with roof racks. Will be interesting to see if it is more difficult to load or not. Have sent you a pm. 

Cheers,

Joe 

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4WD too high for such heavy yaks. Don't get me wrong, still doable, just a pain ?

If I still had the Original forester (station wagon more than SUV) then it would be so much easier to load the Yak. 

In saying that, when considering a car to transport your Yak, think about boot access. If like me and you get a t-load then access to your fishing gear, mirage drive, paddles etc becomes harder as my swing open boot does not open so I have to use the boot window (thank god it opens upwards). When yak is loaded onto a upwards opening boot be mindful that it will hit the Yak, YouTube has some funny instances where Yak meets upwards boot ?

 

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Looks like people are loving pain. I've been traveling down the coast recently  and most people were transporting yaks on top of high vehicles.

Would Subaru Outback do the  good job for yak and tackle and parts transporting (still wagon-size unlike current Forester)?

 

Edited by savit
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Depending on load requirements for other activities I would say anything from a medium hatch or wagon up. Makes it easier to carry & load yak gear, esky, rods etc than a sedan. Throw a waterproof tarp or similar in the back & no problems with damp or sand.

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5 hours ago, savit said:

Looks like people are loving pain. I've been traveling down the coast recently  and most people were transporting yaks on top of high vehicles.

Would Subaru Outback do the  good job for yak and tackle and parts transporting (still wagon-size unlike current Forester)?

 

Those yaks are probably not a Hobie Outback, they probably weigh half of what a Hobie does and throwing them up there is pretty easy ?

Station wagons are a great transportation vehicle for yaks and any other activities you get into.

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Thanks guys.

2 hours ago, Lungfai76 said:

Those yaks are probably not a Hobie Outback, they probably weigh half of what a Hobie does and throwing them up there is pretty easy ?

I noticed several times Hobie PAs on top of the vehicles  which means Outback still can be considered almost featherlite :D

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25 minutes ago, savit said:

Thanks guys.

I noticed several times Hobie PAs on top of the vehicles  which means Outback still can be considered almost featherlite :D

Man those guys must have backs made of steel and an arm reach over 3 meters ?

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1 hour ago, sharknett said:

You can also get devices to help you slide the yak on from the rear instead of lifting.

I have a custom made T bar that bolts into the towbar but you can also get wheels that sit on the back window of a hatch or wagon.

Interesting option you have pointed out. Can you share any photos or links?

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5 hours ago, sharknett said:

You can also get devices to help you slide the yak on from the rear instead of lifting.

I have a custom made T bar that bolts into the towbar but you can also get wheels that sit on the back window of a hatch or wagon.

Is this what you are referring too? 

 

Do you think this works well for utes? The videos always make it look easy... I just got a triton and must say side loading has been troublesome given the height.

Thanks Joe

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I have that Rhino RTL001. It looks easy but you still have to lift the bulk of the Yak. If you want to try it out on your triton I could bring it over for you to test if you wanna try before you buy ?

I'll even trade you the T-load and rear loading Kayak holders for your Hullavator. T-load also doubles as a rear crossbar to carry long items eg Ladders so is more useful for Utes than my FJ

Edited by Lungfai76
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Pulled a neck muscle trying to load the Yak onto the bloody FJ on Sunday so threw in the towel and went shopping instead. The crowds gave me the crappers as no one was there to shop. Free air con at shopping malls seems to beat the pull of a nice dip in the water. Found a vacant spot at a cafe to sit and eBay as the local rack place didn't have stock. 1k and a 5 day wait for my new way of loading the Kayak onto the FJ to arrive.

Hopefully it's worth the dosh as I love both the car and the Yak and will not part with either ?

So the T load (RTL001) can rot in hell as it being replaced by a NKL. 

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11 hours ago, Lungfai76 said:

Pulled a neck muscle trying to load the Yak onto the bloody FJ on Sunday so threw in the towel and went shopping instead. The crowds gave me the crappers as no one was there to shop. Free air con at shopping malls seems to beat the pull of a nice dip in the water. Found a vacant spot at a cafe to sit and eBay as the local rack place didn't have stock. 1k and a 5 day wait for my new way of loading the Kayak onto the FJ to arrive.

Hopefully it's worth the dosh as I love both the car and the Yak and will not part with either ?

So the T load (RTL001) can rot in hell as it being replaced by a NKL. 

Did you look at the Rhino Universal Side Loader,  might have saved you abit of cash.

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RUSL is basically the same as the TLoad in weight management. The Thule Hullavator is a better side loader if you still want to use effort as the has struts take some of the weight off.

The NKL is a winch system so no more back breaking lifting ?

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On 13/01/2017 at 6:04 PM, jtp said:

Is this what you are referring too? 

 

Do you think this works well for utes? The videos always make it look easy... I just got a triton and must say side loading has been troublesome given the height.

Thanks Joe

Similar but mine does not fold down. Was made for me by a family member. Allows me to put the nose of the yak up & slide on.

Main reason I got it was the racks that came with the car flex while driving which loosens the straps. The bar gives me a 3rd, more secure tie down point.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey Brad,

Have you got the car and Yak yet?

I got the NKL and my god the difference in loading is phenomical ?

So if you are still in the market and don't want to rule out a 4x4, consider the NKL as your Yak loader. 

1 problem though, it doesn't give you any room for a second Yak.

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Haven't bought a yak yet, still working on selling the old van and buying a second

On 04/02/2017 at 1:57 AM, Lungfai76 said:

Hey Brad,

Have you got the car and Yak yet?

I got the NKL and my god the difference in loading is phenomical ?

So if you are still in the market and don't want to rule out a 4x4, consider the NKL as your Yak loader. 

1 problem though, it doesn't give you any room for a second Yak.

Haven't bought a kayak yet. still looking into sell the old van and buying a second hand car! 

Sounds like the NKL is the way to go for any high vehicle! Will make that decision once I'm closer to really buying one, which is still months away unfortunately.

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