Several years ago a very clever Mainer designed and built a roller attachment for Yakima and Thule roof racks that allowed a person to load a canoe from the rear of their car single handed by placing the end of the canoe onto the roller and pushing it forward on the roof rack. Then the roller could be moved to a resting position on the rack so the canoe would not roll back off. The gentleman sold these for several years until his untimely death. I am looking to purchase one of these clever devices. Can anybody help?
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Maine Roll-On
- Thread starter Mark Z
- Start date
I used on of these for a while. I lost it on a back road somewhere in ADK. It popped right out of the bracket. I have never been able to find a replacement. I ended using a piece of PVC as it's replacement. It works great. Just slide it onto your thule or yakima bar.
Yakima also sells a "side load assist bar" that allows you to load and unload your canoe from the side of the vehicle, one end at a time.
$129 bucks? You gotta be kidding!
I found a scrap length of galvanized 1/2" water pipe that fits perfectly inside my Yakima round bars. Does the same job for free.
$129 bucks? You gotta be kidding!
I found a scrap length of galvanized 1/2" water pipe that fits perfectly inside my Yakima round bars. Does the same job for free.
I have a Yakima Showboat 66 that I got last year for my kayaks. Overall, it’s poorly designed in many ways, but is better than nothing. We ended up mounting it below the crossbars yesterday, because it actually interfered with the boats (of course, now it’s pulling on the clamps, and unsupported, but my heaviest boat is 47 lbs). I can load my canoe by myself, but the kayaks are pretty sketchy if I don’t have another person to help - two rollers in a v-shape would work way better for those.
I would love to see pictures of the one you mentioned. Maybe someone who owns one can take detailed photos so people could cobble up their own?
I would love to see pictures of the one you mentioned. Maybe someone who owns one can take detailed photos so people could cobble up their own?
Google kayak rear loader and you'll get a lot of ideas
This looks close to description above:
or this one from Yakima:
yakima.com
Oak Orchard Mega-Mega Canoe Roller Loader
Oak Orchard Canoe and Kayak, we ship anywhere in the U.S. and Canada from our great selection of kayaks, canoes, and Yakima - car and truck racks. The best prices and service.
www.oakorchardcanoe.com
or this one from Yakima:
ShowBoat 66
All those extra hands you're bringing will only needed for applause. With the Showboat 66 the load-assist roller slides out over the rear of the vehicle for easy access and vehicle protection while loading and unloading your boat. It also adjusts from side to side for loading multiple kayaks.
yakima.com
Oh, I have. We have a t-bar one, but it isn’t really a load assist. Works well for carrying boats on the truck, but will block the car hatch. Plan to try it, though. Suction cup one would often let loose at inopportune moments, so I stopped using that. My bars won’t accept an insert. Hullavator is widely viewed as the gold standard, but the price is crazy. Etc, etc.
I‘d just like to see what this Maine Roll-on looks like / how it functions.
I‘d just like to see what this Maine Roll-on looks like / how it functions.
I don't see hillavator working well for canoes but the show boat 66 would, plus it stores without blocking hatch.
Actually, looking at video of the old orchard piece, that seems pretty clean since it only on roof while loading or unloading and doesn't block anything. Plus it's made in New York!
Actually, looking at video of the old orchard piece, that seems pretty clean since it only on roof while loading or unloading and doesn't block anything. Plus it's made in New York!
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Not really sure of the point of that thing. I just set the bow of the boat on the top of the hatch, making sure it's far enough forward that when I lift the stern the bow will land on the rear crossbar. So it just pivots on the top of the hatch, not slide on it. Then I just slide the boat forward on the crossbars. A piece of carpet on top of the top of the hatch will protect the vehicle paint if that is a worry. Maybe I'm missing something?
Should work fine. Just a tiny bit more effort - friction and lifting half the weight before sliding forward.
I still set it on from side. Not sure how many more years I can or will need to do it.
Not sure if this is what you're after, but Yakima makes something called a Hully Roller that might be what you're after. I'm a fan of rubber-backed bathmats myself.
I can see those working for a kayak, but tough for a canoe it seems.
I mean....they could work for a canoe....but you'd be transporting upright instead of upside down like normal. Only a problem if it rains! (Ok, maybe not the best aerodynamics either...)
Stumbled across this today. Billed as a kayak loader, but looks like it will work with a canoe.
Best Rooftop Kayak Carrier For Sale | Single Person Loading
EZ Rec Rack HD offers the simplest way for one person to load their kayak onto the roof of their vehicle. Nothing else like this on the market. The new and improved version, the HD (Heavy Duty) offers the same reliability of our patented system with increased strength, ergonomic design and even...
www.ezrecreationalracks.com
This looks great, but $900!!! Similar idea to the Hullavator, but rear-loading, and not a j-rack.
I‘ve taken my Showboat 66 and mounted it underneath the Yakima crossbars on my Outback, so the sliding bars don’t interfere with the thwarts in the canoe. However, the mounting brackets are plastic, and the useable crossbar locations on the car are too far forward, so the thing has to slide out so far that it’s cantilevered too far out and bows quite a bit, even under my sub-30 lb canoe. I was worried about those brackets over time. Much better to have the whole thing supported, rather than hanging it.
Then I thought about the factory crossbars that came on the car. Smaller and flimsier, but one can be mounted in a location a few inches farther back than the ones the Yakimas can use. So I put in that third bar, but there was a large vertical gap to the Showboat. So I moved the rear brackets to that bar, so it is sitting on it. There is a slight fore-aft slope, but it is fine. Now it feels much more secure. The front brackets are still underneath, but now when loading/unloading the boats, when the roller is loaded, it’s pushing on the rearmost crossbar, and pushing up on the front one. I used it with my 47lb, 14’-6” kayak yesterday, and while it’s still tough with that shape boat, it worked much, much better than before. It will be great with the canoe. I have the kayak saddles on one side, and canoe blocks on the other, so I can’t just load it up the center, which would be nicer, and less iffy for accidentally dropping a boat off the side. The kayak would prefer to flop over.
The thing is fiddly, and as I said before, poorly designed in a variety of ways, and also doesn’t mesh well with the weird Outback rack design (why on earth design a roof rack that way for a car marketed to active, outdoorsy people, I will never understand). But now it works. It still flexes quite a bit, but not threateningly, like before.
I‘ve taken my Showboat 66 and mounted it underneath the Yakima crossbars on my Outback, so the sliding bars don’t interfere with the thwarts in the canoe. However, the mounting brackets are plastic, and the useable crossbar locations on the car are too far forward, so the thing has to slide out so far that it’s cantilevered too far out and bows quite a bit, even under my sub-30 lb canoe. I was worried about those brackets over time. Much better to have the whole thing supported, rather than hanging it.
Then I thought about the factory crossbars that came on the car. Smaller and flimsier, but one can be mounted in a location a few inches farther back than the ones the Yakimas can use. So I put in that third bar, but there was a large vertical gap to the Showboat. So I moved the rear brackets to that bar, so it is sitting on it. There is a slight fore-aft slope, but it is fine. Now it feels much more secure. The front brackets are still underneath, but now when loading/unloading the boats, when the roller is loaded, it’s pushing on the rearmost crossbar, and pushing up on the front one. I used it with my 47lb, 14’-6” kayak yesterday, and while it’s still tough with that shape boat, it worked much, much better than before. It will be great with the canoe. I have the kayak saddles on one side, and canoe blocks on the other, so I can’t just load it up the center, which would be nicer, and less iffy for accidentally dropping a boat off the side. The kayak would prefer to flop over.
The thing is fiddly, and as I said before, poorly designed in a variety of ways, and also doesn’t mesh well with the weird Outback rack design (why on earth design a roof rack that way for a car marketed to active, outdoorsy people, I will never understand). But now it works. It still flexes quite a bit, but not threateningly, like before.
Malone make a roller bar for its truck mount and hitch mount racks.
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