Canoe Transport

Waldeck

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New Jersey
I transport my Canoe on the top of my TJ. The gunnel or top rim of the canoe is nearly an exact match to the jeeps hard top. It is a heavy-duty canoe, and I mean Heavy. It’s a 2 man or 1 man and his wife’s job to get it up on the roof. Since it landed on a big toe, she is a little hesitant to play anymore. So, the wheels have been turning and a light bulb came on.

Use the winch, so now it’s 1 old fart and a young “Wench”/winch to get it on the roof. I am now on the MK3 version and it’s working well, I only ripped the rear wiper off twice, so not bad.

I removed the old steel cable and got a synthetic rope one. Modified the old cable fairlead to allow the rope to go over the roof and Bobs your Uncle, Fanny’s your Aunt no more broken toes. Had to extend the control cable for the winch by about 5 feet to give a helping hand.

The photo is the MK2 version.

20230413_133848[1].jpg
 
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IMG_20200731_071615-1.jpg

Three 17' Grumman/Marathon canoes and four large cargo boxes on a Garvin rack. I used two crossbars cut to about 74" on top of the rack.

Green one is a G1750C with a powder coat, so about 82 lbs. Gray ones are G1740C, so about 67 lbs each. (Top gray one is not mine.) They all have padded yokes for extended portaging. Also makes one-person loading much easier.

Drove for 1000+ miles with two canoes (3rd for only a couple hundred) with no issues.
 
Love canoes, that looks like a really nice one!

I won a really great Old Timer canoe years ago in a sales contest and loved it but I had to sell it within its first year. I had temporarily placed it in my mother's garage and she was a bit testy back then, my dad had just died, and she got mad that I had left it in there for a few months during my divorce. I ended up having to sell it. :(
 
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I got a killer deal on a canoe made out of Royalux...I think that was the name...super light plastic... supposedly better than aluminum... didn't realize it cracks in below freezing weather. Been looking for an aluminum one here and there...

I'd love to get my kayaks/paddle board on my Jeep...right now I just pull the hard top and strap them to the "roll cage."

-Mac
 
I got a killer deal on a canoe made out of Royalux...I think that was the name...super light plastic... supposedly better than aluminum... didn't realize it cracks in below freezing weather. Been looking for an aluminum one here and there...

I got a fiberglass canoe for it's lightweight. I have to be careful on what bodies of water I use it since fiberglass is kind of fragile in the rocks.
 
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I got a fiberglass canoe for it's lightweight. I have to be careful on what bodies of water I use it since fiberglass is kind of fragile in the rocks.

Epoxy-resin Kevlar/fiberglass canoes can actually be surprisingly tough. Souris River is probably one of the best manufacturers of them, at least that I've worked with. But you pay a price, of course.

However, most Kevlar canoes are made with simpler resins like vinyl ester or similar resins, which are MUCH weaker, but also much cheaper to build. When repairing these canoes, we found that the epoxy-resin canoes would last 3x as long as the vinyl-ester resin canoes (~7 years versus ~20 years). However, the company favored the vinyl-ester resin canoes because they were 60% cheaper, and by replacing them more often, they looked far newer, which customers loved.

Fiberglass, Kevlar, and Carbon Fiber canoes are all built using the same materials and methods, except that the Kevlar and carbon fiber ones have one sheet or more of Kevlar or carbon fiber (or both) to add stiffness and cut weight. All three types have several layers of fiberglass; it is exceptionally rare to have Kevlar or carbon fiber without fiberglass on top. Kevlar and carbon fiber are often too brittle or too difficult to finish when used as a top layer.

The strength doesn't necessarily depend on the fabric as much as it does the layup (and of course the resin). You can get fiberglass, Kevlar, and carbon fiber canoes in a whitewater layup, or in an ultralight layup. They simply use more layers in the heavier-duty versions. A lot of smaller manufacturers will even offer a heavier layup in the same mold for an additional fee if you ask.

If you can find a canoe that is an "outfitter edition", these are usually the same mold as their retail counterparts but with a somewhat heavier layup. So they're not as light for portaging, but way more resistant to abuse.

There's also the argument of flexibility versus rigidity. Rigidity in certain areas is critical to having a canoe handle well in the water, but also makes it way more prone to damage. Some manufacturers will specifically incorporate spots of flexibility and rigidity in the hull to maximize durability and minimize energy loss. Cheaper (mid-tier) manufacturers tend to err on the side of rigidity, which helps them handle well in the water, but makes them more prone to damage.

Working canoe repair, there was undoubtedly one thing we found that dominated the degradation of fiberglass/Kevlar and resin canoes - sunlight. All major resins are well-known to degrade in UV light, as do plastics, tent fabrics, tarps, and many other things we issued. For maximum lifespan, they need to be stored covered, or at least in full shade. They can also be coated in an anti-UV coating, similar to a spar varnish, that we could brush over the resin. Without any protection, the canoes that sat in the sunlight and were never touched degraded just as fast as the ones that stayed out on the water all summer.
 
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View attachment 416619
Three 17' Grumman/Marathon canoes and four large cargo boxes on a Garvin rack. I used two crossbars cut to about 74" on top of the rack.

Green one is a G1750C with a powder coat, so about 82 lbs. Gray ones are G1740C, so about 67 lbs each. (Top gray one is not mine.) They all have padded yokes for extended portaging. Also makes one-person loading much easier.

Drove for 1000+ miles with two canoes (3rd for only a couple hundred) with no issues.

That is quite a setup. No way I could get them up by myself. I'm trying to train the dog to use the winch controller, but he gets the In and Out wrong!!:D

Do you get any wind noise? at about 40mph I get a weird noise, its not the straps or the canoe vibrating, I think its the air going through the Canoe.
 
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Epoxy-resin Kevlar/fiberglass canoes can actually be surprisingly tough. Souris River is probably one of the best manufacturers of them, at least that I've worked with. But you pay a price, of course.

However, most Kevlar canoes are made with simpler resins like vinyl ester or similar resins, which are MUCH weaker, but also much cheaper to build. When repairing these canoes, we found that the epoxy-resin canoes would last 3x as long as the vinyl-ester resin canoes (~7 years versus ~20 years). However, the company favored the vinyl-ester resin canoes because they were 60% cheaper, and by replacing them more often, they looked far newer, which customers loved.

Fiberglass, Kevlar, and Carbon Fiber canoes are all built using the same materials and methods, except that the Kevlar and carbon fiber ones have one sheet or more of Kevlar or carbon fiber (or both) to add stiffness and cut weight. All three types have several layers of fiberglass; it is exceptionally rare to have Kevlar or carbon fiber without fiberglass on top. Kevlar and carbon fiber are often too brittle or too difficult to finish when used as a top layer.

The strength doesn't necessarily depend on the fabric as much as it does the layup (and of course the resin). You can get fiberglass, Kevlar, and carbon fiber canoes in a whitewater layup, or in an ultralight layup. They simply use more layers in the heavier-duty versions. A lot of smaller manufacturers will even offer a heavier layup in the same mold for an additional fee if you ask.

If you can find a canoe that is an "outfitter edition", these are usually the same mold as their retail counterparts but with a somewhat heavier layup. So they're not as light for portaging, but way more resistant to abuse.

There's also the argument of flexibility versus rigidity. Rigidity in certain areas is critical to having a canoe handle well in the water, but also makes it way more prone to damage. Some manufacturers will specifically incorporate spots of flexibility and rigidity in the hull to maximize durability and minimize energy loss. Cheaper (mid-tier) manufacturers tend to err on the side of rigidity, which helps them handle well in the water, but makes them more prone to damage.

Working canoe repair, there was undoubtedly one thing we found that dominated the degradation of fiberglass/Kevlar and resin canoes - sunlight. All major resins are well-known to degrade in UV light, as do plastics, tent fabrics, tarps, and many other things we issued. For maximum lifespan, they need to be stored covered, or at least in full shade. They can also be coated in an anti-UV coating, similar to a spar varnish, that we could brush over the resin. Without any protection, the canoes that sat in the sunlight and were never touched degraded just as fast as the ones that stayed out on the water all summer.

I got the canoe for free some time ago for doing some work for a friend. It's easy to repair and you can use a hammer which is good cause I have a few of them. My friend has a plastic job and we repair it with a 1/4" glue gun and plastic glue stick. He has a lot of repairs, but he does some crazy stuff.
 
I got a fiberglass canoe for it's lightweight. I have to be careful on what bodies of water I use it since fiberglass is kind of fragile in the rocks.

I'm not good with Fiberglass repairs or any body repairs either. I sort of slap it on and forget to sand it down.
 
I got a killer deal on a canoe made out of Royalux...I think that was the name...super light plastic... supposedly better than aluminum... didn't realize it cracks in below freezing weather. Been looking for an aluminum one here and there...

I'd love to get my kayaks/paddle board on my Jeep...right now I just pull the hard top and strap them to the "roll cage."

-Mac

You could try these outdoor adventure places, they sell off every so many years, there are some great deals. Most go for heavy duty kit so you can bang them about a bit. With the "I Break Shit" they would be right up your ally.;)
 
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Love canoes, that looks like a really nice one!

I won a really great Old Timer canoe years ago in a sales contest and loved it but I had to sell it within its first year. I had temporarily placed it in my mother's garage and she was a bit testy back then, my dad had just died, and she got mad that I had left it in there for a few months during my divorce. I ended up having to sell it. :(

It's a 15' Grumman/Marathon with 5 ribs and a few mod's. I store mine upside down outside. I've had Doves nest on the bottom of the seats in spring, The wife wont let me move it till they have flown.
 
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I'm not good with Fiberglass repairs or any body repairs either. I sort of slap it on and forget to sand it down.

West system epoxy and fiberglass fabric. Just keep adding layers until it's done. Be sure to sand well and prep with acetone. The acetone actually etches the underlying resin to get a chemical bond to the new epoxy.

There's a type of release fabric (don't know the name) that literally won't stick to the epoxy. Place that on top and rub out any bubbles, and you can get a near invisible finish.

Most wooden canoes actually have a thin layer of fiberglass in the resin on the outside. The fiberglass turns invisible in epoxy because it has the same refractive index, so you'd have no idea it's there. Adds a lot of dent and abrasion resistance.
 
Looks like a great way to ruin your top. The next owner is gonna love you

The top is fine and there will be no new owner. No damage, no scratches, no rubbing marks. As said, canoe fits well on roof so the weight is well distributed not a couple of tubes to hold it and the extra height of a rack.