Kayaks on the Jeep
- Thread starter Oldskool
- Start date
And if you fish a lot, you can set the kayaks up so effectively.. power poles to keep you exactly where you need to be, anchor trollies, inside hull storage for your rods, tackle, or batteries. Many of them have removable pods that allow you to mount a fish finder in the pod with the transducer that hooks to the bottom of the pod. The kayak is a million times a better fishing machine than a canoe could ever hope to be.
I’m actually in the process of setting up to carry two 17-foot canoes and an 18 foot kayak
My plan is to use the Garvin Wilderness Rack with the Yakima Roundbar adapters to mount two crossbars. Canoes will be mounted upside down on the crossbars and ratchet strapped to the crossbar. Additional lines will be used to secure the ends and the thwarts to alternate mounting points both on and off the rack.
From there I will have a kayak saddle made of wood that will have a notch for each keel of the canoes. That will be ratchet strapped onto the canoes. I’ve used a very similar setup on a different vehicle with great success.
With the Roundbars, I am buying the 86 inch roundbars and cutting them to 68 inches. They do make a 72 inch bar, but all the non-86 inch bars are thinner metal.
This will also work if I ever upsize to 18 foot or larger canoes.
My plan is to use the Garvin Wilderness Rack with the Yakima Roundbar adapters to mount two crossbars. Canoes will be mounted upside down on the crossbars and ratchet strapped to the crossbar. Additional lines will be used to secure the ends and the thwarts to alternate mounting points both on and off the rack.
From there I will have a kayak saddle made of wood that will have a notch for each keel of the canoes. That will be ratchet strapped onto the canoes. I’ve used a very similar setup on a different vehicle with great success.
With the Roundbars, I am buying the 86 inch roundbars and cutting them to 68 inches. They do make a 72 inch bar, but all the non-86 inch bars are thinner metal.
This will also work if I ever upsize to 18 foot or larger canoes.
Sounds like it'll be a great setup. You'll have to post pics of it when finished and everything is mounted.
I have a similar set up as far as a light bar bar for the front and a T post in the back. My hubby did make my T post so it rotates though. That way I can lift the one end of the kayak on to it, pick up the front and walk it around to the front of the Jeep. No longer have to lift the whole kayak at once. 
We used a couple regular square tubing style racks so that if I want my friend to come I could ad some of the J style kayak holders to it.
I like a kayak over a canoe because I go by myself and to me a kayak is easier to control. My dog can still go and my kayak is a fishing kayak so I can fish if I want to. I don't though. LOL
We used a couple regular square tubing style racks so that if I want my friend to come I could ad some of the J style kayak holders to it. I like a kayak over a canoe because I go by myself and to me a kayak is easier to control. My dog can still go and my kayak is a fishing kayak so I can fish if I want to. I don't though. LOL
Airjunky
TJ Enthusiast
After dickin around with racks for several years, I ended up going to a 12' inflatable paddleboard. No rack. Or I just strap it to the roll cage since it's not going to hurt anything. Far lighter weight. I can run it thru the river, bouncing off rocks & sand, no issues. The dog has no problem with it. And the SO has her own inflatable too. So much easier.
Airjunky
TJ Enthusiast
Yep. Haven't tried the Wrangler's on-board air on the paddleboard yet..... it'll be coming soon though.
I've been using a Slime 12v ATV tire pump to pump them up for the last 4 or 5 years. Packing 2 rolled up paddleboards on the Jeep, my own Avalanche or my wife's Grand Cherokee. Or take them with us when we go boat camping. So much easier.
Good advice
I have canoed some long trips such as 120 miles on the Allenwater River system up in Canada. That was with 16' quality Wenona river canoes on High Adventure Scout trips. The advantage of the canoe was with being able to carry large wet bags and gear for long several night excursions and the fact you have 2 per canoe to do the long portage. However- pity to the poor soul who had to solo as one of our leaders did. He had to have a big rock in the front to keep the wind from turning him on the lakes.
When we bought our lake cottage 3 years ago we bought 4 kayaks and two paddle boards to complement the existing canoe for when we rent out the place. I can assure you that no one ever takes out the canoe and the kayaks are always out. A kayak glides thru water with so little effort even against wind that there is no comparison. It is nice for fishing in that each person can pick his spot and it is far more stable. Of course if one is doing an overnight with a kayak then you are maybe going to need a different style and pack a bit different.
I am building a 4 kayak trailer so 2 couples can leave trailer on one end of stream and haul a bike or motorcycle on it to spot downstream to return to haul vehicle --lots of streams like that here.
I'm currently fabricating racks for carrying 2 kayaks on the tops of my LJ & XJ. I've been transporting them in a few different ways up until now.
We do rivers, lakes and even locks!
We do rivers, lakes and even locks!
That lock pic is one of the wildest things I've seen since the State Fair... where is that? At first glance I thought it was a joke.
Nice yaks, by the way...
What an awesome picture. Im guessing you are in there somewhere, right?
11th row in from the front and 4 over on the top lock going down … I think. I'm in the red one. Not sure where my wife was but we eventually found each other. Honestly, it was VERY crowded and kayaking like we've never done before but a lot of fun!
It's an annual event in Peterborough, Ontario and the way it works is that you come in along the Trent River from either direction, go in to the lock, go up or down depending on which direction you came from, paddle for a while, turn around and go up or down in the opposite direction to get back to where you started. It's very simple and I've NEVER kayaked with so many fun loving people.
We were just getting "loaded" here on our way up. It's a long way up from the bottom! That's a 100 years+ of slime.
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No joke!
Little crowded but no joke. It was at Peterborough, Ontario which is known as "Lift Lock City". GREAT Lacrosse town btw … even though we they usually beat us.The yaks are Ascend D10's (10') sit ins. I'm hardly a kayak aficionado but we've really enjoyed them. They weigh 55 lbs. each and are pretty easy to lug around out of the water. Great in the water too. I'm looking forward to getting a sit on kayak too for fishing. I don't fish well but I'm learning.
I'll have to see if I can find a picture, but I had the opportunity to load three 17 foot aluminum canoes on the rack in addition to a few boxes of cargo and paddles stowed underneath the boats.
The rack performed quite well, even on very washboarded or potholed roads at maximum load. The thicker 86" roundbars were appreciated, as I tend to really crank down the canoes with a ratchet strap. They did not bend, though the plastic decorative caps that I purchased for the Yakima bars failed easily. I had no issues with the Garvin rack itself.
For long canoes or kayaks, most manufacturers recommend an additional leader line on each end of the boat secured to the front and back of the canoe. I noticed that the rack occassionally shaked side to side a slight bit, so I added an X-shaped pair of lines from the canoes to the opposing mounting point on both ends. This significantly reduced the side to side motion of the rack.
I did quickly learn that the rack can be very noisy at freeway speeds; however, the optional Garvin wind deflector significantly cuts down the noise when the rack is unloaded.
Here it is with two 17 foot canoes:
The rack performed quite well, even on very washboarded or potholed roads at maximum load. The thicker 86" roundbars were appreciated, as I tend to really crank down the canoes with a ratchet strap. They did not bend, though the plastic decorative caps that I purchased for the Yakima bars failed easily. I had no issues with the Garvin rack itself.
For long canoes or kayaks, most manufacturers recommend an additional leader line on each end of the boat secured to the front and back of the canoe. I noticed that the rack occassionally shaked side to side a slight bit, so I added an X-shaped pair of lines from the canoes to the opposing mounting point on both ends. This significantly reduced the side to side motion of the rack.
I did quickly learn that the rack can be very noisy at freeway speeds; however, the optional Garvin wind deflector significantly cuts down the noise when the rack is unloaded.
Here it is with two 17 foot canoes: