Last month’s post about building a homemade kayak storage system was so popular that we’ll stick with the do-it-yourself theme in March! Here longtime member Jim Owen shares his plans for a self-built kayak carrier that fits easily into a hatch.
Parts List:
- 1 two-by-four
- 2 large wooden triangles
- 2 baby carriage wheels (or other small wheels!)
- an axle (or whatever one can find about as wide as the aft end of a kayak)
- plastic electrical cable fittings, spaced 3-4 inches apart all along the bottom of the two-by-four to hold the axle in place
- two sets of rope
- a tie-down of your choice with hooks at both ends (I found one for $3 – it has a jam cleat as part of one of the hooks – you supply your own rope)
Effort:
Find and/or cut the wood to size, and strongly attach the triangles to the two-by-four (with rugged screws), with your kayak’s aft end in mind. Drill two rope-sized holes in the upper end of the triangles – the top hole is for the rope holding the boat closest to the stern, and the bottom hole is for the rope which will connect to the tie-down leading back from the cockpit. That done, then attach the axle to the two-by-four with the fittings. The rope needs to be fitted and tied according to one’s kayak dimensions. The key component of the trailer is using rope, and scaling the trailer to the size of your kayak and its main hatch.
Below see a “self-explanatory” picture. I am not a skilled carpenter, so if I can make this anybody can, and better!
– Jim
Later on, Jim submitted an update to his design:
Earlier this week I was using my kayak trailer and one of the wheels caught on a granite slab. I wasn’t paying proper attention. I gave it a big pull and tore off the axle on one side. Drat! However, it is easily fixed if that happens to you. Just screw on new hardware clips, maybe metal.
