Easy Kayak Lift to Roof

Yukon

Yukon

Senior Member
Joined
May 5, 2008
Messages
234
Location
Edmonds WA
I just finished adding a newer way to lift my big & heavy ocean kayak onto the roof of my Eagle. I had this on my car and decided it would be great for the camper too. Here are some key points for anyone interested:
  • It is a Thule "Hullivator"
  • I have mounted the Hullavator on Yakama cross bars and factory Yakama rails.
  • The kayak weighs 55 lbs. and is 17.5 feet long
  • All strapping, etc. is done on the side of the truck BEFORE lifting it up.
  • I will use a forward and aft rope to secure the ends.
  • The lift has pistons that make the boat only weigh 10 lbs for me to lift!
  • What's really cool is that the Hullavator main mounting bracket can be on two vehicles and I can put the expensive part on either of my vehicles.
  • It is sooooo easy to lift up to the roof.
  • I do NOT plan to lift the roof when camping with the kayak on top. It is easy to remove, so I will take if off the roof, and then lift the roof.
  • If you want to see how this device works...go to Youtube and search on Thule Hullavator and there are videos.

I am wondering if anyone else has tried this? Any comments if so?

Happy camping and paddling. Chris
Here's some pictures
 

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Thanks for the post and great pics. I have been wondering how well one of those works - so nice to have a good endorsement from an actual user.
 
Thanks...do you have a picture with boat fully on roof and secured?

Appreciate the info...

Phil
 
Here is a photo with the boat in final position. I did not yet have the two ropes for front and rear of boat attached.
Chris
 

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Nice photos..thanks..life seems to be a series of compromises...for me the hassle of removing my two 17 foot sea kayaks each night would take the joy out of having the boats with us and the overhang with minimal boat support would not work off road where we explore...boats or roof could be damaged...vertical clearance would be an issue for me with the Tundra/Hawk; off road I have had to squeeze around and under obstacles [rock overhangs and trees] and I only have 1.5" clearance getting into my shop..

Alas, if I really want to sea kayak, then a trailer must be in my future...your set-up looks very well thought out and functional. Have fun! :D

Phil
 
Great idea. I had considered this option but was concerned about 2 issues:

1. The stress on the roof rails applied by the hinging motion of the hullivator
2. Interference with my solar panels

- Have you noticed any apparent problems/issues with the roof rails over a year of use?

Jason
 
Great idea!

I hope you aren't using the solar panel for your primary source of charging the "house" battery.

Shading, even partial shading, a single cell in a 36 cell panel can reduce power output of the entire panel up to 75% according to Stanford University’s Gil Masters. His excellent text book is Energy and Efficient Electric Power Systems. I bought the book when I was looking at an "off the grid" home site.

No doubt you're using the truck's alternator to charge the "house" when motoring. But when the kayak is off the roof, and camping, you might want to consider moving the front crossbar to prevent shade on the panel to achieve max available power output.
 
Our Hawk came with a Hullivator, thrown into the sale :)

We used it for a tandem 70# boat, but found it to be cumbersome a bit Rube Goldberg (geezers will get this).
It was only one set, and was quite heavy by itself, so I sold it and bought Yakima Hully Rollers and Mako Saddles. I already owned a number of other Yakima components, so it made sense.

We actually move this system from my wife's Subaru to the FWC Hawk/Tundra. Everything is transfered onto my bars on a set of sawhorses, then clicked into place on the Yakima Tracks, which were a factory option. Easy peasie.

We've done three kayak trips in the last fourteen days, and have a good system for mounting two 12' long, 50# kayaks. The key to our system is a nice solid three step wide step stool, which also came with the camper. I've got it mounted on the rear steps with a custom rig.

We're able to mount or dismount our two kayaks in under five minutes, using our 3' step ladder and the roller/saddle system.

Today we went to Lake Valley Reservoir, and last weekend we four-wheeled class 3 to Fordyce Lake where we were the only boat on the water all afternoon for an eight mile paddle. We love our FWC/kayak combo.

 
An ideal setup, I can understand your pleasure, having used similar roller racks and a Pungo myself.
I had a 10' Pungo, all around perhaps the best boat I ever had, used it everywhere from ocean surf play to ankle deep trout streams.
I imagine the 12' footers would add the handy extra couple of feet to make loading and unloading that much easier.
 
Yukon said:
I just finished adding a newer way to lift my big & heavy ocean kayak onto the roof of my Eagle. I had this on my car and decided it would be great for the camper too. Here are some key points for anyone interested:
  • It is a Thule "Hullivator"
  • I have mounted the Hullavator on Yakama cross bars and factory Yakama rails.
  • The kayak weighs 55 lbs. and is 17.5 feet long
  • All strapping, etc. is done on the side of the truck BEFORE lifting it up.
  • I will use a forward and aft rope to secure the ends.
  • The lift has pistons that make the boat only weigh 10 lbs for me to lift!
  • What's really cool is that the Hullavator main mounting bracket can be on two vehicles and I can put the expensive part on either of my vehicles.
  • It is sooooo easy to lift up to the roof.
  • I do NOT plan to lift the roof when camping with the kayak on top. It is easy to remove, so I will take if off the roof, and then lift the roof.
  • If you want to see how this device works...go to Youtube and search on Thule Hullavator and there are videos.
I am wondering if anyone else has tried this? Any comments if so?

Happy camping and paddling. Chris
Here's some pictures
Click to expand...
I am curious as to how you mounted the hullavator on the round Yakima bars. The one I was looking at was for Thule rectangular bars...
 
Interesting idea.
I decided to get a trailer instead as our yaks weigh close to 70#'s each. It also gives us the ability to carry extra gear.

Just as an aside I was told it was bad juju to put a yak backwards...;-)
 
Any recommendations on a kayak that would be good for ocean waves, class 2 whitewater, able to stow 3 days worth of gear for overnights. There are so many kayaks out there these days, hard to choose. Wonder if there is a thread for this topic?
 
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