One Man Loading Carrier

Last week I made a canoe carrier for my wife's pickup. It's easy to load and unload, and it'll work (should work) with about any pickup and any canoe. It'd take two to carry a bigger canoe into position, of course, but one to mount it on the truck.

The back post slips into the receiver hitch and can be set higher or lower for different height trucks, and the top tilts and pivots. You set one end of the canoe on it and then set the other end on the ground (in any direction) while you clip the foam paddy-things onto the gunnels. Then lift the other end, rotate it to the top of the truck, and tie it down. If there were a rack on top of the truck it'd be better, but there isn't. (There's only so much I can do to my wife's truck.) Taking it off is just as easy, and the thwart's at a good height so you don't have to stoop over much to lift--just crouch a bit and walk away with it.

My back cross board needs to be a tad longer so it's an easier target. And it needs prettier carpet.

My dad made something like this for his IH Scout back in the 60's, but his pivoted on the front. I wish I had a picture of that rig. It was great. He loaded his 16 foot Yankee with it alone. I'll dig through the family pictures some time and see if I can find it.

I'd love to see what other folks have done and hear suggestions for mine. I've looked here for a thread about canoe carriers but haven't found one.

 

Alright, I'll say it. That rig is awesome.
Anyone who has ever loaded a nice canoe on a truck knows what a PITA it is. It looks like you have it pretty well figured out.
I've taken to loading my good canoes on the Vvo wagon and I slide my working canoes and junkers up over the TrackRac I have on the truck. A rig like this would almost make it tempting to carry nice boats on the truck.
I'm trying to understand the purpose of the carpeted cross piece, the short section. Is that to keep you from dropping the canoe off the main crossbar if you miss while you are loading?
Mike

 

Hey thanks, Mike. I appreciate your reaction. That short piece is pretty much what you said-- to keep the canoe centered, something to aim at and to keep it from sliding off one side. It actually coulda run with the board instead of at 90 degrees to it, and then it could be longer, so it's closer to the gunnels, if that makes any sense. When I find prettier carpet and make the board longer, I think I'll do that so it's a better fit.

 

Musings;
As I age, or when using heavier canoes, I am a fan of the "Ranger" method ie. leaving one end on the ground.


Maybe add some blocks outside the gunnels on the carpeted piece to stop the canoe sliding sideways.

Very sturdy design!
Possible modification; non-swivel at pivot. Just load the canoe from the back, and slide it straight forward until the front somes down on the cab. That way, rather than lifting the weight onto the cab, you just need to resist the lift at the back as it rises (due to gravity) controlling the descent to set it down gently on the cab roof.

 

Blocks outside the gunnels. Now, there's an idea. By golly! Thank you, Rob.

The swivel is what makes loading so easy. I wouldn't want to change that. You set the back of the canoe on my gismo, then with one hand just walk around and set the other end on the roof of the truck. That's what my dad's system is based on too. His mounts to the deck of the canoe and pivots there (he has a padded clamp on the deck with a bolt that hangs down) which means when he lifts the other end, he's lifting half the canoe's weight. I don't with the system I'm using, because the mount is about a third of the way down the canoe, so the end's lighter.

I think I'm gonna go look for a longer board and put some blocks on the outside instead of one in the middle. Not sure about carpet though. But then, my wife is away for the weekend, and there's that ugly stuff in the office. (All I need's a strip.) Or upstairs. That stuff's horrific. Hmmm....