Topside kayak rack

[kevininak]

Anyone have rack ideas or pictures for a topside rack on a Sea Ranger HT? I have a couple of 17' kayaks that I would like to sling up and use the Sea Ranger to extend range of my paddling trips. Thinking I might have one of the local aluminum fabricators make a aft bar and mount some sort of saddles up on the hard top.

[Grilse]

I've put tracks/ kayak cradles on the top of a van, Yakima brand as I recall. No reason why you couldn't do the same? I think they use stainless in most of their hardware. I don't know what the top of a Arima HT looks like, but if its anything like a pickup bed cap, couldn't be too tough.

My  :twocents:

Jeff

[allpauwork]

Don't know where you live but I have an older Yakima kayak rack that I used to use on my truck bed.  I also have a pair of Yakima kayak saddles that will hold one kayak that fit factory roof racks and was used on two trips.  They are like brand new with locks.  We can talk price (cheap) as they are just sitting around. 

[kevininak]

Thanks of the offer on the Yakima gear. I have saddles and holly rollers already. Just looking for mounting ideas. My concern with only using the cabin top is that the kayaks are much longer and I think would be better supported with something farther aft as well as towards the bow of the boat/cab.

[Threeweight]

I have seen guys use PVC tubing slipped into the corner recessed rod holders to create a frame at the back of the boat to hang a tarp from (w/ the front clipped to the back of their canvas.)  Not pretty, but it works.

PVC might not be strong enough for kayaks, but I bet some appropriately-sized aluminum tubing would work great when used the same way.  A couple of Yaks will weigh less than 200#.

I would skip the fancy saddles, and instead split some $1 pool noodles in half, and zip tie the foam to the crossbars.

[Secret Spot]

Here are some pictures of what I came up with for the Secret Spot.  The primary reason for this design and fabrication was to accommodate surfboards.  However, when I was putting the design together I purposely made the top of the racks longer to also handle my shorter Hobie Sport Kayak.  I plan on eventually getting kayak cradles to pad and position kayak right side up on the racks.  I also feel the padded cradle will provide more stability.  My Hobie Mirage Sport Kayak is 9'6" long and weighs 3 lbs.

The design consist of stainless steel pocket brackets permanently mounted to the transom and aluminum 2"X2" square stock removable trussed "T Racks".  The upright portion of the rack had to be cut, angled and welded to offset the transom angle and allow the racks when installed to be straight up and down.

kevininak's challenge is to accommodate a 17' Kayak that clearly needs to be positioned forward and aft.  That being said, the transom pocket brackets may work to accommodagte a rear support for positioning a 17' Kayak forward and aft on a Arima with a hard top.

[Secret Spot]

More pictures...