Road Trailer for yak

[GeoffC]

I am looking to acquire a trailer for my Hobie AI. As its 16 foot long, most trailers need a tongue extension. I have looked at the folding trailers from Easy Trailer

Folding trailer frames


but those are only painted, and look to be quite thin gauge. Otherwise they look great.

I know one fellow got a trailer from Repco on special for $500 that included a spare wheel that looked like this:

But Repco's prices for that are now $642 which for a 4 foot by 3 foot trailer seems a bit expensive.

I am waiting on a price from this Chinese made trailer, 6x4 that can be got as a flat pack:



Geoff.

[breamingfromabass]

Hey Geoff,

I faced the same dilema about four weeks ago. My kayak is 14 foot.

I went to a place that made trailers and asked the to do me up a superlight boat trailer for a kayak, but the best he said he could do it for was about $1500.

When thinking about it logically I thought there is no way I am going to spend that money and only have a trailer that I can use for a kayak and nothing else. So I went back there and got a 7 x 4 trailer new for $700. The length of the draw bar (4.5 foot) at the front made it actually a total of 11.5 foot. Then when I got home I made some extension bars for the front and the back that were a metre above the top of the trailer and now I slide my kayak up there and it takes the full length of the trailer and drawbar plus a little extra that goes ABOVE my car (make sure you make the extension brackets high enough so it will easily clear your car) and a little off the back of the trailer.

All up cost me 700 for the trailer and about 60 in pipe, I will post up some pictures later on tonight and see what you think. I thought long and hard about it and it was the cheapest and easiest way for me, it especially makes loading and unloading easy! Will sho in the pictures!

Luke.

[GeoffC]

Hi Luke,

I would sure like to see the pics. I agree you can pay way too much and then have a trailer that's no use for anything else.

Geoff.

[breamingfromabass]

Heading out now, but I will have them up by the end of the day mate.

P.S. my end of the day is about 11,12 or 1am.

Ta,
Luke.

[Aqualung]

Geoff,

I spent a while looking at roof racks to put on my Territory - bloody expensive for what they are and they are all only held to the car via 4x 6mm bolts. I am no engineer but I don't trust something as large as a Kingfisher being tied securely to a strong alum bar which is only attached to the car by four bits of steel not much thicker than fencing wire. Securing at front and back is fine, but this should only be a safety option. (My memory still holds the vision of a surfboard travelling alongside the car on the highway at 60mph until it veered sideways into the bush - funny until we recovered the bits!)

Having years of towing behind me I decided the trailer was an OK option for the kayak rather than the roof of the car. I bought a trailer the same as your last picture from a Dunbier trailer retailer/repairer in Braeside Vic. From memory it was around the $900 mark. It gets plenty of use for camping, furniture moving, tip trips etc. It is well made and being gal should not dissolve into a brown pile like the last trailer I had.

I bought a couple of bits of 70 x 35 pine and with a couple of eye-bolts and turnbuckles I had lying around and some rubber door sealing strips which were being thrown out from work, I made some bars to go over the top of the trailer so I can still fit gear in it. It has space for two or maybe three up.

This option feels much better to have the yak tucked in behind rather than stacked up above!

[GeoffC]

Well that last galvanised Chinese trailer seems too expensive. They want 1,003.80 plus GST plus freight and you have to assemble it yourself.

The painted 6x4 Easy Trailer at about $600, including a ply base is looking better and better.

Geoff.

[breamingfromabass]

Hey Geoff,

This is what mine looks like.

I did this because a family freind is a detective and he said that there is new rules for towing trailers etc etc that states there is zero leniancy on loads overhanging to the rear of your trailer - I think in the past there was a rule that you could have 1M of overhang with the use of a safety flag, that is not the case anymore.

So I have built these bars about a metre from the top of the trailer because if there was an accident the car would run into the trailer and not my kayak, also because I asked the detective what he thought I should do and he said to place the load high enough that if someone was to nudge the back of me the load would not be hit (and of course of no chance of injuring the driver who hits the trailer). Then the police have no reason to pull you over, if it looks safe they will not even notice it.

Also second reason is for ease of loading. I am SEVERLY disabled at the moment after 6+ operations on my right leg so loading a kayak like a revo was a big concern for me when I purchase it. This is what I do.

*Kayak correct way up (hull down), I put the bow of the kayak on the green synthetic grass at the top of the trailers swinging door.
*Then go to the stern of the kayak and push the kayak UP to the front bracket (so up on a 45 degree angle).
*Then when I have pushed it till the stern is past the back of the trailer I gently let the stern rise until it is at the height of the back bracket and pull it BACK towards me until the kayak overhangs about 30cms.
*Then stand in the trailer and just flip the kayak over and it is as easy as that.

Aqualung expressed some concern over having the kayak up high? But um.. it is exactly the same height as my roof racks and I have no problems transporting kayaks on roof racks, noone else that I know has either, so I can not see the difference?

Let me know if you need any more of any explanation on loading or how the brackets were done (materials or method).

Thanks,
Luke.

[Duane]

Hey Geoff,



Aqualung expressed some concern over having the kayak up high? But um.. it is exactly the same height as my roof racks and I have no problems transporting kayaks on roof racks, noone else that I know has either, so I can not see the difference?

The difference is that when the yaks are on roof racks they generally have a couple of tonne of car below them therefor the centre of gravity isn't changed by much when you add the kayaks.
The trailer is much more light weight and putting a load on it at height moves the centre of gravity and may cause the trailer to become unstable.

I would be interested to see the national road rules for trailers, I can a see a trailer in my future, as soon as I work out how to reverse one

[breamingfromabass]

Hey Duane,

That does make a little more sense, but we aren't talking serious loads here.. Not semi trailers or B doubles it is only 25 kgs (according to Hobie that is), so i can not see it changing anything.

I am trying to get a set of the rules for loads and towing etc so if I get one or a link I will let you know, if I get a hard copy I could mail it..

Ta,
Luke.

[Daveyak]

The trailer is much more light weight and putting a load on it at height moves the centre of gravity and may cause the trailer to become unstable.

I wouldn't worry too much about this. In February I took my Swing from Albany to Geraldton & return (plus I picked up & dropped off a Hobie Adventure in Perth on the way) which is about 1700kms, on a trailer rack similar to the one you have. All I did was to put a (grain) bag of sand in the trailer (over the axle), mainly to settle it down a bit on its suspension.

Sitting on up to 120 kph the kayaks never gave any cause for concern so I can't see you having any problem. If it's a bit bouncy, toss in a bit of weight like a cement block, bag of sand,etc.

[breamingfromabass]

Thanks Dave.

I am not worried at all by the stability of the whole thing, I know it is not going anywhere. Already done a couple of 200+ kms trips at 120kmph and had no problems.

My only concern was the legalities.

[GeoffC]

Hey Duane,

That does make a little more sense, but we aren't talking serious loads here.. Not semi trailers or B doubles it is only 25 kgs (according to Hobie that is), so i can not see it changing anything.

I am trying to get a set of the rules for loads and towing etc so if I get one or a link I will let you know, if I get a hard copy I could mail it..

Ta,
Luke.

Hi Luke,

Thanks for posting. There are two issues. If your kayak protrudes beyond 1.2 metres at the back, you must have a red flag. (I note the comment above, and will look into it. But basically every boat with an outboard protrudes. Period.)

The other has been raised. The stability will be a function of the weight and the track width. I would be concerned in high winds, and tight corners. I am looking at a very small trailer, with maybe only 4 foot between the wheels, and it would never do to carry the AI that high. I plan to extend the tongue. Reversing is only hard when the trailer wheels are very close to the car, as also, when you can't see the damm thing! Add a pole to the trailer, and watch the trailer when you reverse, and ignore the car, is what works for me.

This looks like a great site for links to legalities : Trailer towing rules

Here is the NSW one Towing Trailers in NSW

It appears that in NSW at least, the current RTA advice is that protruding beyond 1.2 metres needs a red flag for daylight towing. Night requires two reflectors or lights at the end. One has to be careful with very long tongues, such as I plan to use, not to have too much weight forward of the axle. I may need to add some weight behind the axle to compensate. But I also need to watch not extending more than 150 mm at each side, seeing as I may buy that Aunger trailer that is only 1.29 wide. I am about to go measure my AI for width. Looks like with the amas on, and folded, its about 1.30.

Geoff.

[GeoffC]

Actually having measured the overhang, and the size of that Aunger trailer, it all looks too small to me. The AI at 16 foot, is pretty big.

Geoff.

[ELM]

If you want weight dowm low to settle yur trailer, consider a caravan water tank underneath. Fit a pump and this will also give you some fresh water to wash rods,Yak, etc on site. Also the longer the trailer the easier it is to reverse.

[GeoffC]

Well there must have been three or four posts on this thread late Friday that have disappeared. I wonder if the site had to be restored from backup? One post was mentioning an ebay sale of an Aunger trailer, which I knew about, and was keeping quiet. (So I did not mind the posts disappearing!) Anyway I got it for $285 which seems cheap enough, if I can get this to work with the AI. I will let you all know what it looks like when I have it together.

Geoff.