So here's the deal. I have a 147 oldtown canoe that is heavier than holy heck, 80+ lbs. I have the canoe for paddling the local MPLS and St. Paul lakes and its great for that and its size makes it easy to store in my garage. The problem is I don't always have someone with me when I want to go out for a paddle. Meaning I have to find a way to load and unload the canoe from the top of my SUV by myself.

I'm hoping someone might have a few tricks that will help me out. I've gotten it up and down once using brute force and I managed but it dang near killed me and I got lucky I didn't damage the SUV in the process. There has got to be an easier way.

Buying a new canoe is probably the right solution but I don't have that kind of money so I've got to make do with what I've.

I always did it solo by placing the bow of the canoe up on the rear end of the SUV, and then go around and lift the stern and slide it up on top. Actually use same approach with my lightweight canoes now. Loading solo onto an SUV can be tricky, but doable. I am short, and drive a Suburban.

Thats what I was thinking of doing just not sure if the roof rack is going to be in the way or not. Also worried about scratching the roof of the SUV. Its not a new vehicle nor is it in amazing condition but its the wife's car and I'll be in the dog house if I scratch it up too badly.

I usually use foam pads on the gunnels so the canoe rests on the outside edge of the roof.

Both my canoes are over 80 lbs and I easily take them fishing by myself with this system.

A hitch mounted support pole with pivoting head. I make very sure the canoe end is secure to this before...

I lift the canoe and pivot it onto a Yakima Q tower over the passenger door.

I use hideable straps under the hood for helping to secure the front of the canoe.

I'm getting older with a sore shoulder but find this a workable solution to being able to handle the heavier canoe by myself.

quote BWPaddler: "I always did it solo by placing the bow of the canoe up on the rear end of the SUV, and then go around and lift the stern and slide it up on top. Actually use same approach with my lightweight canoes now. Loading solo onto an SUV can be tricky, but doable. I am short, and drive a Suburban."

I do the same when soloing, except I place an old wool blanket I keep in my SUV under the bow when sliding it forward so the roof doesn't get any scratches.

quote OldFingers57: "

quote BWPaddler: "I always did it solo by placing the bow of the canoe up on the rear end of the SUV, and then go around and lift the stern and slide it up on top. Actually use same approach with my lightweight canoes now. Loading solo onto an SUV can be tricky, but doable. I am short, and drive a Suburban."

I do the same when soloing, except I place an old wool blanket I keep in my SUV under the bow when sliding it forward so the roof doesn't get any scratches. "

I'm so short, I've never seen the scratches - doubt anyone else can either, lol. That said, the blanket sounds like a good idea!

Problem is I'm 6'4" so I can see all the scratches.

I've got a heavy blanket used for wrapping furniture so maybe that will do the trick.

I'll have to do a practice run to see how it works.

I just double the blanket up some so it is not a single layer of material.

You can also do it from the side by putting the bow on the end of the front crossbar, lift the stern and slide and pivot into position. If done properly, it won't touch your car. It won't work if you're parked between 2 cars, though ;).

This has got me thinking of building some sort of frame that would make loading from the back easier.

I am envisioning some sort of wood frame that I can attach to the roof rack. The back edge of the frame would extend to the back edge of the roof (leaving enough room so the back hatch and open fully). The back side of the frame could possibly be made using a 1 inch thick wood dowel running through a 1.5 inch PVC pipe. The combination of the two would act as a roller to make pushing up the canoe easier. It would also give me something to lean the canoe against instead of the roof for the car.

I'll have to do some measuring and additional pondering to see if this will actually work but it could make solo loading much easier.

quote boonie: "You can also do it from the side by putting the bow on the end of the front crossbar, lift the stern and slide and pivot into position. If done properly, it won't touch your car. It won't work if you're parked between 2 cars, though ;)."

I can do that when I have my crossbars on for holding 2 canoes. Without the cross bars, only the roof rack, there's nothing sticking up or out to hold that bow. So, depends on what's up top.

Have Hans and Franz Pump You Up. It worked for A-Rodg. :-)

Yakima makes extensions that extend out the side of the rack. The process is then:
1 pull out extension
2 put bow on extension with stern still on ground
3 put stern on the rack.
4 put bow on the rack
5 slide extension back into rack

Word on the street is that a broom stick can also be used.

We actually have extensions on both our front and back racks so that our tandem sea kayak goes up on the extensions as described and then we roll it into the kayak J cradles.

But for a canoe, one extension is enough.

I have discovery 179 (actually the scout troop).... quite the beast as well.
I was having coffee and sweet roll at a local park one summer when a paddler comes up to shore from a time of fishing.... had a 179 as well.... a 20-30 something guy. I was going to ask if he needed help when he picks this puppy up and sets it over on top the middle of his car like it was a feather. He was way more fit than I am the way he handled that thing.

I took the 179 to Sylvania once and I had these portage things that weren't pads but half cup like things...those dug in so bad I would have no feeling in my hands at the end of the portage...those things might be OK for a light canoe but no way on that thing.

I like my SR Kevlar a lot :-)

drbob

The one time I did lift the canoe solo I did what guy did with that 179. It was doable but I didn't enjoy it at all and prefer not to to it again.

This thread gave me a couple promising ideas to think over. I think there should be a way to make it doable. Just in time to because I just saw another lake near me is wide open with a few more close behind.

quote BWPaddler: "

quote boonie: "You can also do it from the side by putting the bow on the end of the front crossbar, lift the stern and slide and pivot into position. If done properly, it won't touch your car. It won't work if you're parked between 2 cars, though ;)."

I can do that when I have my crossbars on for holding 2 canoes. Without the cross bars, only the roof rack, there's nothing sticking up or out to hold that bow. So, depends on what's up top."

Yes, you must have cross bars on - used to make them from 2X4's cut to length and U-bolts.

Spring creek suction cup rack in front. Use the loading bar. On my truck when the full rack is on I have 14 loading bars. I use the suction cup rack on my little f150. I like it a lot.

The Spring Creek loading bar is the same idea as the Yakima extension. Great idea no matter who you get it from.

One term to watch for in loading stories is car versus truck. Stuff is a lot easier on a lower car than a big SUV. In the local sea kayaking community, I see a lot of old small pickups and small station wagons like the old Subaru's. I don't see a lot of full size SUVs.

And there are a few trailers around. Don't discount that idea. I hate backing trailers up but with a canoe or kayak trailer, you can always just disconnect it and turn around without it and hitch it up again if you get stuck. It's not too hard to take an old small boat trailer and mount a couple of 2x4's on it for a rack. Of course, folks here have done nicer jobs of that but for one canoe you could do a quick and easy retrofit.

I was messing around last night and put together an idea for a roof rack that would make solo loading easier.

The rack is a simple wood frame that gets attached to the existing roof rack on the vehicle. The big feature is on the back edge of the frame that gets positioned as far back on the roof as possible when attaching the frame to the room rack.

The back edge has a roller made from a 1.25" closet rod and a 1.5" pvc pipe. The combination of the two act as a roller.

The bow of the canoe would get leaned up on the roller. Once its leaned up you can lift the stern and push forward. The canoe should glide along the roller and up on to the roof.

The benefits are that it protects the roof of the vehicle by giving you a place to rest the bow of the canoe and the roller provides assistance while pushing the canoe onto the roof from the rear of the vehicle.

I put together a diagram but I'm not able to load due to some apparent site maintenance. I'll post it once able.

Sounds like a good idea. I think there was some sort of removable roller for sale at one point and one that mounted on a rack but wasn't far enough back for me. So your frame is an improvement.

One thin to consider is whether you need to make it so the canoe isn't resting on the roller during travel.

quote andym: "

One thin to consider is whether you need to make it so the canoe isn't resting on the roller during travel. "

I was thinking about that as well. I'll have to see how it plays out once I get final measurements made and determine where the canoe will be resting during travel.

As I picture it now the roller will probably be under the canoe about 18-24 inches from the stern. I think I could either put the foam gunnel pads in the back to lift the canoe off the roller a little. Or it might be that once I have the canoe tied down securely (bow and stern tie downs plus one or two over the top) it won't matter if its on the roller or not since it won't be going any where.

Here are a couple of sites that show commercial products. Food for thought.

Oak Orchard Canoe

kayakroller.com

The latter is just a list of commercially available ones.

Clearly I've spent too much time worrying about loading boats. This comes from having a big aluminum canoe, a heavy sea kayak, and a SUV that is too tall for me!

I think you are right that if the canoe is firmly on the two usual racks then the roller doesn't make any difference. You could probably even get away with it being one of the racks but then I get a bit queasy. On the other hand, boats on trailers are often on rollers.