From jetski trailer to kayak

This spring I decided to shop for a jetski trailer that I could adapt for two kayaks. The plain truth. Is that I don’t like dragging my Outback all the way up the ramp at Hagg lake or similar venues. Plus, I am kinda done with scupper carts, because you when you land you have to tip the boat on its side and everything falls out, and/or you have to lift the boat with one arm and try to get the cart positioned with the other hand, and the wheels float so they don’t want to let the posts be vertical.

I scored a nearly new single jetski trailer off CL, after measuring and determining I could juuuuuuust get my Outback and my bitter half’s Sport on it side by side.

I removed the bunks and went with 4 cross pieces of Superstrut, which is steel framing used in electrical installations. Atop this I fastened two pairs of 3” pvc conduit. The channel design means I can adjust the conduit position the dial in the bunker width.

Initial experiments with tying down revealed that the boats would shift on the bunks. Plus, I needed a way to quickly hook up the boats for haulout, and to hold the boats in place while backing down the ramp to launch, as the other straps would be removed by then. This is a float-off/float-on design like a real boat trailer.

What I did was remove the winc( and reverse the post, which is just u-bolted to the feame. Then a 36” piece of pierced square steel tubing was bolted to the winch post. A trip to Fishermans yielded rubber v-shaped bow stops for this crosspiece. 2 pad eyes on each boat allow me to run a strap from one padeye forward, around the winch crossbar, and back to the other padeye, snugging the boat forward.

In practice it worked great today, with straps amidships and aft completely securing the boats in transit.

The whole thing rolls into my barn and the boats can live on the trailer fully supported and ready to go.

So much easier, faster to prepare to leave, daster to launch, faster to recover, and faster to put away. No worries about any long ramps. The best situation will be a ramp eith a dock on one side and beach on the other, like A at Hagg Lake.

Any possibility you can rotate the photo's for easy viewing?

They’re right side up for me outside of the post.

What?  No welding?  How can you call it a converted trailer if you didn't have to weld anything?  What's Mojo's opinion on this?   

Looks like neat kayak trailer.  Good score and good job on it!

Just curious: I can't tell from the photos, but how do you secure the kayaks once they're loaded and you're ready to hit the road?

do the conduit pipes whistle or hum while in transit?

What?  No welding?  How can you call it a converted trailer if you didn't have to weld anything?  What's Mojo's opinion on this?   

Looks like neat kayak trailer.  Good score and good job on it!

Just curious: I can't tell from the photos, but how do you secure the kayaks once they're loaded and you're ready to hit the road?

Thanks.

I use webbing straps around the middle and through the carry handles, and then another at the rear. In the case of the Outback, I ran it around the Boondox frame. On the Sport, I ran it through the carry handle.

do the conduit pipes whistle or hum while in transit?

Not that I could hear.

They’re right side up for me outside of the post.

Crop them a fraction of an inch and reload them, then they’ll be upright.
 Nice job Pinstriper looks good.

I use webbing straps around the middle and through the carry handles, and then another at the rear. In the case of the Outback, I ran it around the Boondox frame. On the Sport, I ran it through the carry handle.

I can see that now in the last photo (after I turned the laptop upside down!).  I like using the side handles to secure a kayak.  I use them for the backup straps on the Trident and used them the same way when I had the Revo on the ladder rack.  Seemed to me to be a pretty secure spot to run a strap.

I should have watched for jet ski trailers on C/L because yours looks great!

Well, Tapatalk is working today, so I will try reposting photos that way. TT seems to be hit and miss here.








Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks for re-posting and the trailer looks really nice!