Thule or Yakima for easiest one person loading on an SUV?

Anyone using the Thule Hullevator with a Hobie Revo?

Dino -HOW NWest

My wife and I use the Hullevator for both my outback and her revo to load onto our Ram 1500 (the bed is usually full of other camping gear).  I started out with the Yakima round bar "boatloader" arm that you pull out (see Rawkfish's hyperlink) to load my outback onto the top of a Honda Accord, but the Outback was just too heavy and slippery at the end of a long day and I dinged up the car on a couple of occasions.  We really like the Hullevator and plan on picking up a second one the next time I see a used one for sale.  My wife can load her Revo 11 by herself with it and its still less then damaging another car so we figure its worth it.   

A couple of points worth bringing up...

Noise- I added round 60" Yakima bars on the Dakota and they were EXTREMELY noisy! I then added the wind deflector, and that made all the difference in the world. In hindsight, I probably would have mounted the racks on the canopy versus the cab and/or opted for the Aero or bars for other reasons besides just wind noise. The only caveat is now I have added the boatloader extenders which I believe (and correct me if I'm wrong) are only for round bars.

Round bars Suck!- I haven't found a saddle or roller yet that can grip very well on a round bar. When tightend to the risk of breaking/damaging something they still tend to slip/tip over when loading which is a huge PITA and risk when your at the critical point in the lift- especially when you are by yourself. Any other clever solutions out there for this? Now the saddles sit in the garage, because I am fine with loading and strapping the kayaks direct to the bars. So far-so good. Seems like a waste of space anyway to have 60" bars and limit that space by having fixed locations with saddles.

For asthetics as well as securtity, I don't leave my saddles on when not in use anyway. They are easy and quick to put on and off so this works. I have drooled and envied at the Hullavator for one person loading. Like many, I stopped short at the price. My question for those who use a Hullivator- Do you leave it on all the time and or how easy is it to take on and off? Secondly, how does it fair with wind noise?

Good discussion worth a bump!

A couple of points worth bringing up...

Noise- I added round 60" Yakima bars on the Dakota and they were EXTREMELY noisy! I then added the wind deflector, and that made all the difference in the world. In hindsight, I probably would have mounted the racks on the canopy versus the cab and/or opted for the Aero or bars for other reasons besides just wind noise. The only caveat is now I have added the boatloader extenders which I believe (and correct me if I'm wrong) are only for round bars.

Round bars Suck!- I haven't found a saddle or roller yet that can grip very well on a round bar. When tightend to the risk of breaking/damaging something they still tend to slip/tip over when loading which is a huge PITA and risk when your at the critical point in the lift- especially when you are by yourself. Any other clever solutions out there for this? Now the saddles sit in the garage, because I am fine with loading and strapping the kayaks direct to the bars. So far-so good. Seems like a waste of space anyway to have 60" bars and limit that space by having fixed locations with saddles.

For asthetics as well as securtity, I don't leave my saddles on when not in use anyway. They are easy and quick to put on and off so this works. I have drooled and envied at the Hullavator for one person loading. Like many, I stopped short at the price. My question for those who use a Hullivator- Do you leave it on all the time and or how easy is it to take on and off? Secondly, how does it fair with wind noise?

Good discussion worth a bump!

+1 I have a pile of atleast $200 in Yakima kayak attachments in my garage that are now collecting dust because of the round bar syndrome (too bad I learned this from Erik after I purchased). I am just going to make a removable rack for my utilty trailer for now.

I've never had a problem with wind noise from my round bars and I don't have a wind deflector.  Also, I don't mind when my saddles (LandShark saddles) twist on the bars a little.  When loading my PA12 it actually helps when they rotate since I load the boat from the back of the truck up onto the bars.  I have been very satisfied with my round bars and saddles. 

I've never had a problem with wind noise from my round bars and I don't have a wind deflector.  Also, I don't mind when my saddles (LandShark saddles) twist on the bars a little.  When loading my PA12 it actually helps when they rotate since I load the boat from the back of the truck up onto the bars.  I have been very satisfied with my round bars and saddles.

I don't know, but I'm thinking it might have to do with the fact my bars are 60" long and drip rail mounted on the cab. This puts the Q towers and the bars further out in the wind stream. A lot probably has to do with the arodynamics of the vehicle they are installed on and where/how they are mounted. But again, I'm only guessing.

Comparing the Thule Land Shark saddles for example, it looks like they grip the round bars very differently than like the Yakima (Bow Down rack I'm currently using). As well as there being 2 attaching points versus the 1. Hmmm...More research is in order...

Have you tried putting duct tape on the bars, then mounting your saddles/rollers/J-racks?  That should help eliminate slip.  If the bar starts slipping at the towers, then put tape on the bar at those points, and re-attach to the towers.

I have the Hullivator, round Yakima bars, and a Revo 13. 
One of the main advantages of the Hullivator is that you can strap the kayak on, then lift it - no messing with climbing up on the sides or roof to strap the kayak on after loading.
On the down side, the Hullivator is very expensive.  I would think about getting a rear roller set-up if money is a concern, and if you can mount the rollers far enough to the rear of the vehicle.  The Hullivator only offsets about 40 or 50 pounds of the weight - so its still not going to help if you cant lift the added 40 or 50# of most rotomolded kayaks.
When I got an Adventure Island, which seems substantially heavier than the Revo, I found that the 50# or so that the Hullivator helps offset, caused me to strain too much - so I got a trailer for it.  In other words, if you want to get a kayak heavier than the Revo, like an Outback or Adventure - be in good enough shape to lift the added weight! 
If you go with a Hullivator, I think I would go with square bars - after a while the clamps on the round bars slip, causing the Hullivator cradles to get out of sync - they need to be parallel to work properly.

My wife and I use the Hullevator for both my outback and her revo to load onto our Ram 1500 (the bed is usually full of other camping gear).  I started out with the Yakima round bar "boatloader" arm that you pull out (see Rawkfish's hyperlink) to load my outback onto the top of a Honda Accord, but the Outback was just too heavy and slippery at the end of a long day and I dinged up the car on a couple of occasions.  We really like the Hullevator and plan on picking up a second one the next time I see a used one for sale.  My wife can load her Revo 11 by herself with it and its still less then damaging another car so we figure its worth it.   

Thanks for the input. My worry was that the Hullevator would not support the weight of the Revo nor would the Yakima rack sport the side load deflection.

Dino -HOW NWest