Long story short, I'm going to have to find an alternative to loading my boats on top of the truck. Occasionally I may use my wife's Jeep Renegade but I an selling my Yakima Outdoorsman and considering something like the Yakima Long Arm or the Boondox bed extender. I was wondering if anyone here had used either or had a truck bed recommendation? Trailers are NOT a viable option as I live on gravel roads that get maintained maybe once a year. Thanks!
Yakima Longarm
Boonedox bed extender

Oh, BTW, if anyone's interested in a full set of Outdoorsman Racks, here's the add:
Yakima Outdoorsman For Sale

I looked at the Yakima Longarm but I don't think that you can fit two canoes side-by side because the cross bar is welded in place. You also need to buy the extension arm for it if you need to bring it to cab roof height. I like the Yakima Dry Dock or the Thule Goalpost better because you can buy longer horizontal cross bars for it and they both appear to be tall enough. The advantage to the Drydock is that it pivots when empty so you can open your tailgate.

If you want to go the cheap route Harbor freight has a bed extender and I saw a post on here a while ago where someone oriented it vertically instead of horizontally for a canoe rack.

Ozarkpaddler, just to be sure, your goal is to load and transport the canoes at bed level so you don’t have to lift overhead. Is that right?

I wouldn’t worry about the width of the crossbar. You can always strap a 2x4 to it if you need to carry two boats. Although having two boats in the width of the bed is harder. Might be able to do that just above the bed walls.

My one concern about any of these is just the back end of the boat swaying around and getting torqued. A canoe is less robust than a pile of lumber or those sit on top kayaks they show on these things.

Some of the vertical racks that come off the hitch have straps that go to the bumper to make them more rigid. I wonder if either of these allow that in the horizontal plane to keep the extender stable. Or maybe that’s not important.

Terry, I think I'd go with the Yakima Long Arm. Looks more versatile either t-gate up or down.
Interesting racks though, both of them. At 5 1/2 ft and old age creeping up on me The racks I use are looking higher every year.

butthead

How long is your canoe? How long is your truck bed? I have a 2018 F150 SuperCrew with a 5'5" bed. If I had a 17' foot canoe it would stick 11' 6" out past my tail lights which I certainly wouldn't want to have to deal with. Even if it was legal, I don't think that it would be safe. 2/3's of a 17' canoe would be sticking out past the back of my truck. I have a bed extender and a 12' kayak and I even hate to carry something that long in the bed of my truck.

Left a recommendation for the Space Trailer on your post to sell the bars. You mentioned that trailers are a no go on your gravel. The Space Trailer performs fairly well as it rides on leaf springs. Definitely easy to load, but it’s a different price point.

Thanks everyone! That little trailer looks like the "Cat's meow," Abbey, and may even hold up on our rough roads? But it sure is "Pricey." But it IS tempting....

My bed is 6'2" and I wouldn't haul anything longer than 16', and currently have nothing over 15'6" (Bell Morningstar). I've hauled two canoes occasionally when I've taken the rack off for a short time. It works, but I'd like something more stable and less prone to scraping the boats on the bed sides.

Yes, I want to transport the canoes at bed level so you don’t have to lift overhead. That's when the dizziness is worst. I may have to look at those other two Yakima racks, but have no desire to try overhead. I thought about a rack that goes over the bed, but without an extra headache rack, I can see putting a canoe stem through the back window (LOL)!

Thinking about this I’d seriously consider the trailer. A big advantage is that you don’t have to load and unload the boat at home. Some outfitters use rubber straps on their trailers instead of webbing straps. Those might stay tight better on the gravel road. If you can have one crossbar right under a thwart then you could use a strap there to prevent shifting bow to stern.

Not sure how long the gravel road you live on is but you could use the time saved to drive slower.

andym: "Thinking about this I’d seriously consider the trailer. A big advantage is that you don’t have to load and unload the boat at home. Some outfitters use rubber straps on their trailers instead of webbing straps. Those might stay tight better on the gravel road. If you can have one crossbar right under a thwart then you could use a strap there to prevent shifting bow to stern.


Not sure how long the gravel road you live on is but you could use the time saved to drive slower."

The trailer option sounds better and better. I wouldn't trust rubber bungies on the highway, BUT in addition to straps? Hmmmm. As for driving slower, funny because everyone I know complains that I ALREADY drive slow (LOL)!

Probably true that when I’ve seen the rubber straps used it was at somewhat slower speeds around Ely and the FS roads but with speeds up to 50 or 60 mph. But you shouldn’t be going much faster with a trailer.

BTW, the sort of straps I mean are these.

One feature the Yakima trailer has is independent suspension for a better ride that I'm sure would help on an unimproved road. Other canoe trailers I've looked at use a straight axle with leaf springs that are rated too high for the 100 pound weight of two canoes. I like the Idea of torsion axles for a lighter load and an aluminum frame with motorcycle wheels should make it easy to move to the garage by hand ready for the next trip. The Space trailer looks like a nice outfit if you need the extra carrying capacity.

The Space Trailer was the right fit for us. It wasn’t cheap, but it was less expensive than trading in for a larger vehicle. I barely notice it when trailering with my V6 Grand Cherokee or V6 Wrangler. My wife’s 4-cylinder Outback pulls it just fine at interstate speed and can still accelerate up a hill. I really only notice it’s there if a canoe is on top. Even a single kayak doesn’t catch much air behind the car. Crosswind is always an issue with canoes, but I think it’s less bad than a canoe on top of the vehicle for crosswind.

It is light, and I move it around by hand. We got the long tongue for canoes, which is also easier to back up than a short tongue.

If I still had a pickup, I probably wouldn’t get the Space Trailer, but it is a good way to solve the boat ride height issue. I use load stops on the bars for side-to-side, strap over the top for vertical, and at least a front strap to keep the canoe out of the back of the vehicle if there is a sudden stop. Usually front and back rope/strap if I’m going very far.

The other nice thing about the Space Trailer is that I find my packing goes faster because there is so much space that it rarely fills up. If I’m doubt, I just bring it. Similar to when I had a pickup. It’s basically a detachable pickup bed. As you can tell, I’m a fan.

Scott

Gosh, if I didn't have and need a truck, and if money was no object, I would definitely go for the trailer. Unfortunately, that expenditure is not practical after a year of numerous medical expenditures. But I think that you'all have some very good information about that Space Trailer and it will be of value to others here!