I have a 17 foot canoe with portage pads mounted that I want to load solo onto an SUV.

There is a Thule roof rack on the car and it has Yakima keel over brackets on it. I want to load the canoe upside down. Are there any products that you can recommend that will make this job easier?

That sounds easy. Are you looking for straps and pads to secure the canoe? Or concerned with ease of getting the canoe up and on the vehicle?

Not sure just what you are looking for. Usually it's just put on the crossbars, sometimes with some foam pads, then strapped down with a couple of straps. Usually the front is tied down. You can get or make loops to put under the hood for that.

Like these

I am concerned with getting the canoe on the vehicle. I have had the canoe on the car hundreds of times. However, I normally lift it up with my wife. She doesn't really like lifting it, so I want to do it myself.

OK, is it too heavy to do by yourself? I can do a lightweight solo myself - just pick up like portaging and put the bow on the rack and slide it on.

Putting the bow on the car is not a problem, but sliding it on would be. I'd have to slide the gunwales over the car and scratch it up. The rack crossbars are not near the end of the car.

If you have cross bars (you mention Thule bars), load one end of the canoe on the rear bar from the rear, and keeping the end of the canoe in your hand low, slide the canoe up on the rear bar until you hit the portage yoke. Put the canoe end down on the ground (the bow should be sticking up in the air), then walk up under the canoe and grab the gunnels aft of the yoke and press the canoe up and forward, walking the canoe forward in your hands. You'll have to raise the canoe up higher to clear the yoke. Once the yoke is cleared, and the bow of the canoe is resting on the forward rack, slide the canoe forward. This works for quite heavy boats.

If the rack rear crossbar is too far forward for the canoe to rest on (you can lower the angle by only putting the very front of the canoe on the rack), you might try some temporary padding such as a pool noodle, blanket or towel, so you can slide the bow forward enough to rest on the crossbar. Once the canoe is on the racks, you just have to move it around enough for the KeelOvers to engage the gunnels.

If you're strong enough to military press the canoe (or if the canoe is light enough, or both), you might be able to load the canoe from the side using the yoke. Walk up beside your car with the boat on your shoulders standing equadistant between the two rack crossbars, put one gunnel on the rack crossbar, and then slide the canoe over to where both gunnels are supported.

I may be able to move the crossbar further back. This would help with the rear load option.

The problem I am worried about is that if I approach the car from the rear, the canoe will rest on the car not the rear crossbar. The car is a 2019 Subaru Forester and there is a little visor that sticks out over the rear window. The bow would be sitting on the visor. If I lifted the stern up, the canoe would pivot on the visor but eventually come to rest on the rear crossbar. Then I could slide the canoe forward. The canoe is a Souris River Q17 and only weights 43 pounds, so the visor would end up supporting half the weight of the canoe as I rotated it up. I hope that the visor is strong enough.

The military press option is something I thought of too. I think I could do it, but I worry about balancing the canoe. With both hands on the yoke, you are lifting at the balance point and the bow or stern could easily go up or down and that's not even thinking about the wind blowing while you're lifting it.

Maybe my concerns are unfounded. However, I was thinking about products that might help. Some companies make roller attachments that you can put on the roof of the car and then you slide the canoe on the roller until it is on the rack. Some of these mount on a trailer hitch and then pivot to let you bring the end of the canoe not on the hitch mounted crossbar to the front of the car. Has anyone tried any of these products? How well do the work?

I have 2x4s U-bolted to the cross bars of my Thule racks. They are long enough to extend past the edge of the car somewhat. I put my canoe on my shoulders like I'm portaging, center myself between the racks, lift whichever side of the canoe is closer to the car, then side step until the gunnel is over the racks. Then I just have to lift the offside (a little tricky), and walk the canoe fully onto the racks. Not pretty but it works. I'm thinking of getting rid of my thule racks and just attaching the 2x4s directly to the car's factory racks. That would lower the racks by 3" or so and make it even easier. Or I could try to make friends, but that seems like too much work.

LarryS48:
The military press option is something I thought of too. I think I could do it, but I worry about balancing the canoe. With both hands on the yoke, you are lifting at the balance point and the bow or stern could easily go up or down and that's not even thinking about the wind blowing while you're lifting it.

Depending on how tall you are and the height of the car, you might be able to just tilt the boat while on your shoulders to get one gunnel on. Put one gunnel on, and slither out from under the yoke keeping the outside hand on the gunnel as you slide the boat on. As you mentioned, lifting the whole boat is pretty unstable.

LarryS48: "The problem I am worried about is that if I approach the car from the rear, the canoe will rest on the car not the rear crossbar. The car is a 2019 Subaru Forester and there is a little visor that sticks out over the rear window. The bow would be sitting on the visor. "

As I mentioned, you might be able to put some padding (blanket, pool noodle) there temporarily so you can get the gunnels onto the rear bar. Once you're on the bar, you're good.

MReid: "

LarryS48:
The military press option is something I thought of too. I think I could do it, but I worry about balancing the canoe. With both hands on the yoke, you are lifting at the balance point and the bow or stern could easily go up or down and that's not even thinking about the wind blowing while you're lifting it.

Depending on how tall you are and the height of the car, you might be able to just tilt the boat while on your shoulders to get one gunnel on. Put one gunnel on, and slither out from under the yoke keeping the outside hand on the gunnel as you slide the boat on. As you mentioned, lifting the whole boat is pretty unstable. "

The rack is a little too high for me to just tilt the canoe up on to the rack. However, a simple solution occurs to me now. Just put a small step stool in the car. I would only need to be six inches high. Standing on the stool I could tilt it up. Since I would only need the stool when I was at the car, I could just leave it in the car until I returned. That sounds safer than free lifting from the side or back, and easier and cheaper than buying one of the commercial canoe loaders.

I have a Honda Element, and I'm only 5' 5" on a good day. I usually just come from the side and press my 32 lb solo up onto the rack. Given enough space, I sometimes come at an angle and set the bow on the front rack, then slide and lift the stern into place.

I have had the wind come up on my return from a paddle and had to improvise to avoid watching my canoe fly away. I set the canoe next to the car, tie down the painter line that is facing into the wind (allow enough slack to get it on the rack). Make sure all straps are in position. Wait for a break, lift, hold on, get at least 1 strap in position. Start breathing again.

I put the bow of my 18.5 boat on my car's rear bar then squat under the boat and put the stern on the ground behind me. Then I slide out from under the canoe, go back to the stern, lift it up and push the canoe forward on the rack.

EddyTurn: "I put the bow of my 18.5 boat on my car's rear bar then squat under the boat and put the stern on the ground behind me. Then I slide out from under the canoe, go back to the stern, lift it up and push the canoe forward on the rack."

That won't work for me. The canoe would not touch the rear crossbar. It would be touching the car (actually an SUV). The squared off back of an SUV and the crossbar not being all the way back is the problem. The side loading technique I and others discussed earlier is simpler in this case. Some companies do sell suction cup or trailer hitch mounted bars (usually with rollers attached) that sit at the back of the vehicle and allow this rear loading technique.

Larry, I also load mine from the side as mentioned. I have a 2016 Subaru Outback with factory rack. I am a 1/2" taller than arm2008, but probably not as powerful. I'm a 145-lb. non-powerlifter. Just pick the canoe up like you're portaging it, lift it up onto the car by the gunwales not the yoke. I often come at a slight angle like arm said. My solo is about 32 lbs., but I've also done some tandems that way. After I get it up on there, I just open doors and step up there. I think you should just give it a try.

Like this

another video Once it's up there for portaging, just walk over to the car and push it up on there.

Lifting the canoe on to my shoulders as shown in the video is something I've been doing for decades. It is lifting it on to the car that is the problem. Assume that I am standing beside the car with the canoe on my shoulders and parallel to the car. Since the crossbars on my rack are roughly 8 inches higher than my shoulders, I have to lift the canoe up and then over to get one gunwale on the rack. Then I could slide the canoe sideways on to the rack. It is that up and over motion that might be tricky. Since I am under the center of the canoe the balance from bow to stern will be tricky. Maybe with one hand toward the bow on one gunwale and the other hand toward the stern on the other gunwale, I could avoid the canoe tipping bow up or bow down. I don't want to take a chance that as I move the first gunwale onto the rack that the bow drops down and lands on the hood or fender of the car. Earlier I suggested that if I put a step stool beside the car, I would not have to lift the canoe up, only move it to the side to get the gunwale on both crossbars of the rack. Not having to lift the canoe would allow me to keep at least one arm extended and that would allow me to prevent the bow from going up or down. I think that will work.

That requires having a step stool. Your method does not require a stool and that is more convenient. I think I am starting to understand your technique. Is what follows correct? Approach the car from the side at a slight angle with the bow angled slightly up. Try and get the gunwale near the bow on the car side to rest on the front crossbar of the rack. (Thank goodness my bars extend out a bit.) You can now set the stern on the ground. The canoe would now be angled up with the gunwale on the front crossbar and the stern angled away from the car and on the ground. Then move towards the stern and lift the back of the canoe up and over to put the gunwale on the rear crossbar. With the gunwale on both crossbars, you could then slide the canoe sideways to the center of the rack.

Is that more or less what you are doing?

That's closer to what I do, but there's no need to set the stern on the ground. Think of it like this - once you get a gunwale on there, you've got a third hand, then a fourth, fifth, etc. You have two crossbars and two rails to help. You just get it started and slide it forward/sideways, then it is supported on either side of center. Once you get it started, you're no longer the sole support at the center.

I'm having trouble visualizing/explaining exactly what I do and I think that's because I never really thought about it before I had to do it. I just rented a solo for my first one and the outfitter put it on there, and when I came out, I just had to get it done myself. I think I probably tilt the bow up enough to get it started and slide it forward from hand to hand until close to centered and then sideways. I think it would be harder to step up on a stool with it. Since you've lifted it and portaged it for years, I assume you haven't found balancing it on a portage to be a problem and have probably had to tilt it a little one way or the other on hills. It's a tad more awkward, obviously, than having someone on each end and just lifting it up and setting it down on the center of the rack, but it's also far from impossible. I think if you just portage it over to the car, come in from the side/center of the car at an angle and get some of it on the rack, the rest will come to you pretty easily. I hope that helps. Surprisingly, it's more difficult for me to explain exactly what I do than to do it!

Google cartop canoe loader. There are a number of devices, several of which have slide outs that temporarily extend the cross bar. As someone notes, there are rollers that mount to trailer hitch. I kind of was intrigued by this one that is a roller that would temporarily extend rearward and sit above your "eyebrow" spoiler at rear. Loader

Here's another that looked interesting while I was searching for portage carts: Loader

When loading canoe (solo or tandem) to my Outback (albeit slightly lower than a Forester, though I have used the same technique on a friend's Forester), I walk along side it until the yoke (or where the yoke would be as my solo yoke cannot be mounted when the canoe is transported) is midway between the crossbars. I press the boat up until one set of gunwales rests on the crossbars (boat is stopped from rocking up or down by the crossbars) and then slide the canoe onto the rack while ducking beneath it. When I place the solo boat, the canoe is supported solely by my hands on the gunwales as the yoke projects too far below the gunwales to be mounted while the canoe is transported. It's quite simple and easy.

Google large foam rollers, you can get different lengths and diameters. Used a lot by yoga enthusiasts. You could put it on top of the vehicle prior to the roof rack crossbar, then roll the canoe towards the rack.

I tried the side loading technique where one approaches the car at a slight angle and then puts the gunwale on the front crossbar first. It worked! It was a little awkward getting out from under the portage pads on the yoke and raising the stern to get the gunwale on the back bar too, but not too bad. Since I have Yakima KeelOvers on my rack, I had to lift the canoe over these as I slide it to the center. I also found it useful at the beginning when putting the gunwale on the front crossbar to get it far enough in to be over the KeelOver. Like most canoeists from Minnesota and northern Ontario, I use portage pads. These had to be lifted over the rails on the car when getting the gunwale on the rear bar. (My rack and KeelOvers keep my canoe high enough off the roof of the car that I can transport the canoe with the portage pads on.) All in all, I'd say this was a success. I can load my canoe by myself, and I don't need any new equipment.

Thanks to all for the advice!

It won’t work with your Thule rack but the idea might help. Yakima makes an extender for their round bars. It extends outside the vehicle. I have a pretty tall truck and I can extend it. But one end of the canoe on it with the other end in the ground. Then pick up the end from the ground and swivel it onto the other rack. Then swivel the first end for the extender onto the rack. It works well for me. I can load an 85 lb aluminum canoe that way.

We even have extenders on both racks. For our heavy tandem kayak I put up one end as described, then pick up the other end and my wife pulls out the other extension under it. Then we can safely move the kayak onto its j cradles.

Connect the front crossbar to the rear crossbar using a 1x2 oak wood strip on both sides of the car thereby making the roof rack into a rectangle. You’ll then be able to approach the vehicle from side and slide the canoe on, where it will rest perpendicular to the car’s line of travel. From there you can slide & pry it into its proper position.

andym: "It won’t work with your Thule rack but the idea might help. Yakima makes an extender for their round bars. It extends outside the vehicle. I have a pretty tall truck and I can extend it. But one end of the canoe on it with the other end in the ground. Then pick up the end from the ground and swivel it onto the other rack. Then swivel the first end for the extender onto the rack. It works well for me. I can load an 85 lb aluminum canoe that way.


We even have extenders on both racks. For our heavy tandem kayak I put up one end as described, then pick up the other end and my wife pulls out the other extension under it. Then we can safely move the kayak onto its j cradles."

I have seen systems like that (some commercial and some DIY) on the internet. It seems like a good system. Now that I found a way (with the help of people on this message board) to do it without any equipment, I probably won't try it. However, the higher your vehicle is the more attractive this sounds. I originally posted this in the gear forum because I thought I would need new gear to load the canoe alone.

I am driving my 3rd Forester (2015) which is taller than the other two (2001, 2005). I have been loading various boats weighing from the low 40#’s to low 70#’s from the side of the vehicle forever. I think you just need to practice this maneuver enough to become confident with it. You can gain 4-5” by loading the boat from the side while the vehicle is parked next to a curb (I live in the city so all streets have curbs). But keep in mind that eventually your vehicles will gain some dents and scratches. Having loaded boats on the top of my vehicles since 1970 I can assure you it will happen to you.

Runningfox, I like that approach and will keep it in mind. It would be a piece of cake with the 2x4 rack that sits on Spring Creek suction cups. I have one of those up at our cabin.

Larry, glad you are happy with the advice you got here.

Glad to hear it worked out for you, Larry. I thought if you tried it, you'd have the same experience as me - maybe a tad awkward, but quite manageable.

Glad it worked out! Sometimes when I put the canoe up it looks like I really know what I'm doing, other times I look like a clown. I had considered rigging up a bar extension, but it works well enough that I haven't bothered.

I just load from the side. I pick up solo canoes by the center of the front thwart and rear of the seat and lift them over my head and load. I do same with tandems but I go out of my way to make sure my tandems have a thwart arrangement that allows me to grab them and lift by the thwarts. Most tandems have a front thwart but many might need a rear thwart or kneeling thwart or center seat to allow easy grabbing. Just another option in case it helps you.

I'd avoid using a stool because bad things could happen.