Been doing a little more work on the rigging for my trailer and wanted to share some ideas with you guys...

Since I don't have a truck and car-topping isn't a good option when I go out with my son, I've done some work on my utility trailer so that I can carry 2 kayaks (a PA14 and a Cuda 12) along with my other gear (rods, crates, pfd's and cart).

After an iteration or two for the kayaks, I ended up making racks for them using uni-strut and pvc rails. In the picture below, the thicker rails are for the PA to support the weight better. The thinner pvc works fine for the Cuda and the extra flex helps it fit the bottom channels well. Also, you might be able to see that I attach the rack to the trailer using turnbuckles so that it is literally a 10 minute job to take the whole system off when I need to use the trailer for other stuff.



So that's working pretty well and is easy to load and unload but one of the frustrations that was left was how to carry the rods in the trailer so that they don't bounce out or get tangled into a huge mess on the way to and from the lake.

So, this weekend, I made a rack to hold the rods on the underside of the uni-strut and I think it's going to work out well.

Here you can see that I took some flat steel and made a rectangle to give the pvc rod holders two places to mount...



In this picture, you can see that I made a second rack for the front uni-strut to put the rod tips in...



Finally, in this picture, you can see how all of the rods will hang from it. I cut the pvc for the rod tips longer than for the handles to
handle rods of different lengths better. I also have a bungee that will hold the reels snug in place so they don't bounce out while traveling.



Anyhow, for those who trailer, this might give some ideas on kayak and rod management that are useful.

Tight lines,
Craig

How did you attach the unistrut to trailer?

Eye bolts on the uni-strut and on the trailer with a turnbuckle in between for tension.

I found that it helps hold everything in place to have a couple of inches of bicycle inner tube in between the strut and the trailer rail...keeps it from sliding around...

Nice nice nice job on the trailer. I think for my next trailer that may be the direction I want to go. Thanks for the sharing.

One suggestion - even when I haul my rods/reels stored in the yak, I've noticed they pick up some road dirt/dust. You may want to use reel covers at a minimum or if hauling for long distances, go ahead and put them in the vehicle - certainly if you end up going off paved roads. Another option - I have one of these that sometimes gets used on top of my truck for rod storage. I have plans to incorporate it into my trailer at some time. You can find sizes that will easily hold 7'6" rods. Again, great job!