Loading Kayak into the Bed

Hi yall!

I load my Predator PDL into the bed of my truck. Always have. However its getting to be a bit much on my back. Empty the think is #115. Was thinking of way to make it easier to load on my own into the bed? Esp when using boat ramps which makes the angle upward and that much harder.

My thought was maybe like a crank like boats have? Somehow mounted in the bed or something? I dont know. Open to any and all ideas to make this easier to bed load this beast solo. My back cant take doing this for much longer lol

I know a lot of guys use the cheap utility trailer from harbor freight or norther tool.

I have a trailer and Boondox landing gear on one of our kayaks. As far as loading and unloading the kayak a trailer is by far the easiest way but it obviously has it's negatives. Maintenance on wheels, tires and bearings and annual registration costs. Also may present storage issues and it can prevent you from launching from the side of the road if that need ever arises. The Boondox landing gear is second best (and a lot cheaper). It does help as it raises the kayak a foot or so off the ground and makes it a lot easier to pick up the kayak and set it on your bed extender. I'll be installing the Boondox on my Pro Angler before long because they are really handy to have. Every little bit helps.

Yeah I would love to avoid the trailer option. I will have to look into the bookdoxs. I have a C-tug but honestly I must be dumb bcs it came with the yak and i cant figure out how to secure it properly. Not that I think that would help much. You have lift the yak to get it under anyways then on a ramp it would just want to slide back down the yak... not helpful for loading IMO.

Boondox look to be a different design. Migt be more useful for loading than the Ctug.

A lighter kayak?

You still have to lift the kayak with the Boondox but you only lift one side at a time to insert the wheels and that's only when you've returned to the launch. When you first arrive at the launch you can just lower the wheels before you take the yak off your truck bed.

The biggest down side to me for the Boondox (aside from the cost) is they do get in the way when you attach the paddle to the side of the yak using the bungee on the new Hobie Outback's. But looking at the Predator PDL I don't think that will be the case since the paddle park is lower.

I have been loading my 150lb PA14 with Boondox for over a year now. The Boonedox makes it much easier!

In fact, most of the time I don't even back my truck to the water. I simply drop the Boonedox while still in the water... then walk it out of the water, up the ramp and to my truck. Its a little hard to pull it up a steep ramp, but it's easy to pull once on flat ground.

Once at the truck, I put the front end on the bed extender... then pick up the back and push it into my truck. Easy cheesy!

Dude. Get a cheap jet ski trailer and add 2x4's and pvc on top of wood. I loaded my PA about 10 times before I said "this sucks".

Malone trailer--sealed bearings, retractible tongue, easy storage.

Nobody will make fun of you if you do this, because it’s cool
The harbor freight winch is around $50

I have the pdl as well. I just back my truck down the ramp far enough that the tailgate is touching the water. Slide the kayak right in the water. At home I have a kayak cart I built that is the height of the truck bed. No lifting required. I did all that lifting and dragging about three times and said “nope”.

You can do this with a bed extender too (as long as you're not in salt water of course). Greenyak on here put a black boat trailer roller guide on the rear side of his bed extender so his yak slides easy over the bed extender. It helps.

Dan, I've moaned and groaned about the weight of my yak as well. Don't know if this is an option for you, but what I do now before loading it up, is to remove the seat and seat bracket. You wouldn't think 14 lbs would make much of a difference, but it does. Sure, it's more time consuming, however it's made my job much easier.

I think i can build something that helps load a kayak in a truck bed. I am a metal fabricator for my living and am faced with problem solving things like this on a dayly basis.

Let us know what you come up with.

There is a market for such a thing I am sure!

I see lots of guys suggestions are to get a trailer...really really would like to not do that. Those little trailers cant handle 110mph down to Falcon. Lighter yak is also not an option. I like the PDL. Heck all the nicer yaks are heavy anymore.

Removing the seat... yes that could help. A little does make a difference.

Heck yeah that is what I am talking about. I wonder though what did he mount the winch to? How is it hooked into power? We gotta do this Doc!

Hopefully he is using his truck battery somehow. Otherwise loading a heavy duty 12 volt battery in the truck just to use the winch would be more work than just lifting the back of the kayak up and sliding it into the truck.

Looks like a "neat" idea but too much extra stuff for me. No offense Dan. If it would help you than I'd say give it a shot.

Ok, i will come up with something and see how it works

On youtube, there are several videos on how to mount the winch. Some do a more permanent mounting with a steel cross support; but, there are a few videos that show how to do it with a completely removable harness.

Some do it with a separate 12V battery in the bed of the truck. I bet a smaller 12V AGM battery for an ATV or jet ski would work just fine (would have to look at the winch amp specs)

Wouldn't be terribly difficult to get a 12V outlet to the bed of the truck.

Or you can help me load it lol

Its easy with two guys.

I recommend the winch as CCTX suggested. My brother had one installed that connected to his trucks 12V battery, and it sure made loading his ATV and riding mower a lot easier and saver.

I'd go the winch route, Looks simple. Plus you can use it for other things as well.

Only thing about my topwater PDL is that it’s tough to load when at an angle on a ramp. I don’t want a trailer either and I don’t really want to add a winch. This has been a good thread, though.

Dan, the buckle on the C-Tug's strap is tricky. If you'll go to their website I believe they have directions. Once you master that it's a snap. I've used my C-Tug on my SoloSkiff; the hull weighs 150 and the outboard's another 60. Makes it so much easier to load on the bed extender. On a ramp I strap it on while the boat's still in the water. Very easy to do.

I have my kayak pointed across the ramp when I lift it onto the ctug with the bow a little above the water line and do not have an issue with kayak wanting to slide off the ctug.
I have found want to put the cart just behind the center of gravity of the kayak. On my kayak this is just behind the seat in the furthest back position. If get cart too far forward,the bow will raise up.
Then I move my anchor and tackle bag to the back of the kayak.
This makes it very easy to lift up the bow to pull up the ramp.

I have looked for videos on how to use that buckle and have failed. It is odd. I hate to say it but its got me stumped lol. If the Ctug would secure that might be helpful in some situations.

The problem with parking on a ramp or any incline is the kayak IS going to slide back. Plastic and metal of a truck bed or even resting on a pool noodle is slippery and will slide back or to the side.
I found out the hard way trying to load my kayak onto my roof rack, and on a flat surface it wasn't a problem, but with the angle of a ramp it's a different story and gravity is a beach.

Those portable electric winches are a good idea, and if you have a trailer plug-in as most trucks do, you can run a plug in harness to the winch.
Put a couple of tie down hooks one on each side of the front of your truck bed inside, and get a rachet strap and run from one side to the other, tighten the strap, and then hook the portable winch to the center of the strap, and then pull the kayak into the bed.
Easy, and any incline won't be a factor.

Dan, sent you a PM

I have 2 solutions to help with the kayak sliding I use when loading a kayak on the roof of my vehicle from the side.
1) put rope from back of kayak to door at middle of vehicle This keeps the back from sliding away from the vehicle.
2)make big loop with strap and put around front and back cross pieces, other side hangs down side of car. when I lift the bow of the kayak up, slip the loop over it and tighten the loop down but not so tight I can not lift back up and push onto the roof.
This keeps the bow from sliding to the front or rear of the vehicle as I am lifting. It is not possible to stop the slide once you see if without the strap. My kayak slipped of 2 times before I figured this trick out and the second time cost me the drivers side mirror.

This is a skill I need to learn. I usually beach my Native Slayer Propel by the ramp and make a couple of trips to carry the heaviest stuff to the truck. Then, I use a paddle to hit the actual ramp. I pull the kayak out of the water, put it at a pretty good angle, and lift it onto the CTug. I put a towel behind the wheels of the cart so it doesn’t roll back. Sometimes it works great, sometimes it works good enough to get out of the way and then reposition the kayak. Sometimes, it’s a total failure and I have to reset.

Easy. Put the bow up on the ramp and remove anything in the way behind the point where you want it. I generally have two Scotty fly rod holders on 6" extensions behind the seat; I remove extensions and all. With the strap cinched tight on its loosest setting slide the C-Tug up under the stern. Holding the strap, guide it up to your mounting point and cinch it down. Very easy. Much easier than my homemade PVC kayak cart, which wanted to float and made centering it under the hull a hassle.

Proper lifting technique will eliminate back pain, lift with your legs not your back

I took a couple of pictures that will hopefully help you with the buckle on the ctug.
Below is a picture of the buckle. My thumb is on the top of the buckle on the lever you push down to open the jaws just to the right of my thumb


Next shows the strap going under the buckle, up through the jaws and out the top.


Finally you have the strap through the buckle and would want to pull it back to the side it came from, to the right in the picture below.


The strap without the buckle comes over to the buckle, up through the jaws from the bottom and then is pulled back to the side it started on to tighten.

I tried loading the kayak onto the submerged ctug with the back of the kayak in the water so I did not have to lift it at all and it worked out pretty well.
Made sure to always be holding onto a strap so ctug did not roll further into water where I could loose it.


I like the idea about sliding the loosely buckled strap over the stern and then into place. Will try this next time and alleviates issue with ctug rolling down ramp under water.

Jim Ford,
I tried this Tuesday night and it worked very well I will switch over to doing this from now on.
Thanks for the great idea!

Thanks for the pics! I am going to try to make my C-tug work and try this.

My yak came with one, previous owner included it in the deal, but i never really used it as the buckle is not rigged right and for the life of me could not find any instructions on how to rig it up. Its for sure not intuitive.

this

Dan90210,
The end of the strap connected to the buckle(side towards palm in pictures above) goes around the end of buckle which does not open and is sewn together.
If you have questions about the ladder locks the end of the straps that go through the hull pads the following video clearly shows how to rig these up. You can make adjustments at the ladder locks to adjust the length of the straps.
I have my straps adjusted so the buckle is just a little over 1/2 way to the other side of the kayak. The other strap reaches most of the way to the other side of the kayak.
Important thing is you have plenty of length to get the end into the buckle then are able to get a good grab on it to pull tight. Also not so long that buckle is at other side of the kayak.

Sorry, forgot the link.
C-TUG Strap Adjustment

Just for the sake of clarification, the buckle in the video above, posted by Ocelot, is different than the buckle that came with my C-Tug several years ago. That original buckle was the source of a lot of frustration. The strap routing was not intended to work the way most folks instinctively did it, and the buckle would slip. If that's the case here, PM me and I will dig out my C-Tug on my days off, video the process, and text the video to whoever needs it.

I made something that could very well be what you are looking for. I originally made this for a Hobie Tandem Island. Imagine if what I am about to show you works for a TI how it will do with something much lighter. The wench is powered by a drill. You will not have to mount anything to your vehicle or operate from your vehicle's battery. If you have any questions, feel free to give me a call. 832-588-7091

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOqIIMVXSDw

That drill winch system is cool!
Nice!

Nice job.
Makes it look pretty easy.