[Closed] 2 Canadian Canoes on a T6 Roof - can it be done?

They’d have to go on their sides, base to base. Strong bars, strong uprights and lots of straps...

And avoid parking barriers..

Cheers Jambo. Any recommendations on the uprights / bars?

I use Thule steel bars, of 15 years vintage of doing two canoes.
I use an extension to get them flat, it's better economy with a slight toe in to the front. On current car they just lean. You can buy the new Thule's with over long bars, they've changed from old model.

We went too south of France like this.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

They’d have to go on their sides

Don't do this, the windage is awful.

Get wide bars so they can sit flat.
Use good straps and lean hard.
I have painters tied to the bars too to stop them going forward in a bump. I personally think they will just tear off the side rails.

https://flic.kr/p/yE1dud

I was originally looking at the OEM bars which sit inside the width of the roof rails.

However, longer bars which sit over the top of the rails sound like a better option so that the canoes can lay flat side by side.

How long would the bars need to be?

Get the old square bars as there are loads of wider options. I think the rule is no wider than your wing mirrors but best to check. Also makes it a bit easier to load, get one side of the canoe on and then lift it up.

Measure your canoes, they vary.

I think my old extender bars were 185cm - as long as they are inside the mirror width, you're legal. The Galaxy was 3cm more! I also had them wrapped in bright green tape as they were head height.

as long as they are inside the mirror width, you’re legal

Excellent. That gives me something to work with. The van is pretty wide and the door mirrors are huge so with the bars should be long enough to accommodate the load.

Time to get measuring.

Cheers all.

Windage will be pretty bad already...

The OEM T5 bars bolt directly into the roof. There are enough holes for four bars I think. That should be enough to hold it if the T6 is the same.

Your biggest issue will be lifting them on.

Karritec do some amazing systems for lifting and mounting them - but likely £500+...

Thule pro bars! I got 2m bars and cut the down to about 1.9 (the max width on my Karoq). 2 canoes fit fine side by side. Don’t forget to tie front and back lines if you plan to go very far/fast.

It can be done but probably not on standard width roof bars. You'll need to fit extensions or look at Thule Pro bars which don't have the same width constraints as other Thule bars. Also fit lines to the bow and stern and fasten to your towing eyes / tow bar.

This Karritek one looks great. Pricey though!

Yep tie front and back, get wide bars. I had 4 surf skis on my T6 which was an stretch’ !

As above, Thule ProBars. My Focus is 2m between the ends of the mirrors so I've left mine at 2m for now. The ProBars have a slot in the rear face, which can be used to mount a roller, which might help for getting them up there. Noted that you don't have the canoes yet; lighter ones will be much easier to get on and off. The number of available people and how tall they are is also very significant. You'll probably need to get onto the roof to tie them down.

The number of available people and how tall they are is also very significant.

Hah! That's a very good point. This is going to be for family adventures. Kids won't be much help, currently, as they are 11 and 8. I'm 6 ft 2, Mrs B is a foot shorter and the van is pretty high.

Use a rear roller to slide them on from the back perhaps - you can get Thule ones.

Realise ours are narrower, but we’ve just completed our Thule set up on our T6 for our two touring kayaks. Swipe across to see them on the van:

View this post on Instagram

We gone with Slide bars as it means they come a couple of feet out the side the van making the boats easier to lift on without dropping them into the van. They are about 30 kg each and we are both around 5’9” and it is just doable without step, as long as the ground is flat. We’ve ended up getting the Thule Dock to sit them in, which makes it easy to just drop them in without needing to line them up to uprights etc or climbing on the roof (which we did on the old van). If we put the straps over when the bars are slid out, we can just stand on the wheels to strap it down.

If you have to go with Pro bars for the width, I’d definitely get a rear roller.

I’m 6 ft 2

If you can get Royalex or similar weight boats, and can roll them onto your shoulders, you will probably be able to get the bow onto a roller. It might be quite crucial how far back you can fix the rear bar. Once the bow is on you're probably tall enough to control the boat all the way up.

If going for a roller, avoid boats where the ends curve up like the Charles River.

Probably worth putting a stop on one side, wouldn’t be great if boat 1 gets knocked of the side while boat 2 is being loaded.

Do you know the rating of your roof rails? Some of them used to be dubious quality and really just for show, things have hopefully changed now though.

Cheers all, some top info above. The STW forum never fails to deliver.

Regarding a roller / rollers, any advice on one which will work with an upside down canoe? All of the ones I've found look quite narrow which would work well with the canoes going up hull-side down but that would then present the challenge of flipping them over.

Those slide out bars look great but I don't think they would be long enough unfortunately.

Some more thoughts -

You can make your own loading strips. Use CLS cut to size to create a 'ramp' from floor to roof bars. Some kind of hook or clamp on bars on the vehicle. You can then load boat at floor level, or halfway up with a 'catch' lump of wood screwed on, gunwales down, and use a rope or pulley to haul it up over the wagon. It's a bodge version of the Karitek 🙂

Edit- voila - https://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/canoe-roof-rack-and-one-man-loading-system-for-les-t31651.html

Rear roller and bars.
https://van-guard.co.uk/products/?van_make=148&model=125#products

Cheers Matt. That's some great info.

I have a Doblo. The widest "domestic" Thule bars that it takes are 150cm. I have fabricated a roller that slots semi-permanently into the ends of the roof rails. The roller is 120cm wide, and this allows me to load a canoe solo.

When carrying 2, the second goes on it's side, hull against a longer upright (I think Palm make these). Loading is a bit more complicated, involving 2 people, and a little folding 3 step thing. I agree with Matt about the windage, but if it is windy, I'm unlikely to be open boating, and if I'm not open boating, it isn't on the van. In freak circumstances, it I have to drive with 2 canoes on the roof in windy conditions, I will think carefully about my route and further modify my driving style.

Your best solution will need to take into account what you are prepared to spend, how "permanent" you want to fix something to your roof (Karitek won't be an on/off regularly thing), and how many people you will have on hand for loading/unloading. Four 6'+ strong individuals will easily load 2 canoes on a T6. One 5'8" fella and a sometimes reluctant wife will sometimes find it tricky. The kids are useless.

Using the Thule pro bars and a Thule roller (110cm) I can load a single Canadian canoe onto the roof of my T6 with relative ease (single handedly)... but best done with 2 people, so you don’t have to rest the canoe on the ground and top of the tailgate while you reposition yourself! The roller might not be a workable solution for loading 2 canoes though given the width.

No one suggested Rhino roof racks? Absolutely would not be without mine, had all sorts of equipment on the roof of my van. Really secure, anything else will be a compromise

Only draw back is you may not like the look of it (mines a work van, so don’t give a hoot) and they are a fit once and leave on affair

If you mean the rhino with sides I think they only take 1.4m so 2 canoes are unlikely to fit flat. I have found the sides are also a pain if you want to load/unload from the side (clearly if you are just using a rear roller it’s not an issue. Good racks though!

The roller needs to be positioned so that you can walk up carrying the canoe on your shoulders, place the front on the roller (without hitting the roof or tailgate), the back on the ground, and step out from underneath, before lifting the rear and sliding it on.
There are plenty of loading techniques, but this works well for me solo. Getting the boat on you shoulders can be tricky. I had a Old Town Discovery 169, and after a long day it wasn't always an easy solo lift onto the yolk, but once there I could carry it a reasonable distance and load onto the roof.

Thanks all for the comments.

Rhino rack - Bit to industrial. Mrs B (who is the "owner" of the T6) would defo rule that out.

Rollers - I think this might be a non starter with our van as the roof rails do not go right to the back of the roof and I cant see how the roller would be far enough back to support the loading process without the canoe hitting the top of the tailgate first.

I'm thinking of going with Thule Pro bars (T6 is 230cm between the outer edges of the door mirrors) with some sort of side loading process along the lines of the link that Matt shared above.

If you want to do side loading as on Matt's link, with ProBars, I suggest taking the end cap off the bars (1 second job with the allen key that comes with the bars) and making a support for the sloping ramp that fixes into the open end of the bar. Maybe even with a locking plate like the end cap has. With careful design of the top of the sliding ramp beams you could make the transition to the bars very smooth.

Fit air ride - I can easily reach the roof on my T5 now at 5'8" 😀

[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50188943026_5b8c2dcbae_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50188943026_5b8c2dcbae_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2jt2scU ]Tarmacs[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/19705521@N00/ ]DaveyBoyWonder[/url], on Flickr

TL:DR

Karitek

https://www.karitek.co.uk/shop/roof-racks-rails/easy-load-roof-racks#!/Easy-Load-Roof-Rack-roofrail-mounting/p/57133476/category=15487440

Only one canoe at this stage but plenty of space for a second.

Thanks for all of the advice on this thread. The home made ramp linked to above makes loading and unloading the canoe a 1 man job. The Thule Pro Bars with the load stops are also great bits of kit.

I do love it when people update their posts!

Looks like a great solution. Assume you just strap the loading ‘ramps’ next to the canoe?

Yep, exactly that.

I also put a couple of G clamps on each ramp to hold the boat in place while I reposition myself for the final lift onto the roof. (Or take a photo!)

Got to love a good canoe location. Where is that, it looks familiar...?

@Matt. Loch Achilty. Top spot for a paddle when the wind is blowing hard from the West like it was yesterday. Parking spot and the put in is at the sheltered end of the loch. Well worth a visit.

I've not been there, just had a wander nearby at Rogie falls a few years back. Ah well, on the list now.

Have you tried putting them on sideways?

Have you tried putting them on sideways?

Do you mean sliding the canoe up at 90 degrees to the rack and then rotating it once its up there?

If so, i've not. I'll give it a go. This might work with one canoe but with two the first one on the roof would be in the way when sliding the second up. Wouldn't it?

Also, this needs to be doable by one person (me). Mrs B is 5ft 2 on a good day and can't reach the canoe when its on the roof.

Hi been looking for a way to load my open canoe for a long time and love the idea of the loading ramp. Do you connect the wood to the bars before loading and what length wood did you use so it wouldn’t catch on your wing mirrors.
Cheers.

Hi been looking for a way to load my open canoe for a long time and love the idea of the loading ramp. Do you connect the wood to the bars before loading and what length wood did you use so it wouldn’t catch on your wing mirrors.
Cheers.

@rob4424 - I use 3 pieces of wood. 1 rests between the front and rear roof bars and sits against the Thule Load Stops moved out to the end of the bars leaving enough space for the piece of wood to rest in the bars.

The 2 other pieces of wood form the ramp and are 3.6m long. I've cut angled notches at the top ends so that they rest on the bit of wood between the bars and remain in place when I'm sliding the boat up the ramps.

I also attach a couple of G clamps towards the top end of the ramp so that I can hook the boat over when I reposition myself for the final push.

Here's a clip of the set up - Linky

Here's a clip of the load process - Linky

Once loaded I strap the 3 pieces of wood to the roof bars so that I can unload / reload the boat at the paddling destination.