Canoe Rack

Just bought a 15' canoe. Does anyone have pictures or drawings of simple canoe rack for a 68 cj-5? Like to attach to front and back bumper to keep the stress off the windshield frame and roll bar.

 

I wouldn't drive with it on top, use a trailer. several states don't care about trailers under 500lbs
the boat will be 6-7 feet above the ground and will overhand front and back, it will take 3 people to lift and secure it.

note i have a bike rack
I can drive around town at ease with my road bike on top, it might weigh 8lbs, i can lift it with one hand and secure it with another standing from a curb overall height is about 11ft
my mountain bike takes extra time on turns, weighs about 2x as much, and i have to stand on the cowl to pick it up and secure it.
once i put a beach cruiser up there and it was sketch. getting it up there with help, and trying to turn without rolling over made it a pain.
in all honesty i have 2 bike rails that are kept set for each of my 2 bikes, I don't use both at once because it is too much too high

 

The Wrangler has an exo rack that looks pretty neat. Take a look at some Wranglers for an example. But a trailer would likely be a better option.

 

"... it will take 3 people to lift and secure it."

How big is your canoe?!?! Actually I have easily carried canoes on jeeps many many times, and handled them alone.

Just used foam pad/blocks on the hardtop, or on the windshield frame and tailgate (off road). But a rack would be great for a soft-top.

 

If you were going to lift and slide sideways I can see more then 2 people being needed to get a canoe( only a really heavy one) onto the roof of a JEEP( but that is the hard way). If you do it smart and place the bow( or stern whichever is going forward) onto the rear rack point and push forward then in reality you only would need one person, 2 would make it easier obviously. I seem to remember fire Jeeps having some kind of rack system that went into the front bumper and rear bumper. I plan on copying it to haul around my 78lb 12 ft kayak.
Now stability with the weight up high is a totally different beast all together.

 

If you are going to fabricate, it would be a snap to anchor something like an A-frame on the rear draw bar. At the front, use the bumper or the frame horns. Or possibly a raised bar attached at the top of the windshield, like the Baja-style light bars. Make QD connections.

The big thing would be designing triangulated bracing to resist the fore-and-aft stresses of driving. And anchoring it all against wind-lift.

 

I've hauled my 80 some pound 17 foot Grumman square stern canoe for thousands of miles.
It's easy to load, anchor and unload by myself.
Here is a pic of the rear rack that is bolted to the draw bar.

http://www.film.queensu.ca/cj3b/Photos/Finds/Bushdiecker/Bushdiecker.JPG

And here's a better pic with a load of lodgepoles.

The front bumper mounted rack was used with my rag top CJ-2A.
I normally never used the front rack on this half cab 3B.
The bar seen mounted across the half cab is plenty secure.
If you look closely you can see that the lodgepoles are not even touching the front rack.
The front rack is actually lower than the other racks to better fit the curve of the canoe.
Keeping it low allows minimal wind to get up under the canoe.

http://www.film.queensu.ca/cj3b/Photos/Finds/Bushdiecker/Bushdiecker3B.JPG

 

I just purchased a canoe a couple months ago. I found a canoe rack made by Reese. The hitch people. It allows for one person loading. I'm at work now but can snap a few pics when I get home. Its on the YJ now but can work on anything. Look for a[h=1]Reese Towpower 7018100 Canoe Loader[/h]
It looks fairly easy to fab one. I found this one at academy outdoors for about $75 shipped to me.

 

That rack is what I had in mind. I don't expect to drive very far or go 40mph. I have dual wheels on the rear so I'm not as apt to tip over either. There's a half dozen lakes within 20 miles of here and putting the canoe on the jeep seemed the fun way to get there. What size is the steel in your rack? Square tube, round pipe, or angle iron?

 

Gotta tell ya, if 81 pounds on top of your rollbars makes you feel top heavy, then you have other problems that need to be addressed before driving that very far.

That lodge-pole setup is what I would try for. One person loading is possible unless you have one of the canoes from OldTowne back in the '50's that probably weigh in at 2 or 3 hundred pounds and do need two people just to get them out of the water. Most of the new stuff is so light, one person (even a decrepit old soul like me) should be able to lift it up there. From the back end to the front end, like loading a ladder onto the rack.

We carried one on the top of our '63 Chevy II stationwagon when I was in High School. Strapped down proper, they don't go anywhere. And finding your car in a 400 car parking lot is a breeze!

 

This http://www.uhaul.com/MovingSupplies...sories/Universal-One-Man-Canoe-Loader?id=5837 looks like exactly what you need.

 

This is exactly the same as the Reese unit. I'm wondering if Uhaul just rebrands the Reese unit. Whatever the case, they work great and are adjustable. They bolt to where the trailer ball would attach. They have a piece of flat iron to use if you don't want to loose the ability to pull a trailer as well.

The top crossbar swivels to allow you to load with one person. Pretty slick design.

 

Oh Man ! I built that back in the early 80's.
I believe it is 1-1/2" square tube on the rear @ 3/16 wall thickness.
The front is 1-1/2 x 1" rectangular tubing @ 1/8" wall thickness.
Your actually only seeing the main portion of the racks in those pics.
I also have bolt-on extensions so it can haul anything up to 6 foot wide. (Like two canoes)
I rarely bolted on the wide load extensions.

Actually hauling a single canoe at hiway speed (55-60 MPH) is not too bad unless you get into a strong cross wind.

The early version front bumper rack just sort of clipped over the bumpers top edge.
It gets bolted down with two 5/16" bolts as is seen in the pic. ( try 200 X )
The front roof rack is permanantly mounted to the foreward edge of the cab.
The rear rack bolts down to the rear draw bar with 5/8" diameter bolts.
The rear tubes angle out from the draw bar at 45* angle to increase it's width.
That extra width allows it to clear the tailgate when it's dropped.

 

Is there any reason I couldn't use the Reese or UHaul unit on the front of the jeep, and use the roll bar as the mid tie point? I would tie the rear of the canoe to the back bumper trailer hitch. I'm not going on main highways, only back roads and never over 40.

It would be simple modfiication to front bumper, I already have a 2" box trailer hitch I was planning to put on the front for a winch/ tow point.

 

The only thing I can think of is whether the UHaul prop can withstand the canoe's lift at speed.

 

"The only thing I can think of is whether the UHaul prop can withstand the canoe's lift at speed."

Strap the canoe directly down to the vehicle frame, not just the rack.

 

There would be no issue using it in the front or rear that I can tell from mine. You do need to secure it to the vehicle as well, not just the rack. You may need a new receiver to go into the 2" hitch. The Reese was very straightforward and directions were easy. I'm sure the Uhaul would be the same from the looks.