Kayak trailer finished

Jeff Horton

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The Heart of Dixie
I wanted to follow up on the kayak trailer. It ended up much different than what I had in mind. Very practical but no where near as elegant. Form follows function though.

The trailer I ended up buying lent itself to a very simple method of attaching uprights. I started with wood closet rods but I didn't like the flex in them. So I drilled new holes and installed some 1/2 black iron pipe. Just need to settle on a color and spray the whole trailer. Last thing to do is rewire the lights. When I extended the tongue the harness is to short.


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Looks good, Jeff. Simple is good. My only concern would be the potential for front-to-back racking of the frame in the event of a sudden stop. There are a lot of torque forces on the horizontal members bolted to the trailer. A simple pair of X braces could counter a lot of those forces without adding much weight. On each side, you could attach 2x4 or 2x2 material from the base at the front to where the top pipe hits the rear vertical member, and from the base at the rear to the upper pipe on the front vertical. (I dunno if that makes any sense. Basically an X on each side. Too lazy right now to draw it in SU, but I could if it'd help.)

Every time I see the lines of your kayak, I'm impressed, It sure came out looking sweet.
 
I had the same concern Vaughn but it is surprisingly rigid. Once you tie the boat down it acts as a brace. What remains to be seen is when I put additional boats (weight) on it. That will tell me if I need to do anything else.
 
dont think so!!!

Jeff i gotta agree with vaughn, you need rack brace somewhere the tieing up of your boat on top is no differnt than just settin trusses on a top plate and not have bracing,, the wind and sudden stops will cause trouble without them.
 
Larry, if you were here I think would change your mind. It's much more rigid than you think. Now if had 6 plastic boats on it, thats 300+ lbs, maybe a bit more, it might flex then, but I have my doubts. It just has very little movement in it. And when you tie down a boat front and back it just make is more rigid.

Now if I see it moving I will add bracing, I just don't see a need right now.

Toni, I have plans for another boat already. ;) I have the one my niece started and forgot about too. Kayak building is an addiction I have found out. :)
 
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