Too much time on hands!

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I also bought a used kayak (Coleman) that is way to heavy to lift on my own - and my wife's back won't let her help - so I built a canoe loader, based on a youtube video, that uses "stairs" and carrier on top of our van. I just roll it off of the cart onto the lowest plastic pegs then, going back and forth, walk it to the top. When the center of gravity passes the pivot point, the stairs rotate up and I just push it to the center of the carrier and remove the stairs. I also built outriggers that make it so stable I can stand to cast. The system works great!
That's a great idea. I haven't come across that one yet. I also like how you made your cart and the bike wheels are a good idea light weight and large enough to get over a bumpy path.

I watched a bunch of videos on how to flip a canoe up onto your shoulders from the side and they were all young really strong looking folks and i thought I would throw out my back trying. then I saw some where they started at the end and walked it up lifting one end and that is much more to my abilities. The peg ladder is so much simpler than that even and i'm building my own rack so I could have the ends plug into the rack and not need the cross pieces and then just strap them on along side the canoe. This might be my go to system for doing it solo. :coffee:
 
Hey Bud, here's a little something for you canoe.

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I saw that cooler setup a few times along with a few similar ones. I don't think I will need outriggers yet but we will see. Our French Creek is all flat water as are all the inland lakes that are no wake lakes at least the ones I will be in at first. It wont be seeing Lake Erie and likely not even the bay.

Our kayak friends would love the cooler idea as I could haul all their drinks on the big floats. We went out last night and I announced The canoe and the first thing they said was that's great we will load you up. :coffee:
 
Oh man that looks good. It is 30 degrees here this morning and the water is moving and ice cold and those flip-flops would have to be arctic boots. :coffee:
Water temp was 56. Toes got a wee bit chilly, but better than sitting on the couch watching useless crap on tv.
 
For those of us with a bad spine, large diameter wheels are a must for pulling a cart solo over uneven ground.
 
Today it got into the mid 40s but sunny and the canoeing bug is still at me as I can smell spring coming around the corner.



When I had it on the ground the other day messing around with seat backs I noticed sitting in the bow seat was really cramped and I couldn’t picture being up there for any time and liking it. I started reading on this models reviews and two big complaints were the bow seat being cramped and to paddle solo most people like to use the bow seat sitting backwards and paddle the boat backwards as it improves balance. Even then some were saying it is better if the seat is even moved back a bit more for solo. Most people are recommending tossing the front seat and replacing it with a flat cane seat. I took it out and of course it is tapered like the front of the canoe so I put it in backwards to get a look at how it could be made to fit. I made two .75” thick plywood tapered blocks to adapt to the backwards angle and it looks like it will work. The seat is contoured so now we will be facing each other that might be nice for talking on a long float or for fishing. Of course the guy in the back will have to do all the paddling and that will likely be me anyway. I also can make a pad for the bow seat to fill in the contour about 1” deep and then the front person will be able to paddle.



She really wants her own sit in kayak anyway as that’s what all her friends have and they are much easier to manage if she goes out with her girlfriends and if I go along hopefully I can solo in the canoe and keep up. If I’m hauling the adult beverages in the canoe that wont be hard as they will slow down to let me catch up.



My plan is I’m going to wait for Biden to send me that free 1400 bucks in time for her birthday and get me off the hook and stimulate the economy in the process. Now to find a made in the USA kayak.

I will post some pics of the seat mod maybe tomorrow if we don’t get snow. :rolleyes:
 
I also bought a used kayak (Coleman) that is way to heavy to lift on my own - and my wife's back won't let her help - so I built a canoe loader, based on a youtube video, that uses "stairs" and carrier on top of our van. I just roll it off of the cart onto the lowest plastic pegs then, going back and forth, walk it to the top. When the center of gravity passes the pivot point, the stairs rotate up and I just push it to the center of the carrier and remove the stairs. I also built outriggers that make it so stable I can stand to cast. The system works great!
What do you do at the other end though when it's time to get the canoe off the van and into the water, or out of the water and back on the van? The loader looks too big to take with you.
 
What do you do at the other end though when it's time to get the canoe off the van and into the water, or out of the water and back on the van? The loader looks too big to take with you.
I’m not sure how Tom handles it. My plan is to follow his suggestion only make the ladder pin to carrier and not extend above. Doing that I could unplug the two rails and strap them on the carrier next to the canoe and take them with me. I think if I design them correctly I could maybe flip them over so the pins were on the backside when taking it off and just let it slide down.



It will be some trial and error I’m sure but is a simple DIY project.

I just ordered a dolly. I was thinking of building one and found one on sale for 40 bucks and it had ok reviews so I will give it a try. I don’t think I could build one for less than that. It comes with 9.5” rubber wheels. If it works I will post a photo of it in action.
 
32 out this morning when we put in. Warmed up as soon as the sun came up, caught a couple little small mouths. Beautiful spring day here today.

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32 out this morning when we put in. Warmed up as soon as the sun came up, caught a couple little small mouths. Beautiful spring day here today.

View attachment 25467View attachment 25468
We also have been having really cold nights and by 10:00 it is pretty nice being out as the sun feels warm, by noon I’m in a tee shirt.



My little boat project is coming along and I’m hoping a month from now the water will be warm enough to try her out. When I get a chance I will post a few pictures of my progress with the changes I have made.

Thanks for posting it is giving me some motivation.
 
When I took canoeing at BSA camp we were taught that the proper position was to kneel with one's butt gainst the brace that most call a seat. I know I couldn't handle kneeling now. I built a kayak from a Folbot kit years ago, it had low seats with backs. I gave it to my son.
 
When I took canoeing at BSA camp we were taught that the proper position was to kneel with one's butt gainst the brace that most call a seat. I know I couldn't handle kneeling now. I built a kayak from a Folbot kit years ago, it had low seats with backs. I gave it to my son.
We had a Folbot kit build my father in law built years ago. It was a nice little boat and it lasted a dozen years but poor storage caused it to go back to nature.



I’m planning on a kneeling pad in the canoe but I really think my knees won’t let me use it a lot also.



This canoe is really getting set up to be a number of different boats all in one. We have the creek that will be mostly day trips but who knows I have a lot of camping equipment just going to waist so maybe a few overnight trips as well. So I want it setup for solo but also we will be doing some floats together with big groups where you hardly even paddle.



Then I want to get it in a bunch of lakes around for fishing and I’m thinking of taking Oldog’s advice and have some small outriggers (DIY) I can slap on for stability or even standing if fishing alone or with someone else.



I want to keep the weight down for loading and unloading on the car top and I have the strap on dolly for moving it down a ramp. My plan is to get it on the dolly and then put on the seat or seats I want and outriggers or not and then launch.



I’m also rigging up some bow and stern (DIY) air bags just in case.

Doing all this on a shoestring budget of course. :coffee:
 
@bud16415 Speaking of canoes that are many different boats in one, my grandfather had a regular canoe (not designed to accommodate a motor) and managed to get a motor on it, which I believe he basically never used. He also had a canoe that accepted a mast and sail, and used it for sailing.

So, the possibilities are endless. Just figure out a way to install a bar, a casino, and a pool and you can have a canoe cruise ship!
 
Been reading along on this. Years ago when the canoe bug was hard upon me, I almost bought a new 147. That's about as light as a good canoe gets. Other things took priority and I never got my canoe, but as I'm reading about your mods I keep thinking on how the wood seats are going to add weight and change you center of gravity. Never forget that canoes can tip.
 
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The crab pot noisy I fab'd on my old kayak worked really well for added stability. Cheap, and PC pipe made an easy to assemble frame. Only drawback was it made it harder to paddle. The horizontal pipe slipped into a union that I put a pin in for removal during transportation.
 

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