How to tie a canoe to your car?

DThewanderer · 07-23-2011, 03:53 PM

I have my dads canoe and I am going to take it out. I will have to tie it to the top of my mini van. How does one tie down a canoe?

wvbreamfisherman · 07-23-2011, 04:07 PM

If the minivan has a luggage rack, you can probably use that, if not, go get a canoe kits that has foam blocks that cover the gunwales to protect the car.

Center the canoe on the car, and run at least one, preferably two lines (rope or ratchet strap) over the canoe and tighten them to secure it to the luggage rack, or rain gutters. If the vehicle doesn't have rain gutters, you may need to figure out an alternative anchor spot.

Then run a rope or ratchet strap from one side of the bumper up and thru the bow and stern line loops and then down to the other side of the bumper. Tighten the straps down to secure the canoe. You don't need to tighten them to guitar-string tension, just enough to keep the canoe from sliding around.

Once you've been on the road for a bit. Stop, and check all the lines. Retension them if necessary.

I use a small utility trailer to haul my canoe. I added some vertical boards to keep the canoe from sliding fore and aft, and secure the canoe to the trailer with both rope and rubber tie-downs.

dinosaur · 07-24-2011, 07:38 AM

Good job, Bream. Personally, I use turnbuckles to tighten mine down.

ChadTower · 07-25-2011, 08:45 AM

When I had a car I did roughly what Bream said with general securing straps. They were easier on the paint job than rope. I used pipe insulation instead of foam blocks - easier to get and cheaper.

oldmangunner · 07-25-2011, 11:27 AM

Bream, great post! I have never had a car with a luggage rack. I tried to do it other ways to get around buying the kit or the racks. Over the years I have learned (the hard way) the racks are worth the money.

wvbreamfisherman · 07-25-2011, 12:03 PM

Thanks all! Pipe insulation is a great idea! I'm old-fashioned enough to use ropes on my trailer, but rachet straps work great. I'm sure turnbuckles would work perfectly too.

We have some boards rigged up to mount quickly on my trailer so that we can carry a total of three canoes (two on the botton, and a third on top in the middle). The boards have eyebolts permanently attached to them for anchor points for the tiedowns.

It takes maybe 10 minutes to mount the boards and another 10 or so to drop the canoes on the trailer from the roof where we keep them stored on ropes. We have pulleys set so that one person can lower them by thenselves.

briansnat · 10-05-2011, 07:00 AM

I have a factory roof rack so I take one long cam strap and run it under both crossbars on the left side. Then I throw both ends over the boat and run them under the crossbars on the right side. Pull tight and that's all I need. The boat is automatically centered.

If I'm taking a trip where I will be on the highway I add a cam strap with S hooks to anchor the front. I attach the S hooks to the wheel well, run them through the handle or the ring in the bow of the boat and tighten.

When I had a car with no factory roof rack I put the boat on foam gunwale blocks and ran a cam strap right through the cab of the vehicle (with the doors open) and over the boat, then tightened it. That with the front tie down was all I needed

Warnings.

1. Do not use bungee cords - period
2. Do not use rope unless you really know what you are doing with knots.

ppine · 11-17-2011, 03:46 PM

Rachet straps and turnbuckles can break the spine of a canoe especially on rough roads. It will never be the same. For bush driving get a proper rack, not a luggage rack. If you are lucky enough to have rain gutters it is easy. Tie the boat with two half hitches and a trucker hitch to get it rope tight. Run a line from the bow and stern to the front and rear bumpers. Paddleheads weld rings or mount bolts to their bumpers for this purpose.

edit- I liked WVbream's post. A trailer can't be beat for hauling canoes, especially long heavy ones like a wood and canvas OT.

BigSky · 12-31-2011, 09:44 AM

I bought a kit at REI for like $20.00. It had foam cube pads that fit on the side of the canoe and rest on the top of the car. You then tie it down with adjustable belts that are included.

DMan · 03-14-2012, 07:31 PM

Many years ago we had an old Chevy van that we converted to camp in. It had roof racks so we'd slide the canoe on the racks and tie it down to the front and back bumpers with ropes. We also used bungee cords which went over the canoe and attached to the roof racks - one to each rack. The canoe was very stable this way.