Roof Topper Tinnie - Self Loading

Submitted: Monday, Feb 23, 2004 at 23:26

ThreadID: 10742 Views:8736 Replies:7 FollowUps:3

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Bundyman

Just wondering if anyone has made up a system for pulling a 3.7m tinnie onto the roof of their 4by. Being a single bloke I don't often have travelling companions to help take the boat off and put it back on and usually have to ask someone politely for a hand. This is alright at a popular spot but not when your in the middle of the boonies, on your own. I don't want any commercially made thing cause they cost to much and I like to make everything myself. I have a landcruiser ute with steel frame canopy, bullbar and winch. I was thinking of putting a couple of rollers in place but was wondering if anyone has attempted this before. Any help would be great.

Fish quiver when they hear my name!!
Hughesy

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Reply By: Member - Toonfish - Tuesday, Feb 24, 2004 at 00:24

Reply By: V8troopie - Tuesday, Feb 24, 2004 at 02:09

Tuesday, Feb 24, 2004 at 02:09

My 4WD is a troopie, the roof rack is way too high up to lift a boat up there.
I have a nesting dinghy ( 2 halves that nest one into the other - making a 10' dinghy only 5' long). While the halves are light enough to manhandle single handed it is still difficult to get the thing loaded up there.
So I made a trolley on which the dinghy rests upside down ( this also serves to move it to the water). The trolley looks a little like a fridge trolley with rather long and extendable handles.
On the toof rack are two galv. channels, spaced to provide tracks for the trolley wheels. They have small rollers at the rearmost end, the rollers overhanging the back of the car.
To load it, the dighy, strapped to the trolley is lifted up from the wheel end and, when vertical, 'walked' to the rear of the car so the trolley wheels rest in the channels, the trolley frame on the rollers.
Its just a matter of lifting it up and shoving forward as the trolley wheels run in the track. I fitted a simple home made winch to the extended trolley frame to make the initial lifting easier, a winch rope hooks to the rear of the roof rack.
Lowering is the reverse procedure.
The dinghy and trolley would amount to about 60kg in total.
This works for me, I have seen more clever solutions for camper trailers but they were not as high as my troopie.
Klaus

AnswerID: 47820

Follow Up By: Bundyman - Tuesday, Feb 24, 2004 at 04:22

Tuesday, Feb 24, 2004 at 04:22

Klaus,

The idea with the channels and wheels sounds like a good idea for guiding it into position as it goes onto the roof and I think I'll use that. The biggest problem with mine is that it weighs 75kg empty and just trying to get the end of the boat up against the back is arkward and hard. I was thinking along the lines of putting the back of the boat up against the rear of the tray (bottom side down) then bringing the winch cable across the top of the canopy (roller on the bullbar, and canopy where the cable will touch) and connect this to the front of the tinnie. The winch will then pull the boat into an upright position (against the back of the ute.....and then hopefully up and onto the roof??!! Getting it off will require a bit of manhandling to start with but would just be the reverse.

I think it will be one of those suck-it and see jobs. Thanks for the help anyway.

Cheers,
Hughesy