Kayaks in a toy hauler?

[CaddyJellyby]

We're staring an empty nest in the eye and realizing that we may not need that bunk house much longer. We'd both prefer to keep our rig as small as possible, but I'm also interested in simplifying our kayak transportation. Does anyone have any experience at using a toy hauler for kayaks? The boat that we paddle the most is 14'6". We would most likely want to put a couple of kayaks inside the rig. Might it be possible to let the end of the boat peek through a door into the main living space? Angle it cross-wise?

Has anyone done this?

Thanks,
Sharon

[CaddyJellyby]

Thanks!!! It does help a bunch. Now I have a pretty good clue what I need.

[GottaRunGottaCa]

CaddyJellyby wrote:

GottaRunGottaCamp wrote:
We haul 13'6" kayaks in our 10' garage toy hauler all the time, just put them catty corner, I have had three kayaks (one 13'6" & two 10') and one 12' paddle board in our garage at one time, the two 10' on the floor, the 13'6" catty corner (floor to ceiling) and the paddle board on the lower bed.

Now you're talking. The boat that I'm most concerned about is 14'6" and heavy-ish. It's a tandem. Do you think you'd have space in your 10' bay for that or should we look strictly at longer bays? Would power bunks get in the way? Thanks for the insight.

The measurement in my toy hauler (Keystone Raptor) catty corner from top to bottom is 14'0", so your 14'6" kayak would not work in my toy hauler, if you went with a 12' garage the catty corner measurement would be approximately 15'6"
I hope this helps.

[Big_Dog_Bob]

Hello, Oh yes I haul two 10' kayaks and a Big Dog Chopper in my hauler. Two times have had a 14'6 and two 10' kayaks. I had to leave glass sliding door open for the 14'6 one to fit. Didn t have the chopper with the 14 footer. My haulers garage is 10' for the chopper.

[eDUBz]

I have 4 kayaks sit on top and just lay them In there. I have a 19ft toy hauler works perfect. I also have 6 Paddle boards and do the same. Or sometimes 2 kayaks and 2 boards and it works really well. If I'm over loaded with all my gear I'll throw some stuff on top of my truck that has Yakima rack system.

[dcg9381]

Power bunks go to the ceiling - they won't be the issue. My guess is that a 10' bay is too short without coming through the door. There may be door setups that work. A 12' garage may work... There are toy hauler configs that don't have a separate garage (Work and Play comes to mind) that would take a 20' Kayak.

[CaddyJellyby]

GottaRunGottaCamp wrote:
We haul 13'6" kayaks in our 10' garage toy hauler all the time, just put them catty corner, I have had three kayaks (one 13'6" & two 10') and one 12' paddle board in our garage at one time, the two 10' on the floor, the 13'6" catty corner (floor to ceiling) and the paddle board on the lower bed.

Now you're talking. The boat that I'm most concerned about is 14'6" and heavy-ish. It's a tandem. Do you think you'd have space in your 10' bay for that or should we look strictly at longer bays? Would power bunks get in the way? Thanks for the insight.

[CaddyJellyby]

Rangerman40 wrote:
I was da ing the same issue so I bought a 12ft inflatable... Works pretty well.

We're pretty serious about kayaking, so we'll be using our existing boats. But thanks for the thought.

[GottaRunGottaCa]

We haul 13'6" kayaks in our 10' garage toy hauler all the time, just put them catty corner, I have had three kayaks (one 13'6" & two 10') and one 12' paddle board in our garage at one time, the two 10' on the floor, the 13'6" catty corner (floor to ceiling) and the paddle board on the lower bed.

[BarneyS]

Moved to Toy Hauler forum from 5th wheels.

[dedmiston]

Here's a good thread from last month.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28736584.cfm

[dedmiston]

I see posts like this in the Toy Hauler forum fairly frequently. If you search there you'll find some recent pictures of kayak storage racks that people had fabricated.

You might consider clicking Notify Moderator and asking to have this topic moved to the Toy Hauler forum.

But to answer your question, yes, it's pretty common.

How long are your kayaks? As you shop for fifth wheel toy haulers you'll see garage models and open floor plans. The garage units typically have either 10' or 12' garages. If you need more room than that you'll have to go with an open floor plan.

[Rangerman40]

I was da ing the same issue so I bought a 12ft inflatable... Works pretty well.