If you have a kayak and you’ve been thinking of building or buying a trailer, congratulations. We’re in the same boat. I’ve got 4 kayaks, and I need a better way of hauling them to the lake, so I’ve been looking into options.
Kayak Trailer Options
One option is just to get an enclosed trailer and mount hooks on the walls to hang the kayaks. The advantage of that is that you can use the trailer for other stuff. The disadvantage is that its a lot more expensive, and much bigger.
A second option is to purchase a premade kayak trailer. In fact, this is by far your easiest option. You can actually order Kayak Trailers on Amazon! Here are a few options…
Malone makes a very light weight (164 pounds) single Kayak trailer, which I imagine you could even pull behind a big motorcycle like a Goldwing! But definitely any vehicle, even if you drive a Prius or Civic. Check out the Malone XtraLight Single Kayak Trailer Package.
If you need to haul two you can get the Malone MicroSport 2-Boat SeaWing Kayak Trailer Package for under $1,500.
A variant of this option would be to pick up a cheap utility trailer just about anywhere, and then get the $269 Malone Auto Racks Trailer Cross Bar System. It bolts on to give you two raised bars. And really, you can’t even build something for less money than this bolt on option. So it’s something really worth considering if you aren’t going to get a fully enclosed trailer.
There is also the cheaper $700 Multi-sport Trailer for Kayaks, Sups, Canoes, & Bikes. Its basically a plain boat trailer frame with a couple of cross bars that you mount carriers to. So you can put kayaks, bikes, even a gear carrier on it.
With either of those two previous ones, you then add on the $125 per pair Malone SeaWing Saddle Style Universal Car Rack Kayak Carrier, or some other standard roof mount kayak carriers, and you’re done!
You have a utility trailer AND kayak carrier all rolled into one.
On the other hand, I’ve come across a bunch of different trailer designs which I’ve gathered below to give you ideas in case you are handy at fabrication and want to build your own. Clearly this gives you the most flexibility because you can make one that will hold more stuff. More kayaks, gear, bikes, ATVs or whatever you typically want to carry to the site where you’ll actually be using your kayaks.
Build Your Own Kayak Trailer Photos
If you find any other cool kayak trailer designs let me know! Who knows, yours may just be the winner!!!
We have been knocking the idea around of building a four kayak rack for a while now. We have a snowmobile trailer and a utility trailer with sides and a tall rear ramp. The snowmobile trailer seems like the logical choice. Pvt would probably cost more than wood. So we will probably go with wood. Thanks for the ideas. They will help.
Excellent post and very useful too.