View topic - Racking 3 canoes???

I've carried 3 canoes many times. I much prefer one in the middle with the other two leaned against each side, rather than a pyramid. Much easier to load the boats that way, especially on a high vehicle. I also think it is more stable if you have everything lashed correctly.

I have carried 5 canoes atop a van from NY to Florida and back. Used a 3 canoe pyramid with the two lightest canoes leaned on the sides of the pyramid. Again, correct lashing is the key to stability.

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OK my turn to bump this old thread from 9 years ago!

Boneli does not seem to be around anymore and the picture he posted of his "u shaped rack" does not seem to still be around. I'd had a similar idea in my head for a couple of years and finally went out to load up a couple of canoes just to get a good visual of how it might work. I shot this video to explain what it is I am talking about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2BjXx4l0A4

Can't see the video.

Whoops wrong link - I updated it. See above.

I don't see why it's necessary to have the angled canoes make contact with the rear bar. If you strap them tight at the points where they make contact (two front bars) then individually tie them to webbing loops under the hood you're 90% there. Tie the sterns together to avoid any kind of L/R slippage. To be safe, tie each stern individually to your hitch receiver rather as well as tying the stern together.

Are those aluminum gunwales? I'm not a fan of the pool noodle thing because they break easy. When I had a boat with aluminum gunwales I used some flexible pipe I had left over from my cistern jet pump intake and cut them to make gunwale protectors.

If you want to stack 3 canoes on a roof rack in pyramid, with the top canoe sitting on two boards which are strapped on top of the bottom two canoes, nail some carpeting onto the boards to pad them. You definitely want to strap the boards and the top canoe down securely so they can't slide around on top of the lower canoes, or try to squirt out from under their straps.

I prefer to strap one canoe on the center of the roof rack, and then lean the other two canoes against it.

Got any pictures of your canoes leaning on the one in the middle? That's what I'm going with too. Seems like a better idea.

I once carried five ABS canoes on a VW Jetta, fist two upside down side by side on a wooden extension, second two right side up on top of the first two and the last one upside down between the top two. Drove that way from Pembroke to the take out for the Dumoine where we left the shuttle car then back to Swisha for the bush flight in. It did turn a few heads on the road.

I can top that one.... Going back a few years, but we once had SEVEN canoes on an old Bronco. We had seven paddlers inside along with PFD's, packs and 14 paddles... along with an extension ladder to reach the upper boats, a portable bridge to cross a washout and a chain saw to clear the way! Hope the link below works. I don't seem to have much luck posting pix here...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rfyyzzxlomzdm ... e.jpg?dl=0

For three canoes I always do as Glenn MacGrady, leaning them against the centre boat. Holds steady on the worst roads.

DoubleBend