Carrying a car topper?

[wardy1]

Ok, so today I saw a ripper car topper arrangement. Sent them an email to find that the D4 can only have 75kg in the roof?????
Soooo angry. How do we tow a van AND have a boat?

[kenl]

By car topper do you mean Roof Top Tent? How much does the one you want weigh? I thought most of them came in at about 40 to 50 kg mark, but that may just be the bog standard ones that I mostly see.

Still why be angry about it [biggrin]

[roverrescue]

I’m thinking you mean a boat on the roof?
Have you looked at other options than tin

I had a run in one of these at Bathurst Heads
A few years ago - ol mate ran it atop his 100 series
Towing some big Van behind

He came up to the heads and PCB but left van behind

It was a great rig, fast, light and ate the bay chop up???

3.7m Barra Car topper boat & tender boat | Enlightened Boating (https://www.enlightenedboating.com/boats/ezytopper/3-7m-barra/)

If I wanted a roof topper I’d look seriously at them
Bit I’m more of the opinion you should tow a big boat and just squeeze in camping gear wherever!!!

S

[trout1105]

Your average 12' tinny wouldn't weigh anywhere near 75kg and you can carry the outboard on the back or front of the van.
As long as you don't go too big on the boat or too fancy on the roof rack you should be just fine.
The downside with a car topper is they are a PITA to get down and back up on the roof and the boat tends to drip salt water and other stuff onto the car.
Personally I tow a 5.4m trailcraft boat and the missus tows the caravan which gives us plenty of fishing flexibility with the comfort of the van and the added safety margin of having an extra 4WD with us in case of a breakdown or if one of us gets bogged[thumbsupbig]

[wardy1]

Your average 12' tinny wouldn't weigh anywhere near 75kg and you can carry the outboard on the back or front of the van.
As long as you don't go too big on the boat or too fancy on the roof rack you should be just fine.
The downside with a car topper is they are a PITA to get down and back up on the roof and the boat tends to drip salt water and other stuff onto the car.
Personally I tow a 5.4m trailcraft boat and the missus tows the caravan which gives us plenty of fishing flexibility with the comfort of the van and the added safety margin of having an extra 4WD with us in case of a breakdown or if one of us gets bogged[thumbsupbig]

Although this sounds like a great idea, it would mean us buying another car as well as the boat..... not an option.

I’ve seen a few boat loaders up here that are very easy to use. I’m not looking at just sliding the boat up onto a rack, it’ll be specifically designed to do its job with as little effort as possible on our part

[trout1105]

Although this sounds like a great idea, it would mean us buying another car as well as the boat..... not an option.

I’ve seen a few boat loaders up here that are very easy to use. I’m not looking at just sliding the boat up onto a rack, it’ll be specifically designed to do its job with as little effort as possible on our part

Those boat loaders are a fantastic bit of kit that make unloading/loading the dingy a breeze and I think that they can also be used as a roofrack at the same time[thumbsupbig]
If you can keep your tinny down to about 12 foot or so there shouldn't be any weight issues even with the boat loader fitted.

The main reason why we tow the bigger boat is that we are getting a bit long in the tooth to be squatting uncomfortably for hours in a little dingy these days and for the added safety factor of having a decent sized boat in areas that the crocks tend to live in.

[roverrescue]

Trout
The trouble with Tinnys is they are heavy

I agree that 12’ (3.7m) is as small as you’d go assuming fishing two people

Just to illustrate:
“The Big Australian” (using the cheapest Chinese material and bird**** welding)
Quintrex makes there 370 Dart - empty it weighs 86kg

The X-country 3.7 Barra is 50kg

Big difference above your head!!!

Re boat lifters - to be honest I would just make sure you have rope on your winch,
Roller at the back bar of rack, run rope up and over and winch her in
Might need a bit of Deleon along top of bull bar or a small stand... but once it’s up you can easily slide it into positon. All the loaders increase the height of the rig

S

[Blknight.aus]

small RHIB and a mount for the hull minus the balloons over the A bar?

[wardy1]

small RHIB and a mount for the hull minus the balloons over the A bar?

?.??

[Blknight.aus]

The RHIB concept - Zodiac Nautic - Inflatable and Rigid Inflatable Boats (https://www.zodiac-nautic.com/en/the-rhib-concept/)

the smaller ones have the inflatable bladders and transom removable for easy storage/transport.

[trout1105]

I often see the dinghy's carried atop the caravan instead of the tow tug and these are often used in conjunction with a small collapsible boat trailer to get the boat into the water.[thumbsupbig]

[SeanC]

There’s always the Porta Bote.

Porta Bote | The Revolutionary Folding Boat (https://www.porta-bote.com/)

Friends took one on their big lap and said it was great.

[Nick S]

I’ve got a 3.5m Nomad that is about 65kg, so no problem on the back of the 130. The pic is from the Munja track last year
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