I'm looking into a trailer for my kayak and had a few questions, hopefully others can give their experiences on the matter. I'm looking at the malone microsport to haul my 13' Vibe Hydra 130. I like the longer length to make backing up easier.
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They offer both bunks and saddles as an option. I have experience using saddles on top of my car, but never used bunks. Is one prefered over the other? I like that saddles will fit on both sides of the bulky center of a kayak, essentially locking it from moving back and forth. Bunks don't do this, so I feel like they'd be more prone to shifting. But maybe the extra surface area helps. And bunks do seem slightly easier to load on.
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How much does weight distribution effect the trailer while towing? If I wanted to load my kayak on one side of the trailer, leaving the other empty so I can go pick up my friend and his kayak, would the offset weight cause issues? I can always center the mount for a single kayak and then shift it over and add the other mounts when I'm loading up the second kayak. I think saddles would be easier to adjust in this case.
Thank you for the help
Posted by Korkthebeast
1 Comment
I like bunks. Drive trailer onto launch. Drag kayak onto bunks. Secure with straps. Done.
Definitely notice a difference when the kayak is dragged all the way up forward vs like a foot back. The extra weight on the tongue feels more secure. Not sure how much lateral load matters but it is helpful to bring it to the tongue.
With bunks you have to be more precise when you set them up to match the bottom of the boat. So if you plan to use with multiple friends or different kayaks.. you’ll want to use saddles I think.