If you're just starting to get serious about kayaking as a hobby, then you might be looking for a solution for how to conveniently haul your kayak to different spots. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to build a kayak trailer.
It's actually easier than you might think to make a trailer yourself so take a look at information that should help you to develop your own very quickly.
This article primarily follows this amazing video, so using both together will get you a great result:
1. Start Out with a Trailer Frame
The simplest thing you can do to start building a kayak trailer is to buy a small trailer to use as a frame.
You should be able to purchase a small trailer that you would use to pull behind a truck. It doesn't need to be overly big, but you should buy one that is large enough in length to be of use to you.
It can be useful to make some slight modifications to the frame before you begin the bulk of the work.
Welding the frame together might be beneficial as many trailers are merely held together using nuts and bolts. Welding it will make the structure stronger overall, and you'll be able to be more confident that it will be sturdy enough for transporting your kayaks.
2. Build Your Frame up Around the Perimeter of the Trailer
It's a good idea to build your frame up around the perimeter of the trailer.
You will want to use some metal to build a small frame on all sides. This will come in handy for later as you are going to be building this trailer up vertically.
Having the perimeter be surrounded by a metal frame will give you the ability to tie cargo to the metal for storage once things are done.
This is also an essential step for continuing to build the trailer up correctly. To ensure that your trailer is sturdy structurally, pay close attention to the welding and try to keep things as level as possible.
3. Build a Platform to Hold Your Kayaks
The next step is honestly going to be the bulk of the work that goes into this project.
You need to build a platform on top of the frame that will hold your kayaks. You should use sturdy metal to build this platform as you will want it to be stable while transporting everything.
Starting out with the outer frame of your platform is a smart idea.
Welding metal poles or rods to act as pillars for your frame is where you should start. Slowly build up your frame to a point where it's tall enough to hold the number of kayaks that you're looking to transport.
It should be possible to build a kayak trailer that can fit up to four kayaks.
To achieve this, it would be best to go with a tiered design on your platform. You want to fit two of the kayaks on the lower portion of the platform and then fit two more above that.
Using two parallel bars on each side, it should be possible to achieve this type of design.
For structural stability, it is recommended that you use three support pillars to hold up your parallel bars. Welding a beam down the center of the frame that connects the two sides of your platform is also a good idea.
4. Drill Holes into the Frame to Help You Tie the Kayaks Down
Drilling holes in particular spots of your framework will allow you to tie down your kayak more easily.
This will make transportation a lot simpler and is definitely worth doing. It's possible to tie the kayaks down without drilling holes but giving your straps natural spots to hook onto is a smart choice.
It won't take long to do the drilling.
Just do your best to measure things out so that the holes are spaced out correctly. This way, you will know that the weight is being distributed evenly once everything is tied down on your frame.
5. Use Wood for the Floor
You should buy some wood to use for the flooring of your trailer.
Underneath the platform you just built, you will want to cut wood to place on top of the bare trailer frame. You can finish this wood if you want it to look really nice but it isn't necessary from a functional perspective.
Remember to take proper measurements before you start any cutting.
It's always better to measure twice just to make sure that you didn't miscalculate in any way. This will help you to avoid wasting any wood and will make the cutting process reasonably easy.
Remember that you will need to use a jigsaw on the boards to accurately position them around the frame in some instances.
Just ensure that your measurements are correct and that your cutting is on point. Once the boards are placed, you can drill screws into the bottom of the frame to secure the boards correctly.
Placing the wood at the bottom of the trailer should be simple.
Try to get it as tight as possible as you want this flooring to be very sturdy. It's meant to hold cargo while going down the road, so you want to be able to rely on your work to keep everything safe.
6. Enjoy Your New Kayak Trailer
As long as you followed all of this advice, your new kayak trailer should be ready to use.
It can take a little bit of work to make this project turn out properly, but it will be worth it when you see the results. It isn't too complicated to do when you have a trailer to use as a base, but you will want to pay close attention to your welding and cutting.
Now that your trailer is ready for use, it should be much simpler to transport your kayaks where they need to go.
Being able to carry four kayaks using your new trailer efficiently is going to be nice, and your kayaking friends just might try to rope you into making one for them too. If you wish to relax, then you can always point them to this advice and tell them to get to work themselves.
