Thank you for your concise and accurate instructions. We just purchased the Hullavator Pro Kayak Lift and this made it so much easier to learn the operation rather than sifting through the instruction manual. Fantastic!!
I have two and love them. One word of caution. Always have an end rope. The safety rope has nothing to do with holding the kayak on the vehicle. It’s to keep your kayak from becoming a projectile that could kill someone in an accident. These are mounted with t bolts which will pull out in an accident. Had it happened to me and luckily my safety rope stopped the kayak.
Excellent instructions - straight forward and no nonsense. Just purchased a set the other day and about to install onto my car. Thank you for making video!
Great vidoe! I was trying to figure out how to do a trailer on my older Subaru but this costs about the same and will work great! I can't shoulder my yak because it's a sit on top. I was about ready to give up (I'm disabled). Thanks!
Switch the pads on the cradles so you can stuff the straps into the pocket while it’s down at waist height. Then you can left & drop in one continuous motion. I’m 62 y.o. 5’2” woman who’s had several shoulder injuries. Guys are amazed that I can do it by myself after they’ve helped me put my kayak in the cradles.
Great product. I drive a lot & I don’t want to drive around with that big system always on my roof. How easy to take the actual Hullavator off and back on each time?
It isn't too difficult to take it on and off once you have it set up. If you want to take the bulk of the system off for driving, its held on by a pin, which only takes a minute to take off.
I just installed the Thule Evo wing bars on a new 2023 CRV and my next step was to do the Hullavator . I have 3.75 inch overhang ..Do you think this will be OK? Can I offset it a half inch if needed?
You need at least the next size up from what Thule Customer Service says will fit your car. For the Hullavator to work without hitting the side, it needs to have the space to drop. I found that out the hard way after getting the parts numbers from Thule and buying through REI. When I put it on my car, the bars were too short for the Hullavator to avoid my car. I had to order and exchange the bars through REI. Also, you’ll want the extra length if you want to use other cradles or another Hullavator.
"...to get them up on a load bar is just more than what we can really do physically, they're just too heavy..." Jonas says, as he picks up the kayak like it weighs no more than a feather. lol.
It’s a built-in stop that is locked. When bringing the cradle down, you squeeze the handle to release it from the load bar and it’s vertical. Then squeeze it a 2nd time and pull down til the cradle clicks and stays down. When putting up, you squeeze and pull up. It will stop and lock, then you just push and it drops and should lock horizontally. If it doesn’t you just pull it back up and drop again til it latches.
It is absolutely possible to put two of these on one roof! I don't believe that there is a list of cars for this, but as long as your bars are at least 57 (150cm), you should be able to fit two hullavators. This of course can vary depending on what vehicle you have and what kayaks you're putting up there.
How were you able to put 2 kayaks on the same car in that position?? The one is laying on its side. A d the one your demonstrating with lays flat??? Do you use 2 Thule lifts?? Can you use this system for both sides if that?
I have a similar set up. The driver side has cradles, probably Malone E-Z Loaders, and the Hullavator on the passenger side. The load bars need to be the size up that your car would normally need to avoid the kayaks hitting the side of your car. Yes, you can have 2 Hullavators. A friend of mine has a large pick-up truck with 2 Hullavators for 9 years now, and I had no problem lifting a kayak onto his truck as I’m 5’2”.
It would work with most Hobie models, but the Hullavator Pro has a listed weight capacity of 75lbs. It's possible to go over that weight, but it is advised against and it voids the warranty. Do so at your own risk.
