BoatLoader EVO

Works perfectly! I have one on each side of my rack and I can easily load my Hobie Compass and Passport on the rack by myself. It was a game changer for loading the kayaks.

I have a pretty tall pickup with a canopy on the 8' bed. Yakima racks on top of the canopy. With a pair of these extenders I can load a 100 pound kayak by myself. And I'm an old guy. Here's how it works: the rear of my truck is higher than the front so I pull the rear extender out all the way. I pull the forward extender out part way. I lift the rear of my kayak onto the fully extended rear one. Then I roll the kayak over. Then I lift the bow of the kayak onto the forward extender. Next I slide the rear of the kayak fully onto the rear rack and then the bow fully onto the front rack.

I have actually had a full firetruck full of firefighters come running over to offer to help me load my kayak, but I refused them. It is easier and safer (for me, the kayak, and the truck) if I do it myself where everything is fully under control at all times. Without these extenders I could not do it at all.

I read the review from Jillian. I wish I could have shown her how to do it. I'm sure it would be just as easy for her to load her boat onto a car as it is for me to load mine onto a tall truck. It's all a matter of having a system that works. Also, the rod is steel, not plastic. The bushings that center the extender rod inside of the crossbar are plastic and the little sand dollar is plastic or rubber. I've actually owned the one on the rear since 1995 or so when I used it for loading rowing shells. I added the front one in early 2018 in order to help me load the much heavier kayak.

Bought one years ago when we canoed. Made getting that 15 footer up there a snap! Forgot we had it and found it finally. Now we use it on the kayaks and it is just great! We only have one so I am on here pricing another. We figure we will put one on each side of the rack an just toss those kayaks up there!

I recently got a new car (2016 Mazda CX3) and was prepared to spend the big money on a hullavator system. Always using my husbands car and asking him for help loading my 13' Necky Looksha was not working for me anymore and was keeping me from going out as often as I wanted. Unfortunately, the hullavator isn't compatible with my car (reason unknown) and I had to settle for the Boatloader EVO. It's pretty pricey for what is essentially a plastic rod and, as I feared, it helps me but doesn't solve my problems. I'm 5'2 and about 125lb- I'm probably of average strength but struggle to manipulate big heavy things above my head (like a 13', 54lb kayak). Getting the nose of the kayak up on the boat loader is easy and at first you feel like you have a huge advantage. The trouble comes when you need to lift the back end. As soon as you lift the tail of the kayak, you lose a lot of your control over what is happening up front. Being smooth, slippery plastic/metal, the nose has a tendency to slide around as you manipulate the back. I would suggest Yakima add some no-slip material to the bar, which I think would really help. Once you manage to get things under control, you are still left with the same core problem as without the boat loader--- needing to maneuver and lift the kayak onto the racks, above your head. The front corners of the jaylow, which help keep the kayak in place when it is up there, act as a barrier to getting the kayak in in the first place. The first time I used this system, I was by myself (the whole point after all) and actually dented my car when I lost control of the kayak and it fell off the bar. I was not impressed, to say the least. After several tries and a lot of frustration, I did get it up there. Working with some kind of stool might help in that it gives you a little more leverage with the added height, but using a stool bring its own set of dangers and inconveniences. For all you smaller women out there that think you will buy this and it will make you more independent and you will finally be able to load your kayak as easily as the people in your life who can just lift it on there with ease... that's not the case. You're buying a somewhat assistive device only and loading the kayak will still be a constant struggle.