"Carlos Bill" wrote in message
om...
Just wondering if anyone has tried or would know where to begin
searching for a way to permanently place wheels on a canoe to make it
easier to transport.

This is really a lousy idea. It just doesn't make sense to add stuff that
might be useful for very short periods of time but that'll get in the way
the rest of the time.

...

I have an Old Town Discovery 174 that weighs 82lbs. It's impossible to
get onto my roof rack alone.

1.) get a gym membership.

2.) scout the market for loading aids. For canoes, there are a couple of
devices intended to fix the problem. For example, Thule sells a bar that
slides out laterally from a roof rack crossbar that permits loading fore and
aft separately. Someone else builds a linkage lashup that lets you place
the boat on a frame that folds out to a position at the side of the vehicle
maybe four feet off the ground. You then lever frame and boat to the top of
the vehicle. You still have to handle the bulk, but with better position
and stance and maybe with some leverage and spring assist.

I don't have a gym membership and haven't tried any of the aids, both
because they're expensive and unnecesary.

I load my sometimes heavily outfitted Explorer (only slightly lighter than
the 174) onto a fairly high rack by first setting it down athwart the van,
bow resting on the ground, wales resting on my poles (or a length of white
DWV pipe that spans the rack crossbars when I'm going paddling). Then I
pick up the bow and walk it around to the front of the van, lifting it over
all the garbage mounted on the forward rack crossbar, levering the aft on
the gunnel brackets mounted on the aft rack crossbar. The last move is a
slide aft. Unfortunately the first unloading move is to climb the front
bumper, lift the bow, and to haul it forward. But you get used to it.

When I age to the point that I can't do this alone (when I stand on tiptoes
I can see this time), I'm going to have to quit altogether. Then I'll get a
Personal Water Craft or a 350HP bass boat that I can trailer. I certainly
won't mount wheels permanently on the boat.

Free advice,
Fred Klingener