How are you supposed to move a 5m + Ski?

General offshore yakking discussion.
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Seasherpa
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How are you supposed to move a 5m + Ski?

Post by Seasherpa »

So having recently gotten rid of my trailer (out of necessity not choice) I am back to carrying my yak by car. Choice of car for the job was a wagon to give the length while being low enough to load/unload easily. Even at almost 4.8m long there is still one issue to be solved: overhang.
The current issue of YakFisher mag talks about this issue but on my research the regs in Victoria differ to interstate. According to VicRoads website, here we can still have up to 1.2m overhang at the front but none at the rear. Therefore to meet the legal requirements you would have to push the yak forward to overhand at the front. Unfortunately this throws of the balance of the yak on the roofracks and the amount of yak up front unsupported would cause stress cracks on a fiberglass yak or surf ski. This isn;t an inssue interstate where the regs allow for a length equal to 60% of the wheelbase, to protrude rearward of the rear axle.
VicRoads website states that "if any of the requirements cannot be met, the load must be placed on another more suitable vehicle"
So in my case I would need a ute/4wd with front support (As per Nello's solution) or a rigid truck to carry my ski around.
I can't get a 4wd or rigid into the underground at my place and chose the ford wagon because of the length and because it is one of the few vehicles of that length that I could get into the underground with the yak on top.

So to this end I've contacted Vic roads to clarify the Victorian legislation vs interstate, to avoid an overhang fine. Andrew at Melbourne kayaks told me he got done carrying his ski on a hilux and there wasn't much change from $400 for the fine.

Here's is a copy of the letter to VicRoads:
"I just wanted to suggest a clarification of the road rules to cater to the growing number of Victorians using fishing skis and surf skis on a regular basis. The current Victorian legislation outlined in your website's PDF documentation does not cater for this growing group of people in terms of overhang limits on cars. Most offshore skis are between 5 and 6 metres long. Overhang of up to 1.2m is allowed at the front of the vehicle but not at the rear. This is encouraging users to load their skis with a front bias in order to comply with road rules, but this creates an unbalanced load on the roof racks and potentially causes damage to the skis as well as being potentially unsafe. As a member of various kayaking clubs and forums I have seen this issue arise frequently and think it is time for Vicroads to clarify legislation and/or bring it into line with interstate. I would suggest that documentation on your website reflect a rear overhang allowance of 60% of the vehicle wheelbase to become applicable in this case coupled with the use of a red warning flag and suitable carrying cradles for the purpose of transporting fishing and surf skis in Victoria. Thank you for your time in regard to this matter."

It might not get much of a reply, but it will be good to see if we can get something done because otherwise I'll need to get Cheater to mount some kind of T support on the front of the wagon and airbags become an issue. Emails are free so that will be the first option.
I'll post up any replies I get.
Last edited by Seasherpa on 05 Oct 2015, 17:40, edited 1 time in total.
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4liters
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Re: How are you supposed to move a 5m + Ski?

Post by 4liters »

nvm, poor reading comprehension on my behalf lol
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Re: How are you supposed to move a 5m + Ski?

Post by Seasherpa »

Even the term overhang causes confusion because in the design regs for vehicles/trailers it refers to the vehicle 'overhang' behind the rear axle. Load protrusion is probably a better word in this case.
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Re: How are you supposed to move a 5m + Ski?

Post by Wind Waker »

Add a nudge bar on the front with a t support. Done :)
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Re: How are you supposed to move a 5m + Ski?

Post by Seasherpa »

Wind Waker wrote:Add a nudge bar on the front with a t support. Done :)
That's the fall back. Getting them to clarify the regs is free!
Last edited by Seasherpa on 05 Oct 2015, 17:34, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How are you supposed to move a 5m + Ski?

Post by Wind Waker »

Getting vic roads to change the regs is almost impossible. Been down that path re clarification of terms with towing.

The cheat around is to put a tow bar on then a tee half a metre back with the bike rack number plate on it.

I'd still run a tee on the front instead.

In my case I have a tow hitch hanging out the back that lines up with my outback ;)
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Re: How are you supposed to move a 5m + Ski?

Post by Kingo »

I think youd be pretty unlucky to cop a fine with overhang, im a tradie driving a single cab ute with a tray that has racks on it and just about everyday I have up to a meter sometimes more overhang, wheter it be sticks of timber, pipe or roof sheets.
Whack a hi viz flag on the back of your ski, tie it down properly (neatly) and make it look like you care/doing the right thing
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Re: How are you supposed to move a 5m + Ski?

Post by shane »

The front rack is the neatest solution. I think I still have one somewhere from hangliding days. You're welcome to it but they're simple to make and can be custom made to fit without a nudge bar.

The other option is a ladder rail that goes along each side of the ski with plenty of forward protrusion to give support to the front of the yak. This can be as simple as two lengths of carpeted 70x35 joined with straps between them to give the right width support to the ski.
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Kingo
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Re: How are you supposed to move a 5m + Ski?

Post by Kingo »

Be careful if you go down the homemade/custom fabricated front rack route, they can make your airbags spontaneously go off :shock:
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Re: How are you supposed to move a 5m + Ski?

Post by laneends »

shane wrote:The front rack is the neatest solution. I think I still have one somewhere from hangliding days. You're welcome to it but they're simple to make and can be custom made to fit without a nudge bar.

The other option is a ladder rail that goes along each side of the ski with plenty of forward protrusion to give support to the front of the yak. This can be as simple as two lengths of carpeted 70x35 joined with straps between them to give the right width support to the ski.
Thought of that myself but that still puts all the load on the front bar.

if someone has a design for a T on a falcon wagon, I would be interested too as I have exact same problem.

Nellos solution is neat by the way if you have nudge bars.
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