I don't know about the bikes, for kayaks our Malone Sport trailer does what we need it to do, is reliable and didn't break the bank. Our Malone had a Pro Angler on it for display the PA at the dealer and of course to sell the Malones if someone bought a PA.
We have the storage box and store the seats for our Oasis, bow/stern lines and our PFDs in it. So we never have to look for them or run the chance of forgetting them. We throw some of our older jackets/rain gear into the box in case we get an unpredicted storm or wind. Since the yak fits over the box, make sure everything is in or out before you put your yaks on top. If you don't you will have pull the yak back down to get to the box. The box is lockable and we put our straps and some times our Hobie Trax cart in while we are on the water.
Our Hobie Kayak cover fits over the Oasis and the box to protect both of them.
We just have the basic cross bars, and our Oasis stays upside down between uses and the Malone sport with the cover is how we store the Oasis in our driveway. I had bought a set of the yoke type kayak loaders/racks, and even on short trips, we got some temporary dents in the Oasis. So now we just use the two cross bars.
I will probably buy the short and removeable tongue kit to cut down on the footprint of the trailer in our driveway. A friend, who has the tools and is handy with them may just cut the tongue back. This should make it easier to tow and to back up and as noted above would cut back on the total footprint of the trailer/oasis.
We use the Hobie Trax Cart to help load our Oasis on or off the trailer. We roll the Oasis up to the trailer and put the front 1/3 over the rear bar, and we put a thick door mat under the rear of the Oasis to protect it. We get the straps and other stuff out of the box and put our PFDS/seats and on the water stuff into the box and lock it. Then, my wife takes the bow line to help pull and guide the Oasis on both cross bars. The Trax drops out during this phase, (make sure you don't trip on it). Then, for the hardest part, we flip the Oasis over to ride and stay stored upside down. After, we strap it in and on the trailer, and we are ready to hit the road. We have got this down to about 5 minutes with the straps being the major time consuming actions.
When we get, home the trailer really helps. We have a semi circle driveway with a small storage shed in the car port. I pull in under the car port, and my first mate gets out and puts the towels/clothing that needs to be washed on the back step, then unlocks the shed and gets the AMAs out of the back of the Ridgeline and paddles. While she is storing that gear, I pull through the carport and back the Malone up. Then, I disconnect the trailer and walk it back into where we lock it and store it. I loosen the straps a little for the storage time.
We have a connected water hose with a nozzle there, and while I am washing off the yak and trailer, my wife has gotten the mirages out of our truck and laid them on the driveway a few feet away from the yak/trailer, so we don't trip on them. Then, while I wash off both sides of the Mirages, my wife is toweling down the washed bottom of the yak. Then, we grab the Hobie cover which is in my near by Jon boat and cover the Oasis. Then, my wife grabs the towels/clothing washable stuff by the back door and throws them into the washer, and she hits the shower. I have been taking the Mirage units into the security of our back yard to dry off.
Then, I head for the shower and start the washer after I get out. If the Mirages are dry, my wife has brought them inside and stored them in a chest by the back door. If they weren't dry or she has started fixing lunch, and I wipe off the Mirages and bring them inside.
We have the return stuff at home down to 10-15 minutes.
When we leave the procedure is similiar but in reverse. I take the Mirages out and put them into the Ridgeline's trunk, unlock the trailer from its security stuff and walk it to the trailer hitch, put it on and lock it. I/We remove the cover and toss it into our Jon Boat. While I'm doing this, my wife has gotten the Trax, paddles and Amas out of the storage shed and put them in the back of the truck. She helps me to check the trailer lights, and we are off in about 5 minutes. Our PFDs and seats are in the locked box in the front of the Malone.
To avoid the normal afternoon wind, we try to be on the water from 9 to about 12. A couple of times, we didn't go in the morning because of unusual morning winds, and when the winds died down in the afternoon, we took off in a couple of minutes after finding out the winds were unexpectedly low.
How did we know when not to go and when to make an unplanned trip?:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=39441http://www.discount-trailers.com/malone ... railer.htmSHRED56 wrote:
Here is what I am after as far as a kayak trailer goes.
Capable of carrying a Pro Angler and an Outback
Narrow enough for a single car garage
Durable enough for extended freeway use
Ability to carry two bicycles
Room for a storage box
My thoughts are to have a stack-able rack system wherein the kayaks are one on top of the other and the bikes are mounted on either side. A storage box, like the Malone trailer option, would be a big bonus. Also a retractable hitch bar would save space in my tiny garage.
Any thoughts?
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when they haul it with their big suv.