roof topper or trailer?

[Martijnf]

Hi guys,

My 1-2 year trip around Australia is around the corner now (next month I'm flying to Sydney.. woohoo!)

Anyway, after having talked a bit with a load of people, I've been looking at getting a boat to give me a lot more freedom to fish and generally have a good time while I'm travelling around.. esp up north with the floating handbags and what not.

As I'm buying a Landcruiser or Patrol, I could whack a tinny on top but I've been looking around and the 2nd hand market for rooftoppers seems to be pretty limited compared to smaller boats on trailers which could mean spending on more on a boat and engine without a trailer than I would for the same or bigger/better boat with one. And that's without any special loading/unloading gizmos

Thing is tho, I want to do a fair bit of offroading as well and don't want to have a trailer limit me in where I can go too much of the time.

As I have 0 experience in the field I thought I'd ask you for your opinions. How feasible will it be to drag a trailer along the country behind a 4be? Also maybe you have some tips on places in sydney/melbourne area or even southern qld to look for a boat?

[edit] oh yeah forgot to mention.. I don't have a million bucks to spend. I'm buying an old car at around the $5000 mark and don't want to spend that kind of money on the boat [/edit]

Thanks guys.
Cheers,
Martin

[blaze]

I dont think your budget is enough for a vehicle to do the trips you are planning with any reliability. You would be better to at least double your vehicle budget and forget the boat. Australia is a bloody big country with huge km between help
cheers
blaze

[Noelm]

if you want to do a "rooftop" job, be sure you get the best racks you can buy (the Boat will be the easy bit) if you intend doing a lot of off road work, the vibrations from some of our badly corrugated dirt roads will see cheap racks falling to bits in no time, I have evn seen the gutters of cars snapped off by too much load on the roof,I guess a cartopper for a one off trip would be the way to, as a trailer to suit the occasion would be quite expensive, where do you intend on traveling?? you might be able to meet up with a few ausfishers on the way and cut down the learning curve considerably.

[LeeannP]

I must admit we're in a similar situation to you. We're looking at 12-18 months but that will depend on whether the travelling suits us. Who knows, we might be gone for two months and get sick of it.

We love fishing and have been procrastinating about the boat/accommodation thing. What we have come up with is that although we love fishing we will not be fishing every day though when it comes to accommodation, we want to be comfortable. We looked at the ute/slide on combination and then tow the boat but this would cost us around $80,000 for a nice setup though the slide on's do lack a bit of space.

On the accommodation side of things we really wanted to stay away from canvas (if it rains, and rains and rains it will leak). Tenting it wasn't an option. Great if it's only for a month or two at the most but most people would get over it very, very quickly. We also wanted accommodation that we could set up in very minimal time. We've decided to go the caravan and take a couple of kayaks with us. We've done the car topper thing before and that was a pain in the you know what.

in most instances there will be hire boats or charters in the places where we'll be visiting so there's no problems there. With the top bit of Australia we're going to tow a 5m boat up and tent it. The boat/trailer has been set up to handle the rough stuff. Rob's a fitter and turner by trade and has been lucky enough to have been bought up around some handy "jack of all trade" bushies so can fix any problems when they arise. I suppose that's something you have to look at. If you tow a trailer, something will no doubt go wrong!

In your situation, especially if it's only you, you'd probably be better off going the trailerable option. Just make sure the trailer is in good nick!! Most roads around Australia are 2wd anyway. Sure, there are a lot of "off the beaten track" type places but those are the kind of places you'd want to go with a second vehicle, especially since you mentioned that your experience is limited. If you can handle a car topper at least that'll eliminate trailer problems. I suppose it's going to come back to your confidence and what you reckon you can handle.

Everyone's idea of travelling is different. We've seen that with the homework we've been doing.

Good luck and have fun. That's what life is about!

Cheers

[Martijnf]

Thanks for the ideas so far.

Blaze: Yeah I'd love to be able to spend 10K on a car instead of five.. I'd also love to be able to buy a new landcruiser and have ARB fit it out with airlockers, custom suspension, etc etc. But since I don't have that kind of money I'll just have to do it the cheap way and take good care of the car and be prepared. Hundreds if not thousands of backpackers are traveling all over the country that way at this very minute, so I'm sure it's not too bad. Just gotta be careful what you buy and be a bit more considerate of the vehicle while traveling.

Noel, good tip about the corrugations, was wondering what that would do to something with such a relatively large mass sitting on top... as for where I'm going, well everywhere basically Doing a round trip counter-clockwise starting from Sydney so I'll be visiting most places on the coast and then up cape York (hopefully) as well as some outback/inland places (can't really get away from Alice and Uluru after all..). Hoping to go to Tassie as well. And yeah, I hope I can meet up with as many ausfishers as possible, check out the local spots, pick up some pointers, etc. I'll be keeping a regular log (as regular as my lifestyle allows, won't have internet access everywhere) so you should be able to track whereabouts I am.

Leeann, sounds good! Of course having a handyman around makes life a lot easier. I'm not in the same league I guess but I have built up and maintained my own racing car and done some work around the house so I reckon I'm not a total spaz and should be ok I thought about kayaks but the use of them would be a little more limited compared to say a 3.5m v-hull with a 15HP outboard. I won't be traveling with the same people all the time either (at least I don't expect to) so it will be nice to be able to take someone out in the boat with me. I guess I'll just have to decide once I'm there. If I do decide to get a trailer and want to visit some more out of the way places where I can't take a trailer, I'll just have to make it a round trip and leave the trailer behind somewhere. That shouldn't change my plans too much.

[NormC]

Martin, for your trip, I think you are better off with a Roof Topper. If you tow a standard boat trailer, it will be very restrictive. It will not be built for dirt / corrugated roads. If you avoid these roads, you will miss some of the very best places to visit (both to see and for fishing). Smaller taailers are also not designed to long distance high speed travel.

I've been carrying a roof topper on trips for a couple of years now and have done about 12,000 KM with the boat on top. We also tow an off road camper trailer (with fold up aluminium trailer on the draw bar). Started with a 3.5m Stacer with 15 HP motor. We now have a 3.75M Quintrex with 20HP Yamaha. We spend a lot of time in the boat and cover a lot of water in some places we go up in the Gulf, so the larger boat and motor is better for us. I also carry a bow mount Minn Kota.

I simply use Rhino Rack Commercial bars on the Hilux canopy and have made another set of bars (with rollers) that are supported from the chassis. The extra rear bars are due to the shape of the canopy and the fact I have a dual cab ute. I load the boat by hand. I'm well past 50 and manage OK. Used to be able to load the smaller baot easily by myself. Although I can manage the new boat alone, it is much easier with someone else to help. In a basket under the boat I carry the big light, but 'ugly' stuff, like fuel tank, seats, crab pots, red claw pots, life jackets, etc.

Apart from carrying the boat, you need to consider how you will carry the motor and other accessories. Perhaps for you a 3 to 3.5m boat with 6 to 9HP motor might be the go to reduce the weight.

It takes a bit of planning to set up right to travel with a tinnie, but the effort is well worth it. We particularly like fishing in Northern Australia. Barra, Jacks, Crabs, Prawns!!!

We leave in 3 weeks for the Gulf (NT) again. If all goes well, we won't be home till August.

Home you get the set up you want and have a great trip.

Norm C

[NormC]

Martin, via PM I've been describing my set up and said I'd post some pics here to put it in context.

Pic 1 is the best I have showing the 3 bars, side rail (40x40) and the Stainless Steel retaining pieces, that secure the gunwale down to the bars. You can also see the rollers on the rear bar. On a LC or Patrol the rear bar can be on the vehicle roof. Mine is supported via separate supports to the chassis due the the Dual Cab ute and shape of the canopy.

Pic 2 shows how I carried the 15HP outboard. The new 20HP is in the sams spot, but not in a box. In a wagon, you should have no trouble, particularly if you fold up or remove the rear seat. No problem carrying a 2 stroke like this.

Pic 3 shows how I have mounted moulded seats in the boat so they can be easily removed for transport. Two lengths of aluminum sail track (available form Bunnings) are pop riveted to the thwart the right distance apart. Leave a gap at one end so the seat can be slid in and out. The seat base just slips into the opening in the sail track. Apart from being easily removed, an advantage of this method is that you can easily adjust the seat position by just sliding it along.

Pic 4 shows the removable carpeted ply floor. The landing net is held in position by a velcro strap which is pop riveted to one of the boat side supports. The foot control is for the bow mount Minn Kota I also carry.

Hope these pics help you understand the written description I pm'd to you.

Norm C

[FNQCairns]

I think I know what you are after, when I was younger it was the same thing, do you plan to camp rough for a lot of your trip? You probably need a cheap wagon without rear seats and a car topper.

To get to the very many quality and often quieter spots to spend a few days exploring a waterway a trailer is often a total pig of an idea, from an inland river redgum track beside the Murray R to down a surf beach via a melaluka scrub and bracken track to up here (nq and fnq) and the soft sandy tree lined access tracks to quiet inlet side camping areas to cape york with rock ledges and everything else...you DONT want a trailer it will pull you up time and time again from choosing a quiter more secluded track which so very often over here lead to the most delightful areas IMO.

Many do the more urban trip around oz and tow a trailer, that's fine but they are largely forced to go where MANY always go and never find out what they are missing after a little more adventure through the tighter spots.

A SWB GQ will do you well and use a lot of fuel, a LWB will be better to live out of for periods, they are a very tough truck and can be had for the right price, a standard vehicle can still travel to amazing places if not towing, an old toyota lancruiser like the FJ40s were good too and quite reliable, most of the other brands ie not cruiser or patrol can be a little soft, not so much where they will get you but if they get back.

A 10 ft car topper with a lowly 6hp 2st will have enough performance to see you go everywhere the length of the boat allows and fish dams, inlets, rivers and you can manhandle it up and down steep banks all by yourself even over rock bars and mud/sand flats when you get caught out by some big tides. Also after a few practice runs they are not hard to load onto the roof when you get the nack.

Anyway just some thoughts

cheers fnq

[hooknline]

About 6 years ago I purchased a fj45 petrol landcruiser ute, it had dual tanks under the seat a timber tray, I fitted an under dash aircon and and made a canopy for the back. I took this rig with a 4 metre stacer on top up cape york 3 years in a row, without a problem just a case of a bit of preperation and maintance before you go. Things like wheel bearings king pin bearings etc. I may have been passed on the dirt by 100 series and 80 series landcruisers but I still got there and we had the time of our lives. Even had to stop and help one of those flash cars that passed us!. All Iam trying to say you don't need the new gear to get up there and enjoy yourself I think that cruiser cost me $4500.00,my boat was worth more than my ute. Any way good luck and hope you enjoy yourself.

[MarkDiver]

Martin

I've been considering a similiar trip and it will happen one day
Just this morning I saw this trailer with boat for sale. 4.3m with 15hp. It is over your budget at $8K but may give you some ideas.
see attachment
Bon Voyage

[mr fisher]

roof topper

[Whitey81]

Norm C. Love your setup, The only thing I would add is a brace from the rear bar with the rollers to the rhino racks, would stiffen it up. Hard to tell if aluminum or gal steel though.

If you are carrying alot of weight go for a rack that supports itself the whole length of the roof channel.

If anyone is interested i know of 3.75, 15 hp Merc, Electric tinnie tosser and trailer, 12 months old $6000

Dont be afraid of travelling in an old car my old FJ 45 went all over the place, dont expect any creature comforts though.

[BrewGuru]

Martin, get yourself a V nose alloy punt, they weigh about 70 - 80 kgs, not a lot of weight on a pair of good solid roofracks, grab yourself a 4 - 6 hp outboard to run it, being a flat bottom boat with a V nose gives you the best of both worlds, stability and it can push the yuckky stuff.
If you are going otback with a trailer and a limited budget, you are gunna have trouble in some place from nowhere with bearings, tyres, springs and others stuff thats going to shake rattle and roll.
If you had the dollars, a fold out off road camper trailer with a boat rack would be the ultimtate.

Cheers

ED

[Kevaclone]

what do you guys do to prevent rust from salt water dripping all over the roof? even if you let the boat dry off first a bit of rain will wash it onto your car.
Newer vehicles have much better rust protection but something from the 80s would disappear pretty quick wouldn't it?

[Apollo]

Martin - just a thought. Consider a 4.5m+ canadian canoe with a small outboard. Light to lift onto the roof racks, can carry 2-3 people, small motor equals less space/fuel/weight. Able to poke around in very skinny water and if necessary, very quitely. Search around and these can be very cheap. Mine was $300 for canoe, the 2hp was $150 and I have spent about another $100 with mods/bits.