I purchased 2 of these from Backcountry to use for my 16' touring kayaks. I previously had Yakima Landsharks with 1/4" closed-cell foam glued to the cradles. I guess the glue only lasts 3 or 4 years because 3 of the foam pieces came off within a few days of each other. The Hullavators looked like the perfect replacement. I have a few sets of Thule crossbars in different lengths that I played around with for the perfect fit on my SUV with the Hullavators installed. I spent about 6 hours installing, testing, tweaking & so on before I had to pack them back in their boxes and return them.

I'm used to a rock-solid mount with my kayaks. That means that the straps attach to the bars and grip the top 1/2 of each kayak. With the Hullavators, I found 2 glaring problems I simply couldn't work around. For one, the straps attach to the curved cradles & not to the load bars. That wouldn't be so bad, except that the longest curved cradle is well above my kayak, and the shortest cradle is about even with it. With the straps in place, 1/4 or less of the kayak was actually held down by the straps. This resulted in a very loose (dangerous) fit. My only option would be raise the kayaks & hullavators to the travel position & then attach more straps that would attach to the bars. The other problem I had is when the kayaks & hullavators were in the travel position, there was excessive play, wobble, or whatever one would call it. These things lock into place, but they do not firmly lock into place, thus the excessive wobble. Again, the only solution I had would involve strapping the Hullavator to the load bar so that it won't move. All in all, far too much work & far too many straps involved for a safe travel load. Since typical highway/freeway driving exceeds 80mph, along with a number of bumpy dirt roads for lake access, having a safe & secure mount is absolutely my top priority. All they (Thule) would need to do is provide a few solid strap locations on the Hullavator that would accomodate various sizes of kayaks, along with a much better closed position locking mechanism and/or some way to firmly secure the Hullavator to the load bar.

I do a lot of solo kayaking. The challenge has been getting a 16.5' kayak on the roof of my minivan. After watching another paddler use the Hullavator, I rushed out and ordered my own (Backcountry's great sale price was another incentive). The Hullavator has been a great addition for my aching back and my peace of mind. It takes a little bit of caution the first time using it. Follow the instructons in the enclosed DVD. The two parts of the Hullavator need to be coordinated, but after my first time or two it has become a natural process. For anyone who has struggled to safely get a kayak on top of a tall vehicle, this is the answer.

Easy to load by yourself. The rack is a lot cheaper than back surgery....that's what I tell my patients. Nice that you can remove the main portion of the rack and save a few bucks on gas as well. Easily adjusts to your kayak and it's a lot easier to strap since it's at lower height. Great design.

I am 5'2", 120 lbs, 52 year old female who started kayaking a few years ago as good exercise for very bad arthritis, and fell in love with it. In the beginning I could, with great effort, lean my 48 lb kayak against the back of my suv and then push it up on top of factory rack, and then climb up on step ladder to tie it down. But this year I could no longer even manage that, and since I am single with no strong guy around, kayaking would have come to an end for me. I went to my outfitter and they showed me a new kayak just out by Swift - the Kiwassa 12.6. It was only 31 lbs, but at 12'6" even though lighter, still unmanageable for me to load on top of suv. They had solution for that too. The Thule Hullavator! They had a demonstrator set up. I would only have to lift the 31 lb kayak as high as my waist, lay it on the cushioned arms at front and back, wrap the straps around and cinch them up, squeeze the two handles and she lifts up and then lays over on top of the suv rack all by herself. I just guide her up. I can load the entire kayak by myself no matter where I am within 10 minutes tops!!! It has saved kayaking for me. Without it I would have had to quit just because I couldn't load and unload the boat anymore. I've read reviews where many people accuse those who have the hullavator of being lazy! I'll bet they are all tall, young and healthy and predominantly male folks making such comments who live in a bubble where they think everyone is as fortunate as they are and were all born healthy and strong and tall. Well there are many, many kayakers out there who are short, lightweight, older folks, handicapped folks, female and without the requisite upper body strength that men have, especially when they get into their fifties and sixties. But we are out there, and we love kayaking too. We aren't lazy. We would not be able to kayak if not for a rack like the hullavator. I can't say enough for it. And it looks and operates like it is very expensive. I had one guy remark that my rack probably cost more than his car. Wrong!!! It was very inexpensive. The largest part of the cost for me was that I had to have my outfitter install it for me, but the rack itself was not expensive. It just seems like it should be. I had to have it installed because if I could get up there to install it myself, I wouldn't have needed such a rack. I've already been kayaking more times in the past month than I did for the entire summer last year. That's what it did for me. I can't say enough to promote this rack!!!

After mounting a high rise canopy on our GM crewcab, we could no longer walk our 17', rotomould kayaks up the box and onto the roof. Just mounted our new Thule Hullavators and kayaks clear the canopy with room to spare. Very nice that you can remove the hydraulic section from the rack because otherwise, they are very heavy when you are trying to lift them onto your roof. If you have to leave the hydraulics when attaching your racks, especially on a high clearance vehicle, use two people and slide one end across the roof on a folded blanket or chunk of carpet, etc. The kayaks are easy to load and the hydraulics have no problem lifting their 65lbs on to the roof.

I finally got to use my new hullavator. I was able to put it together and install it on my Honda Pilot without difficulty. I have a 75 lb. Tandem kayak, so you can see why I would need a product like the Hullavator. It works great. The first run was a little tricky to put it up.
I needed a little extra push. I was very easy to lower. I gave it a few more spins, each time was easier, as I got the rhythm. I still require a little push to get it started up, but this is a very large, heavy kayak. Overall, I am very pleased. It performs as promised. I got a great price from this store.

So glad I got these. What a difference in loading boats! I've spent decades loading boats the hard way. Thank goodness they came up with these so I can keep loading boats for decades more - the easy way.

Must admit I was not initially excited by this product once I got it put together and installed: big and heavy. But I decided to try it out, and it is outstanding. Made loading my 17.5 foot composite by myself a snap with no damage to either boat or van. Especially like the fact you can lash the kayak down while the hullavator is down at chest level, then rotate to top of van and not have to climb up on car to accomplish. Great rack system. As others noted, took a time or two operating to get the hang, but it is outstanding. Backcounty had best price plus free shipping, great service, will shop them in the future. Excellent all the way round.

I finally feel like i can go kayaking and load it without having my husband do it for me, i have only used it a couple times so far, it has worked great i hooked it up to my ford explorer myself, my one concern was if i had to keep it on all the time but it easily comes on and off with a pin on each one, my kayak is heavy so it does need an extra boost to get it started, and i researched the price and the product and got the best price and advice from this site.

I love the hullavator. It would not attach to my vehicle's factory rack, but with this website that was no problem. Even with the Thule website down, the gearhead pros on this site looked it all up and actually emailed back to me everything I needed. That's perfect! The hullavator works so perfectly for me ----at 5'2", loading an 11 ft. boat on top of an SUV alone was challenging at best. I have been able to paddle more this summer already than I could before---because no one has to be around to help. The install of the hullavator was simple with the directions and it works smoothly. My advice---- if loading your boat gets in the way of you getting on the water---buy it! I feel it is worth the investment. I used the Thule Aero bar package---perfect match! To do this you need: Thule Rapid Aero Bar package, Thule TK1 tracker kit and the Thule Rapid tracker. Of course, check it out for your car 1st. Get the hullavator and hit the water! Thanks you guys------best experience buying gear ever!