Crab Pot Storage when not in use

R

redbaronace

New member
Tried to search but did not find the answer I was looking for.

Wanted to be able to store 4 crab pots and the associated gear (Flags, etc) when not in use. I know that many store dingys or other items on the roof, but was hoping to see how the crab traps are stored. Given that the pots are weighted (15lbs each), I need to be sure that I can get them up there safely and not worry about them falling down when underway.

Can some folks post photos of their storage of these.
As an FYI, the pots I will be using do not fold, and are about 2 inches wider, deeper and taller than the danielsons.
 
That aluminum rack looks very similar to mine. It took me about a day of screwing around to decide what to build, about an hour to cut the aluminum, and a whole day to get the setting rights on my welder and spool gun to actually make a bead nice enough not to be embarrased by since I used to teach welding for a living a long time ago and my friends would laugh at me. And then about a 1/2 day to weld it all up. About the only difference mine has is a foldable radar tower so it will fit in the garage. Then I made another cooler rack for the transom off a template I had when I made one out of mild steel. Fun stuff in my opinion. The roof will hold far more than you should be putting up there and I'd be reluctant to put any more than 200 pounds on it. And if you do, remember it is up there and drive it nicely as you don't want any stress cracks. I hate fixing fiberglass.....I can never match the damn (sorry) gel coat perfectly........
 
I was just looking through some other albums - whiling away a rain shower indoors - and I happened upon photos of another rack I had not noticed before. This is from the album for the 22 "Princess":

Old_Home_Whidbey_Island.jpg


Boat_From_Seward_to_Girdwood_002.sized.jpg


Winter_Home_in_Girdwood.sized.jpg

Okay, come on sun so I can get back to my projects!
 
localboy":2ewgsown said:
I just store them in "the attic", aka the dinghy and cover it all w/ a bungee spider net while under way.
Click to expand...

Not sure if this is a joke or not, but wouldnt the sharp metal edges of the crabpots puncture the dingy. Not sure if I want to test this method and find out.
 
Yes I have had great success with my PVC roof rack. I have doubled it in length since those photos were taken and store as much as my zodiac, two prawn traps, two crab pots,six rubbermaids a scotchman and a five gallon bucket up there and going on four seasons it has never let me down.
The PVC was cut to length and then I cut wooden dowels to fit inside the PVC, I coated the dowels with silicone before inserting then into the PVC then glued the PVC together.
The rack is very strong and has obviously greatly improved my room for storage, it was cheap to build and doesn't have much effect on the hulls tendency to roll as some thought it would.
 
dutch123":22vg9pru said:
Yes I have had great success with my PVC roof rack. I have doubled it in length since those photos were taken and store as much as my zodiac, two prawn traps, two crab pots,six rubbermaids a scotchman and a five gallon bucket up there...
Click to expand...

Cool to hear more details on how you made the rack - with the reinforcing dowels. Do you ever use a "floor panel" on it when you are carrying more or different items such as you listed? Or do they always span enough crossbars that between that and tying them down it's enough?
 
dutch123":k5av8r5c said:
Yes I have had great success with my PVC roof rack. I have doubled it in length since those photos were taken and store as much as my zodiac, two prawn traps, two crab pots,six rubbermaids a scotchman and a five gallon bucket up there and going on four seasons it has never let me down.
The PVC was cut to length and then I cut wooden dowels to fit inside the PVC, I coated the dowels with silicone before inserting then into the PVC then glued the PVC together.
The rack is very strong and has obviously greatly improved my room for storage, it was cheap to build and doesn't have much effect on the hulls tendency to roll as some thought it would.
Click to expand...

I like your idea of wood dowels to reinforce the PVC. Can you elaborate on the mechanism by which the PVC attaches to the metal bars above the roof.
 
redbaronace":22p5sj7d said:
dutch123":22p5sj7d said:
Yes I have had great success with my PVC roof rack. I have doubled it in length since those photos were taken and store as much as my zodiac, two prawn traps, two crab pots,six rubbermaids a scotchman and a five gallon bucket up there and going on four seasons it has never let me down.
The PVC was cut to length and then I cut wooden dowels to fit inside the PVC, I coated the dowels with silicone before inserting then into the PVC then glued the PVC together.
The rack is very strong and has obviously greatly improved my room for storage, it was cheap to build and doesn't have much effect on the hulls tendency to roll as some thought it would.
Click to expand...

I like your idea of wood dowels to reinforce the PVC. Can you elaborate on the mechanism by which the PVC attaches to the metal bars above the roof.
Click to expand...
Yes, I used PVC tee fittings cut in half to sandwich the roof rail and a stainless hose clamp on each side to secure it. Before cutting the tee fitting I glued in a flush length of PVC pipe into the two ends of the tee so the tee contacts the rail with its entire length.
Just to clarify I only cut the top of the tee, not the entire fitting in half, with the remaining vertical section of the tee untouched for strength and attachment of the rest of the roof rack.
Sorry if my explanation isn't clear my boat is away in storage or I'd post a pic or two, anyway hope this helps. :thup
 
Sunbeam":gaa9n1fh said:
dutch123":gaa9n1fh said:
Yes I have had great success with my PVC roof rack. I have doubled it in length since those photos were taken and store as much as my zodiac, two prawn traps, two crab pots,six rubbermaids a scotchman and a five gallon bucket up there...
Click to expand...

Cool to hear more details on how you made the rack - with the reinforcing dowels. Do you ever use a "floor panel" on it when you are carrying more or different items such as you listed? Or do they always span enough crossbars that between that and tying them down it's enough?
Click to expand...
I haven't used a floor panel of any sort but that would be a great addition for the smaller items for sure. The items I store are large enough that the existing rack works fine as is.
The rack was built as two separate units, this actually increased the racks strength because I have double the tee fittings attached to the rail. Each section consists of a perimeter tube and a 4 way fitting in the racks center and alot of tee fittings and 90's tubing and dowels to finish the rest.
To be honest, this rack was a build as you go kind of project and the sky's the limit with your final design. It would be easy to incorporate a kayak rack or any specific option you wanted to add. It was fun to build and once you just go and buy a bunch of fittings and play around with them things will just come together. Good luck!
 
redbaronace":2mofoenn said:
localboy":2mofoenn said:
I just store them in "the attic", aka the dinghy and cover it all w/ a bungee spider net while under way.
Click to expand...

Not sure if this is a joke or not, but wouldnt the sharp metal edges of the crabpots puncture the dingy. Not sure if I want to test this method and find out.
Click to expand...
Not a joke. I've done it every season.
 
I don't have a dinghy at this point. I was just going to place a piece of old carpet up there, and stack the pots on the roof and use some ratchet straps to keep them secure. Nothing fancy but it should work fine I think.
 
On our 22 I used a entry door carpet with rubber backing to sit the crab pots on. Then just used bungess or straps to secure them to the roof. Worked great and its cheap. We have a dinghy on the roof of the 27 and just sit it on top then strap it to the alum roof rails.

I just picked up two Loon kayaks and will build a couple of cross racks out of pvc just like above. Good idea on the wood doweling . You can also use a smaller size of pvc pipe and cut it length ways, cut out a grove so is will collapse even tighter. Then it will fit in to the bigger pvc very tightly. This method is being used, believe it or not, to create 50 to 60# long bows for survivalist hunting bows. Very cool stuff.
 
Jake B":25n6i5sr said:
we have a 14' livy that we use as a crab boat, c-dorys seem so nice to do the crab gig out of. crabbing is hard on boats..
Click to expand...

i hate the mess crabbing makes in the back of the boat. adds an hour of clean up time afterwards.
 
DuckDogTitus":3j29mzhn said:
Jake B":3j29mzhn said:
we have a 14' livy that we use as a crab boat, c-dorys seem so nice to do the crab gig out of. crabbing is hard on boats..
Click to expand...

i hate the mess crabbing makes in the back of the boat. adds an hour of clean up time afterwards.
Click to expand...
I have to agree. After the last crabbing trip last month, the cockpit was absolutely filthy. Time to get a used 19! :wink

Peter
 
I like how everyone's solution is to crab out of a different boat vs not crabbing at all :mrgreen:

I mean lets be honest, I'm willing to scrub the boat for another hour in exchange for more crab meat at dinner. :beer
 
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