Using a bike rack as a kayak load assist??

Hey all. Looking to see if anyone has done this or get some feedback on bike racks to get an idea if it would work for me. I was at work the other day when I noticed a vehicle parked on the street with a couple of red bike racks on its roof. I believe the racks were a pair of rocky mount euro pitchforks in red. The racks actually looked pretty sharp and gave the black vehicle and setup some character. I own a hobie outback and haul it around on a Toyota Sequoia 4x4. With the height of the Sequoia and me not being the manly man I used to be, I haven't tried military pressing the outback to get it on my Yakima bars. I feel the outback becomes awkward to lift over my head by the factory handles and I would be risking the Sequoia's paint, mirrors or even worse, my back in the process. This is why I have a Yakima boat loader to assist. The boat loader works ok. It gets the job done. I believe the bar is solid aluminum. There is a lot of flex in it when the weight of the outback is laid on it. With the combination of the width of the outback, and the height and mass of the Sequoia, I feel I still sometimes rub the yak on the roof in the process though it is minimal. My Yakima crossbars stick out a good 6"-8" past the towers. I was thinking that if I mounted one of these pitchforks or a similar bike rack on my crossbars outside of the towers, It would be like a load assist bar that was perpendicular to my crossbars. Rest the bow end of the yak on the bike rack, lift the stern and slide on to the crossbars while rotating the yak ninety degrees. There would be pretty much no way for the yak to contact the body of the vehicle with this setup. Anyone own a rocky mount pitchfork? Do you think it would support the loading of a kayak with no problems? Any other bike racks that would accomplish this? I don't currently own a bike but may purchase one in the future, another reason why I started thinking about this setup. I also own a Thule slipstream but don't want to use it. I prefer the deck of the hobie down on the crossbars. The hullavator is not an option for me, too tall and expensive. I'm just squeezing by for entry to some city parking garages as it is now. Are there mounts available to mount a bar to the front and back crossbars to provide the same load assist as i plan on using the bike rack for? If so, how would the cost for the two mounts and another crossbar compare to the price of $100 bike rack? Any feedback would be appreciated.Thanks.

You'd be better to mount a round bar than use the bike trays as the edges of those trays ( at least my Yakima and Thule trays) were sharp enough to plane bits of plastic off the yak. Mind you that was an AI, so that hull is pretty heavy.
I built a PVC getup that mounted on the rear bar then hung down over the rear tailgate on the highlander, acts as a guide to get the bow up and over, and protects the car.
Not sure if I still have any pics, but I'll look.

Thanks SteveS. I have seen some inventive pvc rigs online and I could start looking at going that route. It's just nice that you could have a solid kayak assist bar permanently mounted to your roof rack that would keep your yak several inches from contacting your vehicle and at the same time provide a spot to strap down a bike. With sharp edges I figured I could throw a bath mat or something over while loading, use a split pool noodle or two, or make some kind of mod to the tray's edges. I do not have any experience with bike trays and haven't had a chance to check out a shop that would have some to look at. Were your Yakima or Thule trays pretty solid pieces? I assume that that they would be made of some aluminum angle or channel and had solid mounting hardware where the loading of a yak on them would not be a problem. It's hard to tell from pics online and I wasn't  able to get a real close look at the racks I'd seen by my work, but the rocky mounts bike rack does appear to have somewhat of a rounded edge.

Those trays are solid, they can easily support a yak, no idea why they are strong, except that manufacturing costs must be low. Those pics look like they're plenty rounded. Mine were much sharper.

i think a good idea would be to put a large diameter piece of pvc in the bike tray to assist the kayak in sliding across the rack.  just use another strap to hold both ends of the pipe down.

i think a good idea would be to put a large diameter piece of pvc in the bike tray to assist the kayak in sliding across the rack.  just use another strap to hold both ends of the pipe down.

I like that.

Why not get a inno kayak lifter? I use mine whenever I'm too lazy to lift my kayak over my head

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004V297OI/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?qid=1431362240&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=inno+kayak&dpPl=1&dpID=21TpOhmoOaL&ref=plSrch

Didn't know those existed. Thanks Fishcomb!

I have one of those Inno kayak lifters if you're interested.  pretty much brand new.  Don't know if they fit all factory racks, can't remember.