The Predator has a molded in section at the rear that is perfect for adding a rear hatch. I would say OT did this with that in mind. So I thought it would be a perfect place to store smaller items that I do not want rolling around inside of the yak.
The hatch is a Yak-Gear 6" from Academy (ordered online) for about 30 bucks.
I would say the hardest part of this project was finding your center mark for the hole and drawing it out once you do. There was a 2 inch indented circle in the center already so I found a 2 inch vitamin lid that had an indenture in the center. Sat the lid in and drilled in just enough to mark the yak. Once I determined it was right I drilled the hole on through. The directions tell you to measure from center 3 inches and a 16th. I tied a string onto the drill bit and measured out 3", the bit diameter was right at a 16th. I then held my marker to the string and made arches around the hole until I eventually had a circle.
The 6 inch hole was cut out with the "router" attachment for the Dremel then fine tuned with a sanding drum on the Dremel.
Once that was set, I put the hatch bag in the rig and put the lid on and lined things up the way I wanted. I decided to make the indents on the lid run horizontally rather than vertical. I have seen them both ways. Once it was in I leveled the yak and put a bearing on the little shelf just below the hatch. Once it stopped rocking I had center to line up the bottom screw. I then marked the holes and drilled.
Once I drilled all of the holes, I removed the hatch and applied goop around the holes and the lip of the hatch for a good seal. Put it back in and installed the bolts with lock washers.
The inner removable bag with draw string pulled. This bag is not water proof... If your stuff gets wet you have bigger things to worry about!!
Bag in its open state.
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