Canoe shelter

[Treewater]

Just finished and filled a canoe shelter. The building is 8 ft wide, 20 ft long. Those are 4 x 4's in the ground set with concrete for the corners. Two 4 x 6 in the center hold both the center roof and the canoes. I used 2 x 4 x 8ft for cross pieces to hold three canoes stacked. I could have squeezed in four per side and might go back later to do just that. The end holds msc gear and four folding kayaks. About $600 in materials. Recycled siding.

 

[shelldrake]

Looks great!

How did you attach your horizontal canoe supports to the vertical posts? I'm in the process of building a shop with a lean-to off one side. I plan to put canoe racks on the back wall under the shed roof and haven't decided how to construct them yet.

Thanks,

Matt

 

[Treewater]

The cross pieces were bolted to the 4 x 6 on the long dimension using carriage bolts. Also, a tight fitting 2 x 6 shim under the cross piece. I have done what you speak of. Again a 2 x 4 bolted to a stud using in my case an 8 ft space between the cross pieces. A 3/4" plywood gusset cut to give an extra 3 or 4 inches of web helps a lot and will not interfere with the canoe below due to the roundness of the hull. Obviously, in an outside wall like the shop it's a little extra bother to put the siding up around the 2 x 4 but it worth it. If you don't think all that is strong enough extend the 2 x 4 inside the shed/shop wall a few inches and add strength there. Again the 3/8th carriage bolts are the main strength and fastening point.

 

[Mark Adams]

I like the rug at the bottom! However did you find a pattern that so closely matches a canoe?

 

[shelldrake]

Thanks for your thoughts on this Treewater. The plywood gusset and shim under the cross member all make sense. Unfortunately, the siding is in place already.

Back to the drawing board........

Matt

 

[Treewater]

Hole saw and a sawzall. But I have also used a hinge mounted first on the wall then to a section of 2 x 4 and a rope hanging from the above rafters. A bit more trouble to use but works better than bracing which does not allow for putting a canoe below.

 

[Dan Lindberg]

Some years ago I built a rack on the back of the garage for storing canoes, at this time there are 9 there. (5 high)

1st the overhang was built, 7 half trusses cantilevered off the side, through bolted to structure inside, and sheathed with metal. The ends have a "wall" also attached to the garage wall, the ends are open at the bottom.

Then I nailed 2x6's together to make a 2 vertical posts, each are 2 -2x6's, these are on cement blocks and are lag bolted to the wall, about 8 ft apart. This carries the load and allowed me to put the "horizontal racks" anyplace vertically on the post.

The racks are 2x4's nailed together (to get the same width as the vertical post) and slightly tapered to the outer end.

The racks are hung with metal "tees" that are bolted to the rack and the post.

The tee's are flat stock, roughly 10ga by 2 1/2 wide, with a horizontal piece about 12" long welded to a vertical piece about 15" long, the tees are bolted to the posts with 3 - 3/8 bolts.
This allows the racks to be cantilevered out from the post without any bracing under them.

It was made/designed to hold 1 canoe deep, but I needed more so I extended the racks by adding 2x4's and made some spacers that I slide in at the ends after canoe are loaded. There are 4 spacers for each side and they go to the ground.

It's a pain to load with the spacers but they double the capacity and for long term storage it's fine.

Dan

 

[Treewater]

Did the same on a brick building. Bolted two treated 4 x 4 to the outside wall. Used 3/4" plywood supports for the canoes. The end on the 4 x 4 was 10" deep and tapers to 2 inches at the end. 36" overall length. The 3/4" lay on edge doesn't give much surface when holding the canoe so if the gunwales are rotted I have to scab on a extra 2 x 2 or such. I just used sheet rock screws to fasten to the upright post and those can easily be adjusted for different heights. Your spacers to double your capacity would certainly work but the metal tees would have to be fabricated. Don't have an arc welder here.

 

[Craig Johnson]

Don't necessarily have to be welded. The ones on the left were but the one on the right are 1" pipe and threaded fittings. Cheaper if you have your own pipe threader.

 

[dtdcanoes]

Me thinks....some used tennis balls are called for, no?

 

[Craig Johnson]

You may have noticed by the lack of junk that the garage was bran new in that photo. Plastic caps have since been added. Also there is fire hose over the pipes.