Overhead canoe storage, ideas?

Been researching for a good, safe and easy way to lift/store a canoe from a garage ceiling, this video seems pretty well thought out but I'm sure from the experience base here there are probably some good ideas out
there. Appreciate any thoughts on the subject, thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3h-ZSoUOwk

 

It's not cheap because it has sailboat-quality components, but the Harken Hoister is probably the best system available for that sort of thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRsVhazk3dU&index=3&list=PL751D47018882284B

 

Thanks Todd, that's a nice set up, the block & tackle/cleat arrangement appear to make it very user friendly. What I had laid out with 5 pulleys, hooks, line and misc. fasteners wasn't too far off their 90 Lb. model price.

 

I have installed Cabela's canoe/kayak storage hoist in my garage. It works really well. I have just ordered a second one.

On Cabela's web site (http://www.cabelas.com/) -- search for item IK-021624. It is regularly $89, but is on sale right now for $48. A local club member gave me a tip about this hoist and I am very grateful. It's all in one package -- no scrambling around to see what bits and pieces might work.

There is a picture of my garage set up on the Miscellaneous forum -- Cars and Trucks Wearing Canoes as Hats. The image shows one canoe on the ceiling and one on the top of a car -- waiting for the second hoist to be installed. It can be found as entry #40, posted on 9-14-2014. The beauty of the hoist is that I can pull my car right under the canoe for easy on and off.

I'm sure you will find a solution that will work for you.

Some people suggested a motorized hoist solution, but I find the manual hoist to be just fine -- and I don't need to worry about electricity.

 

There are canoe hoists on EBay for $30 bucks. Search canoe hoist.
I've had good luck with them.
Dave

 

The boat trailer winches with pulleys is a great idea, have 2 of them in the barn, one raises the transom window so a boat with a T-top can get in and out, the other raises the loft stairs to allow winter storage space for another boat.
Just ordered the Harken 4 point 145 pound lift system, on sale at Discount Marine Source. Thought a lot about a trailer winch system but with the available space in the garage and liking the 4 point system and the locking cleat as a safety mechanism it seemed like the best decision. The 145 pound model may be a little overkill but I like the safety factor. Thanks for all the reply's.

Don

 

no pulleys

I just added new racks for two more canoes in my garage and since you didn't specify that you can not lift your canoe I thought this might be relevant. As with my wall mounted racks it is made out of 1 1/2" threaded pipe, which is overkill but what I have laying around. The front is a U bolted to the ceiling and the back a T. With the canoe on my shoulders I simply put one end on the U, which has a piece of PVC covering it, so it will roll and not mar the gunwales, and let the other end rest on the ground. Then I lift the other end onto the T end of the rack which is only 1/2 the weight and quite easy. I find this much easier than anything with pulleys and all that attaching and unattaching but maybe not what you were after. I think I am maxed out with 8 boats and 2 cars in a 24'x24' garage. Aha, but there are still several outbuildings.

 

Craig, your last sentence sum's it up, I'm maxed out too, at least she keeps telling me that, 5 boats up to 19', garage has 2 vehicles in it for winter one is an F-250, small barn has 4 boats and the tractor. You have some beautiful canoe's there.

 

Here is a little trick. My wife always parks her car on the patio and I put it away in the garage and get it out in the morning for her. Oh and make her coffee too. But anyway it was a month before she discovered I had snuck 2 more canoes into the garage that I promised she would always have for her car. The car and my truck still fit.

 

I use the harken hoist for three canoes in my garage and I am very happy with them. I recommend that you get a hoist that is rated a little heavier than the actual load.

 

The Harken lift is installed, very nice system. Made a few modifications that may be of interest. Instead of using the nylon straps to support the canoe 2 oak supports we're made with a piece attached on top of each made to fit inside the gunwales, carpeting was then glued to the top surfaces of the supports. One side of the supports has a hole drilled to pass the lift rope through with a knot under the support to lock it. The other side has a eye bolt attached to attach a snap clasp tied to the lift ropes. The ropes on the knot side we're long enough go under the canoe and attach with a smaller snap hook to a loop knot above the larger hooks, this creates a safety line under the canoe at the lift points. The canoe looks lopsided in one image, an illusion caused by the angle of the ceiling next to the canoe.

 

And want to thank all on the forum that provided their knowledge to assist on the restoration, thanks and here's the finished results.

Don

 

Gorgeous. Great job.

 

I use a home-made lift cart to lift or lower my canoes. A canoe can be lifted 1 foot beyond the top structure. With the lift cart, I don't need a hoist system for each of my canoes. The lift can be made collapsible for storage. All the parts of the lift cart are available from Home Depot.

 

I love this, great imagination and determination.
Any chance you have drawings/sketches you could post in case others might want to try this?

Dan

 

I'm presuming no one will want to try my more free-form "system.."
The top one is a pain to get in and out. I need to remove five other canoes to get at it.
I keep trying to convince my wife we have room for more but it's not convincing when her car door can't be opened.

 

$30 bucks...eBay. Bought 6 of 'em. Hoisted canoes on this type of hoist since 1999.....
Never had a problem.

 

Dave,

What load rating do those have?

One of my 2 bad x-bay buys was a set of lifts, made vary cheaply with a low rating, made for bikes.
I got 1/2 my money back, and 1 lift is still taking up space someplace in the garage.

Mike,
My hanging system is very crude, just 2 ropes tied to the truss, with the ends through a hole in a 2x4. It takes 2 people to get a canoe loaded. (9.5 ft ceiling) At one time I had 8-9 canoes in the garage, with 6-7 hanging from the trusses, and several "double" stacked. A real pain. Now I'm down to just 6 and only 1 double stacked. (If I can get a pole barn built, they all will be out of the garage.)

Dan

 

Funny....it seems that we ave a very similar and equally crude storage setup as well a the same pole barn aspiration. I was just out in the back yard yesterday trying to decide which trees to drop to make room.
I am currently at 6 in the garage (also got rid of a couple) plus my Car Topper on a trailer. The door opener tracks and doors occupy too much valuable space! My wife's car also takes up precious space but she has a sense of entitlement that I have not been able to defeat.
I have a couple canoes stored on brackets but the others are hung directly from the rafters and the Fox is actually up in the rafters. I also had an IG up there for a while but that is currently in the basement. It takes two to hang or remove one easily but if push comes to shove, I can get them in place by myself. The comical part of this is deciding which canoe to take out. My 06 seems to be getting the most use recently because it's on horses and the easiest to get out. If I weren't so lazy I'd hang that and put the Morris or the Traveler on the horses. Maybe next summer.