Garage ceiling storage help

05madmax
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Garage ceiling storage help

Post by 05madmax »

Hi everyone I recently joined the kayak fishing cult .

However now it is taking valuable space in the garage during the week. I've been doing some research on hoists but am pretty scared by some reviews. My wife and I will be parking our cars and walking under it after all.

I have a very average sized garage if not smaller than average. The kayak is 12' and if I did nose to the front wall against the house side the other end would be 2' into where the garage door brackets are.

My builder didn't make the height between the garage door and the ceiling more than a 1'. So 12" is what I have to work with.

My kayak is a wilderness systems tarpon 120.

Any suggestions or experience would be greatly appreciated.

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Mythman
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by Mythman »

I am not fully understanding your space dilemma, but in 99% of the cases, you can not hang a kayak between the garage door and ceiling..............just not enough room. I have always had to go between the garage door (when opened) and the back wall and hang the kayak crosswise across the garage.

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05madmax
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by 05madmax »

OK so some of the posts I've seen around the internet and videos from vendors such as Harken hoister seem to imply people are typically able to have enough space between the open garage door and the ceiling.

I was wondering could I store it on a hoist sideways? Sorry I'm really new to kayaks and apologize if that is offensive to think I can. Just trying to make the most of the space I do have in my garage so I can park both my wife's car and mine in the garage again

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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by Mythman »

Legitimate questions are never offensive...............that one of the things this forum is for..............to shorten users learning curve.
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

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http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/foru ... 3&t=237613" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Posted right after your thread.
Tallgrass07
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by Tallgrass07 »

J-hooks or a pair of slings on the wall?
05madmax
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by 05madmax »

Yea seen those. Thinking along the lines of hoisting it up to the ceiling since I have 16" of space between the rails and wall in the garage.

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Kirk B.
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by Kirk B. »

The sling on my hoist allows me to rotate my kayak up on it's edge and lift it. That way, you're only dealing with the height of the kayak (if it was sitting normal) rather than the beam (width). It just hangs a lot lower when I do that. My setup is across the wall opposite the door, like Mythman's is. Follow the installation instructions, except throw out the included lag bolts and buy some at walmart or your local hardware store. I twisted the heads off of the ones that came in my kit. :oops: Even
Walmart hardware was better. :roll: My garage ceiling is plywood, which made it easy to find the studs. I measured half the width of my kayak, plus 2 inches, and located my trolleys there.

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05madmax
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by 05madmax »

Oh yeah I've heard a lot of reviews about the hoist systems and their lag screws.

I'm possibly going to try designing a swing arm that I can use the pulley system to hoist upwards and then fold the arm so that the kayak is slung hanging above my storage racks in my garage (floor units) on its side but against the wall.

I am curious though why you are measuring half your kayaks width and adding two inches

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Kirk B.
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by Kirk B. »

The hoist self-centers over the load. If you're leaving your kayak in the normal positioning, you'll have a 2 inch gap to the wall. That'll save wear and tear on the wall.
Since you're planning to hang yours sideways, you can get closer to the wall with your brackets, but you will have to figure out how close. The kayak isn't symmetrical in that plane.

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05madmax
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by 05madmax »

Due to other storage in my garage the next closest stud puts me 5 inches away from the 1/3 mark recommended by Wilderness systems. The kayak is the tarpon 120 which is 12'3" . When I've done the calculation I should measure approximately 49" from the stern/bow for the first hang point .the stud sit at about 44".

If I move to the next stud the kayak is too long and won't fit in the garage.

How critical is that 1/3 mark at 49"? I live north of Houston so there is a lot of heat in the summer and don't want to destroy my kayak.
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by Kirk B. »

My, certainly uneducated, opinion is that 5 inches isn't a big deal. Were talking the width of your hand here.
If it was in my garage, I'd hang it there and not think anything else about it.

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05madmax
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by 05madmax »

Image

I was able to mount this badboy! I was really nervous that the lag eye screws were going to pull out if I just pulled the rope going through the ratchet pulleys. So I used a wood ramp leaned against the wall to ease it up and pulled the rope on each side.

The reason for the ramp is due to the storage shelves I have underneath and ladder that would typically be there.

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Merman
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by Merman »

I used a bicycle hoist system , heavy duty , that mounted to ceiling joists or can secure a 2x6 in between joists to mount flat . Got some 2 inch nylon strap and made slings with a loop for hook , they fit on either end of yaks , just the right size as not to slip . Hoisted up to ceiling . Hobie Outback & Mirage 13 footers .
05madmax
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by 05madmax »

I contemplating doing a ceiling mount but considering I had those ratchet pulleys used for bow and stern tie downs and a punch of straps all I was missing for the general kits was a 2x4 and a couple eye lags and hex lags. I mounted the 2x4 to the studs at 16" on centers. Then attached the eye lags to the 2x4 at the recommended spacing. The nice part about using ratchet pulleys is that as I work the kayak up I'm not afraid of one side slipping back down and losing progress.

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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by Littlebear »

I bought a couple of steel pulleys and mounted them to the side of a ceiling joist (exposed in my garage). I also bought a boat winch for about $35 at Home Depot and mounted it upside down on the ceiling in line with the pulleys. I sling two straps around either 1/3 point from the ends of the boat, stand on a ladder and winch the boat up flush with the ceiling. Forgot to say, I wound 2 lines of 1/4 inch rope fixed with J hooks into the winch. One longer for the farther pulley. I'll try to load pics. Works great! Now I want an electric winch with remote!
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Kirk B.
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by Kirk B. »

I took a couple of pics last weekend, and forgot about them.
Image

Image

I keep mine horizontal. It just clears the hood of the truck. I can also store my gear in the kayak.

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05madmax
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by 05madmax »

Nice! Y'all are giving me ideas to improve my system

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Re: RE: Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by Littlebear »

05madmax wrote:Nice! Y'all are giving me ideas to improve my system

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ImageThis is my rig with a boat trailer winch set up for my Pescador Pro 100.......

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05madmax
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Re: RE: Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by 05madmax »

Kirk B. wrote:I took a couple of pics last weekend, and forgot about them.
Image

Image

I keep mine horizontal. It just clears the hood of the truck. I can also store my gear in the kayak.

Kirk B.
How tight or how much resistance do you feel when you first pull the rope to start pulling it up? That's where I got really nervous and decided to ease pushing it up little by little on the wood ramp. As I push it up I would pull the slack out of the rope to act as a catch with the ratchet.

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Kirk B.
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by Kirk B. »

My kayak is around 60 lbs, unloaded, so it takes a fair bit of force to get it started.
My ceiling joists run the same direction as the kayak, so I have 2 lag bolts in each pulley assembly. I'm not worried about mine pulling out, even if I upgrade to a heavier kayak.
Your setup is a wee bit different, since it is mounted to a wall. My bolts are in tension, which is the strong axis for bolts. Yours are in a combination of shear and tension. Bolts aren't as strong in shear, but it isn't a matter for concern here, since we shouldn't be anywhere near their limit.
The care you're using keeps from shock loading the bolts, and also keeps you from tearing up your wall. I'd say keep doing it that way for those reasons alone.

Kirk B.
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by nschutt »

We have two Viking Profish Reloads and hang them by Harken Hoisters above the garage doors when we don't think we'll be going out for awhile. The Harkens allow us to get them right up against the ceiling with about 2" of clearance when the garage door is opened.

I called Bill over at Yak-Gear and he advised us to hang them on 2" wide straps hull-up (upside down). However, the straps of the Harkens are only 1" wide. So, after we get them lifted, we use two additional 2" straps on each yak (across the bow and stern) and ease off the tension on the pulleys. The straps attach to eye bolts with carabiners. They are our safety straps and support the weight of the yaks . I have no fear walking under them. We'd have to have multiple failures to happen to have a yak crash down.

The Harkens give us a lot of mechanical leverage with the pullleys to make it an easy lift. They work great and keep the yaks level as raised and lowered. They're a PITA to install with all the measuring unless you have exposed ceiling joists which we don't. Once installed, they are great.
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by silver_2000_tj »

Hello, here is my solution to hanging the kayaks in the garage (I’m limited on space and needed something that went right up to the celling). The total cost for everything is around 75.00 all invested in the set up.
6 pulleys - $25.00
rope $25.00
trailer ratchet - $18.00 (clearance at acadamy)
Misc rope clamps, eye bolts, 1/4 lag screws -$7.00.

I’m extremely happy with the results, as I was tired of the kayaks being in the way and tripping on them or just having to move them around. I needed a way to store the kayaks and still have a garage to keep the cars and work on things as needed. The process to build the lift took about 4-5 hours figuring it out as went. The most challenging aspect was getting the ropes exactly the same length due to the adjustments needed to get everything level.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/mEK-0wayt3k[/youtube]

https://youtu.be/mEK-0wayt3k
05madmax
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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by 05madmax »

That's just next level bad ass. Thanks for sharing! I don't have the space between the ceiling and garage to do that but freaking awesome

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Re: Garage ceiling storage help

Post by Drifting Yak »

Yes sir - what he said ^^^^ B.A. delux!!!
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