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Hanging or storing a canoe off floor in a garage with vehicles

At some point one must admit one has a problem, and a garage with a low ceiling. Then one builds a rolling, cantilevered canoe rack.
 

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You can't see it, but my pack canoe is off to the far right, in the near garage bay, same pulley system, but upside down. I ran a couple pieces of large PVC pipe through the straps, and it's far easier to get in/out that way.

The pulleys run about $30 on Amazon, and are held into the rafters with 3" decking screws for the pack canoe, or 5" self-tapping something or other fasteners that go in with a hex driver... essentially a longer, slightly thicker deck screw.
Canoe Storage.jpg
 
image.jpgThis is the new- not quite finished home for our toys. The canoes have been under the front porch for awhile, but we needed the space for more firewood. The upper canoes are all hung with kayak hoists. Just need a little siding and the toys will be happy- me- I need some warm weather and water!
 
Raising second canoe to the ceiling. Pulling down on the green webbing raises the canoe and is held in position by cam lock.

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Simple, inexpensive and works well for me. However having a 16’x22’/1
&1/2 garage and 2 canoes imposes limitations on what my second car can be and still fit in the garage - nothing longer/taller than a Corolla or Mazda 3.
 

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At some point one must admit one has a problem, and a garage with a low ceiling. Then one builds a rolling, cantilevered canoe rack.
Do you have some photos of this when unloaded? Or perhaps a diagram? That looks like exactly what I need!
 
Do you have some photos of this when unloaded? Or perhaps a diagram? That looks like exactly what I need!
A18325F8-79CB-4439-995C-244C1032ADC3.jpeg2ECCBBE0-DE39-4746-B177-9E1CDEBF5CDB.jpegBE949E3F-FB57-47F4-BEC1-D8C880DC9CEF.jpegD58BC510-EEB8-4666-9DFD-F43A3FE41DA5.jpeg337DDF85-5725-43BF-BB7C-145006953539.jpeg

Seek and you shall find! Not only do I have unloaded pictures for you, but also elevation drawing done by someone with knowledge gained by one semester of high school shop class. For a bonus, we can see Paddlin’ Hal applying the final touches in the fetal position. What more documentation could one ask for? 😃

In all seriousness, I hope it helps. And if you’ve questions don’t hesitate to reach out to me. This rack has proved itself to be super useful over the last year despite my engineering shortcomings.

-carp
 
View attachment 130492View attachment 130493View attachment 130494View attachment 130495View attachment 130496

Seek and you shall find! Not only do I have unloaded pictures for you, but also elevation drawing done by someone with knowledge gained by one semester of high school shop class. For a bonus, we can see Paddlin’ Hal applying the final touches in the fetal position. What more documentation could one ask for? 😃

In all seriousness, I hope it helps. And if you’ve questions don’t hesitate to reach out to me. This rack has proved itself to be super useful over the last year despite my engineering shortcomings.

-carp
THANK YOU!!!!
 
I have two of those commercial hoists but the lowering mode is activated by pulling almost straight down on the cord, and the canoe is right there in the way. Is there a solution I don't know about?
 
I have two of those commercial hoists but the lowering mode is activated by pulling almost straight down on the cord, and the canoe is right there in the way. Is there a solution I don't know about?
Dismantle/remove the cord lock and use a cleat on the garage wall instead.
 
I have two of those commercial hoists but the lowering mode is activated by pulling almost straight down on the cord, and the canoe is right there in the way. Is there a solution I don't know about?
See the second picture in #30 which shows one possible way to move the canoe and the rope out of each other's way. You will probably need more rope and pulleys.

Woodpuppy's suggestion of tying off to a cleat is a good idea. Cleats are easy to make from scrap lumber, especially if you have a drill press and a bandsaw. For this purpose they don't need to be fancy or well finished, nor as strong as required for mooring a boat.


Here's how to tie a cleat hitch. It's quick and easy. Be sure to start with a turn around the base of the cleat, to take the strain, then do the figure 8 thing.

 
I finally met one of my neighbors the other day. I’ve seen his canoes on his truck for some time now and finally stopped by to say hi. Here is how he stores his canoes. They can slide along the pipe so he can load it easily on his truck.
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Jim
 
I finally met one of my neighbors the other day. I’ve seen his canoes on his truck for some time now and finally stopped by to say hi. Here is how he stores his canoes. They can slide along the pipe so he can load it easily on his truck.
View attachment 133101
Jim
Whoa those canoes are nice!

I've changed my hanging system for my canoes. I got away from the rope and pulley thing I had, it was more trouble then it was worth. I now use a simple cam buckle strap. Simple to lift each end at a time and pull strap end. 8 foot ceiling and plenty of room to walk around under them.2022-10-14.jpg
 
Whoa those canoes are nice!

I've changed my hanging system for my canoes. I got away from the rope and pulley thing I had, it was more trouble then it was worth. I now use a simple cam buckle strap. Simple to lift each end at a time and pull strap end. 8 foot ceiling and plenty of room to walk around under them.View attachment 133102
I like the simplicity.
 
The buckles are about 7 feet up. I'm an average 5'10", maybe a little chunky but the wife doesn't complain, yet. The Subaru and the 06 Colorado I have are under 6 feet tall. I do forget that lots of people drive taller vehicles, so a taller vehicle would be a problem.IMG_20221106_095525896_HDR.jpg
 
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I got about the smallest 2-car garage you can have. I used T-slot aluminum channel suspended from the ceiling. A threaded knob is removed and the bottom bar swings down. Canoe is raised/lowered via a rope and pulley system.
 
I'm glad this thread is still active. Almost done on new garage and thinking about my 3 canoes. The fixed bracket looks appealing but the fixed trapeze one end and moving on pulleys at opposite looks neat too. Might consider fixed inverted "T"s instead of from wall.

Trying to figure out if there's a way to easily move between car top and storage.
 
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