Suspending kayak from ceiling joists

I just purchased my first yak, and I want to suspend it between the exposed ceiling joists in my shop. Does anyone have any experience in rigging up using straps?

If can , use at least 2" soft straps
and ideally, but them right under bulkheads.

Don’t do it with poly
If you have a poly kayak ( plastic) this is not a good idea as the hull will deform over time even with ambient temperatures

Poly is fine
so long as you take care to be sure straps are at bulkheads #1 and #2 so long as you orient the kayak so that it is on its side when hanging.

I’ve done it
I screwed eye bolts into the joists and used straps that have hooks on both ends and can be adjusted to tighten then. Works very well.

I just ordered this
I was looking for the same thing and found this on amazon. I was looking for ideas to build my own, but at this price I don’t think I could have put one together myself.





http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EUL2DO/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A bit spendier, but
I can highly recommend Harken Hoisters.



http://www.hoister.com/

pool noodles or old hose
We hang our kayaks using nylon rope threaded through 3’ lengths of old rubber garden hose or (better yet) pieces of the hard foam “pool noodles” that they sell in variety and sports stores for kids to use swimming. The noodles are about 6’ long, cost a few bucks and have a hole through the middle. The advantage of this set up over straps is that they hang spread apart like a swing instead of limply like straps.



We screwed larged metal plastic-coated hooks into adjacent joists then tied loops on each end of the rope to slip over the hooks, making the rope with the pool noodle piece on it long enough so that the two “swings” are about waist level in the garage or basement. Also tied a small loop (using an overhand or butterfly knot) about halfway on the rope. This way you can easily slide the boat into the “swings” even by yourself at the low position. Once it is on the swings, you can use a ladder to reach one hook and pull the rope to get the boat up higher until you can slip that middle loop of the rope over the hook. We’ve also set this up with a pulley and lock system for winching kayaks up from the floor in a tall barn building.



Even if you rig something fancier with webbing or rope, using the pool noodle pieces strung onto your support as a cradle prevents pressure on the hull and always makes it easier to load and unload from the suspension.

Happy Hooker Hoist
I have installed three hoist from the “Happy Hooker” company (Google it for more info). The guy that runs the company is very nice and helpful…and the product works well. I have one paddle board…one kayak…and one surf ski hanging in my garage…up and out of the way. I think you would be happy with this product!

Suspending kayaks
Why does it make a difference whether my Old Town is suspended top down or on its side?

top down should be fine
and that is the way I have my poly hung most of the time. Side is safest because it it least likely to deform if on its side.

We have a 3 strap system
similar to the two links in the above posts. We place the boats on their sides and use a winch for each side of the hookups. The winches are the type used for pulling a boat onto a trailer.

We’ve used this system for years and have never had any deformation of our various length kayaks.

4-strap method
1) Screw two large hooks into a wooden part of the ceiling so they are centered over the kayak handles.



2) Get two straps that have a hook at each end and a cam buckles (not a ratchet). Attach one end to the ceiling hook and the other end to the bow and stern handles or security bars if you have them. Use these two straps to hoist the kayak up. It’s surprisingly easy; just pull down on the free end of the strap.



3) Don’t support the weight of the kayak with those two straps because it puts too much pressure on the bow and stern. Install two more large hooks in the ceiling directly over the bulkheads. Run two straps around the bulkheads and hang them from the hooks. Those can be regular cam straps, they don’t need hooks. These are the straps that should be supporting most of the weight of the kayak. If one of them fails (it’s happened to me), the bow and stern straps will hold up the kayak.


I have been storing for years
This way - two 1" straps near the bulkhead. Indeed, poly and even the 3 layer core lite from P&H tend to get indentations over time even in cool (under 70 degree F) temps. I just rotate the kayak hull side up or sideways and change positions every so often so it never gets a chance to sit in the same spot for too long.



The Valley 3 layer on the other hand does not seem to mind, but I still rotate it around, just in case…

Poly-link 3 boat
I’ve hung mine from the garage rafters for years cradled in two pieces of poly rope, no straps or hose for sheath. No dents or damage so far on a 60# boat with hot summer temps.

Sounds logical
Tie-down straps on car roofs often cause dents, especially when people make the tie-downs a lot tighter than they need to be (on a good rack, “just snug” is as tight as you need, but on a bad rack they must be tighter, and some people just naturally crank 'em down anyway). But how much pressure can be exerted at any given location by a strap used for hanging? After all, you can insert your finger between strap and hull and not feel much squeezing force at all, so how bad can it be for the hull? Setting the boat on the floor or on bars (even if padded) is a whole other issue because the point of contact is many times smaller.

Harken Hoist Systems
I have the 90 lbs load system and this is indeed professional grade… I love it.!!

Four nails two cam straps
One inch web Straps at the bulkheads, no padding. Had three Wilderness System poly boats stored in the rafters of an open shed in Mississippi heat on their sides because that is what the owners manual said to do. I do flip the boats to the other side after using them, but I have no hull deformity after three years.

If your hatch covers are tight then pop them off after a cold snap or your hull will collapse partially. I prefer mesh covering on all the openings.