Good point, which comes down to design. I use 2inch schedule 40 as that’s whats used mostly in plumbing and hvac so that’s what’s available in the bins at the big box stores…and in my various storage areas from when I worked.
Design:
I make 2 ‘ladders’ and each ‘step/rung’ will be supporting 1 boat. So 3 boats, 3 rungs. I use 36 inch wide rungs and no canoe/kayak I have is wider than 36 inches.
That PVC when glued into the joints at each end will easily hold the weight of any kayak/canoe by itself and when stored, that weight will be divided by 2 as there are 2 ladders. I guess someone could make a third one for the middle, but IMO that would be over-engineering.
I don’t see temp impacting it much as as long as we are in it, it’s w/in acceptable working ranges of the material.
The only long runs will be connecting these 2 ‘ladders’ and those will be for bracing, not load bearing. That’s also why they aren’t glued and can be held in place by just a screw as what they will have to resist is being pulled out of the joint at either end.
Looks good. If you leave it the way it is, those two 2bys will be the ones holding the weight. If you think about it, each one is a lever that will be pushing down, ‘prying’ upwards on those bolts in the 2x4s. The bigger, the more bolts going through those 2x4s the less wood there that will push the bolts upwards. A way to visualize this is to think of just drilling one bolt hole almost at the lower edge of the 2x4 and using that. Now pushing down from the furthest outside the wood will easily break because not much of it was there.
Me being me, mr over-engineer himself, I’d put another 2x4 on the outside to connect the two arms. This will prevent them from back and forth, side to side movement. Two galvanized 16d nails in each end will be plenty as these are what most housing framing is done with using 2x4s.
To deal w/the downwards loads on those levers furthest away from the fulcrums, you can put down a patio paver at each end, then cut a 2x4 and drop it inside those 90* corners where it’ll be support for the ends resting on the paver.
Now you have all the weight supported at 4 corners and no levers to pry or rack.
If you get rid of your canoe, you can put a piece of plywood on it and make a deck for your 2 dogs to sun and supervise your backyard activities…
I can understand the thought on shoring it up. The bottom arms have additional support via cut 4x4 posts under the bolted and glued arms. The lower portion is holding the heavy canoe (OT Disc 164 which is closer to 100lbs than not).
The top arms are bolted and glued and will be holding a NovaCraft that is listed as 56lbs. Say 65 in total just to be on the safe side. As long as the adhesive holds up, should be a ok. Eaves keep rain off it, very little early AM sun too. Here is what the arms look like.
Looks good Sean. And good thinking on staggering the bolts. Storage room seems to be what most people are trying to get these days so we’re either living in too small a house or getting too much stuff. Or like with us, both.
I’ll skip the paint only because that side of the house is the neglected side
I still need to cut an angle on the arms but will wait until the canoe arrives just to be on the safe side. The posts are braced top and bottom and solidly concreted. I was thinking if the arms needed replacing it would be a ok without having to replace the posts. We shall see how she is holding up in a decade
It’s just me with 3 kids 9 to 15. I’ve been going through 17 years of “stuff” and ditching what is not used or needed. Some useable items have been donated. Feels a lot better clean and organized. I’m not a crazy over it, but not a fan of clutter.
Disclaimer: My 13 and 15 play elite baseball and about 80 games a year; you learn that it is impossible to keep up with the spring/summer schedule. Keeps ya from becoming that nutjob
With 33" arms the bolts are necessary but IMHO the adhesive is the crux. I used Gorilla Glue “Ultimate” as it is claimed to be one of the best glues for pressure treated. I let the wood dry out for 2 weeks in the garage before gluing. The Ultimate is NOT a poly and a lot easier to use. We know wood moves and the Ultimate has some flexibility without loosing bond, and is waterproof.
