I would like to suspend my kayak from the garage ceiling using a commercially available system. I have to mount the boat in an area that is above the opened overhead garage door. There is a safe 24 inch clearance above the door and my boat’s maximum depth is 16 inches. I will need to suspend the boat hull down and the system must tuck the boat up very near the ceiling.
The Happy Hooker system was appealing but the photos and one review seem to indicate that door clearance will be a problem. Harken looks like it is more likely to work - any experience with this tight of clearance using these systems.
I would rather not cobble something together from the Hardware store, but go with a kit as the boat will be suspended 10’ in the air and not sure I trust my cobbling.
Your thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.
I have a Capella above garage door
using the Harken Hoist, no problems with clearance. I hang it hull up and the slight rocker on the Capella RM 166 clears the rising door by an inch or so no problem. If possible, you should hang it hull up with the straps under the bulkhead points - works well for me.
2 Harken Hoists
I have a small apartment garage without a lot of clearance. Not sure of the exact measurements. My two boats have about the same depth as yours. Great fit!
It is an easy to use system. The first installation took awhile because I was just learning, but the second install went quite fast.
I would by happy to email you pictures if you want to see how they look.
Harken Hoister
I have two Harken Hoister systems and think they are great. Initially I was a little disappointed with the 60 lb. 3to1 advantage. Hoisting a 50 to 55 lb. boat felt like a lot harder than the math would indicate. The block and tackle portion produces a lot of frictional forces, which makes the force you need to apply greater than one third the weight, it seems like one half the weight in practice. I recently purchased the 90lb capacity 4 to 1 advantage and am much happier with the effort required.
Cobble
I was in a similar situation, and I decided to cobble.
With a six-pack of good beer and a trip to your favorite machine shop, or high school shop teacher, you should be able to hoist the bow deck right up to the ceiling.
I’ll send you pictures of my “cobbled” system off line if you would like.