I need to get a storage system set-up today for 2 kayaks. I was going to use pipe and wall flange to put my Hullraisers on, but there may be something easier. Dagger’s website suggests standing kayaks on their ends for storage. Anyone do this? Another idea…what aobut the J shaped waterhose hangers that attach to the outside of your home? I wonder if they would be strong enough to hold 50 pounds or less?
Here’s what the owner’s manual says:
“Storage: Boats made from polyethylene plastic are strong, rigid, and highly impact resistant, but due to the nature of plastic in general, it is important that you take steps to store your boat properly. It is always best to store your kayak indoors, out of direct sunlight and protected from inclement weather. Preferably, you should stand your boat on end or hang it suspended by slings or the equivalent. Hanging your boat from its grab loops or handles increases the likelihood that your kayak will experience warpage. One storage alternative is to use a foam cradle. You can also store your boat on the floor, upside down, but only as a last resort.”
Here’s What I Have Used
for years, and it's for canoes which weigh much more.
1) I bought some hanging straps from Campor. They've held a Disco 158, a MR Malecite, TW Special at 18' 6"(the Disco at 75 pds hung above my girlfriends rebuilt MGB for a year. Now that's confindence!!!) I find a joist in whatever building I'm using and sink in some hefty I-bolts and attach to those with the hooks. These straps have clips for on-hooking them.
2) I-bolts again with a stout rope strung through it. I take a hunk of 2x4 and drill a hole through one end and tie off the rope through that. The other end of the board has an open slot through it to recieve the other end of the rope, with a knot to hold it in place.
All I have to do with option 2 it walk in the shed, lift the canoe about an inch, give the rope a yank out of the slot and shoulder it and move it on out to the car. For the record the canoe is stored hull up so the gunwales rest on the wood hangers.
I don't know if the wood hangers would work for a kayak due to the roundness of its design but maybe this will give you an idea for your needs. Good luck.
dougd
Thanks, dougd
But, I’m looking for something that doesn’t need to be attached to the ceiling. I wish I could do that, but due to having a one car garage, things hanging would get smashed by the garage door. 
J-Cradles from car to sawhorse
I have two pair of Thule J-crades attached to (front and rear) thule bars and posts, that in turn snaps onto base plates. I have 4 pair or base plates, 2 pair attached to the car (front and rear cradles) and two pair attached to metal saw horses in the back yard.
After removing my 2 kayaks from the car, I remove the thule j-cradel and bar assemblies from the car and reattach them to the sawhorses. Then I return the kayaks to the cradles (on edge of course) and cover (after setting a smaller recreational kayak between them on the sawhorses) the entire set up with a UV protecting car-cover (station-wagon size works great). Then I use bungies to strap cover so it does not blow off.
This entire set up takes only a few minutes to move from car to yard and back again.
Here’s your solution
http://www.martincreek.com/mcmain.asp?Option=CatList&Category=kystorage
Works great
Homemade?
I really was hoping to stay under $20-$30 dollars for this job…especially since I already have the Hullraisers. Maybe I need to rethink this project.
Thanks for all the suggestions, though. Keep 'em coming!
HOMEMADE…
But not $20-30, if you buy everything new.
See the Yak Rack Out Back pics at the 3 URLs below. (Click on the "LARGE" button below the test to see more than a thumbnail.)
http://www.topkayaker.net/CGI-BIN/yakalbum/cgi-bin/album.pl?photo=Misc.%20Member%20Photos/DigiPix2005_0123_115759AAS2.JPG;photo_width=auto;photo_height=auto
http://www.topkayaker.net/CGI-BIN/yakalbum/cgi-bin/album.pl?photo=Misc.%20Member%20Photos/DigiPix2005_0123_123849AAS.JPG;photo_width=auto;photo_height=auto
http://www.topkayaker.net/CGI-BIN/yakalbum/cgi-bin/album.pl?photo=Misc.%20Member%20Photos/Long_View_Rack_at_Nite3.JPG;photo_width=auto;photo_height=auto
2X12 footers, 2X6 uprights, 1X3 stringers, 2X4 cross braces, bolted together for (eventual?) a teardown & move, and subsequent reassebly elsewhere.
It holds our mixed fleet of six SOTs (4) & SINKs(2), in fiberglass (1), Trylon(1), and roto poly(4). There's room for 1 more on the floor...
Hmmm... Does that mean we need another boat...?
Oh, HI SALLY! Mebbe not...
It's a good way for us to, sans a garag, to store the fleet in between the times we
PADDLE ON!
-Frank in Miami
I thought about
something like that for my garage, Frank. Thanks for the pics! Looks like you’ve got a nice set-up!
Ready use storage
I’ve got the problem of 2 place storage, both docks. I need to be able to get my boat in the water very efficiently at both docks. I can’t really spend a bunch of extra time at each end of my commute. I would eventually hurt myself trying to carry the boat around, too. I’ve got the commute to less than 45 minutes door to door including getting jacket & skirt on, launching, getting in, paddling (about 1/2 hour), pulling out, and getting up to my shop.
Currently I’m simply keeping my kayak on the dock at home in the evening and night and on the dock at work during the day. If I go away for a few days I carry the boat up into my yard, but much further than that is a real hassle. I covered the boat with 303.
Is there a UV boat cover or something?
Then there’s winter storage. I don’t really have anywhere to put a boat indoors. I don’t have a garage. I could pretty easily lean it against a tree with a tarp around it.
IT WAS EASY TO DO, K-DAWG
But the footer extends out about 6’ -that’ll take up floor space. You might just want to use the verticals and the stringers (the horizontal, yak-holding 1X3s), and if you add a third stringer near the bottom, you’ll cut down on the depth by half, and be able to store 3 boats. Or, just build triangles out of 1X3s & bolt them to the flat side of a 2X4, and bolt THAT to your garage wall at the studs. Nice thing about verticals is that if you drill multiple holes along their length, you can reposition the stringers up and down.
I use pool noodles slit along one side and placed over the stringers to cushion the yaks, which are inverted to keep the rain out.
If you’re worried about the strength of a 1X3, I hung all my weight on one -that’s about 200# -and it was fine, bolted to the vertical with 3 bolts. I figured 2 of the 1X3s would then be more than sturdy emough to hang one 75# kayak between them.
There’s different stroke for different folks, and different tak rack solutions as well. Go with the one that works for you -and you’ll be better off in between the times you
PADDLE ON!
-Frank in Miami
I too had a 1 car garage
I placed 2 eye bolts into 2 of the ceiling beams 8’ apart about 8 inches from the wall. From those I hung 2 4’ climinb slings. I would put my kayak in the 2 slings and turn it on its side.So long as I backed my car in so that the drivers side was opposite my boat I had plenty of room for car and boat in my tiny garage.
I’D’VE SUGGESTED SAME, EXCEPT THAT
most garages these days have roll-up, segmented fold-up, or 1-piece tilt-up garage doors that take up -or, should I say -BLOCK! -ceiling space when they’re fully opened.
If there was enough room -and if we had a garage… …AND if the doors were a different sort -I’d hang our boats such that we could drive under them to drop them on one of our cars’ racks on the way out, and vice-versa, hoisting them off and back up on the way back.
So you’ll probably be looking at an indoor, wall-mounted rack or racking system, or an outdoor one like ours, to hold you boat(s) when you don’t
PADDLE ON!
-Frank in Miami
Clearance
I had about 8" of space between the door track and my garage wall. I hung the climbing slings just to the outside of the door track.
Anyone seen this one?
http://www.sonic.net/~webtech/kayakrack/kayak_rack_pvc-sm.jpg
http://www.sonic.net/~webtech/kayakrack/kayak_rack_pvc_loaded-sm.jpg
On the bow
I store both my boats on end. This is also the recommended storage method by WS.
To make life easier, I developed a special storage tool. It’s a bucket, some bungie and webbing.
Attach bungies and webbing to bucket. Put bucket over bow of boat and use bungies to hold in place. The bucket prevents the bow from getting scratched, and the webbing provides a handle to make it easy to lift into the fully upright position.