Bracing your fence
If your fence posts are 4" by 4" and are in the ground a minimum of 30-36 inches you can prevent them from leaning sideways as follows (provided you have solid ground to brace against (and not a worked up garden plot).
Dig a trench 4 inches wide and about 8 inches deep for 3 feet (1 1/2 feet each side of a post.) Place a 4x4 - 3ft long into the trench. This needs to be tight against the fence post. Tack it to the post with a nail or screw. If you have solid ground your fence post won’t move. I used this method on end posts when stringing wire on cattle fences. I found the fence post would break before it would lean.
Jim
Looks like some good ideas
Thanks - nice pictures.
Can one person load/unload the red Wenonah?
For you Penobscot 16, you need the space below the boat free for your sawhorses so that you can lower the boat. So do you really save any space?
I also noticed your Shearwater spay covers. Did you make them? Looks like good idea for windy conditions.
BLK
Howdy
The Penobscot does need some space below for saw horses, but it does save space definetly, as for unloading the red Champlain, yep I can do it myself, it is not really that heavy, 67 lbs. The cover for the Shearwater was made by Tom Goynes in San Marcos, it is very nice indeed, very helpful in the wind. I did make another cover this weekend though, a bit smaller and does not need the aluminium supports. Good luck, let me know if you need a better pic of the rack.
homemade rack for kayak can be adapted
– Last Updated: Oct-26-04 1:18 PM EST –
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/pastrad/my_photos
go to the kayak rack album.
try this link and look at what I did. with bigger (and longer) pipe for sturdiness, I suspect it would hold a canoe flat and upside down on it's gunwales.
just an idea.
not on the gunnels
Don’t store you canoe on edge. Eventually it will warp and flatten. A canoe should be supported by thirds and stored sitting flat on BOTH gunnels.
I made outside storage for 3 canoes by building a permanent rack attached to the minibarn. In addition I have a homemade pulley system in the garage to hang one canoe, my wood stripper.
Straps – easy and effective
This is for kayaks, so not sure about canoes. Consider one of those double sling/strap kits, with the side-release buckles.
For my first kayak, I bought and custom installed a fancy rack with two big brackets and a sling in each. Lots of trouble to install – had to mount 2x4s on the garage wall, then screw the brackets into the boards. But it works.
For my second boat, daunted by the trouble for the first one, I just hung the two double-strap side-release-buckle thingies from hooks screwed in to the inside of the garage roof. Total install time: 10 minutes.
And, it works even better. The buckles allow you to hang and release easily. Or you can leave them buckled and slip the bow & stern in and out of the loops. The straps naturally hold the boat close to the garage wall, minimizing the space needed, which is important for my small garage. So, in this case, for me, my boats and my garage, simpler is definitely better.