Been there, done that :) Our two 17' kayaks hang quite happily above our two cars in the garage, and here's how we did it. We mounted 6 pulleys per kayak, 3 on each side, into joists in the ceiling. We used hooks that screw into the joists to mount the pulleys. Since these hooks should be a decent size, you should drill pilot holes to avoid splitting out the joist. Be sure that your pilot hole isn't too large, large enough for the body but not larger than the thread width. Space them in pairs about 2-3 feet from the ends of the boat, and in the middle. Then we took snow fencing (yeah, the bright orange type, we couldn't find any nylon webbing) that was very strong and use zip-ties (cable-ties) to attach three 3' 2x2's to the sides of the snow fencing (how did we decide on 2X2's? It was what was available in the scrap wood pile of a nearby house construction :). That lets it maintain its hammock shape, and still form to the contours of your boat. A rope was then tied to each 2x2 (with some cool fisherman's knot) and strung through the pulleys. The same style of hooks used to mount the pulleys was attached to a nearby wall. After raising the boat we then tie off the ropes to the wall mounted hooks. The middle ropes have carabiners in them just barely above the 2X2's so that it is easier to set the boat in the sling. But, if you set it up so that the slings are going lengthwise in your garage you probably wouldn't need that, ours are perpendicular to the cars at the end of the garage. It takes two of us to get them up, but one person can work them down. Since we had enough snow fencing (it comes in rolls of 50') we used 25' per boat and folded it over to form two 12.5' hammocks. The only other advice I can offer is "measure twice, cut once." :) This is all massively over-engineered. We didn't feel like breaking out the old statics book and doing any technical engineering design. The cable ties are rated for 50 pounds each with about 10+ ties per 2X2. The rope was rated for more than the boats weigh with six ropes per boat. The carabiners are way sturdier than they needed to be (350+). The only weak link is the netting and we chose it because it was strong enough that Mel couldn't rip it by pulling it apart, plus it's doubled over. This has all worked well for the last four months. It has shown no signs of deteriorating. We set up this system right before our kayaks were delivered. You should have seen some of the questioning looks we got from our neighbors. Bright orange snow fencing, yards and yards of rope, hooks, pulleys, etc. Our straight-faced answer... "sex-toys." :) Gotta love being the only couple on the block without kids. Julie & Mel > >I'm hoping that one of you fellow kayakers out there can help me. >I just moved and need to store (2) kayaks above the cars in the garage. >Does anyone know of a, hopefully not to expensive, pulley/sling system >that is on the market or have plans that one can build. Any and all help >would be appreciated. The kayaks are 16' and 14' w/a 28" beam. >Ky *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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