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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 1 Dec 2018 06:43pm
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I’ve been trying to think of a better way to store our boats in a slightly too small space.
We have a 16’ wide x 22’ long boathouse with 8’ ceiling and 4 boats.
An old skiboat on its trailer that will take up half the boathouse then also an old and fairly heavy 14’ aluminum rowboat, a lake canoe and a 16’+ river canoe.* Right now the ski-boat is taking up precious space in a garage and I want to put it back in the boathouse. **
The problem is that it’s going to be awkward, backbreaking and potentially damaging to lay the canoes on top of the rowboat. The rowboat is wide enough to make it tough to maneuver the canoes about.
I was going to put up wall brackets or a pulley system but even then the rowboat on the floor below would still create a large obstacle.
So I’m wondering if I couldn’t do better. Maybe flip a garage door track upside down and mount it to the sidewall then put a light dolly on it and create a loading/lifting system up against a side wall where at the 4’ level it would roll the boat away from along the wall and out into the middle of the boathouse.
Or use some sort of front-of/building-loading-track-system to run the canoes up to the ceiling from at the doorway. Running the rowboat up to the ceiling on a track to be able lay the canoes under it would not be easy.
Flipping the rowboat on its side up against the side wall might work well but I’d need to do something to spread out, or support, the load of the boat.
* Plus have a wish to get a couple kayaks or paddle boards.
** right now, the boathouse has two doors on the front: an 8’ door and a 5’ door. I’m framing it for an 8’ opening on the back and will frame in and seal the old 5’ door. So in the end I will have two 8’ doors one front, one back on the diagonal. I’ll then be able to run the skiboat in and out via the back foot with a vehicle. 8’ wide ramps will be needed front and back. In the past the skiboat on trailer ran down a ramp into the lake via the 8’ wide front door. The rowboat fit through the 5’ wide door. Years ago we had a crane come in and lift and move the boathouse and it now sits high and away from the water and safer from spring breakup ice damage. So now I’ll use the old 8’ front door for the rowboat and canoes, likely building a light wood ramp/walkway/pier section to the shoreline.
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paulz
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# Posted: 4 Dec 2018 07:19pm
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If the rowboat is against the side wall and you lift it from the opposite side, won't it naturally flip itself up against the wall?
Why can't an aluminum boat stay outdoors? Corrosion, theft?
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 4 Dec 2018 10:08pm - Edited by: KinAlberta
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Quoting: paulz If the rowboat is against the side wall and you lift it from the opposite side, won't it naturally flip itself up against the wall? Why can't an aluminum boat stay outdoors? Corrosion, theft?
I may be wrong but I’d say that putting a boat on its side (or leaving one outside) isn’t the best of care.
All four of our decades old boats all look near new because of indoor storage. So they now have very low market value but carry an uncomfortably high replacement cost.
Anyway, I have the space. I just need to use it more efficiently.
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Absolutely
Member
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# Posted: 5 Dec 2018 07:40am - Edited by: Absolutely
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You could mount a small I-Beam to the underside of the ceiling joists running from the front of the boathouse to the back. On each I-Beam would be mounted two trolleys, fitted with either a sling or a simple pulley system. See the attached photo for an example of a trolley on an I-Beam.
You approach the open door of the boathouse with a canoe and fit the bow end into the sling of the far trolley. Begin pushing the canoe into the boathouse until you're able to slip the sling onto the stern end of the canoe. You'll need two people and you'll still have to lift it up but you won't be reaching over the ski boat or the row boat.
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beachman
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# Posted: 5 Dec 2018 10:27am
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I have two 14 ft aluminum bouts that I have turned over and kept outside (in Canada for years) - per paulz suggestion - and never have had any problems. They are just on the ground - flat. I also have canoes that I keep in a boathouse upside down - one on a sawhorse and one hanging from the rafters upside down with ropes. The reason they are upside down is that the critters loved to nest in them when right side up. One of the canoes is a cedar strip that I protect with cardboard pieces where the ropes are. I also have another canoe and 4 kayaks in there just shoved any which way to fit along with beach chairs, wood splitter, generator and junk.
Best to keep the ski boat covered so the floor won't rot. Watch out for mice and raccoons - they can do a lot of damage. Unless you are entering the aluminum boats in a beauty contest, throw them outside and put the ski boat in there. Then put the canoes in and Absolutely has a fancy suggestion for hanging them for easy retrieval. I might look at that myself.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 5 Dec 2018 11:48am
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Yeah aluminum boats are outside around here too, but I'm in sunny, warm, burning California. And if the boat has special significance I can understand that.
Myself, having to keep a hot rod, 5 motorcycles, one with a sidecar, a lift, lathe, mill, welder..all in a two car garage, stuff can get damaged just by trying to fit it in tight spaces.
The best of care is a large building with room to walk around, climate controlled, well lit..but life has it's compromises..
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Absolutely
Member
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# Posted: 5 Dec 2018 05:04pm - Edited by: Absolutely
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There's another way to do it, if you have access to the centre of the boat shed. Run two pipes width-wise and then run trolleys with pulleys off of that. I use something called a Tie Boss. Wrap slings around the canoe at either end and then haul it up using the Tie Bosses. Now, push the trolley off to one side. At this point you could have brackets mounted to the walls that you lower the canoe onto. Then, use the trolleys to pick up the second canoe. I use 1" pipes mounted to flanges on the wall to support kayaks in my boat shed.
Boathouse.jpg
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TieBoss.jpg
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Yak_Shack_r.jpg
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 6 Dec 2018 12:15am
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Great ideas!
Thanks!
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KinAlberta
Member
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# Posted: 29 Apr 2019 07:48pm
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So I’m thinking of making a rail system with a dolly type of frame about 7’ wide that would cradle two canoes side by side. It would sit above the other boat(s) and the door end would drop down for loading and unloading.
Maybe using garage door rails attached to 16’ 2x4s with one end hooked to the ceiling and the other end able to be lowered by a cable. A few cross members between for the cradle. Maybe rollers.
Could even set it up to drop down a bit and then extend out the doors like a drawer extend out through the doors for easy loading/unloading.
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Liam
Member
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# Posted: 17 May 2019 04:08am
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There are your photos of what is now, it is interesting to me to look at the design. Maybe I can create it myself.
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KinAlberta
Member
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# Posted: 17 May 2019 01:12pm - Edited by: KinAlberta
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Still thinking of many different options in my head.
I really like the sideways method described above but I’d likely be stepping over our rowboat or whatever else ends up on the floor. (Easy enough to put a roller or trolley system on the floor to roll that boat out first. That’s actually what we had years ago.)
Eg I was thinking of a frame with rollers instead of slings, but then realized that when it was pulled up to the ceiling, the frame would be the lowest hanging thing, and I’d be banging my head into it plus it’s “footprint†would take up more space.
So better to have the frame pull up tight to the rafters and have just the curvature of the hulls to whack my head into.
Could then anchor the front end to the ceiling to have it pivot downwards. So the back/door end would just drop a foot of so and then an inner frame could extend some distance out the boathouse doors. (Like drawer sliders.) There the canoe, kayak or whatever could be dropped off the sling.
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 17 May 2019 01:28pm
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Quoting: Absolutely There's another way to do it, if you have access to the centre of the boat shed. Run two pipes width-wise and then run trolleys with pulleys off of that.
Your sketch with the cross rails is something I’d considered but dumb me was only thinking about a short tail on one half.
Only in looking at your mock-up did I realize that running them right across the full width of the building would let me roll a canoe or two either way. So they could maybe hang over the ski boat as well!
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