How to mount canoes in shed?

[dondon23]

To save room I want ideas on how to mount 2 canoes from the roof in garage ?

[KatieC]

Hi @dondon23,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community! It is awesome you have joined and thank you for your question about mounting your canoes from your roof. Our resident DIY expert @EricL will be online this afternoon to assist you but let me also tag knowledgeable Workshop members @Dave-1, @TedBear, and @Brad to check what they would suggest. 

Canoeing is so much fun, my friends and I used to go to the lakes in Colorado in the summer. To give the best solutions, it would be great to know what your canoes are made of, the weight of your canoes, and the structure of your roof. Would you be able to send a photo of what your garage roof looks like? 

Katie

[Brad]

Without seeing a photo, two j brackets per canoe with some protective foam should work.

Plenty of car roof rack mounts around too that would work.

[dondon23]

Shed not built yet but it will be solid we have peddle hobi canoes and they are fairly weighty we want to get ideas so that when we design the shed we have the canoes in mind so that we can store them 

[Dave-1]

Good morning @dondon23 

If you are yet to build a shed it may be an idea to make sure your trusses are situated in such a way that the canoes can be lifted up into the ceiling space so you cant bump your head. My first thought was some sort of pully system with ropes that you can loop over either end of the canoe and then using just one rope pull it up. I know Bunnings sells a bunch of pullys as I have tried nutting out a blind type deal using them. 

The overall length and maybe future upscale of your canoes id be thinking of. 

The second thought is wall mounted brackets so they canoes can be slotted into the racks. Ive never welded but there are a bunch of fabrication shops that Id try for an say 15deg or 20deg angled bracket?  If your garage is wide enough and you dont mind loosing floor space then that option could work?

Looking forward to see your shed unfold

Dave

[dondon23]

Thanks the pulley was what we were thinking off 

[TedBear · Accepted solution]

Hi @dondon23 , I have mounted two kayaks in the garage roof space - lighter than your canoes, but I suggest using webbing, or Tie Downs (the hardware is then already supplied) to strap around each canoe in two places. Make sure that you can anchor the tie-down to the seat or other point, such that the canoe can't slip out of the "sling" that will be formed, should you accidentally lower one end down before the other.

Anchor each Tie-down to a rope (via D Rings) passing through a pulley mounted directly above and also pass those ropes off to pulleys mounted by the wall at the sides, and down to cleats mounted within convenient reach.  Select suitable size rope and pulleys to manage the weight.

That way you can raise or lower the canoes to/from a car roof rack or to the floor.  By keeping the ropes tied nearby at the side wall you can manage both front and rear ropes together, or with co-ordinated assistance if the canoe is too heavy for one person.

I found this works well for quick and easy handling with the kayaks.

[dondon23]

Great post thanks sounds like exactly what we want to do 

[EricL]

Hi @dondon23 

It's great that you've received excellent ideas from @Brad, @Dave-1 and @TedBear. Just to add to the suggestions made, I recommend taking measurements first before you buy any hardware for your canoe.   

I strongly recommend that you draw up a plan on paper first so that you'll have an idea of how much space you can work with. Do you have a tilt or roller door, and will you have enough space for them to operate properly without hitting the canoes? Keep in mind that if you were to use a pulley system, the pulley itself will be taking up space in ceiling space that you have. 

One important thing that you'll need to take into consideration are the mounting points for the hooks and pulleys. Keep in mind that an average weight for the Peddle Hobie Canoe is around 35kg each. Since you'll be mounting two of them make sure that the timber frame in the ceiling is up to the task.

Please remember to wear personal protection such as gloves and goggles when working on your pulley system.

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Eric

[dondon23]

Great advice thankyou