Kayak hoist for garage

I’ve had a few NCKA members over, and they always ask me about my kayak hoist so I figured I’d do a formal post on how to build it. This is a great space saving hoist that allows you to also wash the kayak, easily turn it to drain the water, do work and rig it conveniently, and put gear inside and store everything in one place. Not to mention you can drop the kayak on your car roof and back when coming from a trip. I love it.

In terms of materials you’ll need the hoist kit, some metal framing, 4 eye bolts with bolts and washers (I don’t use those from the kit), a pulley (with a good wheel that doesn’t squeak), a small piece of 2x4, and screws long enough to go through drywall and penetrate ceiling joists.

My installation is different from what’s shown in the kit. If you want to follow the method of the kit, you’ll need a huge garage for spacing the pulleys. My method only requires kayak space (which is the minimum).
 
Planning is the hardest part. You need to find the center of your joists. I use a magnet to find joists (the drywall screws are detectable) and then a nail and a hammer and make small hoes to find joist centers.
I start with the metal framing. I figure where the eye bolts would go. Then I check that I have a stud (on the wall; not ceiling) roughly in the center of the eye bolt, to run the lines to. Finally, I put the eye bolts in the metal frame, make holes in the ceiling drywall to make room for the eye bolt and it’s post, and then I attach the frame to the ceiling. Same thing with the other frame. Make sure the pulleys are below the frame. Otherwise the line would rub against the metal.
Next comes the 2x4. Use a paper template to figure where to drill 3 screws in the 2x4 that, when drilled, would go exactly through the metal framing and into the ceiling joist. Mark the locations on the 2x4 and make pilot holes. Finally, attach the pulleys to the 2x4, and attach the 2x4 to the ceiling. Plan to install all the pulleys at about the same height. Otherwise, line may rub against the 2x4 (but it’s fixable with a small router, and you can shave just a little bit to eliminate contact).
Screw in the big eyelet (from the kit) to the previously marked location on the wall stud. Finally, run the lines and use Carabiners (not included in the kit) with the webbing from the kit to create the cradle for the kayak. You’re done!

Nice hoist, Li-Orca! It looks a lot higher quality than the typical manual kayak or bike hoists which you can buy.

After years of lifting my kayaks up in my garage with rope and pulley systems, I recently bought a Garage Gator electric hoist. It's more expensive than Li-Orca's system, but wow is it nice.  I'm totally happy with it.  I posted a review of the Garage Gator at https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=22180.msg230606#msg230606.

Nice hoist, Li-Orca! It looks a lot higher quality than the typical manual kayak or bike hoists which you can buy.

After years of lifting my kayaks up in my garage with rope and pulley systems, I recently bought a Garage Gator electric hoist. It's more expensive than Li-Orca's system, but wow is it nice.  I'm totally happy with it.  I posted a review of the Garage Gator at https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=22180.msg230606#msg230606.

Very cool. Thanks for sharing!
One of my issues was that there wasn’t much clearance between the ceiling and the garage door when it’s open. So I wanted a system that gets the kayak all the way up. But I really like electrical mechanism. One of the issues with the manual system is that you have to pull the line at a certain angle to unlock the mechanism, and it doesn’t work well from the ground. I always use a ladder for that.

Can you hang it upside down so the straps rest on the top of the kayak? The rails are the tough and Hobie does not recommend hanging it in the way you show (at least for my older version). Hobie hulls are soft, you might end up with some dents over time.


Worst case:
https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=53683

Can you hang it upside down so the straps rest on the top of the kayak? The rails are the tough and Hobie does not recommend hanging it in the way you show (at least for my older version). Hobie hulls are soft, you might end up with some dents over time.


Worst case:
https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=53683

I understand this thread is a couple weeks old. But for what it's worth I recently spoke with a guy that used to be a kayak dealer and still operates a kayak rental business. I asked him about this specifically. He essentially said that so long as it's hanging from straps it likely wont hurt anything to hang them upright, even with narrow straps. For what it's worth anyways.

Sorry for the late response guys.
The straps that came with the hoist are 1” thick, so when tied into a loop, they become 2”, which is the minimum Hobie recommends if I’m not mistaken. They naturally space themselves and rarely overlap, so that’s really nice. You can also pull them 2” apart of so and they will stay put, but I don’t bother.
Regarding storing the kayak facing down, I never tried it because I actually store my kayak gear inside the kayak. I know it puts extra pressure on the hull, but I think it’s fine.
I do, however, tilt the kayak when I wash it, almost to the point where it’s facing down, so I think you could store it that way too.
It’s very easy to tilt the kayak when it’s sitting in the straps as there’s no friction almost.
Hope it helps!

super jelly of that tall garage :O

I would be hitting my head on a pointy kayak in mine lol.