I am sure that some of you must have the same spac

[landshark]

I am sure that some of you must have the same space problem when storing your kayak / ski.
 
Seeing as the missus didn’t like the yak in the living room my only option is to store it in the garage roof using a self made pulley system. My simple pulley system however makes it a bit schlep to hoist the thing manually down and especially up whenever I want to use it.

So doing a bit of research I found that placing more pulleys in strategically selected areas of the system will have an influence on the amount of the input force required to pull it up. Doing some more googling I found some stores sell readymade storage systems.

Eg: This one at cabelas:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0043022018703a&type=product&cm_mmc=CRR-_-RLP-_-018703-_-productname_link&cmCat=CRR&cmCat=netcon&cm_ven=netcon&cm_cat=N/A&cm_pla=N/A&cm_ite=netcon&rid=0180101070502


Being a bit of a lazy bugger, although I have yet to find one on the web, I’m sure that someone must have built a motorised version.

So my questions are:
1)  Has anyone seen a system like this (motorised or manual) locally? If so where and how much?
2)  Does anyone have drawings / plans / specifications to build something like that?
3)  Where can I find decent quality pulley’s in and around the Cape Town area?
4)  How do you store your yak / ski?

All ideas and comments appreciated

 

[ThefishinMagician]

I saw similaur straps to that yesterday at Benbel / Mica. They just did not have the pulley system. I am sure that you could find an engineer to put something like that together. insteady of using pulleys which would be best... perhaps look at using teflon or someting.

What i cant figure out from teh pic is how the pulley on the left drops or is influenced by pulling the main rope.

 

[landshark]

I suppose I could give an engineering shop a try but was hoping to get a solution that would not upset the bank manager too much.

Ja, was also a bit baffled until I zoomed into the larger popup image - you’ll see that it’s actually 2 ropes where it’s tied to the wall, so my assumption is that the rope from the left goes through to the “feeder pulley” on the right allowing you to pull both at the same time.

 

[ThefishinMagician]

yep... i saw that after the post....
2 ropes, 2 pulleys, 2 brackets and 2 straps. I saw similaur straps at Benbel yesterday (per Chance) and i reckon you could make a similaur set up with normal pulleys mount off a shelving bracket off the wall.

 

[ThefishinMagician]

LIKE SUCH

 

[Pierre Swiegers]

I made a pulley system for my yak but found later that its easier to just hoist it into the roof by using the holdfast tiedown straps. But Im lucky as I can drive the bakkie with the yaks on the roof into the garage. The straps are easier to hold than the thin rope I used, so just remember to use thick rope.

Remember that pulleys can be used to lift heavy weights by applying half the force.

 

[Potscourer]

I made a very cheap, very simple pulley system for my ski in the roof of my carport. Basically I just used ski-rope, 3 pulleys from the hardware and 2 lengths of hosepipe that I threaded the ski-rope through instead of straps. At first I had 4 pulleys but could not pull the ski up. I realised that the 4th pulley was doing me no favours as all the force from pulling was being exerted on that 1 pulley and not on the pulleys directly above the boat which is where you need the force. I will send some pics on the weekend.

 

[156]

I also wresteled with this problem. Where the rafters / tie beams are low enough I drive underneath, loop a tie down over the rafter and tighten the tie down while lifting the kayak. You do need to lift off the roof racks incrementally (300mm front, 300mm back etc). I have found this the quickest and simplest way of hanging the kayak.

Where the rafters/ tie beams are too high I have looped a sling of ski rope at the one end and then looped another length of ski rope over the rafter for the other end. This second length is tied to the carrying handle and is used to hoist the kayak up into a position where the tie downs can be used to lift and secure as above. This methods is much easier if somebody helps you but can be done alone.

 

[Potscourer]

Pictures attached as promised. The first picture shows the front of the boat with 1 pulley attached to the rafter above the boat. The second shows 2 pulleys above the back of the boat (1 which lifts the back of the boat and the 2nd which is linked to the pulley from the front of the boat). Third pic shows how I attach all this to the beam of the carport and last pic speaks for itself.

 

[Potscourer]

back section

 

[Potscourer]

attaching to beam

 

[Potscourer]

Up out of the way of the south easter

 

[landshark]

Thanks everyone for your input:

FM: I’ll go and have a look at those straps as they sound more robust than the one’s I’m using at the moment. As for your pulley design – thanks, this is more or less the same setup I am using at the moment thing is to try and handle both those ropes during the hoisting exercise is a bit of a mission (or maybe should get back into the gym ) What I tend to do is pull front then tie it down then the back and so on until it’s high enough essentially the way that 156 describes in the low rafter option.

Pierre: Unfortunately I don’t have the luxury of driving in with my yak as my landy barely fits in with only the roof racks on.

Potscourer: Thanks for the photos. I am definitely gong to try your setup I think the way rope is being routed is the key. Only thing that worries me a bit the quality of the pulleys. I have similar type that you are using (only the singe version not the double) and don’t know how long they will stand the abuse of hoisting my reasonably heavy yak up and down on a regular basis. Either way I’ll try and source more heavy duty ones and give it a bash.

 

[dasijoe]

Saw this in the local Paddlers shop Newsletter on Dec 8th:

[font="Helvetica, Geneva, Arial, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif"]Products
Harken Hoist
Complete hoist system for you to fit into your garage allowing the easy lifting of your kayak off the car roof and up to the garage ceiling. R975

or

[/font][font="Helvetica, Geneva, Arial, SunSans-Regular, sans-serif"]Wall Rack
Not strictly speaking a new product but we get a lot of calls about kayak storage. We use these basic galvanised steel mounts for all the kayaks in the shop and our outside storage. Includes rawl plugs and screws. R325 per pair.

[/font][align=center] margaret@paddlers.co.za[/align] [align=center] Paddlers Kayak Shop
021 786 2626
[/align] [align=center] www.paddlers.co.za[/align]
I generally find them a bit pricey but <R1k for a simple, easy to use system seems like a good deal.

 

[Potscourer]

Hi landshark. My ski weighs 29/30 kg and I would not say it is dead easy to pull it up, but it is not bad as you use your weight. I initially had a fourth & 5th pulley where the rafters met the beam I attach everything to as I wanted to keep everything as neat as possible. That really was impossible to pull up as all the force was being exerted on the fourth and 5th pulleys instead of the ones above the boat. I reckon you should have a look at how you set up your system. I would also use the double pulleys as then the rope does not need to slide around the boat (which just creates more friction for you to pull against). The hosepipes under each side of the boat do not move as the rope moves up and down on each side of the double pulley at the same time.

When I first put the system in I was going to use one of those hand winches you get on boat trailers. I was going to attach the winch to the wall or a beam and then just winch it up, but then I realised it was possible to just pull. 

 

[paul vermaak]

You can buy rope winches from Accesories spares centre , dirt cheap , if you want to come and see what i did at my home in Westville , you may .The advantage is 7 to one

 

[landshark]

Thanks for the offer paul, but I have more or less come right with my yak storage adventure. I got hold of some decent pulleys from a Cape Town based sailing supply store and have setup a pulley / rope layout similar to what Potscourer have shown.

I also got hold of a broken 4x4 winch which I am currently refurbishing and I’m planning to hook that up once it’s running properly. Should make lowering and hoisting the yak as easy as pushing a button.