This video showcases a DIY project for hoisting and storing a canoe in the garage, focusing on the importance of DIY over buying kits. The project was created out of necessity and the author’s belief that building a canoe lift is more practical and cost-effective than purchasing a kit. The tutorial provides step-by-step instructions for single paddlers, two paddlers, and groups, including using a bike hoist kit, creating 2×4 cross pieces with rope and eye bolts, and adjusting the rope length to suit the canoe’s needs.
The tutorial also breaks down the best hoist systems available and how to choose the right one for your storage space and needs. The proper way to lift and carry your canoe is explained, with step-by-step instructions for single paddlers, two paddlers, and groups. The canoe is then lifted and carried using a ceiling joist screwed into two D-rings about three feet apart. If you build your own hoist, ensure that you use 18 or 316 coated steel cable for your rope.
The video concludes by demonstrating the process of hoisting and storing a canoe in the garage, highlighting the importance of DIY over buying kits. The tutorial also provides tips on how to safely carry a canoe and how to choose the right hoist system for your specific needs.
📹 How to Build a Canoe Hoist Storage System in a Garage
This video shows a project I worked on for hoisting and storing a canoe in the garage. I have also shown some basic physics …
📹 DIY Canoe Lift/Hoist build
This build came out of necessity and my mentality of “why buy it when you can build it”. If I had bought all of the materials new, …
Thanks for taking the time and effort to share your design and a little physics along the way. I would offer one suggestion that will help with access to the other items in your garage. I noticed that you complicated access to your bicycle by routing the line straight to the cleat from the nearest pulley. You could avoid this by routing your line through an additional pulley mounted to the rafter directly above the cleat. While this adds a little resistance to the complete system, it will route the line between your bicycle and the wall.
I was using a pair of blocks each with 4 pulleys, trying to reduce the effort required to pull my boat onto my car’s roof racks (via a ramp). I used a digital luggage scale to see how much force I was needing to use before the boat would move. What I found was that the friction in each cheap pulley was significant. In the end I used less pulleys (2 at one end and one at the other) but they had ball bearings on the axels. It made a massive difference. It was much easier to lift using the 3x ratio than the 7x ratio, just because it had much less friction!
Cool. Pushing down the end of the canoe that rises faster will limit how high you can get it in a tall garage because of your reach, but you can tie a piece of rope so it dangles down from the wood support at that end of the canoe and pull the rope down rather than push the end of the canoe down. There are ways to keep a mechanical advantage of four without one end climbing higher, but they all involve using more pulleys or they involve more complicated block and tackle devices and probably aren’t worth the trouble.
Awesome! Great article that helped me out. But, (since I have a higher ceiling) I think I could do the same, but with less pulleys. 1 rope split into two, going to each end of my kayak, then going up to 1 pulley directly above my kayak, then transferring over to another pulley on the wall. So basically 1 rope, 2 pulleys, and the rope split into 2 at the very end for the kayak. Would save me 1 pulley I think.
I patterned my system similar to your original design except I ran the rope to a corner using a trailer winch to raise and lower my canoe with cleats on the cross board sandwiching the inverted gunnels so it will not shift or slip. I used the same design for my 4 kayaks hanging them with the sides vertical rather than flat. Takes a little longer to lift but one person can lift and lower all watercraft on a level plane and easily. Another advantage is I can stop at any level if needed and the lowering is very controlled.
I looks like the canoe is unbalanced from the start. If the hoists were spaced equal distance from each end of the canoe they should be lifting equal weight and should rise at the same rate. You might try fish scales to know if each pulley is actually lifting equal weight, and if the front should be heavier to rise evenly.