# Hanging my raft up



## boatmusher (Jun 18, 2008)

I was wondering if anyone knows of a kit that is out there that would enable me to raise my raft up into the rafters of my garage. I have a tall garage that is begging me to store my boat fully inflated 10 feet in the air. That way I can still park the truck in the garage this winter. I figure I could go and put one together....Just have a lot going on and need a quick and simple fix. Seems like I heard that there was a kit so I thought I'd look into it.

Thanks,
-S


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## leery (May 16, 2005)

*eye bolts and pulleys*

go get some eye bolts, pulleys, and rope from home depot and align them with your d-rings. hoist that sucker up. it will also makes a great place to hide xmas presents. 

probably $30 total.


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## boatmusher (Jun 18, 2008)

I was thinking of running a couple of 2x4s underneath for support as well. Then hoist the puppy up. Frame and all!


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## zbaird (Oct 11, 2003)

i would just suspend the 2x4's and keep the stress off the d rings.


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## boatmusher (Jun 18, 2008)

I think so as well. What about running a couple of 2x4s parallel as well. So it would almost be a square with the perpendicular 2x4s sticking out farther with eye bolts coming out to tie off to the rope. Seems like the more support the better.


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## BuckytheGREAT (Mar 6, 2007)

*homemade lift*

My dad had this homemade lift for his raft. He made a frame and put a plywood over the frame. He put the raft and all stuff on it and then with his car, he pulled the rope that was attached with pullies to get the lift up. He had a seperate tie in where 4 carabinders would be locked onto the ceiling and then backed his car a bit to untie the rope.

It was very effective. Never once fell down on my head, ha.

-Bucky


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## oarframe (Jun 25, 2008)

funny...I was just thinking the same thing myself the other day. It occured to me that I might be able to use my cargo net for support.


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

BuckytheGREAT said:


> He put the raft and all stuff on it and then with his car, he pulled the rope that was attached with pullies to get the lift up. He had a seperate tie in where 4 carabinders would be locked onto the ceiling and then backed his car a bit to untie the rope.
> 
> It was very effective. Never once fell down on my head, ha.
> 
> -Bucky


Good reason to practice Z-drags and mechanical advantage!


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## DurangoSteve (Jun 2, 2006)

How about using a "come-along" to crank the platform/raft up to the rafters?


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## boatmusher (Jun 18, 2008)

what is a come-along?


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## DurangoSteve (Jun 2, 2006)

boatmusher said:


> what is a come-along?


It's a hand-operated "winch."

Come Along Winches, Hand Cable Winch Come Alongs


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## boatmusher (Jun 18, 2008)

I just got home from the store. Bought 8 pulleys, 2x4s, rope and some eye hooks. Gonna put it together today and I'll take a picture or 2 and post it so you can see. The plan is to have 10' perpendicular (2x4s) with 2 6' (2x4s) as more support parallel with the boat. At the ends of the perpendicular pieces I'm attaching the eye bolts. Then I will tie the rope on each bolt directly going up to the 4 pulleys. Which will then lead towards 4 more pulleys which will allowing me to hoist the boat up into the air at approximately 9' high.

I'm a little concerned about weight. The plan is to keep the frame on the raft so I'm figuring it'll way about 200 pounds. Think that is workable?


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## DanOrion (Jun 8, 2004)

Couple of thoughts:

Exhaust is probably bad for your rubber. May want to limit engine idling in the garage this winter.

One key advantage to storing a raft in the rafters over storing a kayak in the rafters is that it's easier to wash the spiders off of the raft than out of a kayak.

Sounds like a fun project. Good luck!


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## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

You're probably fine, but it is likely to be heavier with all the wood. The weak spot is probably the eyebolts, use big enough ones and you're good. You could just tie the rope directly around the perp 6' boards, and eliminate that one weak point, then you only have eye bolts in the ceiling. Set up a z-drag and you'll spread the weight out further! (can you tell I took a rescue class this fall? 8))


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## El Flaco (Nov 5, 2003)

Do it right:









*Superwinch Utility Electric Winch — 2000-Lb. Capacity, Model# 1220210*

Has the speed, power and design to get the job done fast. Features 12V low Amp permanent magnet motor. 

Superwinch Utility Electric Winch  2000-Lb. Capacity, Model# 1220210 | AC Powered Winches | Northern Tool + Equipment


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## sward (Dec 14, 2003)

Yo Flaco i like the way you talk.

I've been debating doing the same in my garage with an ATV winch, but I really like the idea of using your truck to pull it up.

My only problem now is I inherited my girlfriend's raft to store for the winter. With a 10' ceiling height, not much would fit under both...

Steve.


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## BuckytheGREAT (Mar 6, 2007)

*Weight*

Ihowemt is right about the weight. It's not just your boat and its' frame. It's also the wood. That will be very heavy itself. But with 8 pullies, you can go a long way on weight with that.

Be sure the eyescrews are strong enough and won't slip. One thing you may want to consider is using an eye bolt. Drill it all the way through the wood frame, add a thick washer and bolt it in. Less likely to strip.

Also make sure the hardware on the ceiling is strong as well.

If you have kids, they'll want to ride the new homemade "elevator".

-Bucky


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## the_dude (May 31, 2006)

i finally got my rolled raft up in the garage rafters two nights ago. what a pain in the arse? it was heavy to get up there, and it's just a 13' boat. i hung the frame from the bottom side of the trusses with 4 NRS straps. i did this to distribute the load. 

if possible, you should place the raft as close to one of the bearing walls as possible. with rubber/frame/wood split 8 ways, that'll be a pretty good point load on your trusses if you suspend it right in the middle of the garage.


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## boatmusher (Jun 18, 2008)

After thinking about it further.... I decided to scrap the bs pulleys I got at Home Depot and go buy some climbing pulleys. Then I will screw 2 more 2x4 across the rafters (perpendicular) and I will use 7mm climbing rope/cord and secure it to the 2x4s. That way I have no faulty eye bolts to worry about. Built the platform last night. Later today I will have gotten the new pulleys and will attempt to hang it up. You guys really think I'll need a wench type device to hoist it instead of 8 pulleys?

-S


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## Snowhere (Feb 21, 2008)

Try it and see. I know I have a hard time hoisting just two kayaks, with gear, up in my shed with just 2 small pulleys. The problem is not in lifting the load per say, it is in holding it in place until you can secure it. You just have no mechanical advantage with out more pulleys in line to split the force. So the 8 single pulleys will each have 1/8 the weight to hoist and if you are pulling them all at the same time, you will still be lifting the full amount.


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## boatmusher (Jun 18, 2008)

I got a canoe up yesterday w/ no prob on 2 shitty pulleys. If I can hoist a dinky canoe surely I can hoist a burly raft!... I'll give it a whirl then if not I'll get a winch of some sort. I'm thinking I could put some tie off points at diff lengths to help me pull it up. Essentially securing as I go. Wish I wasn't a cheap bastard and just buy a winch but I'd rather buy a electric pump to keep the raft topped off while it hangs for the winter. So....


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## the_dude (May 31, 2006)

boatmusher said:


> After thinking about it further.... I decided to scrap the bs pulleys I got at Home Depot and go buy some climbing pulleys. Then I will screw 2 more 2x4 across the rafters (perpendicular) and I will use 7mm climbing rope/cord and secure it to the 2x4s. That way I have no faulty eye bolts to worry about. Built the platform last night. Later today I will have gotten the new pulleys and will attempt to hang it up. You guys really think I'll need a wench type device to hoist it instead of 8 pulleys?
> 
> -S


you'll need a helper or two or a winch. it'll be a good load with the rubber, frame, and wood.


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## boatmusher (Jun 18, 2008)

If only Chuck Norris was my neighbor......


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## knappco (Aug 4, 2006)

*tieing off the Load*

Your probably going to need someway to take the load off your hands and onto the building. I would do maybe a sailing cleat or a self minding prussic or if your going simple do a friction wrap around a pipe. With a self minding prussic you can do it by yourself safely.


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## yakrafter (Aug 7, 2006)

*Who's boat you mushin'?*



boatmusher said:


> I got a canoe up yesterday w/ no prob on 2 shitty pulleys. If I can hoist a dinky canoe surely I can hoist a burly raft!... I'll give it a whirl then if not I'll get a winch of some sort. I'm thinking I could put some tie off points at diff lengths to help me pull it up. Essentially securing as I go. Wish I wasn't a cheap bastard and just buy a winch but I'd rather buy a electric pump to keep the raft topped off while it hangs for the winter. So....


Yo S.

As you "engineer" your soln yankee style consider some small one way cams (like the straps) from a sailing supply house or something. (west marine). 

As you likely rarely let your raft go flat, perhaps you could just top it off with a vac every one and a while. BTW, wall mart has cheap air pumps for air beds which work fine for occasional or even constant use. 

Remember too in this case you can likley replace 1 nice pulley with 3 crappy ones, reduce the stresses and make it easy to lift (mech advant).

Oar framed - westy, both for the first time this weekend. pie. wished I had rowed more on the grand.


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## Chip (Apr 7, 2007)

My 15-ft. cat tubes and a frame are suspended up in the rafters of the garage— separately. The cat tubes are part-inflated and hang by the grommets in the tips, with little loops of rope or webbing. I put one end on the hook and pull the other one up with a short length of rope through an eyescrew, then secure it with a trucker's hitch. 

One end crossbar of the frame goes into two of those big plastic clad hooks, then I pivot the other end up with a rope & 2 pulleys and cleat it on the end wall of the garage. No helper needed. 

If you've got the space, hanging the frame and boat separately is a good idea. Also, you might want to hang the raft bottom up, so mice don't party up there all winter. I'd probably use 4 side d-rings, with rope loops on one side, rope & pulleys for the other. Likely need a helper for that.


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## Randaddy (Jun 8, 2007)

My mini-me is hanging from the two side D rings in my garage right now. This is a 45 pound boat. Does anyone see anything wrong with this? I don't want to have to re-glue them, but I doubt they suffer any measurable stress. Anyone have experience to the contrary?


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## caverdan (Aug 27, 2004)

Randaddy, I would flip it over and pin it against the ceiling instead of hanging it from the glue joint of the D rings. The constant downward pull on the glue is not what it was designed for. I doubt your causing much harm due to the low mass of a mini mee, but pinning it to the ceiling would be my preference over hanging by the D rings.

Another option might be to run some extra straps under it now that you have it up there.


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## Randaddy (Jun 8, 2007)

Thanks Dan. You're a gentleman and a scholar. I got the Deso permit, by the way. We launch on April 2 if you're still coming. Bring print pornography and $25. Oh yeah, and some food.


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## caverdan (Aug 27, 2004)

I'm still on the yes side of maybe.........and now I have it on my calander and radar. April 2nd is perfect.....no one will believe me when I leave on the first.


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