RAD Sportz Kayak Storage Hoists - Overhead Pulley Hoist Systems with 125lb Capacity Each for Canoes, Bikes, Ladders, and More

Works great. Sturdy, easy install. Saves valuable floor and wall space

This product works. Well conceived and well thought through. Dead simple. I have some warnings and a suggestion.I started off trying to install this in my garage. The way the hooks and straps are designed there's a drop of almost 31 in from the roof joist in my garage to the bottom of my boat. That puts my boat smack in the middle of the space that my garage door wants to roll up into, so that didn't work. I can think of modifications that would reduce that drop by maybe as much as 6 inches but there's still going to be a drop that needs to be anticipated. My garage is 10 ft floor to truss.Lucky for me I had a carport alternative and that worked out well. The advantage of stalling and removing and reinstalling is that the second time you do it goes really quickly.My boat is a surf ski, very narrow, and because of that the loops on the straps don't cinch up enough. They give you a bunch of loops so that you can choose the width that suits the boat, and my boat is too narrow for the narrowest. I'm going to have a seamstress sew in new loops for me. In the meantime the straps are kind of sloppy. If your boat is wide and not very deep you won't have as much drop.My suggestion about the instructions and the rope: Read about how to space your pulleys and read the general comments, but don't try to follow the instructions as you install the unit. Instead just look at the picture and see the way the rope is run. I had an inspiration and instead of cutting the rope I installed it in the far pulley and through the near pulley and brake, pulled it all the way through and then installed it into the near pulley without ever cutting it. Yeah, I was worried about cutting it in the middle and discovering that the long piece was too short and the short piece was too long. My strategy of running the rope through the near pulley (the pulley with the brake) without ever cutting it did away with that problem and there was abundant rope available.Oh, one other warning. The factory lag bolt holes in the mounting brackets are too far apart to fit perpendicular across a flat 2x4. I had to drill a new hole to accept the second lag bolt.Yes I'm going to be parking my car underneath the boat, which the manufacturer says not to do. I'm betting nine out of 10 boats hung on the system are hung above cars.

The hoist works quite well. You raise or lower each end of your boat with separate ropes, and can easily raise or lower it evenly. However the force required to lift is substantial for my 60 pound roof top cargo box. A smaller person might find it difficult to lift a 100 lb.+ canoe or kayak. The Brake System works very well and prevents sudden, uncontrolled drops should you lose control of the ropes. Overall this hoist is easy to operate.The suspension straps provided use a plastic snap together buckle (like on a backpack waist strap). This seems dangerous. I don't believe those types of buckles are intended to be load bearing. It's the weak link in this hoist. I'm going to replace mine with cargo straps that come with a proper load bearing rating.Installation was easy, I screwed the pulley blocks into a stud that I located in the ceiling by following a line of nails driven through the sheet rock. Drilled a pilot hole for the wood screws to verify I was going into solid wood (very important); the kit's wood screws have bolt heads so you'll need a socket and ratchet, it takes some considerable force, they are sizable screws (that's good- you're hanging a lot of weight off these things). The instructions require you space the pulley blocks a minimum 6 feet apart. That wasn't an option for me given the spacing of storage racks, the garage door, and furnace ducts. So I set mine at 5 feet apart and I'm not having any problems- it operates fine- you should have no worries ignoring this rule if you have a short kayak.Threading the rope through the pulley blocks and tackle is easy; they give you a drawing to show how. But securing the 2 loose rope ends onto each pulley block is not so easy. They want you tie those rope ends around one of the horizontal bolts that attach each of the pulley blocks to the mounting plates. Problem is you've already bolted it together, it's screwed into the ceiling, and you don't have a lot of room to work with to make some fancy knot (they don't supply a diagram of what type of knot to use). You'll see what I mean when you do it yourself. So I simply ran the rope ends through the hole in the block and tied a simple double knot that prevents the rope from slipping back through the hole. Seems to work just fine.I recommend you test your installation by suspending your boat just a few inches off the ground for several days before lifting the boat up high into its storage position. Check to make sure the pulley blocks aren't pulling loose from the ceiling, and tug on the ropes suspending your boat to further ensure those pulley blocks won't rip loose. You will note the ropes stretch, your boat will drop about a half inch in the first 24 hours.Aside from the strap buckles being poor quality, I would have given this 5 stars. It's a slick product that optimizes precious floor space in your garage.

Looks great, easy to install (once you search for a video on YouTube). The kit comes with everything you need to hang your kayak (or canoe?) from garage or barn joists. Easy to figure out even without instructions (which are not bad, just over engineered)...the bit about threading the rope through the brake was, possibly, the most complicated step....The materials seem to be of decent quality (and you really cannot complain of the pricing!) and very sturdy.I hope it lasts!!

We used these to hoist two large kayaks on our dock to clear up space. Took some time to install, easier to do with two people. So far works pretty good, although guests at our rental sometimes have a hard time putting the kayaks neatly back.