I wanted to be able to store all of my kayaks (3) in my garage. The garage is not particularly large, so I had to come up with novel ways of storing them. The biggest kayak( Trident 15) is hung from rafters attached to the ceiling, using a pulley system. But I wanted something quick and simple to be able to keep my other 2 mini-X’s in the garage. The solution also needed to maximise the amount of usable space left in the garage.
I had already determined that the solution would involve the kayaks lying on their sides – and to maximise space, one could sit on the floor, and the other could sit on some kind of bracket.
I had seen brackets for kayaks before, commercially, but this needed to be cheap and simple and still allow me to utilise the space behind the bracket for other things (I have lots of other junk in the garage !).
The first thing to do, was to come up with a template for the cross section of the kayak. I used a wire coat hanger and bent it around the outside of the kayak to provide a template. I then placed the coat hanger on some MDF and drew around it, to produce the shape of a bracket which would fit the kayak (note : I made added a bit of leeway to the measurements – I didn’t want the fit to be too tight !).
I then cut out two identical templates from the MDF.
The brackets needed to be attached to the wall of the garage and needed to take the weight of the kayak. More importantly, they needed something to stop them twisting from side to side. I found some very strong right angled steel brackets in my local DIY store. I bolted 4 of them to each bracket (2 on each side).
Nice and sturdy !
Next job was to attach them to the wall of the garage. I used some special bolts which are designed to take heavy weights – you drill a hole into the brickwork, push the bolts in, and then hammer a nail into the centre of the bolt before tightening a nut – they are very good, if a little expensive.
Now the brackets were attached to the wall and things were starting to take shape…
The brackets stick out from the wall – this is to allow me to store items behind the kayak…
I then added some pipe insulation to the top inside edge of each bracket, just to give the kayak a snug and comfortable fit !
The kayak sits really well into the bracket; and due to the shape of the bracket (the pronounced front lip) – it would be incredibly difficult for the kayak to fall out (even if you try to pull it forward).
Mission accomplished – a cheap, simple and quick method for storing the kayak – maximising the space available. I now have 3 kayaks in the garage and they are all easy to get at.