WALL MOUNTING
Given an unfinished building with exposed wall studs, wall brackets are an easy and safe consideration. If walls are finished, a piece of 2x lumber can be screwed into a stud to provide an anchor for your rack as shown in second photo. The cross piece length must match hull width and wall spacing, but 36″ will be more than enough for anything but largest tandems. One can measure before installation or cut to length later.
A brace should intersect the cross piece roughly at its center and be angled back to the stud at 30-45 degrees. The thirty degree angle is not as strong, but the tighter angle allows more racks to be place on the wall. One may trace the intersect lines and lap-joint the brace, but having the brace intersect the cross piece at an angle works too. Crosspiece and brace bolt to studs and each other with 5/16 or 3/8″ bolts with washers.
Drill 3/8″ holes in the cross piece as close to the stud as possible and just outside the boat’s gunwale, then cut off any excess. A ¼ rope can be tied to the inner hole, passed over the hull, and tied through the outer hole for security.
RAFTER (HANGING) MOUNTING
When one cannot dedicate the wall space Placid Boatworks hulls deserve, hang them upside down from rafter mounts constructed of nylon rope and PVC piping. Spacing is boat critical as the cross bar must not slip off the hull’s stems. Install 5/16 or 3/8″ X 3-2.5″ eyebolts into rafters spaced 2-3 feet in from the stems.
The bow hanger is a solid triangle of rope and pvc pipe; the rope must slip through the pipe. Cut the PVC pipe an inch longer than the hulls gunwale width where the hanger will fit. Tie one end of the rope to the eyebolt, slip the other end through the cut PVC length, then adjust the rope length to fit the canoe and tie it off to the eye.
The stern hanger needs a loose end and 2 eyebolts spaced hull width apart on the same rafter. Cut another section of PVC pipe; tie one end of rope to the eyebolt and run the other end through the pipe. After insuring adequate cross bar drop, tie a loop in the rope close to the crossbar. Then tie a loop in another section of rope and join the two loops with an inexpensive snap link. Adjust the drop of the second loop by tying it to the second eyebolt.
In use, place the bow upside down on the pipe in the fixed hanger, then lift the stern and clip the ‘beener into the hanging loop. The hull rails are stable on the cross bars and the hangers cannot slip off either stem.