2.7.2
Obtain/Construct Boat Hoisting Mechanism
One possibility is to obtain a one-ton capacity chain hoist or block-and-tackle, and build/reinforce an attachment point in the ceiling above the boat, ensuring there is enough vertical clearance for the hoisting mechanism. Alternately, a team of 8 strong individuals using four eight-foot 4 X 4 posts should be able to lift the boat off the trailer and lower it onto the cradle.
We
scoured hardware stores, farm supply stores, tractor supply stores, and marine
supply stores looking for a block-and-tackle that could be used to hoist a boat
weighing 700+ pounds at least a foot above the trailer, to no avail. A tractor supply store in Leesburg carried a
one-ton capacity crank-and-ratchet device called a “come-along” for $19, and we
tried that, but it didn’t work very well (more on this later). The neighborhood auto parts store was
selling a discontinued-item engine stand with hoist for $225, and that looked
like a possibility, but that was a bit too expensive, and we weren’t sure if it
had the height needed to attach to the hoisting bridle with the boat on the
trailer.
The
idea of using hydraulic lift jacks (the ones that service stations use to
quickly lift a corner of a car to remove a wheel) and wooden support beams also
looked feasible, and hydraulic jacks with the needed lift and capacity could be
acquired from the auto parts store for about $99. In the end, though, a plan to hoist the boat off the trailer and
lower it onto the cradle using a jack and a stack of 4 x 4 support beams seemed
too complicated, since we’d have to get the needed lift in stages, with the
support beams located far enough apart to make room to slip the cradle under
the hoisted boat. So, we looked
farther.
Finally,
a friend suggested a chain hoist, attached to a reinforced point in the ceiling
of the garage, and when I called the tractor supply store they said they had
one, a one-ton capacity hoist, on sale for $49. That was more like it!
My
next-door neighbor is an architect, and with him we explored some ideas about
anchoring an attachment point for the hoist in the ceiling of the garage. We were, of course, concerned that the 700+
pound load could pull down the garage roof or break one or more of the joists
or trusses.
After
much discussion, we designed, built and installed a solution: a 20-foot
glue-laminated I-beam running the width of the garage, resting on the trusses
where the points of the V-shaped cross-braces on the trusses intersected the
horizontal members, further supported with 2 temporary vertical 4 x 4 posts
spaced 10 feet apart. We couldn’t find
an eyebolt certified for a 700+ pound load, so we wrapped a 1,000-pound
capacity steel chain around the beam, locked it in place with a 1,000 pound
capacity carabineer, and attached the chain hoist to that.
To
make the beam, we used five 8-foot 2 x 10 framing boards and five standard
8-foot framing 2 X 4s, and we glued and bolted them together in place. We were not as careful as we needed to be
when selecting the 2 X 10s, and one of them was warped more than we would have
liked, so that made the work more challenging.
The
beam rests on triangular blocks made from 2 X 4 scraps that sit in the bottom
of the trusses’ V cross braces. The beam is also braced horizontally with 2 x 4
pieces sawed to shape and wedged in place so that the beam will not twist when
a load is applied. But the beam is not
screwed or bolted to the roof trusses, it just sits on them.
Two
8-foot 4 x 4 posts were placed under the trusses when we were hoisting, spaced
10 feet apart to provide clearance for the 8-foot wide trailer, and that gave
extra assurance that we would not pull down the garage roof when we hoisted.
Our
neighbor the architect looked at it prior to our first hoist and decalred it to
be outrageously over-engineered, by which we understood that it would certainly
handle the load! And, it did!