A friend of mine was in need of a kayak rack and after numerous requests, I made it a priority and started my research. I could have made it easy on myself and built a sawhorse style rack, same as mine, but I am not really a big fan of it. With a fair amount of google image searches, I drew up a plan.
In order to fit a wide variety of kayaks (play, creeker, long boats), a width of approximately 4′ was decided by 6′ tall with 18″ for each kayak. No one wants to be lifting boats high and this way, 8 kayaks could easily be stashed in an organized fashion.
I know youTube makes everything look easy but this had its challenges. First, I needed to cut and build as much as possible at my own house. Then I needed to transport it to my friend’s house where I would install it and hope all my measurements were correct. I was on a time crunch and in the process, forgot to bring some of my tools to her house and she does not have many tools laying around. Thanks to a local timber framer, I was able to do the install when I arrived.
I thought I had everything planned out. Yep, this project would prove to me I am your average DIYer. I thought the top brace and the bottom brace would be enough to support this and all 8 kayaks. Oh, how I was wrong. I took the advice of my friend, hopped in my car and drove to the local timber framer a few miles down the road. When I presented my problem to one of the workers, he easily gave me the solution: cut a piece of wood that goes from the top corner down to the opposite corner. Brilliant. Easy enough. I drove back to figure out the measurements. Now I know there is a math formula for this but math wasn’t my strongest subject in school and instead of killing myself over it, I took the width and height of the opening and drove back to the timber framer. He then inputted these numbers into an app, cut a piece of wood for me and I again drove back to my friend’s house to finally finish the project.
For a step-by-step, watch the video and look at the infographic below.
Any suggestions or comments, feel free to send my way but be gentle. I do not claim to be an expert woodworker.
