HARKEN Hoister Overhead Garage Storage Hoist System for Kayaks, Canoes, Surf & Paddle Boards, (60lb Capacity, 12ft Ceiling) Self-Leveling, Safe Anti-Drop, Easy One-Person Operation - Model 7801.12

This is an excellent hoist. Considering doing other side of garage ceiling when the need for more storage arises. I built a custom size pallet to store some bulky items up high outta the way. Shopping and planning took a while (and painting). I took my time, to get it the way we wanted, and it took quite a bit of "time." Like others, am suggesting you too take your time for planning. Considered putting the pigtail bolts directly into rafters (and could have), but went with the recommended system structure (I mean, the hoist manufacturer recommends following the directions for a reason, right!!)? Regarding the instructions, IMO, the instructions are a bit choppy (some details were in some areas, but other details, for example, would be in an inset diagram). The information is there, just maybe not succinctly. Just take your time before drilling, and review install manual, then re-read prior to putting holes in wood or ceiling. Hope the pics give you some ideas along the way, as i reviewed others, and found maybe 3% of reviewers provided good images, and recommendations. The best guidance was from some youtube videos I searched long and hard to dig up. Technical Advice on Install: I found the 10 pc neodymium super strong magnets (easy purchase on Amazon) were extremely beneficial locating the rafter lines. The magnets find the nails in the rafters and stick to the ceiling attracted to the nail, so this helps you visualize the rafter line across your ceiling regardless if you have a stud finder or not. I do also recommend a stud finder to verify/confirm the center of the wood - but the magnets kind of get you started and help visually continue planning to bolt the 2x6's to the ceiling. One of my pics has the magnets showing what i'm trying to explain. For your precision lining up your mounting hooks to the ceiling pig tail bolts, recommend getting some string (cord) with a couple heavy washers, and holding that cord against your ceiling (while on your ladder), and seeing exactly where the corners of your object are, so you can precision mount your hookup points. After a week of marveling t my install project, I thought few a couple of *important* (for piece of mind) afterthoughts.... and took action to address them in the garage. This leads to another technical tip on this hoist, like I've seen others mention, once the hoist is in place and your object is overhead, the single welded eye (that the moving tackle and all the ropes attach to in the wall - a single bolt supporting all the weight of your object) does make you really desire (a lingering internal curiosity) to reinforce/beef up the single bolt that bears holding the weight into your wall.... so i have included pic of what i did to assist in securing the welded eye to my setup, and would imagine something similar could be done if coming straight out of your wall plate, with some wire rope eyes bolted to the plate on left/right side, fastened with lag screws and heavy duty washers. (So i took the welded eye 2x6 bolted into wall, took it down temporarily to adopt my support plan). Tensioned down the wire, twisted it once around, and secured it to another adjacent board i installed (see pic). The 2x4 i cut out pre-slots with skillsaw, so the wire rope isn't chaffing on the 2x4. All of this now holds the welded eye nice and tight, now in both directions. Once pallet hoisted in place, suspended in are, as another after thought, and for added piece of mind, i also added a paracord 550 (1/4" thick), with CamJam XT locking tie down tighteners on both sides (center 2 rafters) to ratchet off a little tension of the 4 main hoist lines, simply to take some tension off of the four main lines. This is a quick disconnect setup before we would lower the pallet, anytime we want to lower the pallet, just pull out the rope from the cam (on both sides, a quick snatch), and aweigh we come down. Again this was for extra insurance and piece of mind (see pic). Finally, want to mention your rope management (you'll want to ensure the extra rope is not in the way when your object is up in place), and we installed large cleats to line up a guide to ensure no snares or chafing; and to also both support the load, and to manage the excess rope that will be overflowing when you lift your object). We went with the 200lb capacity (posting the "review" both here, and separately posted on the 200lb hoist link), in the event we wanted to put a few more things up outta the way on the pallet. Again, from most reviewers posting here, i didn't see great images, nor tips to get around some tricky planning - so wanted to share. Pallet weight is 87 lbs, so we have plenty of space and weight to add onto the pallet if/when that should occur. Hope this review helped, and BTW, you'll be very pleased once you get this in place. Really happy with this hoist, and just what freed up lots of walking space in our garage!!! It's easy, but does take clarity of thought and planning - just take your time, and enjoy the project. You're going to go up and down ladder many times, and you'll go to the hardware store more than once - but you'll be thrilled when you hoist up your gear - you'll take pics and send to several of your buddies. Enjoy.

Bought this to hoist my Yakima Skybox 18. Install was fairly straight forward. I didn’t find the instructions lacking. Hardware seems great quality. Based on my layout, I ended up flipping a couple things so I could pull the other direction. I also attached the pull rope to a winch to raise it so I deactivated the brake lever. I got another pulley from McMasterCarr so I go turn the rope at a 90 and connect to the winch. I had a hard time getting the box all the way to the ground and getting the straps level, I think it’s mostly based on my specific garage geometry and the add ons. I have a 10ft ceiling and bought the 7802 (10 ft) and have enough line, I just think the pulleys are too close so it bottoms out before the straps are down. Also, without any weight, it wouldn’t really lower down. So I built a little frame with some eye bolts to hold the box and get it to raise evenly. It works like a charm. Ropes seem to hold good with no creep and it hasn’t dropped on the van yet. Pretty pleased. As a side note and not a brag, I am a mech engineer so the install, instructions, knots and other complaints I saw in other reviews didn’t really bug me. As I said, I really just wanted the hardware so I could tweak the dimensions and set up to fit my garage.

Researched many similar products along with reviews and finally settled on this one. I was influenced by Made in America, by known quality brand and the compounding lift effort through the block system. The quality of the product is impressive. While installation was not difficult, it took time. I used two (2) 7-foot 2x4s for the sides so that they would span four (4) ceiling joists on 24 inch center. I used a 4-foot 2x4 at the front for the gathering pulley, but the length will be determined by the spread between the side boards which is dependent upon the width of the item being hoisted. Boards are attached to the 10-foot ceiling with lag screws. Although the setup is simple, locating the ceiling joists was the most time consuming, even with a stud finder. Measuring and locating several times was necessary to avoid missing a ceiling joist. The end results were completely satisfactory with little effort to lift the boat level to the ceiling.

Two things you need to know about this - first, you'll be stunned at what you are getting for the price. Looks like about $15 worth of rope and pulleys - for $150?! Second, installation is not easy and will take some time - especially all of the necessary rope/height adjustments at the end of installation. Instructions are pretty good - detailed and lots of diagrams. You'll spend as much time measuring and calculating and adjusting as you will actually installing and it's best to overthink this believe me! I used it to lift/lower a rooftop tent and it works great. Make sure you choose the right model in terms of weight maximum and garage height.