How do you guys store your PA's?

[Roc]

Was thinking of making a cart with 3.5" pvc pipes on top to slide the PA onto, but as I researched, Hobie advises against it. Where do you guys place yoir PA's when not in use??

[Pinhead]

I looked into a bunch of ways to store my PA14 out of the way in the garage. I got 2 Harbor Freight electric hoists and bolted them into the rafters. I made a plywood sled-bed with supports, 4' long french drain tubes and securing straps. I placed and secured the PA14 on to it and pressed the hoist buttons to haul it up to the ceiling. It was a decent solution, but the kayak was too low for my needs.

Next, I made a heavy double decker kayak cart, for my PA14 on top and my wife's Passport. I made it out of 4x4 corner posts, 2x4 runners, plywood deck and screwed 3.5" 4' french drain tube runners for my PA to sit on. They are thinner walled tubes, so they are not perfectly round when my PA14 is sitting on top, which I think is fine.

My PA14 is a 2014, 10yrs old, and I've checked the underside quite a few times. No deformation, no hull cracks etc....all is good. The entire rack stays in my garage and has Harbor Freight rolling casters. It's great. There's a few guys that have YouTube vids on their carts, which I watched a few times and developed my design.

Fyi....It's best not to load your kayak up with weight when it is on the tubes, just to error on the side of caution.

Also, not a good idea to leave it on the ground in the garage with the fat wheels in the scuppers either. It can stress the scuppers and cause cracks.

Good luck, post a pic if you can of what you build up.

[Pinhead]

I looked into a bunch of ways to store my PA14 out of the way in the garage. I got 2 Harbor Freight electric hoists and bolted them into the rafters. I made a plywood sled-bed with supports, 4' long french drain tubes and securing straps. I placed and secured the PA14 on to it and pressed the hoist buttons to haul it up to the ceiling. It was a decent solution, but the kayak was too low for my needs.

Next, I made a heavy double decker kayak cart, for my PA14 on top and my wife's Passport. I made it out of 4x4 corner posts, 2x4 runners, plywood deck and screwed 3.5" 4' french drain tube runners for my PA to sit on. They are thinner walled tubes, so they are not perfectly round when my PA14 is sitting on top, which I think is fine.

My PA14 is a 2014, 10yrs old, and I've checked the underside quite a few times. No deformation, no hull cracks etc....all is good. The entire rack stays in my garage and has Harbor Freight rolling casters. It's great. There's a few guys that have YouTube vids on their carts, which I watched a few times and developed my design.

Fyi....It's best not to load your kayak up with weight when it is on the tubes, just to error on the side of caution.

Also, not a good idea to leave it on the ground in the garage with the fat wheels in the scuppers either. It can stress the scuppers and cause cracks.

Good luck, post a pic if you can of what you build up.

[JohnMckroidJr]

Since 2014, I have had four PA14's and have always stowed them flat on the ground with a cover for protection from sunlight. It does flatten the hull slightly, but I do not believe this has caused any significant changes in the kayaks performance.

[PapaDave]

On a trailer, with my PA17 next to it.

[Roc]

Pinhead, how long have you had it sitting on those French drains? No issues with deformation? I also was thinking of doing a hoist in the garage but think it would hang too low, how many ft down from the rafters did it hang? I would probably do a harbor freight build as well.
I've been storing it on flat concrete for awhile and haven't noticed the hull deform much, but I kno it's gonna be an issue sooner or later.

[Pinhead]

It's been sitting on those French drains for more than 6 years. It's been fine.

I could walk under it, so it was 6'+ a bit. It was *ok*, but I had to move it to put a dog pen underneath it anyways. It was a huge effort to bolt the two wenches up. I used heavy 18" metal construction straps with holes, then used 3" lag bolts to bolt it to the rafters. My kid had to hold it flush to the ceiling, while I got the first 2 lags in there. Yikes. Worked great tho. I can take pics of the wenches if that will help you decide.

Before the Sled idea, I tried a pully / tie off idea someone had on YouTube....total fail. Sled idea was much better, but now the heavy double decker kayak cart is the best. It just takes up space on the ground, but rolls around so easy.