Homemade Wood Rack for a Canoe

A quick and easy to build homemade wood rack for your canoe can not only save wear and tear on your canoe, but also save wear and tear on your back. Choose a nice open spot for this rack with plenty of maneuvering room to make it simple for you and a helper to load and unload your boat to and from this rack. This rack style is also versatile in that by nesting the boats you can get quite a lot of boats in a relatively small space.

Things You'll Need

  • 10-foot 2-by-10 treated boards, 2
  • 4-foot posts, 4
  • Drill
  • ½-inch steel drilling bit
  • Four ½-inch by 5-inch lag bolts
  • Four ½ -inch flat washers
  • Socket wrench set
  • Shovel
  • Wheelbarrow
  • 4 80-pound bags of redi-mix concrete
  • ½ inch eye screws with nuts,12
  • 30 feet old canvas fire hose
  • Flat headed galvanized nails,1lb.
  • Hammer
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Instructions

  1. Setup

    • 1

      Dig two pairs of two-feet-deep holes. The holes should be 8 feet apart and the pairs should also be 8 feet apart so that the holes form a square 8 feet on each side. Make the holes wider at the bottom than at the top.

    • 2

      Insert the four posts in the holes. Mix up a bag of concrete for each hole according to directions. Try not to make the mixture too soupy or too dry. You should be able to shovel it from the wheelbarrow into the hole without spilling. Fill the the hole to about 3 inches below ground level and stand the posts upright, tamp down the concrete and allow the posts to cure overnight.

    • 3

      Mount the 2-by-10 boards on the sides of the posts so that the top of the 2-by-10 is level or a little above the top of the pole. Mount the 2-by-10 boards parallel to each others by drilling through the boards and into the post. Thread a flat washer over a lag bolt and then with a socket wrench, screw the lag bolt tightly into place. Attach each end to a post. When you are done the boards will be parallel to each other about two feet above the ground.

    • 4

      Cut two 15-foot canvas fire hose sections. Most volunteer fire departments replace their canvas hoses regularly and sell the old hoses. They make great marine bumpers.

    • 5

      Nail one end of the hose to an end of the wooden 2-by-10 crossmember with the galvanized nails. Lift a section of the hose up and nail it 5 inches from the first nail so that it creates a raised bump in the hose. Continue nailing little bumps every 5 inches down the top of each crossmember, creating a series of bumps in the fire hose running the length of the cross member. Nail the last bump to the opposite end. This will pad the top of the wooden crossmembers and protect the gunwales and hull of the boats sitting on top of the rack.

    • 6

      Drill holes in the center of the 2-by-10 boards about 2 feet apart spaced evenly the length of the boards. Screw eye screws into the holes to create tie-down points for tying the canoes to the rack.