Hoister Storage System — 75-200 lb Load

I purchased the 2 point Harken Hoister system that can lift up to 60 pounds. There was a little work in getting it set up. If you followed the directions though, it wasn't bad. It lifts my 50 pound Eddyline Fathom without issue. Like one reviewer mentioned, following the diagram to tie the proper knots, was the most confusing thing about the instructions.

There is some flexibility in the setup when it comes to the spacing between the wall, and the straps. This was really handy since it enabled me to position the two straps exactly the right distance apart to ensure the straps would be under the kayak bulkheads helping to reduce the chance of hull deformation. Due to the concern of hull deformation, I didn't use the included straps, since they were only one inch wide and the buckle didn't seem very sturdy. When hanging a kayak you want a wide strap to spread the load and prevent a deformed hull. I solved the problem by getting a beefy 2 inch wide towing strap with built in loops on each end. I cut it in two, made properly sized straps, tied the hoist to the handy built in towing strap handles, and used them instead.

There is also a little black guide that the front and rear lines go though on their way to the block and tackle. After experimenting, I chose not to use it since all though it guided the lines, it also cause some binding and friction as the lines rubbed on it on their way though it. I also bought a tie down cleat you would use for a flagpole. This let me tie off the hoist line as a back up safety measure, should the lock on the block and tackle possibly fail some day. I’d rather not find my kayak resting on my car.

Overall it's a great product, easy to use and flexible with the setup. My only gripe is with the included straps. With my boat weighing close to the max that this model hoist could handle, I just didn't feel the straps were sturdy enough, or wide enough, so I replaced them, with something stronger and wider.

I purchased two 7803 Harken Hoister Systems from Discount Marine Source via eBay. The prices (including a combined postage rate) were very competitive and the firm's service was superb. The items were sent almost immediately and arrived at my doorstep in Australia in less than a week.

The Harken Hoister System is an incredible block & tackle system specifically designed to hoist heavy canoes or kayaks and other items. Everything is included in the kit except for the cross beams should you need them (see online instructions). If you decided to make your own, I doubt whether you could buy all the parts at a cheaper cost (let alone find similar or more functional items).

After carefully studying the instructions, it took less than 1hr 30 mins to have the first system running perfectly for my Hobie Revolution kayak. Here are a few hints that I would like share to help make the job a little easier:

1. Make sure that the length of the block & tackle system side is equal to or longer than the height you wish to raise the craft;
2. Having initially threaded all the black drop ropes through the organiser pulleys and their respective individual pulleys make sure you extend the block & tackle system to its fullest extent by pulling all the drop ropes at once and loosening the cam operated hoisting rope;
3. Adjust the length of the webbing straps to suit your craft before you attach them to the black drop ropes;
4. Slip a small piece of foam lagging over the webbing to cover the buckle if it is likely to come in contact with the craft – this could be done later on if you wish;
5. Mark (a white-out correction pen is good for this) each black drop rope where you wish to attach the webbing so that all sides are equidistant – remember to apply downward pressure on each drop rope when measuring and marking; and
6. The figure-eight knot is easy to tie and adjust (for climbers anyway) and having the white marking (see 5 above) enables you to get a perfect set-up first time – no fiddling around!

With this experience, setting up the second system for my canoe took less than 1 hr. The system works perfectly and is easily rated 10/10

I agree with other reviewers, this is a great product. Using a studfinder was a necessity for me as my garage ceiling is finished. Finding studs and mounting the 2 x 8s took about an hour but once that was accomplished, the installation of the Harken life was straightforward. Installation and fine tuning took 45 minutes or so. I am using this system to store my 14.5 ft Wenonah Vagabond in my garage. May buy another one for my Old Town Guide.

I picked up a Harken Hoister for my Bell canoe a couple of weeks back and finally got around to putting it up this weekend. It took about 2 hours of work to get the device on the ceiling and working but it's worth it.

The directions were clear and material was well made. The eleven page instruction manual was laid out well and easy to follow. The only problem I had was mounting the first board on the finished ceiling of the garage. After that was up the second one went on quickly. Installing the pulleys and ropes was a breeze. The only possible issue would be the attachment of the straps to the hoist ropes. Unless the knots on the ropes for the straps are placed at the same point on the hoist ropes quite a bit of tedious adjusting may be necessary to level the object being hoisted.

Once it's set the hoist is fantastic. It gets the canoe to the ceiling without the hassle of the two rope system. The cam lock works as advertised to hold the rope in place. I don't think I could imagine a better system to get your canoe/kayak out of the way and stored year round.

What a Great Product. The only difficulty I had really was finding the studs/joists in my garage to properly secure the thing. But that's my deal, not theirs. I used the 4 point lift system that's designed for a large canoe or small boat. But I'm using it for 2 kayaks. So the only thing I found not easy to set up was to level the cords' knots that are actually holding the boat straps up. It only took about a half hour to fine tune and has worked great since.

I've had my three Hoisters, two 7800B's for my bikes (Trek road and mountain bikes) and one 7801B for my Thule Atlantis 16 box in use since May ('09). They were easy to install, but I also had read the online instructions prior to purchase and again in anticipation of delivery; I had all three installed in under an hour!

I think these are great units: easy to use, quick, and rugged. All of mine have metal clips... My bikes go up and down almost every day (at least one of them!) I definitely plan on getting another for my SOF kayak once I get it finished!

You have to ask why the instructions are so vague. Shouldn't be that hard to redo. I struggled trying to figure out which way the block/tackle was to be set up. Once I finally figured it out, the rest went up quickly. I used ceiling joists and did not attach a separate board as in the instructions. Hoists my Q500X into my garage ceiling very well! I wonder about long term usage of the narrow web straps on the hull, anyone have any thoughts?

I bought the Harken Hoister 90lb. version, got it home from the store about noon and had it fully installed and operating like a charm by about 2pm. However, I'd spend a couple of days prior to that studying the online manual from Harken's website and measuring in my garage, so that when I did get the hoister home, I already had a plan. The hardest part was adjusting the "black" hoist lines, setting the block and tackle to the correct starting positions and adjusting the web straps so that the boat was level and went as high as I could get it, since I only have an 8.5' ceiling in my garage. The instructions were a bit vague there. I also added a cleat below the hoist lever so that I can tie off. If it can slip, it will... eventually. Anyway, no complaints about this product.

All of the boat hoisters now come with metal buckles and Harken unofficially puts the breaking point of these new buckles at 500 lbs. To lift multiple boats and gear, create a floating mezzanine and use the 200 lbs system to lift the whole platform

I'm using the Harken Hoister to keep my Wenonah 16' Royalex up out of the way in my garage and it works like a charm. With the canoe weighing 64 lbs I went with the 90 lb model. It does have metal buckles on the nylon webbing which are heavy duty to say the least. True the instructions that come with the hoist leave a lot to be desired but go to http://www.hoister.com/assets/4907.pdf and you'll find a 12 page instruction manual in a pdf format that will make it extremely easy to install. It took me about 2 hours to install and about half of that was trying to find the rafters that are covered with sheet rock. It seems my stud finder does not like to work up side down. I looked at other systems but this one seemed to be the best. I've worked with marine products in Florida for years and Harken is a trusted name when it comes to marine hardware. That and the design is the reason I went with this model as some of the other lifts I looked at seemed a bit on the cheesy side. The only reason I give it a 9 is due to the time I had to find the instruction manual on line and print it out. At over $100 it seems that Harken would include better instruction along with the product. As far as the lift system design and ease of operation, it's a 10.

10 of 10 BUT - go the local Ace Hardware store and get 4-2 to 3 inch steel rings and about 20 ft of nylon webbing. Make 2 web straps with a ring on each end cut to the proper length for your boat and use these as a safety strap. I may be over cautious, but I could not sleep soundly knowing my Eddyline was being held up only via a plastic connector 24x7. I use these straps as a safety measure on an otherwise fine product. When in place, I slack off on the Hoister so the main strain is placed onto the backup straps. To lower, I just tension the Hoister, remove the safety straps using a broom handle (to reach up to the ceiling), and lower onto the car. Total cost less then 10 bucks. Peace of mind - priceless.

The Harken hoist has an important limitation that is not clear in their product description. The distance from the point where the lines are all gathered together (called an accumulator by Harken) and the wall where an anchor eye is installed (usually the wall opposite to the garage door) must be equal to the lift height. Also, the wall where the anchor eye is installed must be strong enough to bear the weight of the lifted item. If the distance from the lift point to the wall is less than the lift height desired, or if the wall is not capable of bearing the load (both were true in my case), the Hoister cannot be installed.

In fairness to Harken and their product, this is a limitation of the construction of the garage more than a criticism of their product. The people at Harken were great. My motive in giving this review is not to slam the product or the manufacturer. Rather it is to let potential customers know that they should make sure that there is enough room between the place where the lift will occur and the wall to get the needed lift, and that the garage wall itself is strong enough to hold the weight. In new construction here in South Florida, interior walls constructed of steel studs often have no headers and are not capable of holding any kind of load at all. For example, they can't handle the weight of a plasma TV hung on them and they can't hold the weight of a kayak anchored to them. This type of wall is more of a room divider than a real wall. Obviously this is not Harken's fault, but it precludes using this product.

Harken customer service was superb and they gave me a full refund.

I set it up in about two hours. They must've fixed the instructions because I had no problems even though I am not very mechanically inclined and generally leave this kind of thing up to my significant other. Thanks for this great product harken. It really frees up some space!

To the person who had problems with the buckles: there's a reason they have weight limitations. For the recommended weight I had on it, it doesn't seem there was any chance those buckles would break and it seems unlikely you'd have two that would break if you weren't doing something wrong.

I do agree with the others though. It's kind of expensive but worth it if you can spare the cash.

Its a great product, however, for half price you can get a modified bike hoist that can hold up to 200 pounds. For small kayaks (30-60 pounds) it'll do just fine.

I bought this product at one of the local paddle shops and I think it's been one of the best buys I've made. I'm currently using the hoist to store my We-no-nah canoe, but I'm going to buy another hoist for the kayak. This product allows me to hoist the canoe, almost all the way to the ceiling...way out of the way! My father in law and I put it up in about an hour. Just like several of the other posts...the directions were not that great...we found ourselves using the pictures more than the directons. Anyway, I'd highly recommend it.

Great product! We get a chance to utilize space in the garage which would otherwise be wasted. I wish it was a little cheaper but I'm pretty cheap. My directions could have been a bit better but these have probably been improved by now.

Well, I'm only an Electrical Engineer and not a Mechanical Engineer and it only took me an hour to install and hoist my 17' sea kayak. Either the instructions have improved dramatically or someone needs to find a new engineer. Kidding of course. Great product and extremely useful for freeing up space in the garage!

My wife actually did the installation and had no problems. We keep out "old-school" river-runner boats in these. The "new school" boats are so short, we don't need to make room for them.

I love this thing. Only negative is price. Works great. Easy installation.

A friend with a mechanical engineering degree and I set out to install my Harken Hoister this weekend. What we thought would be a 2 hour installation actually took about 5 hours. The instructions are lacking in clarity and require time consuming deciphering during the installation process. The photos included with the instructions are not very helpful as well. That being said, the product is working well and hoisting my 15 foot kayay up 8 feet to the ceiling of my garage. As it is performing well I give it a 10 in function but a 3 in installation instructions. My advice to Harken is improve on the instructions and include a cleat to tie off for added security.