apohl17
New member
Well folks, I wanted to share my quick and easy solution to storing my Tepui Ayer RTT. I get it, I have a bit of an anomaly- a 10' exposed truss ceiling in the shed, but this can be applied to any building that you can drive into with the tent on top.
Basically, all I wanted was a pulley system to lift if off and store it high on the ceiling- I was going to make my own setup, then figured, why reinvent the wheel? They make bike hoists. Well, i found out that bike hoists are normally rated for 40-50lb loads. That wasn't going to cut it.
Next up, I looked into Kayak hoists, basically beefed-up versions of the bike hoist. 100lb limit, check. But, since my RTT weighs 90-100lbs, I wanted security, and the ability to lift all four corners. So, I bought two from my local Home Steep-o for $40 out the door. Lagged them into the trusses, routed the rope and pulleys up, and simply used two of the straps bridging between each system, captured by my aluminum rails for security.
The locking mechanism is simple and very sufficient for this amount of weight, and I tied off the excess to the ceiling as it's out of the way and only takes a ladder to grab the rope for the few times I take it off and put it on.
Overall, I'm pleased with the setup and ease of installation. There are lots of these pulley systems online, but for those who wish to implement something like this in the future - make sure you get the kayak version as they will be significantly beefier and better suited to this kind of application.
Here are a few pics!
Basically, all I wanted was a pulley system to lift if off and store it high on the ceiling- I was going to make my own setup, then figured, why reinvent the wheel? They make bike hoists. Well, i found out that bike hoists are normally rated for 40-50lb loads. That wasn't going to cut it.
Next up, I looked into Kayak hoists, basically beefed-up versions of the bike hoist. 100lb limit, check. But, since my RTT weighs 90-100lbs, I wanted security, and the ability to lift all four corners. So, I bought two from my local Home Steep-o for $40 out the door. Lagged them into the trusses, routed the rope and pulleys up, and simply used two of the straps bridging between each system, captured by my aluminum rails for security.
The locking mechanism is simple and very sufficient for this amount of weight, and I tied off the excess to the ceiling as it's out of the way and only takes a ladder to grab the rope for the few times I take it off and put it on.
Overall, I'm pleased with the setup and ease of installation. There are lots of these pulley systems online, but for those who wish to implement something like this in the future - make sure you get the kayak version as they will be significantly beefier and better suited to this kind of application.
Here are a few pics!
