We bought this item to hoist a canoe to the ceiling of our garage. The price of this hoist is very competitive, and we have been happy with Seattle Sports gear in the past. Installation is easy. The brackets can mount around a 1.5" beam, though you would need to drill some very straight holes in the beam to catch the bracket hole on the other side. We mounted ours flush with the beam, as one would if mounting the hoist to a finished ceiling. Instructions could be more detailed, and the photos less dark. The hoist came with some interesting anchor bolts which were not described in the instructions (nor needed in our installation). The hoist confers some mechanical advantage, so lifting the boat is relatively easy. The built-in brake on the forward pulley will keep the load up securely while the rope is tied off to the included bracket. The only problem we see with the hoist is the included straps, designed to go around the hull of a canoe or kayak (as in the packaging and instruction illustrations). For a hoist designed to hold a hundred pounds overhead, those straps are critical, and ours were not well enough stitched. They are not box stitched; they have a row of stitches which on one strap were too close to the cut edge of the strap. The corner was loose so we pulled on it, and the strap quickly unraveled. In use, the force does not come from the same direction as when we pulled on the webbing, but with the stitches that close to the end, we believe that fraying was inevitable, and the result could be catastrophic with that much weight that high up. Our own restitching was an easy fix, though, and everyone should take the time to inspect load-bearing straps. The quality of the webbing is the main issue which costs this product a fifth star. We will continue to watch the pulleys, too, to be sure that the rivets which serve as axles do not work out of the brackets. We would be more comfortable with them if they had more substantial flanges. One must be careful that the rope does not jump off the pulley wheel when the hooks are resting on a surface. The included rope is a single piece which the installer is expected to cut to length. It could also be replaced by rope of the same size and braid, if it is not long enough to reach in a given situation. Our hoist lifts a canoe up to a clearance of over seven feet, is connected to an eleven-foot-high rafter beam, and ties off about seven feet from the closest pulley. If your ceiling is higher, the ends of the rope might be out of reach when the hooks are near the floor. Stopper knots are useful to keep the rope ends from running back through the pulley. Though the instructions do not make this warning explicit, a person really should cut the rope into two pieces to avoid creating a loop that might catch a child and hoist him if the load outweighs him. In order to be secure, you are supposed to mount the tie-off bracket in line with the pulleys, so expect to need wall space along the direction of your keel. To lower the load, pull as close to straight down on the rope as possible. The brake, which is a metal hinge through which the rope passes, will line up so that the rope can slide through it. We have not felt that the boat would get away from us either raising it or lowering it; it seems that if the rope were suddenly released, the brake would engage. Note that the brake will not engage if there is no load on the hooks. Bottom line: this product gets the canoe up, and it is easy to use. Its safety features are superior to anything you might rig up with random bits from your local hardware store, nor you could not do it any cheaper with a la carte parts. It is a good value, though a careful inspection is warranted any time a heavy object is suspended.
