The hoist itself is great as far as the pulley system goes. The issue I have and the reason for the removal of two stars is the mounting hardware is inferior. For a few $ more they could have included hardened screws and proper lag bolts. When screwing the lag bolts in after drilling guide holes the head popped off, that tells me they are not very good quality. The same happened with the screws included. If you purchase this system do yourself a favor and purchase your own hardened mounting materials.

Very well made, easy to mount, easy to use! I have this mounted in my 12ft high pole barn. I placed a 2x4 on edge across the rafters and mounted the mechanism to it. Since the 2x4 is above the rafters, I had to drill holes through the rafters to allow the pulley ropes to slide through. The brake is very good! It hold the 56lb kayak very well! The way the kayak is made, the loops want to slide right off, so piece of rope between them prevents that from happening. I had to add rope because of the height of my rafters. To release the brake, you have to stand practically under the kayak, so make sure you have a very strong grip on BOTH ropes. Pulling on one rope will release the brake, so make sure you have a really good grip on both and keep them together in order to keep the kayak from tilting. Gloves are a good idea, but I do not allow the rope to slip through my hands. I lower it a bit at a time, allowing the brake to hold the weight while I reposition my hands to lower it again. Up or down, it moves quickly, taking just minutes to raise or lower. It takes longer to get the kayak in just the right position to get the loops around the ends. I have the kayak on a two wheel cart to position it. I lift it up off the cart, flip the kayak on it's side and place the cart strap around the front and back loops as added protection, along with the rope. I then hoist it the rest of the way to the rafters and set the brake. I wrap the ropes around the provided cleat on the wall, making sure that I keep them together. The cleat is large enough that I can coil and hang the rest of the rope on it. I am completely happy with this hoist!
In the pictures, you can see the braces I screwed into the rafters to keep the 2x4 from flipping over. The steel cable you see in one of the pictures was added safety to keep the loops from sliding off the ends of the kayak. I now use the strap that came with my kayak cart in addition to the rope.

Purchased this unit about a year ago, hung it from the ceiling and stored my 70lbs yak in it (with some gear, not exceeding 90lbs total)... this unit is rated for 125lbs. Woke up this morning to find my yak crashed down on my freezer chest and my families bikes... both straps ripped at a stitching point by a loop that I wasn't even using (see pictures).

Now, some background: I live in Las Vegas, NV and it gets up to 115 during the summer, and the garage gets hot when my wife's van parks in there after work, so MAYBE these straps can't handle heat and fail after some time due to heat exposure.

The designs and function of this unit is fine, I just think the materials could be better. I thought the straps seemed "heavy-duty" enough for the task, but I guess I (and the manufacturer) were wrong. I would have put money on the pulley system or the pull rope failing before the straps would... man I would have lost that bet!

I'm sure if you use this in a less hot climate, it would be fine, but please DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING OF VALUE UNDER YOUR KAYAK... just to be safe. I understand this is the purpose of this unit, but thank god ther was no vehicle or especially a person under it when it failed.

Good luck and use at your own risk.

Overall good hoists that keep my kayaks out of the way when not in use.

I placed my brackets 7 feet apart. With the rope connecting the hooks as recommended, the remaining rope supplied only allows my kayak to be about a foot and a half above the floor when lowered all the way. (Ends of the ropes touching the hoist brake. My garage has about a 13 foot ceiling.). This makes loading a little awkward, but putting the kayak on a couple of 5 gallon buckets does the trick. Raising the kayaks from this point would require a ladder and be rather inconvenient. So I got some extra rope and tied it to the two ends at the house so I can raise them without a ladder. It is nice that I'm not juggling two ropes while raising, but supplying enough rope with the system so that I wouldn't need to supply other rope would be nice.

I have access to the attic space on my garage, so I used the installation method of attaching the brackets directly to the joists. I did have to cut away drywall at the connection points to do so, but I feel it is a more secure connection and it gave me a bit more clearance for being able to open my garage door with the kayaks above.

I liked this inexpensive, yet robust solution for storing a kayak overhead. You get 2 of these hoists in the same package! There is a warning not to install over high-traffic areas. However, in a standard garage there is a good chance you have to hang your kayak over high-traffic areas. The manufacturer is very clear to avoid their liability. Go ahead and install, choosing the location at your own risk, but make sure you read the instructions carefully and attach the screws to solid wood. It might be a good idea to tie an additional security harness, and remove it only when needed. In terms of actually using this hoist, I installed it in winter, hoisted a 2-person kayak with no problem (some learning curve to lift and low it), and it is still there by summer :-)