DIY Kayak Rack

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To build a storage rack for Better Farm's fleet of four kayaks and two canoes, we upcycled previously discarded items we found on the property: leftover 4x4s from building the garden fence, scrap 2x4s, and miscellaneous decking screws found in the tool shed.

The design plan was simple. We decided to stand four 4x4s up with four cross-beams. Four shorter pieces of wood were used to connect the whole structure together.

Materials:
Four 4x4 posts, at least 6 feet long
Four 2x4 boards, cut to 11 feet
Four 2x4 boards, cut to 3 feet
Decking Screws (3 inches)
Drill
Tape measure
Pencil
A friend to help stand the structure up 

Instructions:
1. Measure up 8 inches from the bottoms of your 4x4s and draw a line. Lay one 2x4 across two of your 4x4s (flush against the line), making sure there are 3.5 feet between the 4x4s. Repeat on second set of 4x4s. This will be your bottom shelf for your boats.
 

2. Measure up 2.5' from top of 2x4 and draw another line on your 4x4s. Screw another 2x4 to your 4x4s, flush against the line. The structure should look like a tic tac toe board:

3. With the help of a friend, stand the two structures up facing each other (2x4s on the outside of the 4x4s). Connect the two structures with your your shorter, 3' 2x4s. Screw the shorter boards to the insides of the 4x4s:

4. Fill the rack!



Got a great DIY project you'd like to share? Send it to us at info@betterfarm.org.
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Nicole Caldwell

Nicole Caldwell is a self-taught environmentalist, green-living savant and sustainability educator with more than a decade of professional writing experience. She is also the co-founder of Better Farm and president of betterArts. Nicole’s work has been featured in Mother Earth News, Reader’s Digest, Time Out New York, and many other publications. Her first book, Better: The Everyday Art of Sustainable Living, is due out this July through New Society Publishers.