1980 HydroStream Vamp resto-mod

Buying more tools is always a good idea isn't it??

 

I mean it does have a multi purpose use.... I can use the cranes with my utility trailer to create a "second story" for my garage. I can load the trailer with summer gear, then lift it 7 feet in the air so I can put stuff under it.

Or, I could put the cranes in my storage garage and take advantage of the 15 foot ceilings there.

 

Spent some time getting the bow eye and transom eyes put in, Transom eyes were a breeze to get in, but the bow eye is being a pain. I can get the top nut on, but I just cant get the bottom one to start threading. Tried ratchet, tried a couple of extensions (going to revisit this with more extensions), I even tried the 1/4 inch air ratchet inside the hull, but just couldnt get enough clearance anywhere to get it on.

I have 1 more trick up my sleeve if the 3 feet of extensions doesnt work... I can trim out the access hole I made a little more before it gets in the way of the bow light mounting. Then last option is to cut a hole for a access hatch in the front but Im trying to avoid cutting a hole in a place thats visible.

 

Got it! Wooohoo!
Ok, boats ready to move out of the garage this weekend. I wanted the bow and transom eyes on there incase I need to tie off with them. But I stopped by menards today to grab some eclipse glasses for the kids, while there I also got $200 worth of straps and a chain hoist. I got two 6 foot cradles, two 4 foot cradles, and two 20 foot straps(they didnt have 20 foot cradles). The straps are thinner than the cradles, but they work just the same.

So, now I just got to pull the boat out of the garage tomorrow, lower my other boat from the roof and move it probably into the back of my truck for now (let the wind on the highway blow 6 months of fiberglass dust out of it) Going to put my ice fishing house in the basement, and move all the left over scrap wood into the shed (the HOA doesnt allow sheds, so I told them its just a small kids playhouse and my son loves lawn equipment).

This weekend, boats going in the air!

 

I couldn't live with an HOA. It would be a

 

Yeah, Im not a fan of them, but the guy accross the street is on the board and I help him all the time in the summer, neighbor on one side is a libertarian, and the other side lives in Japan. So I get certain "passes" for things. I think my wife likes having one because it keeps my junk under control, but I have certainly pushed the boundaries of what it allowed.

 

I think I got my lifting strap setup figured out. Going to run the 20 foot straps through the loop ends on the 6 foot straps. This will keep the 20 foot straps from slipping off the front or rear of the hull. I might have to shorten the 20 foot straps though, depends on how much slack is left after I wrap it under the hull. I think im going to go out into the garage tonight and put the 20 footers under the hull and measure how much left over there is after hooking one side to the rafters, wrap under the hull then back up. I would love if the 20f straps end right above the edge of the top of the hull, this will give me like 3 feet of lifting space.

 

Yep, that way will work just fine. Still need to shorten the 20 foot straps a bit. Thinking I can wrap the straps around the crane a couple times to get some of the length out of them. I also need to go pick up the trolleys tomorrow so I have somewhere to hang the chain hoist from.

I bet I could combine four 6 foot straps into a pair of 12 foot straps... I wont really know until I get the lift built and over the top of the boat. Once I have a good fit figured out, I will probably order custom made straps so I dont have to hack together something for the next boat I lift.

Tomorrow I also need to get the other chain hoist, store I went to today only had 1 in stock.

 

Chain hoists, trolleys, and 4 more 6 foot slings have been secured. I also did a quick repair on my small boats lift so I can get it down (rope had snapped on the snatch block).
So tonight will be unload small boat of all the clamps and tools, pull the big boat out, lower the small boat and put it in the truck. Then I can finish building the crane and back the boat back in. Going to spend any extra time rigging the sling under the hull and getting it to the point where I can just lift.

 

Boats out in the sun!

Gives off a kinda "Flight of the Navigator" vibe I must say...

 

You must be Spider Man agile and have the patience of a saint to do all that work in that small garage.

 

You should of seen me when I had to fiberglass the floor down.... No where to stand so I had to crawl around on the side rails like a goblin.

 

I would do that for about 3 minutes -- before I fell off and split my head open on the landing. You got seriously lucky with that fall on the jack.

 

Crane is built, rigged, and everything back into the garage. I moved the outboard to the front of the garage so I can work on it. Tomorrow I need to finish tarping the kayaks and boats that are now overflowing in the back yard, move the giant ice fishing shacks to the basement, and rig the straps for the boat.

Thinking of building a rack in the backyard to hold kayaks and the smaller boat/trailer. Figure I could just build a quick frame, put it up on blocks, and cover it with wood. This would keep them kinda out of the elements without too much hassle.

I must say, to build a gantry crane, you really need a gantry crane to lift the main beam. I used the garage rafters with my chain lifts to lift up the whole thing up and get it all bolted in.

 

Nice work!

 

Tested out some lifting straps, looks like 12f is about the right length. But, I started pulling on the straps and as I figured, they just slid to the center aswell as put excess pressure on the lip between the hull. So, I happen to have 2 plush carpeted 4 foot "L" shaped bunks I made for my kayak cart, these bunks fit perfect under the lip on the outside of the boat, and have a good spacing to hold the straps. So I am going to get some stake pockets for a trailer, screw them into the bunks and thread the straps through them. This will keep my straps from sliding to the center line and protect the lip on the hull. I will get that taken care of tomorrow so saturday I can just focus on lifting the boat.

If I still have issues with the straps sliding, then I will just go pick up another crane, more chain hoists and more trolleys. I can also run a ratchet strap from the center of the straps to the bow and transom tie downs, but that will block a decent chunk of area I need to work on.

 

Talked last night with another hydrostream owner who uses a gantry crane for his. He said the best way to do it is cherry picker on the bow eye, gantry crane on the transom. Put one chain hoist on each of the transom tie down eyes. Then lift the whole thing up and move the trailer, then to rotate the boat you simply bring one chain hoist up and the other down and the boat will roll on its own.

Going to give this a try this weekend, seems like a really easy method to rotate the boat.

 

Just picked up a 2 ton cherry picker hoist, Way overkill, but I wanted the extra lift height that the 2 ton has over the 1 ton.

 

Ice shack is now up in the rafters, ice tent and sleds are in the basement. I used the engine crane to lift the ice shack into the rafters above my car. Its only 120lbs, and big and awkward to move, but the crane made short work of getting it up there.
I stacked my other boat and kayaks on their trailer in the back yard, seems a cat pee'd all over the tarp over winter, so now I smell like moldy tarp and cat pee.
But, stacking the kayaks/boat on that trailer made me think I should just finish making that trailer to hold 4 kayaks and the little boat... then I can just roll that into the backyard and tarp it to hold those boats.

 

Cleaning carbs tonight since most of the boat is prepped for lifting tomorrow. Lots of old nasty red 2 stroke oil gummed up in the bowls, so Ive got those soaking in the ultra sonic cleaner right now. All the hardware went through it already, just cleaning up the rest of it.