I am planning on installing racks at home on an outside, secure wall. I have the space to rack 4 SUPS vertically or horizontally. Board sizes range from 8'6 to 9'6.
Is there a preferable way to rack the boards: horizontally to avoid twisting the rocker, compared to vertically?
it really depends on how much room you have to move. I prefer horizontal for mine but it makes it tricky / annoying if you want the one off the bottom but the top few are a piece of cake.....vertically can be great but then you need to work out if you can get them in and out of position easily without banging the roof or the tails as your raise them vertically or drop them down. If you need some racks Piros makes some good ones. I think it really depends on the outlay of your storage location and what is in the way between that location and your car. I have to go through a gate to get to the back end of the garage and in doing so I need to avoid the over hang from the roofs garage...so horizontal won as I have loads of room to do a 180 once I get through the gate.
Have just installed mine horizontally
Agree that space wise vertically is better
One issue I considered (and it is probably insignificant to some) is when I stand my boards up in the covers I get a moderate amount of salt water which drips out of the covers and onto the floor.When horiizontal it stays in the covers and I guess eventually evaporates or is there until the next surf.
A minor issue but the less salt water in my garage the better
Just re read that they are going outside->non issue then
Thanks guys, your advice is appreciated. DJ, what reasons do you have for preferring vertical racking?
Interesting horizontal rack, Gosup. Did you make them yourself? Decent quiver too. I'll need weatherproof racks, dynabolted into a rendered brick wall. Unless there's good reasons not to, I'm aiming to go vertical. Dj, what are your reasons for preferring vertical systems?
It's not rocket science.. I can think of lots of reasons.. like all boards would be at the same comfortable level to reach and lift out of the rack.. Horizontal racks means out of six boards only one or two would be at a comfortable level and the rest you need to reach up.. or bend over to take out of the rack.. Also verticle boards would drain and condensation or dew that might form in cold weather or after washing.. You also get bugs.. Rats and possums pooing on horizontal boards.. I get that on my boards all the time.. Then you have the rack material itself.. Horizontal racks need to be thick and strong to support the weight of the boards and some big boards can be pretty heavy.. You will often need supports to prevent bending or breaking so these supports use up space.. Vertical racks need only thin supports because the weight of the board is resting on its tail and the supports are just there to lean against and seperate the boards.. If you have horizontal boards resting on the racks upside down you get dents in the deck grip fom the racks.. Also horizontal racks need pads on them to prevent board damage but vertical racks need nothing other than a mat on the floor.. It was interesting watching the Storm riders movie and seeing Tom Carroll's boards in his massive garage and they were in vertical racks round the walls... There's probably pros and cons for both but IMO the vertical rack is the better option.
DJ