velvetfoot said:
I can't really help, and I realize how garage space is always at a premium, but I have the tires for my two cars stacked up in the garage. I imagine, if one really wanted to bad enough, another set of tires could be put on top of that. The footprint on the garage floor would only be that of the largest tire. Of course, it'd have to be up against a wall...
Good suggestion. I tried a version of that, but stacking my smaller tires with rims on top of my larger ones w/o didn't work, and I just put them in three stacks sorted by vehicle. I can't go too high, because I have shelves almost all the way around the garage, except by the door and the (currently dead) boiler. However, I can do a modified version of your suggestion, by stacking the little rims on top of the bigger rims, and the consolidating the rimless tires. That takes me down to two stacks, and that's something I can do right away. Seems obvious in retrospect, but sometimes you just have to talk things over with other people for that to jump out at you.
Thanks for the emphasis, Dennis--I didn't realize the moisture could add to the problem.
heat seeker said:
Got room above the garage rafters?
There are also storage devices that will store items up against the ceiling, too, so they'll be out of the sun, and relatively cool. They take up no floor space.
My trusses are rocked in and insulated, so no attic access ('cept to those dang squirrels! It's war now . . . ) I've seen some of those dangly things advertised, but hate to put that much weight on the rafters. They'd probably be fine, but I'd rather err on the side of caution.
kingston73 said:
Like the above answers say, dark and dry where ever you put them. Sunlight and dampness can cause the tires to crack in just a few months, even a new tire. I made the mistake one year of storing my motorcycle in a shed with a dirt floor, and the dampness over winter basically ruined my front tire, only a year old. Have you thought about looking on craigslist for one of the rubbermaid plasit type sheds or storage boxes?
Glad I posted here, as I am learning good stuff. Those plastic storage sheds don't have a real good rep around here for standing up to the snow loads, but I am leaning towards the shed solution.
flyingcow said:
Use your little storage shed.
So after reading this thread, I walked out to the garage and measured my tire stack, then down to the storage shed and took dimensions. It had been an old playhouse, and even though the kids that lived here before are pushing middle-age, the shed is in surprisingly good shape (raw plywood, built on joists that are laying on some aspen poles, also in surprisingly good shape. The thing was intact enough to rock as a unit when I pushed on it, but too heavy for one person to pick up.
.
It's 6-1/2'x4x5-1/2h, so would hold all my tires and maybe a bike, too. The flat roof is starting to show its age, but I could put a pole across the top and drap a tarp to keep it from going any further downhill. Good ventilation, and I have a flat a place behind the garage where I could tuck it. I've got a little Toyota pu on the books next for repair work, and once that's up and running, I can drive down to the shed and load it on there with a crew of willing teenagers, can even drive to that spot behind the garage.
A few serendipities: I found a big old washtub down there that filled up w/water, froze, so there's a hole at the seam and it's all curved out on the bottom. Filled with soil and set on a small tire, I've got a great little tomato garden or such. Also found some good firewood down there, including a laying-dead poplar, suspended on the stump, about 6-8" and 30' long, next to the shed. May as well cut that up and throw it in the truck while I'm there.
So I have information and a plan now: consolidate the tires into two piles for now, and move that shed when circumstances permit. I'll probably wait on filling the shed until the next time I swap out tires (three months away), and then use it from there on out. Unless plans change. Like if I get ahold of some glulam to make a workbench in that corner . . .
I appreciate your input in this, folks. It's good to have a plan.
