building a garage hoist..??

[jeeper]

I have done a few projects lately that have required going to a buddies that has a trolly style hoist. I am going to be putting the flat bed on my truck, and again find myself needing a hoist.
My fist thought is that I know where I can get some removed train track (legally) it would be fairly simple to run one the width of my shop, and one on either end to support it, followed but some good gussets and a floor plate to bolt it down. This would cost me about $200-$300 is my guess.

My other thought, which is much easier, is to run a 4x4 across a number of the roof trusses in the shop (wood trusses) and hook the hoist to them... But I am not sure of how much weight that could hold. My dad has done it previously to hang is Honda Goldwing without issue.. but I imagine I will need it to hold a bit more than that. Does any one know how to figure out the strength of a truss?

 

[Tonkaman]

It's not really the strength of the 'truss' in question, it's the strength of the 2x4 that makes the bottom of the truss.

How much weight do you want to hold? I'll bet your current method is good for 1,000 pounds at least.

 

[Hickey]

At my old house, I used a 10' length of 2 pipe, maybe 1/4" thick wall. I fished it up into the trusses and wrapped a chain around it. The pipe sat on 6 trusses. My 3 ton chain hoist hung from that chain. I pulled several engines with that setup, and often lifted one end of my CJ5 off the ground. Worked really well.

Edit:I just remembered, we also did this at my brother's house, only his garage wad sheet rocked. We just punched a hole in the sheet rock for the chain to hang through. I miss that setup.

 

[thefirstzukman]

I would say that the trusses in your garage are designed to hold up 0 lbs in that configuration.

 

[I Lean]

You could build a gantry crane, then it's not attached to any building and you can even use it outside.

My trolley system has a post embedded in each wall (sitting on the foundation), then spans the width of my shop. It has been VERY VERY useful.

 

[Hickey]

Speaking of Carl's crane, a great way to improve on my old setup, is to weld tabs on the pipe, then match those tabs on an I-beam and bolt them together. That would sandwich the trusses between the pipe and I-beam and allow you to use a trolley on the beam.

 

[Brad J]

I built a Trolley/Hoist in my garage several years ago. I bought a 40' 5" I Beam & 20' of 2x4 .25" rectangle tubing for $520. The I beam for the Trolley was 26' with one 11' post being the remainder I Beam. I used 2x4 rectangle tubing for the other Beam. I used a HF Tools 2 ton Trolley & 1400 lb hoist. I would not trust the Hoist to anything close to that since the cable is as thin as Dental Floss. The 26' Beam was around 250 lbs so I was thankful that my neighbor came over to help get it 11' in the air. I have not used it a ton but it has been very nice when it's needed. I had to use it a few months ago to get my Honda engine tipped at an angle when reinstalling it.

: Disclaimer you can not judge my welding skills or lack therof and messy garage:sick:

 

[jeeper]

^^ something like that would be SWEET. That's kind of what I had in mind.. but I don't know how committed I am to the idea yet..

Some sort of mobile A frame hoist would be nice, but then I have to store it when not in use, and it would always be in the way. Something attached and tucked into the shop would be great, but then I am limited to working where I build it.. An Auto lift wouldn't cost too much more, and would be awesome.. but it would have to be outside for height reasons.. I have friends with every option I can imagine.. but then I have to bug them, and use their tools..
Life is a struggle

 

[Hickey]

While mine limited where I could use it, it never seemed to be a problem. Brad's would be far less limiting than mine was, and both are WAY better than a cherry picker.

 

[crosbike]

Yroc fab has a sweet set up in his garage. Ill get him in here

 

[YROC FAB.]

I used 6x4 1/4" thick H beam (The metal supplier called it 6x12 wide flange beam because its 12lbs a foot) for the top beam and two poles welded to 3/8 plated bolt to the concrete with 1/2" Redheads. It spans 18' total with 16" corner gusset leaving 14' of usable Trolley, and its 12' high. Its lag bolted to the wood framing and welded perpendicular to the steel header in the middle of the shop. The beams where $168 for a 20' length.

I was gonna make a A frame gantry on casters but realized the header on that side of the shop was sagging and poorly engineered so i killed two birds with one stone. Now im glad i did it this way because i have a taller lift and the A frame would of took a huge chunk of space.

O and thanks Crosbike for the cheap manual labor.




About 1200Lb lift in the middle of the beam with no noticeable deflection.

 

[jeeper]

Thanks for all the replies, guys! I think building one similar to Yrock and Brad is what I am going to do.
...Now, where do I find free time and money?

 

[jeeper]

I found these beams on ksl for what I thought was a good deal. All are 6" I beam. Should make a great hoist!

 

[jeeper]

Made a LOT of progress today for the hoist.
(many of these pics are sideways.. Sorry)
Support beams



I had my kids help me measure because my wife was gone.. turns out we didn't get it right. This is the main beam.



and then I realized I was cutting at an angle..


After a few mess ups, I got the main beam welded and painted.



I hung a tree saver in my rafters with a snatch block to a tree saver around the beam, and up she went.


The beam is in place and welded together.





I've still got to get my concrete bolts, secure the top rail to the wall of the garage, and finish painting.. but I think all the hard part is done.

Now I need to find a hoist and a trolley...

 

[Tonkaman]

Awesome dude! That went together much easier than I expected. Is this in anticipation of your next flatbed install?

 

[jeeper]

Awesome dude! That went together much easier than I expected. Is this in anticipation of your next flatbed install?

Yeah. I would have done the flatbed first.. but don't want to put energy into it right now. I am taking a 'mood break' away from the truck..

 

[Herzog]

Very nice! I need to take photos of the center beam in my shop to get some opinions on what kind of weight I can put on it. It's a pretty stout i-beam that is somewhat arched, which at the center point has be pretty damn strong.

 

[Herzog]

I'm pretty confident that I can put quite a load on this, but I'm still nervous. Any ideas? Beams are 1/4" steel. I feel like I should be able to pull an engine without breaking a sweat. I just don't want to worry about.

 

[jeeper]

I'm pretty confident that I can put quite a load on this, but I'm still nervous. Any ideas? Beams are 1/4" steel. I feel like I should be able to pull an engine without breaking a sweat. I just don't want to worry about.

View attachment 104238View attachment 104239

I wouldn't be worried at all. That thing is huge.

 

[jeeper]

Got a trolley and chain hoist today. Both from HF, but seem to be sufficient. Both are 2ton.