Overhead Crane/hoist systems

[coreya3212]

I am trying to think through some sort of overhead hoist. Like a winch cable on some sort of swing arm mounted to a wall post and was wondering if anyone has any sort of idea or pic of what they have done. I did run a electric winch up the wall with pulleys on straps over my trusses that is centered over my shop bay, that works well, but is limited to about 500 lbs as all the weight is on one truss. It was a last minute thought as I threw it up while waiting for the loose fill insulation guys to show up. Anyone with any experience that wants to chip in a thought/idea would be appreciated.

 

[coreya3212]

Sorry, jsut to add, the one I have is also limited to one spot. I was looking to have something with a range of mobility forward back and some side to side. Thanks all.

 

[Tazza]

Sorry, jsut to add, the one I have is also limited to one spot. I was looking to have something with a range of mobility forward back and some side to side. Thanks all.

500 lbs is pretty good. The ones i have seen are essentially a post that is secured to the floor and sometimes the wall for a bit more strength. Then from there you have an arm that has 2 segments. Both segments pivot, one at the corner of the post one in the middle. Its essentially like your arm and elbow. Put it out and move your elbow, it gives you a range of motion from fully extended to closed in, it also works in an arc so you cover a fair bit of ground. There is a lot of load on the post and pivot point, my dad got one of these years ago, they used it to pick up full 44 gallon drums. I don't know exactly what it was rated to lift but it least 500kg.
Does any of that make sense?

 

[coreya3212]

500 lbs is pretty good. The ones i have seen are essentially a post that is secured to the floor and sometimes the wall for a bit more strength. Then from there you have an arm that has 2 segments. Both segments pivot, one at the corner of the post one in the middle. Its essentially like your arm and elbow. Put it out and move your elbow, it gives you a range of motion from fully extended to closed in, it also works in an arc so you cover a fair bit of ground. There is a lot of load on the post and pivot point, my dad got one of these years ago, they used it to pick up full 44 gallon drums. I don't know exactly what it was rated to lift but it least 500kg.
Does any of that make sense?

Yeah, I havent thought of an elbow. But the pin/pivot on the wall so you have the swing, or arc range as you say, as well as travel along its length. would give reasonable range. If my existing had any movement at all it would be fine. Iused it to pick theROPS off my bobcat when I did the axle seals, trouble was moving the bobcat out from under it then getting under it to re install. I have a small crane for pulling an engine say thenroll away, but hieght limit can be an issue.

 

[OldMachinist]

Yeah, I havent thought of an elbow. But the pin/pivot on the wall so you have the swing, or arc range as you say, as well as travel along its length. would give reasonable range. If my existing had any movement at all it would be fine. Iused it to pick theROPS off my bobcat when I did the axle seals, trouble was moving the bobcat out from under it then getting under it to re install. I have a small crane for pulling an engine say thenroll away, but hieght limit can be an issue.

It sounds like you need a gantry crane. Like these that Northern Tool sells. http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/...=mode+matchallpartial&Dx=mode+matchallpartial
Make sure if you buy one that it's rated for movement with the load some of the cheaper ones are not. A jib boom crane mounted to the floor is also a good choice but for them to have the proper mounting you need to have planned for one when you poured the floor as they need a deep base to carry their rated load.
My gantry crane I use outside mostly for heavy lifts. I have it over a old combine right now getting ready to pull the engine. I'm going to cut the combine up for scrap from under it because I can't use the casters outside. Then I'll use the front end loader on the tractor to move the engine to the shed.

For inside the shed I have a small hoist mounted on a joist and like yours it will pick up 500lbs.

 

[skidsteer.ca]

It sounds like you need a gantry crane. Like these that Northern Tool sells. http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/NTESearch?storeId=6970&N=0&Ntk=All&Ntt=gantry&Nty=1&D=gantry&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Dx=mode+matchallpartial
Make sure if you buy one that it's rated for movement with the load some of the cheaper ones are not. A jib boom crane mounted to the floor is also a good choice but for them to have the proper mounting you need to have planned for one when you poured the floor as they need a deep base to carry their rated load.
My gantry crane I use outside mostly for heavy lifts. I have it over a old combine right now getting ready to pull the engine. I'm going to cut the combine up for scrap from under it because I can't use the casters outside. Then I'll use the front end loader on the tractor to move the engine to the shed.

For inside the shed I have a small hoist mounted on a joist and like yours it will pick up 500lbs.

I have a small gantry inside the shop right now. Outside I have the luxury of a 20k and a 4k lb wood loaders. In your situation I have seen a smaller piece of I beam hung from the botton of several trusses that spreads the load over the trusses and allows a trolly to run on it so you hoist can be moved fore and aft in the shop bay. This is like the least expensive method allowing movement. I have also looked at some swinging cranes and even went so far as to install anchor bolds and extra reinforcement in my slab but have never got around to setting the hoist up.
There are several of these in the area. the biggest thing is to be sure the load is withing the limits. A friend had a real decent 4000 lb one at his shop sprung when his mechanic was pulling on a machine to straighten a bent guard. The unit was also sitting on blocks as the tire were at the tire shop. When they returned from lunch the machine had somehow fell off the blocking resulting in damage to the hoist.
Just some things to consider
Ken

 

[coreya3212]

I have a small gantry inside the shop right now. Outside I have the luxury of a 20k and a 4k lb wood loaders. In your situation I have seen a smaller piece of I beam hung from the botton of several trusses that spreads the load over the trusses and allows a trolly to run on it so you hoist can be moved fore and aft in the shop bay. This is like the least expensive method allowing movement. I have also looked at some swinging cranes and even went so far as to install anchor bolds and extra reinforcement in my slab but have never got around to setting the hoist up.
There are several of these in the area. the biggest thing is to be sure the load is withing the limits. A friend had a real decent 4000 lb one at his shop sprung when his mechanic was pulling on a machine to straighten a bent guard. The unit was also sitting on blocks as the tire were at the tire shop. When they returned from lunch the machine had somehow fell off the blocking resulting in damage to the hoist.
Just some things to consider
Ken

Thos northern tool thingys dont look so bad. I know I am looking for probably more than I can get away with. I like the I beam idea, cept on getting it securely mounted to my trusses after the fact. I was thinking of the I beam to the wall with sort of a moveable leg with a caster on one side only so the travel of the wheel would be adjustable to a small degree anyhow. With spring here and grass to mow, this idea will likely die a slow death.....

 

[Earthwerks Unlimited]

Thos northern tool thingys dont look so bad. I know I am looking for probably more than I can get away with. I like the I beam idea, cept on getting it securely mounted to my trusses after the fact. I was thinking of the I beam to the wall with sort of a moveable leg with a caster on one side only so the travel of the wheel would be adjustable to a small degree anyhow. With spring here and grass to mow, this idea will likely die a slow death.....

I'd be tempted to use or modify or build a "cherry picker" or engine hoist. My buddy has a Snap-On one that neatly folds up for storage and rolls around. Sure you have the outboard legs/stabilizers to contend with but that's a small price to pay for mobility and portability. If you designed it right you could weld pallet fork pockets on the bottom of it to move it with the bobcat. I saw one on YouTube that had car tires out front on the legs and attached to the skid steer's attachment plate---I think the attachment plate pivoted so it could be steered. They were using it on a very smallish machine to pick up big loads inside a barn.

 

[coreya3212]

I'd be tempted to use or modify or build a "cherry picker" or engine hoist. My buddy has a Snap-On one that neatly folds up for storage and rolls around. Sure you have the outboard legs/stabilizers to contend with but that's a small price to pay for mobility and portability. If you designed it right you could weld pallet fork pockets on the bottom of it to move it with the bobcat. I saw one on YouTube that had car tires out front on the legs and attached to the skid steer's attachment plate---I think the attachment plate pivoted so it could be steered. They were using it on a very smallish machine to pick up big loads inside a barn.

I think i have what you are talking about, cept it doesnt fold down. It a "shop Crane
they call. Works great but limited by height and occasionally you cant roll it underneath what you want to lift but its a good tool for sure. I never thought of that, but building a larger arm just like that mounted to the wall on a pivot sounds good. Maybe when winter comes. Summer is here and I have to mow the grass.