Moving heavy stuff around shop

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    Default Moving heavy stuff around shop

    I would love to see some of the solutions others have come up with for moving heavy things around the shop more easily.

    I will start with a couple of mine.

    the first one is a modification to a standard engine left. I ran across an old handicapped person
    van lift that had an electric powered hydraulic pump. After the RAM on my engine lift gave out, I combined the two so no more
    endless jacking, now you just press a button and the RAM goes up.



    The second one is an overhead beam trolley and electric hoist that I installed over my basement stairs. This allowed me to get
    a 400 pound bench top milling machine down to the basement by myself.



    and then the final one is an adapter for my engine lift that allows me to take the truck cap on and off all by myself.



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    Default Re: Moving heavy stuff around shop

    Browsing your topic list I came across your overhead beam trolley and electric hoist solution (second video).
    What made me curious is your fitness contra weights to compensate the motor to keep balance.
    But is that not extra weight that your beam and wood will have to carry?

    I have bought this electric hoist for lifting my Lathe&Mill combi around 250Kg after strenghten the drawer table with pipes.
    When mounting the electric hoist parallel with the overhead beam it will be in balance by itself. (See picture on the right.)
    Moving heavy stuff around shop-electric-hoist-jpg

    I have to design the trolley yet and find your duo u-profiles idea promising.
    Wouldn't a construction like this ] █ [ where the middle is a rectangle tube, be easier to weld and stronger?
    With welds 20cm apart on the top and bottom would be enough?
    Which ] [ profiles dimensions did you use?



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    Default Re: Moving heavy stuff around shop

    hi driller,

    the counter weights are necessary so that it rolls evenly when it doesnt have a load attached.
    otherwise it would be up on two wheels due to motor weight.
    the counter weights only add 10lbs so it is not a worry.

    I had to place the motor perpendicular to the beam because I am working in the confined area
    of a stairway and need it to get as close as possible to both the front and back walls.

    I think my ibeam profile is 5" wide and 3" high. I needed it to be low profile to fit between the
    rafters and the top of the doorway. I also wanted to make sure it was wide enough so that the
    entire spool area of the winch was inside the beam width by a factor of an inch or so on either side.
    Wider is safer i believe, more stable. I think the spool width was 3" so I have an inch on each side.
    (consider case if load were to swing side to side)

    rectangular tube would probably work ok it would have to be
    thick wall such as 1/4in but still I like the way I did it better. All of the internal spacers add rigidity
    and brace it, the top and bottom plates box it in like a tube. Extra weld adds to rigidity
    as well. for the job that it is doing, and a potentially dangerous one I wanted it to be a specific design
    regardless of the time. still the labor was quite reasonable.I believe i did stitch weld it on top and bottom
    plates. probably 2" every 1.5" or something like that.

    Also there is the concern of final weight, you are going to have to lift and hold this over your
    head while mounting. I had to build a temporary shelf to hold up one end and then use rope to
    tie up the other for mounting. I also used wedges between shelf and beam to wedge up tight.

    The blog post for the project has a couple more details not in the videos:

    http://sandsprite.com/blogs/index.php?uid=13&pid=260

    I always go by eye and what feels right. I am not a structural engineer so you have to evaluate your
    design for safety based on your own needs and expected uses.



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    Cool Re: Moving heavy stuff around shop

    He Dave,

    In a confined area with the motor perpendicular to the beam is then a good option.
    The quick lift of your milling machine can be reduced by half (and for twice the load) when using the pulley block above the hook as you already know.

    Your beam is hanging from 12 pieces of 7/16 all thread. When using 4 at one place like in the video, then that is three wood ceiling support places, right?
    If then you have support in the middle of the beam as well. All your dimensions mentioned are relative to that construction where I couldn't find your total beam length?

    In my situation it will only have support at both ends, 2 meters wide. I did a quick 3Dsketch of my parallel offset construction based on your work.
    The electric winch will be mounted under the trolley in the four offset holes at he bottom for keeping the cable centered.
    And the bearings will serve as wheels too.
    Moving heavy stuff around shop-electric_hoist_winch-jpg Moving heavy stuff around shop-bearingwheels-jpg
    The other 4 plates are fail saves that I've seen on your trolley. Did I miss anything...



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    Default Re: Moving heavy stuff around shop

    my beam is 4ft long with 3 sets of supports. my max expected load is 4 - 500 lbs. My load test was 800lbs

    the trolly design is interesting. one thing I wonder about, in commercial units the wheels have flanges to ride the lip of the beam and keep it from racking. you adjust the clearance/tightness to the width of the beam with spacers, The adjustment is useful. and makes fabrication less demanding. but back to point of rollers with flanges, guides on this trolly design have no rolling properties so if carriage starts to rack you will have metal on metal friction and binding. I dont know if this will be a problem with a load on or not.

    For the bearing studs, I think I would drill and tap the stud on the end for a small screw and washer to pull it to the mount plate or thread that end as well. I am assuming you would be startign from a reamed hole for the pins, but over time if the pin develops a wiggle in the hole or the hole to big, Im not sure if I would trust just the retaining clip (but there are 6 so no one is that critical).

    Also think about the spreading force that the bearing block mounts will be under and how it will be concentrated on what ever joining method you use. If you look at commercial units they are solid plates hanging down from the rollers.

    good catch on understanding the purpose of the fail safes I like the back ledge built into the beam.

    a commercial 1/2 ton trolly is only 74 dollars.

    Amazon.com: JET 1 HDT 1-Ton Heavy Duty Manual Trolley: Home Improvement

    For the labor, material costs, and safety concerns given that you might be in proximity to the load at times, I would honestly just buy a commercial one.
    I thought about building one..but when it comes to safety and heavy stuff up in the air i figured I would take as many variables out as possible.



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    Default Re: Moving heavy stuff around shop

    BEAM:
    So, you have shorter span width and more supports for a larger load(800lbs compared to 550lbs with mine).
    I will have to do some engineering calculation in my case to dimension the beam right.

    DIY TROLLEY:
    ...commercial units the wheels have flanges to ride the lip of the beam and keep it from racking.
    I don't think that a wheel of Delrin over the bearing would survive a (static) heavy load. Maybe strips of Delrin between beam and trolley on both sides could stop racking?
    I did some 3D editting on the bearing studs where thread and nut is now added just before the retaining clip as you sugested. Wiggle in the hole is then reduced.
    I Always wanted to design one and later maybe build one.

    COMMERCIAL TROLLEY:
    ...a commercial 1/2 ton trolly is only 74 dollars.
    I didn't know that it was sold seperately? So I did some research on that subject...
    From what I could find there are 2 types:
    1. With one bolt at the bottom: Mostly for a plate with a hole where a hook can be inserted. (Like yours, not available in Europe).
    2. With two bolt at the bottom: Where parallel mounting is then possible. (Like in my situation).

    Moving heavy stuff around shop-1_ton_crane_hoist_with_trolley_cheap-jpg
    It's already balanced in this way.

    A commercial one is in all aspects (labor, material costs, and safety concerns) better, if I can find one in Europe. Untill now no results.



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    Default Re: Moving heavy stuff around shop

    deralin strips on the sides to prevent racking seems like it would probably keep it running smooth, I agree it probably would not survive as a bearing sleeve+flange on its own

    yup the trolly i used was for a hook type chain hoist and then I mad to make the adapter for the winch. never saw the double pin ones like in the picture but I like it. You could also weld on more material to a single pin one like I have to make it a double pin.

    I agree designing your own trolly and building it would be fun and more fulfilling, I just thought it would save time, expense and potential mistakes to start with commercial one.

    one other thought I had on the vertical bearing mounts spreading, you can build a mock up of thin cardboard, supporting it as real one would, then apply hand pressure to where winch mounting bolts would be and watch where it flexes to visualize the forces.



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    Wink Re: Moving heavy stuff around shop

    Thanks for the ideas, I have now a design for a DIY trolley.
    I'm still looking for the commercial one in Europe. Untill now still no results.
    For lifting in beam area the trolley is a good option.

    But what I could find is your first lift option: "engine lift".
    1000Kg, Lift:200cm, Weight 70Kg,
    Moving heavy stuff around shop-1ton-engine-lift-jpg
    Makes me wonder why you didn't use this instead of the overhead beam trolley with electric hoist, down the stairs?



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    Default Re: Moving heavy stuff around shop

    no way to use an engine hoist in my scenario. The weight cant extend that far past the front wheels or it would nose dive and it would have to extend very far past front wheels because they will hit the entranceway.
    if you mean engine lift in the basement reaching up, the ceiling is to low and still it would 4ft extended past front wheels. and to heavy to get full size engine lift into basement.

    also no way to roll engine lift on ground above..its stone work with uneven edges and grass. beam trolly was only option.



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    Default

    I start with just trying to lift the stuff. Then I progress to a hand truck if it is to heavy for that. Even heavier I move to my engine hoist. This time around and moved by lifting and putting it through to pieces of tube and then just pushed it around for stuff like the lathe, we went old school. It's time for the skid steer with forks or the track hoe if I have always been really sluggish. Hand truck, 4 wheel plywood dollies, pipe rollers, comealong, prybars, you identify it. If nothing else works, you can use a forklift.



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