Built an Overhead Hoist in my Old Garage

[goodfellow]

This was a project that was built in my old garage about 20 years ago

For the last three days I've been busting hump in the garage attic to install a 24ft. double 2x6 load beam. I need that beam to support the expected loads from the 1300lb winch that I'm installing in my shop. Not finished yet, but decided to post up anyway.

This is the HF hoist that I plan to install.



Since I only have a standard 2'x3' attic trap, the load beam pieces needed to be prefabricated and matched up beforehand so that they could be assembled in the attic.









I had to move a lot of insulation to gain proper access to the rafters. The beam doesn't actually sit on the rafters (these 2x4 twigs couldn't handle it), but rather is anchored on the 2'x6' wall frames.



The beam will support two 18" x 3/4" pieces of threaded rod that will protrude through the ceiling. You can see the temporary rod supports across the beam so that I can measure the required length of the ceiling drop in order to mount a 10ft galvanized schedule 40 iron pipe as a rail for the hoist. I'll drill the pipe to accept the 3/4" threaded rod.





Still a lot of work to do to reinforce the ceiling drops and to get the rod properly anchored in the support beam, but I'm slowly getting there. My back is killing me since all the work was performed in the crouched position, but a few days rest will get me back in the attic to finish off the mounts.

In order to make it a movable hoist, I plan on using a pipe rail trolley to make the hoist easy to manipulate under load.

[goodfellow]

After a two day break due to back problems from crawling among those rafters, I managed to finish this up today. The basic premise here is that all the weight will hang from the cossbeam that I build over the trusses . No significant amount of weight will be transferred to the roof trusses.

From the pics below you can see that the 2" pipe is not only suspended from the cross beam, but also archored through the ceiling and back into the cross beam. That's to prevent any load transferring directly to the ceiling.
 




Until my pipe trolley arrives, I just hung the hoist on long bolts to test things out. The hoist can be easily moved with this hanger design, but I'm looking to make the thing just glide across that pipe.





I need to find an easy way to hang and lengthen the power cord so that it will follow the trolley and not get bunched up. I also need to put the control box on a long spring so that it will be out of the way when not in use; yet can be easily reached and pulled down when needed.

All the hard work is done --- this is one nice little hoist. My back is feeling better already thumbsup2

[goodfellow]

Over the last few days I've spent some good shop time designing and buidling this pipe trolley for my hoist. I've overbuilt it intentionally because eventually I plan to use it on much heavier pipe.

Here's the link to how I machined the Pipe Trolley wheels -
http://garagehangout.net/index.php?topic=114.0

This is what I started out with -- my turned trolley wheels that I made a few days ago, 3/8" aluminum plate scrap, and a 2"x2-1/2" square tube from the scap pile.



The design is based on using 5/8" threaded rod as the base for this framework. Here is the basic frame --



Frame is now partially milled and cut



I cut the square tube in half and welded the two peices together for extra strength (Very solid base). This is what the hoist will hang on.



Final "Mockup" before finish grinding and painting --



Here are all the pieces I fabricated and ready for final painting and fitting



The finished product.



The red shoe on the front is spring loaded and provides two functions. One as a brake, the other as the puller for positioning the trolley. Pull down on the rope to release the brake and pull the trolley into position. Let go of the rope and the brake is set.





All in all -- a great project --





Next week I'll tackle the accordion power lines that will need to move along with the trolley.

Time for an adult beverage --  :beerdude:

[goodfellow]

Today, I was able to finish up this project. I attached the outrigger assembly to allow the power cord to follow the trolley along the rail.

I drilled and tapped both downpipes for a 3/8" carriage bolt and strung an 1/8" steel cable between the two bolts. On one side I used a turnbuckle to make cable tension adjustment easier.





For holding the powercord to the stringer cable, I used GG member "Keeper's" suggestion of using plain hose clamps and attching the powercord to the hose clamps with zip ties. This worked real well and had an interesting benefit. Using this method I had enough spring in the powercords so that i did not need springs to hold the cord in tension. The cord slides back and forth with the trolley very easily without any problem.



Here is the entire system setup -- it slides and positions very easy.





I received a few private questions about the brake mechanism. I forgot to mention that the brake does have a lining. I sacrificed an old "flip-flop" sole to make friction material for the "V" shaped brake shoe. This really puts the brake on the trolley. It will not move without a lot of force --



Finally, I added some rubber hose as a bump stop to the rail supports so that the trolley wouldn't hit metal-to-metal and cause damage to the wheels or support itself.



This one is finished! It was a good diversion in the shop, but next week I'll get back on the Jaguar rebuild.

Cheers!!!