Beam Lifting Capacity

[John Hasler]

My shop has roll-up doors on each end for drive-thru and the hoist will be located over this area of the shop. Most of the lifting I'll be doing will be less than 100 lbs. In fact the lifting beam and hoist will be heavier than most of the lifting I'll be doing. I do realize that this is a consideration when calculating the total lifted weight. I have to agree that a couple of removable posts for the heavier lifts is a good idea.

You still shouldn't lift from the lower chords of the trusses. Run a threaded rod or chain up to the peak to carry the load. You can still stabilize the beam by clamping it to the lower chords.

You could add wood to those lower chords to convert them to box beams, but I think that running a rod up the peak would be easier and less expensive.

 

[jererp]

I have a 2 ton engine hoist, and that is what I use in my shop. Not sure why you don't use something like that. It seems to me to be a much more versatile lifting arrangement. I am leary of lifting from the trusses, since I know they are engineered to spread the weight of the roof over a large area, and I would be afraid of adding point loading of a type the truss is not designed to hold.

 

[TomS]

John and jererp,

Thanks for your comments. I haven't done anything with this project yet because I'm not comfortable with lifting from the trusses either. I do have an engine hoist that I use for heavy lifts. It works most of the time but in some instances I have been limited with a lack of reach. Anyway I'm going to live with what I've got until I come up with a better plan.

Thanks again,

Tom S.

 

[xalky]

As someone else pointed out. The top cord that the roof is sitting on is the section of the truss thats designed to take the load. The bottom cords are in tension and basicallt designed to keep the roof from spreading the walls, and not desingned to take much of a vertical load. Ideally you'd want to hang your beam down from the top with some threaded rod thats attached to a plate that sits on the top cord, preferably at the peak or a point on the top cord where the cross bracing meets. Done in that way you'd be able to load it up quite well. You could attach to the bottom cord for side to side stability, but thats it.

 

[TomS]

As someone else pointed out. The top cord that the roof is sitting on is the section of the truss thats designed to take the load. The bottom cords are in tension and basicallt designed to keep the roof from spreading the walls, and not desingned to take much of a vertical load. Ideally you'd want to hang your beam down from the top with some threaded rod thats attached to a plate that sits on the top cord, preferably at the peak or a point on the top cord where the cross bracing meets. Done in that way you'd be able to load it up quite well. You could attach to the bottom cord for side to side stability, but thats it.

John Hasler and you have me thinking. Hanging the hoist rail from the top beam may be doable.

Tom S.