How do you lift big stuff in your shop?

[LJP]

I plan on putting up a trolley on an I beam, from the doors to the back wall. I looked at the scrap yard (with no luck) for the beam. Bought the smallest 4" x 4" beam that Grant Steel carries, had it cut to 2 pieces at 8' so I could get it into the truck and lift in place with a helper. I will buy a HF trolley, already have a chain fall. The plan will be to store 15" Troyke rotary table and mill vise on shelves just to the right (behind) of the Bridgeport. There will be enough room to extend the BP table to the right to lift the rotary table or vise on and off. The I beam will extend out to the big doors for lifting something out of the truck as well.
Not started yet, the I beam is still in the back of the van. When I get this project going, I will post pictures. In northern Vermont on vacation at the camp (other projects here at the camp have my attention this week).

 

[hermetic]

I have these two mates, theyre called Newton and Coolie. But I have a girder the length of the shop as well.

 

[stern]

Great thread, and thanks to all that posted pics as I plan on doing some of the things shown here. Currently, I have a engine/ATV type jack (used for my bike engines) and everything else gets lifted by hand Last heavy thing brought in was the PM1227 lathe, which me and the kid put into place on the stand by hand Mill was easy, it was built in place lol. Dont have much "floor room" so I am planing on putting up an overhead I beam and use both the electric and chain hoists, but now I see some cool ideas here that I am also looking at

 

[AR1911]

The canvas bag works great to keep excess chain from flopping all over and dinging things up. .

Thanks for the tip on bagging the chain. Definitely a Eureka moment for me )

 

[markknx]

As a person who does rigging for a living (Ironworker) there is more to be said about slow when hoisting, not to say waisting time but I have moved 5,000 pound stairs through finished buildings and that is no time to get in a hurry. And we usechain falls and come-alongs all the time.
By the way I love your setup it is simple and effective.

... With a home-made gantry. I use furniture dollies or sometimes metal pipes to roll things across the floor then, do the lifting with a gantry. Slow process that wouldn't fly for a pro-rigger but its cheap and brick-house reliable.

Ray


View attachment 56644

 

[markknx]

I used to use this but it broke.



I had a small front end loader on a garden tractor, but since I sold that I rely on a engine hoist, chain falls, come alongs, jacks, or whatever else I can use

 

[Ray C]

I can't imagine how you go about moving a staircase into position. I always figured they were welded into position on-site. That's got to be somewhere in between a puzzle and a bad practical joke to move something like that.


Thanks for the nice words about the gantry. It's made of 1/2" x 3.5 x 4.5 angle iron which I got as unused drops for 50c a pound. When that lathe was heaved-up (slowly, I might add) the gantry never even "settled into position" if you know what I mean... I take it apart and store it in an outdoor shed with all the grade 5 bolts still in their respective holes. It's designed so that no dead weight applies a shearing force on any bolts. Just last week, I painted it. In past times, it lifted 1.5 ton antique vertical diesel engines -not a peep or creak out of it. A long time ago, I used Machinists Handbook to calculate/estimate it's capacity. Don't remember the number but, it was way more than anything I'll ever deal with.


Ray

As a person who does rigging for a living (Ironworker) there is more to be said about slow when hoisting, not to say waisting time but I have moved 5,000 pound stairs through finished buildings and that is no time to get in a hurry. And we usechain falls and come-alongs all the time.
By the way I love your setup it is simple and effective.

 

[markknx]

Some time they are built in place other times they are sent out unitised. Some of the stairs I have done have had stringer that wieghed over 2,000lbs andother less than 100 lbs

I can't imagine how you go about moving a staircase into position. I always figured they were welded into position on-site. That's got to be somewhere in between a puzzle and a bad practical joke to move something like that.


Thanks for the nice words about the gantry. It's made of 1/2" x 3.5 x 4.5 angle iron which I got as unused drops for 50c a pound. When that lathe was heaved-up (slowly, I might add) the gantry never even "settled into position" if you know what I mean... I take it apart and store it in an outdoor shed with all the grade 5 bolts still in their respective holes. It's designed so that no dead weight applies a shearing force on any bolts. Just last week, I painted it. In past times, it lifted 1.5 ton antique vertical diesel engines -not a peep or creak out of it. A long time ago, I used Machinists Handbook to calculate/estimate it's capacity. Don't remember the number but, it was way more than anything I'll ever deal with.


Ray

 

[jlrice54]

I use a multitude of things including a pair of 1T and 2T shop cranes, a shop built A-frame gantry with a 2T trolley and chain fall, furniture movers, an assortment bottle jacks from 4T to 30T and a trailer mounted hydraulic truck crane that I added a 4' piece of 6" H beam to extend the column height to something useful. I'm lucky as I can back my truck and trailer into my shop and use the A-frame to pick things up and drive the vehicle out from under the load. When moving machinery, you tend to collect things like skates, lifting straps, chains, etc.

I've been considering designing a 2T bridge crane to build over my two big machines. I just brought in my 16" South Bend lathe with a 12' bed and have to go pick up a 6000# G.A. Gray planer next month. Both of those tools need lifting assistance for chucks, work pieces and tooling that I really don't want to wrestle around. The taper attachment for the 16" lathe weighs more than my whole Atlas 6" lathe with motor. The biggest chuck for the 16" is a 12" which weighs almost 200# with back plate. It is a beast to screw on the spindle. So I'm planning on a 12-15' span bridge crane with a rolling track of about 15'. Or I might just build a dedicated gantry crane that I can move from machine to machine but be lower than the A-frame I already have.

This is my A-frame. I didn't build it. After I moved to my present home and shop, I noticed the gantry parked out behind a neighbor's shop. I stopped and asked if they would sell or rent the frame. I bought it for $200 which is less than scrap price. The 6" casters are worth more than the asking price. I need to paint it orange to match all the other lifting equipment. It is 12'5" to the top of the beam and clears the bottom of my shop joists by 1".

 

[283v8]

as Truckin23 says - an engine hoist - from Harbor Freight.