What's a reasonable workshop gantry beam?

Where the hell do I store it?
No room man.
Exactly!
There are more issues with engine hoists. They are probably a great idea when you need to lift out an engine, even if you are only going to do it once, though better if you do it all the time in industrial space. They do fold up some, and store up against a wall tall enough to exclude storage shelving. They assemble into a footprint on casters that is unwieldy, and can only approach the thing to be lifted if they can get the spreadeagled wheels under or around, and they take a whole lot of space, and the "heavier" load points are close enough to the hinge point as to have anything dangling under risking fouling the ram.

Then there is the problem movement sticky combined with load inertia. There is nothing smooth about it. It relies on wheels on a floor, and moves in jerks that can threaten a topple as the load catches up with it. Rollers on bearings and nice metal tracks win. Engine arm hoists are cheap, and useful at times, but I would much prefer reaching for a winch hook, and dragging it from anywhere to anywhere.

My shop is going up out in a beautiful bit of country. The only two neighbors are friendly and supportive, and all else is crops growing, horses, sheep, pheasants and other wildlife. I want my playtime in the shop not to be a place of struggles with lifting kit. :)
 
I took a little more simplistic route. Rather than making a gantry that could span a large area I attached a hoist to a trolley and mounted it on a beam running down the center of the shop. I lift heavy objects onto a hydraulic table and transport them to wherever they are needed. The lift range of the table is enough to place the objects on a bench, mill or other machine tool.

I use it regularly to move the 12" rotary table, 8" mill vice, large lathe chucks, and other similar objects. I have even used it to move and install the head assembly on the Bridgeport mill. The system works well in my shop. I don't have enough open space to lift and move anything across the shop. There are too many machines at various heights that would interfere.

Here's a link to the hoist I have from Northern Tool I also use a hydraulic table similar to the one being used in the video.


I built my own beam trolley out of 1" aluminum plate using 2" cam followers to roll along the lower flange of the beam. Here's a similar trolley from Northern Tool. Mine has a plate across the bottom with 4-14mm bolts to mount the hoist.

 
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How often do you expect to move a 500lb item? In a production shop making large things I could see that but building something for that kind of a load when your realistic need is maybe 75-150lbs (larger tooling). Then there is the how often would you move it all the way across the shop?

It seems like smaller more focused methods are more practical, which is why you see solutions like those sky hooks. Setting up a much shorter span / lighter duty track between a specific machine and its tool storage would be far less expensive and more practical. Also wheels are awesome, put your heavy tools on a wheeled cart, then move them to your lifting device situated by the machine.

Moving a machine is a rare thing once you get it into the shop. It seems like for most of us hobby guys a gantry crane spanning a shop is one of those cool things to have that you use when you first move everything in and after that just one more thing to hit your head on.


Also I think you are grossly exaggerating the issues with an engine hoist (other than the %#@*!!! legs that don't fit under or around anything). I've moved several pieces of machinery in the 200-600lb range with mine, and while there is a bit of truth to the issues highlighted, it really only comes into play if you are being careless. The momentum issue you mention exists on a gantry as well, except it becomes more wrecking ball like if you let it get out of control.
Yes Engine hoists are awkward, but they do the job, and the space issue is much reduced if you disassemble them rather than just fold them up when not being used. Takes me less than 10 minutes to take mine apart or put it together, and apart it can easily be tucked under a bench, between a bench and wall or in an unused corner.

If I had the shop of my dreams, I'd move the heavy stuff with a scaled down remote controlled version of this. ;)

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For what you describe I'd think a small mobile crane would be much more practical, something you move to the work, then do the lifting. Distance movement being done low to the ground on wheels. I love my low to the ground wheeled carts. Cheap, effective back savers.

I think Erik Manie put a skyhook on his rolling tool cart, and it seems to be working for his 16" lathe tooling.
 
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Look into jib cranes. Can cover a fairly large area, and lift considerable loads, and no storage issues. I'm building one for the machine shop, and another for the welding area, capable of lifting 1/2 ton or better with a 10' reach, which will cover a 10x 20' area. Mike
 
As always, individual solutions are usually to fit individual situations. I have some left-over 6 inch wide flange (14#/ft) "I" beam that catches an occasional use. Very rare, but useful. Along with a trolley and Horrible Fright hoist to run on it. Then there is moving a 12X36 lathe around a wood structure where I used (a lot of) motorcycle tie downs from the ceiling joists to handle the weight. I would use a HF engine hoist but haven't the room to stand it in a 14 foot wide structure, what with all the "stuff" I keep there.

BUT, I found a (used) wheelchair lift that is a third(or less) the size of the HF rig. As a medical device, the safety factor is well documented. The chair lift is rated for 500 pounds and has about 3 feet of offset. The wheeled feet spread from 1-1/2 ft (18") to about 3 feet. It still requires some room under the bench, but is variable so it can be maneuvered around most "stuff" residing there. The best part is that it can be handled around the small working space. There is some limitation to the lift range, a few jobs where I need to "think through" what I'm doing. It won't reach the ceiling (7 ft) but will reach all my workbenches.

With a long stroke hydraulic jack as the lift cylinder, and medium weight steel frame, I would pit it against a HF engine hoist in everything but reach. I got it cheap because the seller really didn't see the use for it beyond a wheelchair lift. With all the scratches and torn labels, it couldn't be sold as medical equipment so was thought of as scrap.

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I bought one of these, https://www.palletforks.com/workshop/cranes/2-ton-adjustable-steel-gantry-crane-shop-lift/840043.html?scid=scbplp840043&sc_intid=840043&msclkid=658bd7fb37101b12da2cb733344a9ab0&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=SC Shopping - NB - Desktop&utm_term=4580840327987836&utm_content=SC Shopping - NB - Desktop

I used at our Maine home to unload and then position a new PM knee mill.
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If I need to move something heavy, like 2700 pounds like a knee mill I use the overhead gantry with trolley and chain fall. If I need to get something like a lathe out of my truck or off a tool bench, I.e. PM 1030, I would use this table from Harbor Freight.…

I should add that my wife and I unloaded the mill and moved it into the garage. When we lowered it to the ground we put it on 4 car wheel skates and used that to enable for us to be able to push the mill into the garage. We had to disassemble the gantry to get it into the garage and then reassemble it. It worked out and most importantly no one got hurt!
 
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I bought one of these,
I have one that looks exactly the same as yours but branded from Northern Tool (Strongway or Ironton). It has been very useful. Very easy to raise and lower by myself.
 
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