Just picked up an electric hoist from Northern Tool. m.northerntool.com/mt/www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_420551_420551 It comes with two of these guys These mount on top of the hoist and the idea is to thread the whole thing through a pipe. The setup I'm considering would do well with two more of these things. I just can't find them. I've looked at the big box stores and searched Grainger and Fastenal with no luck. Anyone have any idea where I could get them? Ideally, they'd be rated around 500lbs each. Many thanks, Goose
If you can't find anything close, and you have a decent bench vice, I'll bet you could come very close to the same result using flat stock from a big box store or lil hardware store (my favorite). Just mark and drill your holes to match, after you've made the bends. BTW… I should own stock in NT with all of the stuff I've bought from them…
That steel is usually just soft flat bar with a zinc coating. Measure it's thickness and width… hardware stores & BB stores have it in 24", 36", 48" etc lengths. You'll need a way to cut the steel (I'd do that also after I'd made my bends… easier to get hold of the steel to bend it) Clamp the stock in a vice or ? and use an adjustable pipe wrench (big one) to make the bends (use the jaws to "bite" the flat steel) You'll probably need a breaker bar (3'-4' pc of pipe slid over the wrench handle) to get enough leverage… if the pipe is big enough, you won't need the wrench, just slide the pipe over one end of the flat steel. Use one of the brackets you've got to duplicate the bends. If you've never done this before, I apologize for sounding like it's no big deal. Anyone you might know who works with steel should be able to help too. Good luck, and maybe you'll find the actual brackets.
Thanks for that incredibly detailed post. Your input was awesome. I may pursue that option. Love this place.
Sorry to say but I just threw 2 of them in with my last scrap steel load after I replaced my old hoist. Here's something you might be interested in. It works very well for me. Just some barn door track from TSC.
Beam and trolly would work well and be strong. Just make sure you attach it to the ceiling with some serious overkill.
I saw your over head "very light duty" trolley set-up and I'm glad you made your comment about a beam. I've got a photo here somewhere of the beam and trolley I installed here last year. Beam length 22'. It's a 6" I-beam and is rated at around 900 lbs dead center of the span. I have a trolley (from NT) that is more than I'll ever lift (rated 4000 lbs) and a hoist that'll never be asked to lift more than 500-600 lbs. "Serious Overkill" is the ONLY way to go when installing a beam that might hold real heavy stuff… (I bet Scotty likes that term)…
nice work shop. I keep seeing all the shops with no seating in them! I have to sit or I wouldn't be able to move. Shop stool works good for me, and a lawn chair when I need to be doing some think'en!
The barn door track and rolling hardware is rated at 450lbs. The hoist is 440 single line/880 double line rated and the heaviest thing I lift regularly is maybe 250 to 300, lots of reel mower sharpening. If I ever feel the need to lift more weight I already planned to add a second rail and set of rolling hardware with a plate between the two. With the hoist bolted to the plate, I could then lift the maximum of the hoist. The pics don't show the desk chair that I have or the occasional beer can on the bench for those times when I'm not working on sharp stuff.
Prolly will be fine, as long as you're the guy lifting, who knows all the weak points. I'm pretty anal that what I attach to up top has got to be able to handle more than the hoist can handle by 2x. Comes from working in the commercial sign biz. Lifted a lot of "stuff" and had a few things land "hard". Things have a way of going bad fast under heavy load stresses. You got one of those "thinking" chairs too, huh? That's where I do my most powerful thinking.
That's my home shop for my business and I'm the only one working out there. I did have a weight limit tag hanging on the hoist just in case but it came off when I painted the shop a few months ago and haven't put it back up yet. I used 3 3/8 bolts in each 2x6 to attach the rail and there's a 2x6 every foot of the 16 foot span. Each 2x6 is bolted to another 2x6, that is attached on the top of the trusses, at all 4 corners with 5/16 bolts and large flat washers to spread the load. I have the same concerns about lifting as you and with kids at home, overkill on safety issues is an everyday thing for me. Powerful thinking in the shop happens often. Once the girls start in fighting with their mother, I grab a few barley pops and maybe some Sauza and find something to do.
Looks as though you've pinned the rail real well to the ceiling. It'll be good when you get the second rail you mentioned in place too. I installed that same kind of door hardware on our barn door a while back. That door was heavy too. Course, the load was split by 2 sets of rollers that were 10 feet apart. Neither the rail or the rollers showed any wear though, after 12 years. M'Wife & I have a 35 yr old daughter (my baby girl) and those 2 kin growl a little too… shops are great caves…
Try Home Depot. Look where they sell the chain link fencing. The post brackets are for 2-38" and 3-1'4" pipe. Double or triple them up if you need more steel.
