Workshop Hoist *many pics*

[Alan in Little Washington]

Since inquiring minds wanted to know or see some more pics of my stowable workshop I-beam hoist, here goes:

The rig was fabricated by a local welder based on my design and a mock-up made by one of the builder's people. The I-beam stows vertically out of the way and totally inside out of the weather when not in use.



To keep the hoist from falling and to make it easier to lower and stow the beam, I temporarily attach it near the pivot point of the beam. Right now I'm using a 'c' clamp to hold it but will eventually drill a hole for a clevis pin.



The two mounting brackets are bolted to the header and through-bolted through the glue lam ridge beam. I had to shave a little off the bottom of the ridge lam for beam clearance.



Once lowered the beam is stabilized with two diagonal braces which attach at the top to the bolt that goes through the ridge and at the end of the I-beam with a temporary bolt. The bolt slides through holes in the braces and loops welded to the end of the beam. Since there is almost no side stress, I never put a nut on this bolt- a long clevis pin would work here also.



The beam is supported in the middle and pivots on another bolt that goes through support brackets and through 4 steel loops welded to the top of the beam.



The hoist is an Ebay special- got it real cheap because it had no pendant switch. It is the same as the ones available at Harbor Freight and most other cheap hoists made in China. It is rated for 1300 lbs (dual line). The I-beam trolley is another Ebay find and a great deal. I had to add an additional roller (garage door part) to stabilize the hoist when there is no weight on the cable. I just klugged the hoist to the trolley with some 'U' bolts.



I hard wired the hoist. There are two switches at shop level. One energizes the two control switches (one in the shop and one at ground level), the other switch is a spring-loaded, center-off momentary switch that controls the up and down.



My second story (NOT two story) shop is above the garage. That's why I need a hoist. And there ain't no SUV's nor Beamers in there- just a Buick and a rusty, paint peeling '92 Caravan:-D:-D



At the end of the garage is a second story loft door. No openings for the beam, no problems with rain leaks.



I open the door and swing out the beam. The beam extends 8' both out and in.



I need to add a spring or bungee keeper on the power cord to keep it up out of the way.

[NCPete]

great illustration of a neatly executed idea. You, apparently, SUCK!:lol::lol::lol:

I can only aspire to similar levels of suckiness!

[Dutchman]

That's a nice setup you have.

[Steve D]

Very well done and a great solution to an otherwise tricky problem.

[Monty]

Excellent!

[jeff...]

Yep I agree, Dang YOU SUCK!

great illustration of a neatly executed idea. You, apparently, SUCK!:lol::lol::lol:

I can only aspire to similar levels of suckiness!

[cpowell]

Thanks for the pictorial. Pretty cool if you ask me.


Chuck