Lifting gear to upstairs in workshop

[Philipl]

I have built a new workshop/garage which has an upstairs. I have an external door to the upstairs which will just be used for access. I want to set up a system for lifting stuff up and in (the door opens inwards) using a small electric (400Kg) hoist. I live beside the sea so galvanizing is necessary.

My plan was to use a shouldered eyebolt fixed into the block wall with a wire strop outside holding up a small length of I-beam (rsj) to take the hoist attached to a plain trolley. The I-beam would be fastened inside, too. This would then all be demountable when not in use and the door could be closed over.

However, eyebolts are a problem if the direction of force is not through them (only usable at 25% of eyebolt load at 90 degrees pull) and those eyebolts which can take non-straight forces aren't galvanized. I have decided to put up a frame bolted to the wall instead after a lifting engineer told me this would be a better idea.

Any suggestions as to how to do this most elegantly and keep the system demountable so that I can close the door?

Philip

 

[Endacy]

Thinking out loud here, but the frame would likely be best fixed permanently, with some form of socket for a corresponding part of the i-beam to slot into from inside.

My thinking being otherwise to attach the frame to supports on the wall you'd have to hang out of the door, not very safe, especially if you are me anyway...

Unless you plan to use a ladder from the floor? If so the bracket could be held up like a gate is held to the wall, one bracket with a hole, one with a pin to slot in.

How heavy would the i-beam be? A hefty piece of steel needing careful aligning by an open 1st floor doorway

 

[Philipl]

The trolley I have (an older version) is this one:

http://www.sealey.co.uk/PLPageBuilder.asp?gotonode=ViewProduct&method=mViewProduct&productid=7271

so i-beam would be around 6 foot of 3" by 5" at 13 Kg a metre. (sorry about mixing imperial and metric). That would enable me to lift off a trailer and just into the upstairs door way. 26 Kg would not be too difficult to handle.

Philip

 

[MrFluffy]

I did this exact scenario as a design exercise as part of a ND in engineering many many moons ago. But for a repourposed ex flour mill, which was a listed building so had to have some mechanical handling facillities but have no permanent changes to its external appearance when not in use...

What I came up with was a large plate attached to the back wall to spread the load which carried the back end of a a fixed rsj with a extension to tie the plate into the lower floors (the rearmost end tends to lift under load with the moment of the length of the rsj, so non trivial with bigger loads). The front end sat on pads which bore down onto the front wall of the building and had ears rawled into the pads.
On this fixed rsj, underneath was a second rsj connected to the fixed one by a truck front and rear, made from a winch truck doubled up, with a eye at the outside extremity. Then the lorry arrived, the second rsj was rolled out to above the vehicle, then the goods were winched up to the access door, then the entire winch/rsj was retracted into the building.
I had to produce lots of long since gone calculations regarding loading etc, and the building had to have a structural survey to say it could carry the loading we imposed on it. I gave the presentation to some real engineers and passed the course it was part of.

YMMV, and i doubt your going to have the place surveyed etc like we had to, but thats how we went about it. IIRC the loads were in the order of 500kgs mind...

 

[Philipl]

My house is listed, but the garage certainly isn't so I would be happier with something which remained partially fitted on the external wall rather than drawing large rsj's into the upstairs workshop ....

Any more ideas?

Philip

 

[Philipl]

Here's an idea I just found myself: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=96964&page=2

Would it work if I galvanized the vertical section and put it on the external leaf and made it all to come apart for storage?

Philip

 

[Pete.]

I would build a lightweight rolling gantry which has the rolling beam poking out one end say half a meter, and anchor it for use by jacking the rear down from a beam set on the inside at high level. The only downside is the storage space the gantry would need.

Something similar to this, which uses boxes of 56lb weights to counterbalance, except that you use screwjacks to hold down the back.

http://www.speedyhire.com/popuplarg...e=product&strPageTitle=Builderapostrophemarks Gantry Hoist

 

[Endacy]

Philip,

The one you have found a picture of looks good. If you made the central point on the RSJ a pivot, took out the rearmost bolt and had the angled rear stays hinge, then the RSJ would be able to pivot upwards at the back, and down at the front - right inside the door, which could then be closed. Neat and out of the way?

Does that make sense?

 

[the snooper]

Philip,

The one you have found a picture of looks good. If you made the central point on the RSJ a pivot, took out the rearmost bolt and had the angled rear stays hinge, then the RSJ would be able to pivot upwards at the back, and down at the front - right inside the door, which could then be closed. Neat and out of the way?

Does that make sense?

it looks to me as the one in the picture does just that

 

[Philipl]

Yes - the one pictured cleverly pivots and stores inside, but my door opens inwards.

I would either have to be able to demount the beam or have it fixed outside permanently. If I did the latter (since my house is a few yards from the sea) everything would have to be galvanized or the wall would end up with rust staining.

Philip

 

[MrFluffy]

Notch your doors so they close around the rsj? Get a good fit with some drafting flaps and it could work well.

 

[Weldingartisan]

Notch your doors so they close around the rsj? Get a good fit with some drafting flaps and it could work well.

My thoughts too. Or if a single door panel across to the lower edge of the RSJ and cut the door down to suit. W/A

 

[Philipl]

I presume neither of you latter posters live by the sea. Howling winds coming in from Siberia .... The only thing I will be doing with my door is making sure that it is 100% draft proofed.

Philip

 

[the snooper]

re the lift in the picture that pivots for storage.
as its such a good way to do what you require take out your door frame and turn it around external opening solves you problem

 

[penfold]

Two ideas; first is an offset swivel derrick pivotting around a vertical post, the offset allows it to be mounted inside the doorframe.

The second is 2 I-beams, one hung underneath the other on skates which allows it to be slid in and out of the doorway.

 

[Philipl]

I like option 2. Will have a think about how to implement it.

Philip

 

[DaveCool]

I like option 2 but I think its quite complicated to get it running reliably, and remember when fully extended (with the beams as in the diagram) there would be quite a lot of bending load on the 'outer' skate - leave a bigger overlap to reduce the load.

Dave

 

[captain-destructo]

i spotted this thread a while a go and then saw this in a shipping container / workshop and took a fiew pics

.

 

[KemppiFrog]

With Penfold's No.2, you only need to 'roller' the support by the door, as it is near the C of G of the moving beam. So a clamp on the lower beam with two rollers per side working on the fixed upper beam, which could be only long enough to locate the lower beam on full extension. Couple of guides on the inner end would be enough to locate it.

 

[penfold]

Interesting pics of that lifting gear though.