support for hoist

[madkayaker]

Hi all. Have got myself a little electric hoist that is rated for 100KG. Have happened upon the idea of having a length of unistrut down the pitch of the workshop roof so that i can slide the hoist along.

The length would be less than 6m and all in one piece my question is is uni strut up to the job and do i need to support in the middle?

Here is the technical info for the channel http://www.unistrut.co.uk/index.php?part=P1000&M1=Support Systems&M2=Single and Double Channel

 

[Paul.]

100 kg is 0.98kN, you need to allow for the weight of the hoist, plus a safety factor of at least 50%, (there's a bit more to it than that but lets keep it simple)
At 3000 (dim"L") that strut is good for only 0.343kN, evenly distributed, your hoist will impose a point load, so the short answer is no, its not suitable as you propose to use it, If you could support it every 1000, to 1250mm it may be ok, but it will only be as strong as what it's fixed to. be careful you don't pull your roof down.

 

[madkayaker]

thanks Paul. The roof pitch is 40x75mm wood with a big truss (200x100mm hard wood) half way long the roof. Will have another think

 

[Hitch]

A free standing A-frame type affair an option MK?

Although 100kg is only the same as a man

 

[Drains]

Although 100kg is only the same as a man

Fatso.

MK, Unistrut won't do it, definitely not a point load item. Good gear though!

Also, how were you going to trolley the hoist along? You have to watch how you use the strut as if you were, say, running rollers inside the strut, you'd easily pull out the folded edges. The strut strength would be a fraction of what the data sheet says.

 

[DaveCool]

I guess price is a factor, but you're better off with something like a bit of I-beam. Even a 'small' 100x55 supported once in the middle, would be sufficient..

Dave

 

[Mikey D]

How about a length of industrial door track , not sure of the weight issue and would need some intermediate support , but you could adapt the rollers that normally carry the door....
kingtrack is one brand name

cheers mike

 

[Robotstar5]

We've used door tracks from this place to carry sliding metal doors, don't know if they can help or give you ideas?

 

[madkayaker]

Unistrut do nice little trollys rated to 400N so 3 would do. Sliding door track sounds good will look into it how big a box section would i need to fix strut 2

 

[madkayaker]

would this http://www.metals4u.co.uk/detail.asp?cat_id=163&prd_id=2934 be any good for the hoist

 

[madkayaker]

i have got a length of 55x100mm I beam. what would that cope with as a 6m span supported both ends?

 

[Paul.]

Unless you can support the middle as well, not your 100 kg, A quick calc says 152x89x16 UB would be the minimum you should consider.
100 x 55 is an IPE section, is it IPE 100 or IPE 100A

 

[madkayaker]

it can be supported in middle as well

 

[Paul.]

If its properly supported it becomes a 3m span between supports and checks out ok for just over over 4Kn, for an IPE 100, and about 3Kn for an IPE 100A,

 

[madkayaker]

great thanks

 

[Welderpaul]

They are IPE100

 

[madkayaker]

the drive back in the rain did a great job of cleaning them up

 

[Welderpaul]

Nice streak of red oxide down the back of your van?

 

[madkayaker]

found http://www.civl.port.ac.uk/britishsteel/media/SP and MC/IPE beams.html

what does it all mean?

 

[madkayaker]

nope all on the A1 it was the type of rain where the wipers stop working and you can't see 100 yards