ok who has an overhead crane in there garage? i am gonna build a garage this spring and want an overhead crane. i work around these cranes all day in big shops, and think a small 1 or 2 ton unit would be supremely useful. anybody have one? or better yet anybody supremely handy and creative like Fredric think of a way to build one? i work for a steel distributor, so that part would be simple. think about doing cab and bed swaps, pulling engines etc with a crane that can move anywhere in your garage. i may start beating up some of my customers, maybe one of them can come up with a reasonable idea. Dan

 

Easy.

Four I-Beams as verticals in the four corners of the area you want the crane to operate in.

Weld or bolt two long I-Beams across the four posts, down the length of the garage or garage bay.

Install two girder "trucks" - one on each side, and attach an I-Beam across the two of them, forming the gantry. The trucks are like little railroad cars in a sense, even harbor freight has them.

Then install another girder truck on the crossbeam, and attach your winch and you've just built yourself a gantry.

Since you work for a steel supplier, the only "difficult" thing to source are the girder trucks, which can be found reasonably priced at harbor freight and many other importers. You could even make trucks yourself if you find yourself quality bearings.

Personally, I would recommend over-engineering the whole thing by double - just in case - for safety reasons.

Also, you can search out for motorized trucks, making it even easier to manipulate the crane both left and right, forward and back, and up and down. When you do the wiring for this, you want to put the truck you're powering furtherst away from the electrical source, then run the wire down and around the truck to the other side, forming a loop. This way you have enough slack for the truck to move left and right. While you could monkey-rig this, you can actually buy special electrical cable for this in a chain-like encasement so that the wires cannot bend too sharply nor "bind" in the truck and get damaged. Be warned, that isn't a cheap material to purchase and install, but it's the right way of doing it.

 

I just have a military issue 3ton hoist hanging from a 3x6 timber that's run across four true 2x6 ceiling joists.
Another option if you're building this into a new building is to put a perch for the beam on every or every other roof support, to prevent any sagging.
For the main travel, I would make sure to connect the tires side to side with a long shaft so it stays straight.

 

Yea I prefer something movable and actually going to buy a portable A-frame on rollers. I had a portable one a few years back that was great and I used it in a engine house to change a 4 ton gearbox. Worked great.

 

We had gantry's in a shop I used to work at.

Simple really, an "A" frame at each end of an I beam with a chainfall on a 'car'.
Make sure your casters are up to it, bigger wheels roll over imperfections easier.
The whole thing would disassemble with 4 bolts, 2 at each end.
The apex of the A frame was a box that slipped over the end of the I beam and bolted through it. They were welded so the A frames leaned in a little, toward each other.
I think they were fabbed there at the shop, they were older than me, or at least looked it.
Real handy for many moving, hoisting jobs.

 

Dan, I belong to several welding forums and there's always lots of conversatin' about overhead cranes and several of the guys have added them to their shops... do a little searching around these sites

http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtal...isplay.php?f=5

http://www.shopfloortalk.com/forums/...splay.php?f=13


http://www.weldingweb.com/forumdisplay.php?f=10

http://www.millerwelds.com/education...isplay.php?f=2

I think I remember a nice one on the weldingweb forum... try a forum search on 'overhead crane' 'shop crane' and I'll bet you find what you want..

later
John

 

Unless you plan on doing a LOT of work and have a cheap supply of steel I would opt for a single I beam & trolly. If you stop and think about it, is the ability to go sideways worth the extra $$$$ ? Greg

 

A-Frame gantries are great for outdoor work, as you have unlimited mobility with whatever you're lifting/moving. In the garage is a different story - you need the floorspace to roll it around (assuming it clears the ceiling/lights/garage door header), so that may or may not be a good choice. I know some of you are "neatnicks" and have a totally open garage floor, and some of you are like me, climbing over stuff to get to other stuff

Left and right movement aside from forward back movement I think is a key feature, because then you can move anything anywhere. Also, by having the supports all the way to the sides, along the garage wall, you don't have to support the beam down the center of the garage on the ceiling joists which means you can make it that much stronger, thus more capacity. Most structures are not designed to have a 2000lb point load in the center of the joists on a several hundred pound I-Beam - and you certainly don't want the joists to split and pull down. Whether you have a full garage loft or just storage space, you want that stuff to stay up there and not land on your head nor do you want the engine (or whatever) to crash down on your leg while the ceiling comes down.

Since he mentioned he works for a steel supplier, I figured his cost would be much less than what it would cost the rest of us, therefore he could maximize his design for mobility all around the garage. Personally, I would find that extremely useful, even for more than just yanking engines. Anytime I buy a new machine, I wouldn't have to have six friends come over and listen to them whine about how their backs hurt more than mine for example.... I could then chain the machine to the truck dolly and move it anywhere without much effort at all.

My milling machine and stand was easily 1000 lbs, and my 1956 clausing lathe and stand was another 1900 lbs. I brought them into the garage in the smallest pieces possible and reassembled them where they are now. Would have been much easier to gantry them into position.

Just my thoughts...

 

thanks for all the help fellas. some good ideas, but Fredric nailed it. that was exactly what i wanted to do, it will take up the least amount of floorspace in my garage, and i shouldnt in theory have to move anything within the garage, to move the suspended item. Funny the plan is a 4 car garage, 2.5 wide, 2 deep, and before i even start it is potentially full. the duster in the back, the truck or grand marquis in back based on the time of year, and then the wifes and the vehicle i am driving in the front. i really wont have the space to add a moveable A frame gantry. furthermore Greg, i know it seems like a waste but once you have actually had the use of a crane that moves all directions, it is well worth the extra dough. I am tackling some ridiculous projects and it is just better to pay now rather than later. Rebodieing the truck, future hot rod projects etc. as soon as the duster is done i am gonna try on a full frame fab on an old mercedes. thanks again everyone for the great tips, i really didnt expect as many responses as i got, evidently i am not alone. Dan

 

Fredric, i am gonna have to spread the love before i can rep ya again, i owe you one. I knew you would have something. the rest of ya i tossed some rep, they were all good ideas, and i appreciate the input. Dan

 

What Frederic described is what we have at work for assembling molds (up to 7000#!) It works very well, and i like the idea of having the uprights out of the way. I built an adjustable A-frame for my shop, and I could adjust the height and width. The uprights were telescoping square tubing with hole drilled at intervals to adjust the height. I designed it so that in the lowest position it would just clear my garage door, and outside it could go up to about 12', great for yanking car bodies. Raising it up was a chore, though, and I never figured out a clever way to do it.

 

hey Dan,, if you would like, i will volunteer for Fred to design and install the preliminary gantry system in my garage and test it for you before he sends the drawings to you.

 

sounds like a weiner, Tom, you go ahead and knock it out, get all the bugs out then gently disassmble it and deliver it to Il. Man i am lucky to be able to consider you a buddy. Dan

 

That's the easy part.

Install the uprights in the four corners, and measure between them and diagonally to make sure they are as square as you can get it. Square is important because the crossbeam isn't changing length and you want it to slide the full distance.

Anyway, raising the pieces down the length of the garage will require about eight guys on ladders. Everyone lifts onto their shoulders with the first grunt, then in unison everyone steps up the ladders, one step at a time. Once you have it at the ceiling, it gets put on top of the two verticals, then lined up so you can put the bolts through the holes you'll be smart enough to pre-drill

Do the same for the other side, then install the trolleys, then put them all the way forward (or back) and lock them in place by clamping several vice grips onto the i-beams, then lift the cross member up to the two trolleys, and bolt it on. Make sure you install the trolly that crosses the center first, as once you attach the ends of the i-beam, installing the cross trolly is more difficult (doable, just more of a pain). Again, eight guys.

If the ceiling joists above are exposed, you can also "rope" it each i-beam up that way. Probably much safer than eight guys on ladders, though the ladder method does work if people LISTEN and step in unison, or at least close to unison. You also need everyone to be willing to let go to the right (or left) if someone yells "drop" so this way no one gets hurt should something horriblely go wrong (like a ladder buckles, or someone slips, etc).

 

Given you are building a new garage for it to go into - my suggestion is to have the two cross I-beams built into the frame of the garage, and have the 4 vertical I beams as your main garage supports.

The reasoning is.
1. It looks neater.
2. Gives you more shop space.
3. You are now using the rest of your shed as a stability support to prevent your 4 vertical I beams from buckling.

(oh, and Dan, I repped Frederic for ya)