Garage floor anchor
 

I'd like to put in a floor anchor in the back of my garage to use when I winch heavy items off of my trailer (I'm into old engines & tractors). My thought was to drill through the concrete slab into the dirt & use some type of large expanding anchor bolt, utilizing the entire thickness of the slab for strength. Any thoughts? Am I nuts?
Thanks,
John

My father-in-law put a steel I-beam into the floor of his shop when he poured the concrete. This allowed an easy access point, typically for welding hot-rod frames to the floor so they didnt move during fabrication. The I-beam was set in a way so that the top of it was flush with the cement floor. I dont know how far you want to go with installing an anchor in your floor, but this method works really well.

Yep, that's a good idea, but a little much for me now. My next shop will have something more substantial like that. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Some years ago the body shop in the dealership I worked in had some anchors installed that sound like just what you are looking for. The installer drilled holes about 3 inches in diameter and installed can like anchors in them. The anchors had a lift up device that when not in use was flush with the floor but when lifted had a place to hook a chain. I bet a search on the internet would find something like that.

Heres a link to what you want. I did a google search on "floor anchors".

http://www.protools.ws/Frame%20Equip...oor%20Pots.htm

Hey thanks, I appreciate that.

I wonder how much those cost. I was thinking of casting some into my floor but drilled holes are probably stronger and may even be cheaper in the long run.

This is kinda what I am talking about. I guess the shear strength doesn't have to be all that great, as I what I will be pulling will be on wheels. Not that I want to scrimp on quality, but it doesn't have to be a boat anchor either.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...goods&v=glance

I've used those kind of anchor bolts many times to mount things like generators and racks. They do a fairly good job. They are designed to hold near the bottom of the hole, but the top part of the shaft can move under shear type force. I've had them pull out and break the concrete. They work great for static loads, but just so-so for dynamic.

Another option is to epoxy in the bolts. The modern epoxies do a great job of filling in the gaps, so there's no slop. I've used it on 1" anchor bolts and it's spec'd greater than the bolts were, (120 Kps) Let me know if you're interested, I'll go into work and try to track down a brand name. It's not the hobby epoxy you get at the hardware store.

Even high strength grout would work. It's pretty spendy stuff and I've only seen it sold 60#+ bags. You might try a local mason supply - take your coffee mug in and borrow a cup..:) Just sweeping up the bag leakage would be enough. It mixes to a chocolate milk consistancy and is like Jello in a couple minutes - You have to work fast. The next day it's unbreakable.

I anchored mine with bolts. But first I made a plate of 1/4" steel with a large ring welded to it. I have pulled my 64 F100 up a 25 to 30 degree angled driveway with a hand winch and later an electric winch.

Thanks, I'd appreciate that. The epoxy sounds like a good idea.

I bought these from Harbor Freight for $13 each I wet set them in my concrete
but you can also install in existing slab. They worked well for me .
ITEM 45075-0VGA

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=45075

I looked at those and I think they would bend all over when you put a load on them. Something about them just does not look good to me. Without better dimensions, and material specs, I really can't tell tho.

Those Harbor Freight units look the the Chinese knock off version of those industrial anchors. They could probably be epoxied into place also.

Eric - I've used those anchors many times and they are made of mild steel. For example, when I set a generator down on them I just give them light taps with a 2# ball peen to get things to line up. If the hole isn't perfect, I've had them pull out when I've tightened the nut. I normally use 1/2" dia. I mean, I cap them with nuts and have still cross threaded them trying to drive them down

The design isn't bad, but those specific anchors won't take a lot of stress. It's the same basic design as the anchors I've used for radio towers, but they might be 15 foot long into solid granite.

jcullom - I looked today but couldn't find it, (we buy what we need and half a tube leftover dries up.)

Here's the place we probably bought the epoxy through:
http://www.williamsform.com/Concrete...e_anchors.html

You can just buy the adhesive without the anchors if you want, although they do have quality fasteners. Some sandstone jobs I do take 2" dia., 40' long anchor rods @150Kps - this is the place we get them. Good site. Scroll down and there's a good design specs page - shows spacing and all the goodies.

Thanks Howdy, I'll check out that site.