[Shop-talk] hoisting heavy items

[John T. Blair]

At 09:16 PM 10/2/2009, Brad Kahler wrote:

 >The nice barn that came with our new property in Kentucky has a 
large loft that
 >we plan on using for parts storage.  Everything from fenders to 
engine blocks
 >and anything in between.  I'm looking for ideas as to what would 
work best for
 >hoisting the heavier items up to the loft.
 >
 >The hoist will be used inside the barn and will need to lift from 
barn floor to loft
 >floor about 10 feet or so.  I used to have a chain fall but it took 
SO long to
 >perform that type of lift that I'm hoping something better and faster can be
 >found, preferably non-electric.

Brad,

Unfortunately, you're talking a wide range of weights here, a fender and an
engine block.

Also there is a thing called mechanical advantage which allows you to move
something you can't do by yourself. :)  The problem with that is that as you
get more advantage you give up something.  So for lifting a 400# engine block
how much can you lift/pull.  If you say 50#, then you're looking for a wench
(block and tackle or chain fall) with gives you 8x mechanical advantage.  The
down side is you'll have to pull 8x the distance.

So you may want a couple of pully systems.  1 being a good chain fall for
lifting heavy items like an engine.  You may also want a rope block and tackle
with a mechanical of 1 or 2x to lift light things like the fender.

Then next question is, does the barn have the structrural support to 
support the
chain fall?  You could build or buy an I beam on rollers that you 
could position
over the opening to attach the block and tackle to, or you could 
build something
perminate into the walls and roof structure.

Finally, you'll need a hole in the floor and possibly a way to safely 
cover it when
not lifting something up through it.  So you'll probably need to cut 
at least one
ceiling/floor joist to make it wide enough.  I'd suggest that you 
make the joist(s)
removable, so that when you're done, you can reinstall them and close the door
over them.  Now you can safely walk or move things over that area.

Finally, depending on how much heavy stuff you put up there, you might need to
put some reinforcing columns in on the 1st floor of the barn to 
support the weight
in areas of the 2nd floor, depending on how large the span is across the barn,
and how much weight you concentrate in one area - like are all the 
engines going
in one area?

John

John T. Blair  WA4OHZ     email:  jblair1948 at cox.net
Va. Beach, Va
Phone:  (757) 495-8229

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