I've been thinking about this for a while now, and while I haven't pulled the trigger, I'm determined to do something! I have a three car garage (fortunately with three Oldies....besides myself...in them) and from time to time need to move one outside to make room to work on another. My idea is to install pulling eyes, sunk in the garage concrete floor, in order to attache my winch and much more easily move these cars around. The cars are either rolling or are on wheel dollies. Pulling eyes are used in industry, embedded either in walls or floors, to enable moving heavy equipment around in a confined space, by way of winches and or pulleys. Has anyone ever tried this? Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated. Best, Dan
We had some in the body shop a long time ago. We put them in old coffee cans then broke out a hole about 1/3 again as big then dug back under the existing concrete a little bit then set them and poured new concrete. down side is you get this eye sticking up out of the floor to trip over.
I put some ½"-13 concrete anchors in my shop floor to hold down my tire changer. I didn't want to keep the tire changer in place all the time, so I can unscrew the bolts and remove it when it's not in use and screw in Allen head set-screws flush to the floor to keep the threads clean. I don't see why you couldn't do the same thing and screw in eye bolts to hook onto with your winch / come-along.
I have done that with my frame table before as well as a grinder stand. you could do it that way weld your eye to a plate and spread the load out.
I've often thought of this. If you mount pull point at the head of the space within a few inches of the wall, it's not much of a trip hazard. It depends upon whether you are going to use a winch attanched directly to the pull point or if you're using a winch on a vehicle outside the garage and need to run it in under the car being pulled up to the loop. In the latter case, it would be best to have a removeable eye near the garage door to pass the line through on its way to a pulley at the back of the garage so that you can make a straight pull no matter how the outside vehicle is positioned.
Good idea, need to be sure you have adequate holding force. I put threaded inserts in my floor when I poured it, they're just under the surface of the concrete and extend down to rebar level, welded to the rebar, inserts are wrapped in plastic. If I need them, I can measure out the location and chip the concrete to uncover them. Thought if I needed to straighten a frame they would come in handy. You'd have to get some recommendations on anchoring into your current floor, or cutting out and repouring a section to be sure they will take the load. I've used this type of anchor when setting walls on houses, they should have a female version, that you could put in an eye hook. If the anchor pulls out though, that eye hook will come right at you at 100 mph.
A farmer friend when building a shop/farm equip storage facility did exactly that, anticipating he would use them later, looks like a good idea to me.
I just used my Garden Tractor..About 5 ft long tow bar [1.5 dia x 1/8 wall tube] and a clevis at one end to fit tractor hitch and tongue on other end to catch a frame hole...Tow it out and push it back in ..easy-peasy..
When I was building my shop I thought about this a lot. When I couldn't figure out where to put the anchors I left them out figuring on using the 5/8" J bolts that are anchoring the arches in my building. The J bolts extend 17" into the concrete. If I make a bracket out of 1/4" plate I should be able to pull just about anything as long as it is a side pull, pulling up on it may not be a real good idea.
I put some into a reinforced place on my back wall. I know the limitations of it so I only use it for pulling lightweight rolling cars/frames. I only use it to get my stuff over the hump at the door, they will roll pretty easily after the back wheel is in the door.
Pulling eyes are a great idea. There were a few times I could've used them. We had this when pushing in "bones"(dead cars) into the shop. They worked great if they were charged and there was someone steering.
I did this when I built my shop long ago. Cut 8 pieces of 4"x 4"x 0.120" wall square tube 12" long, drill a 1/2" hole in one side and bolt 18" of heavy log chain inside each tube with a 1/2" grade 8 bolt. Set 4 tubes down each side of the main bay of the shop in a continuous trench around the perimeter of the bay and weld each tube to two #5 rebar (one each on opposite sides of each tube) run the entire length of the trench, including side to side at the door end. Tie the bar tight so they are electrically bonded. Cut eight 1/4" plates 5"x 5" and weld two pieces of 1/2" square tube to one side to index and retain the "caps" on the 8 tubes and retain the caps to the tubes temporarily with duct tape. Set the cap elevation on the tubes at top of slab, add the rest of your reinforcing wire and pour the mud. Once cured you can hit the caps with a hammer and pop them out and you have anchors for anything you want to move, hold down or bend, plus a ground grid all over the shop to hook your arc welder to which reduces your cable needs or clutter. I've saved some pretty badly bent stuff using two or three anchors and a couple come-a-longs. Just winched an 8,000± pound farm truck into the shop with the rear dual tires locked up and sliding. Handier than a pocket on a shirt!
I put in two: One ended up buried behind my work bench where I can't get to it (easily) and the other is a serious trip hazard. Out they go next time I trip over it. Sounded like a good Idea at the time, but didn't work out as planned. It's easier to recruit my wife to help push.
Not sure why anyone would use anchors that protrude above the floor when there a many flush mount styles available as illustrated in the above posts. Every body shop I have been in (and I am in them almost everyday for work) has some style of floor anchor and I have yet to see one that sticks up above the surface of the floor when not in use.
Well I suppose its the after thought aspect. For a flush mount anchor after the fact of the floor being in or renting in a place with existing floor its a major production to get a flush mount in. For a surface mount all you need is a Hammer drill and a couple drop in thunderstuds. Plus they can be removed even quicker.
In one of my old shops we used a hammer drill with a chisel bit and made holes about 5" around. I then dug out some of the soil at the bottom of the hole with a little garden hand shovel. I used chain with a pieces of rebar about 10" long so that the rebar ends up parallel and underneath the floor. I then filled with mixed sack concrete and hand formed the top of the concrete so that it was concave. This way a couple of links could lay in without really protruding. They worked great for pulling stuff with come-a-longs. The only downside with these is they act like magnets for jack and creeper wheels.
Use these..... http://www.mscdirect.com/product/de...003=7867724&src=pla&cid=PLA-Google-PLA+-+Test You can get these in sizes larger than you'll ever need, install them flush or a bit below, cap them when not in use. The only downside is if you have a thin slab, you may not have enough thickness to properly 'set' them. You can't drill all the way though, it has to be a blind hole.
When I built my shop I put 4 12x16x3/4 steel plates in the floor, they have a welded rebar gage under them and are set 24"in the slab they each have a pattern of 1/2" drilled and tapped in them. They will hold what ever you bolt to them I use them to mount my tube bender, bead roller .One has a rotating crane that will lift a car When I was drilling and tapping all those wholes I was wondering if it was worth it . I use these all the time .
I have not installed any floor or wall eyes in my shop yet but I may in the future. I worked in the Hydro power industry for many years and we had many an occasion to use floor wall and ceiling mounted rigging points. The installation of the anchors should be taken very seriously since an anchor that pulls out under load can cause some pretty serious consequences. Most anchor companies have a handy chart that outlines the proper installation and use of their anchor systems. Sometimes if your floor is too thing for one big anchor you can install a plate with multiple anchor that will increase your load capacity. For most of my career we used the common picking eye shown below. If used correctly it will work just fine for the kind of stuff we typically do in the shop. But you have to pay attention to the pull or load angle . Not only can you damage the eye but if you are pulling the anchor in a shear angle you can snap it off just when you need it most. The web site below shows several types of swivel picking rings that are excellent for all type of picking and pulling. They also have charts that show the proper use of these. http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Swivel+Hoist+Ring+Rigging+Attachment&Form=IQFRDR Having said all of this I would really like to install a good system as the op has mentioned that would allow me to pull a car into the shop without straining the old gizzard. In fact I have been considering installing a base plate that would allow me to use an electric winch for this purpose.
Find an old aircraft carrier and cut out a section of flightdeck with pad eyes. Or see what they use at the local airport. My garage is small and level, so if it rolls, I can push it.
I noticed the chain link pulling eyes with caps flush to the floor in a body mans shop last month. When I ask about installing some in my shop he pulled out a catalogue and showed me some you can buy and anchor into the floor without having to reconcrete the floor. They go in just like the anchors discussed above. Try going to a body supply shop and looking at their catalogues.
That's what I posted in post #14, the pics are from the Garagejournal. They are pullin points from a body shop frame rack. You can find them pretty much at any auto body supply warehouse.
They also make a concrete anchor with female threads that pounds in flush to a 5/8 hole. Once installed in a concrete floor it will sit flush and you can thread in a 1/2 inch bolt. I have these all over hte floor of my garage, i bolt my tire machine to them when i need to, i also can bolt steel plates to the floor for pulling dents,or very light frame work. I also have them so i can bolt a superwinch to the floor and drag in a car. When not in use all of this will just unbolt from the floor and store in the corner. I dont even notice the 1/2 threads and never a chance of tripping.
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