I have two overhead cranes in my shop that were built from scratch and over the years they have proven to be one of the absolutely best tools I have. It not only makes things much easier, but it often makes somethings....possible! My son recently bought a home that had some buildings already in place, and he wanted to have some lifting capability too, because he knows just how handy it is. There are lots of simple ways to erect one or two simple overhead beams. They occupy almost no space if placed against walls and allow you to get rid of cherry pickers and the like. If you ever build one, you will wonder how you got along without one. Steel isn't cheap, so you have to be opportunistic and it may take awhile to gather the needed materials cheaply, but you can start ac***ulating things for a future build....and even erect it in stages. Even a simple one beam crane will prove to be handy. Just overbuild it and build it safely. Here is how we scrounged parts and bought some things. The Harbor Freight trolleys and chain hoists are cheap and work well.
For some reason this made me think of pulling the small block Fords as a kid in moms garage with the rafters, I was lucky I didn't pull the roof down. My shop had very large I beams over head so I had a lift on tracks there, very handy for lifting bodys and pulling drive lines.
I have had one on a slider track in the shop for years. It makes pulling engines and bodies so much easier than using a cherry picker.
Here’s mine I’ve had for years! Two roller hoist and two hoist mounted in both corners. One air one manual. Bones
Did the same thing many times. Once I put the support accross 3 rafters cause that was all it would reach. Was pulling 392 Hemi w/torqflite. Had it about 3 inches off the mounts when the crossbar slipped off the 3rd rafter and smacked me in the back of the head. I been this way ever since...but I like it.
Two swing jib cranes in opposite corners of my shop. Great for pulling anything from anywhere, with minimal loss of floor space.
Hello, Time has come a long way with all of the modern garaged lifts and hoists. Most people that live in normal tract housing anywhere, usually don’t have enough room for the fancy stuff, but try using their own garage support cross beams for lifting things. Even when the tract housing goes all the way back to 1946. Garages were used for car storage and daily use, for most of the time. It wasn’t until we had set up our own family garage cross beams and necessary supports that helped in engine removal and installations. But, it was a house built in 1946, with the family garage ruled by our dad’s huge Buick sedans. The work area had to be cleared by the time he got home from work. So, we started early, did the transformations, had it torn down and cleared out so our dad could drive into “his” garage anytime after work. Family garage of our 1946 home with the 51 Olds Sedan inside. For us, it was a h***le, but a bright idea popped into my brother’s brain and we started our rear yard recreation room into a backyard garage, just for our hot rod/drag racing endeavors. But, the cross beams were not high enough or strong enough to support any motor removal or install. So, it was the family garage and episodes that continued even during our own backyard lift up garage door construction. In 1959, I was wandering around the Lion’s Dragstrip pits and my brother had movie camera. He thought it would be funny to see me poking around and wondered what my interests were during this “hot rod-drag racing” stage. Well Doug Cook’s pristine and very fast 1937 C/Gas and B/Cas Chevrolet "Tahitian Red" Coupe was always an early favorite. Up close, it was as well built and detailed, as fast as it was in those Gas Coupe and Sedan Cl***es. It was and still is very impressive. Jnaki But, what happens if a engine lift was needed for any work while at the dragstrip? Someone had brought a sturdy backyard swing set and made use of the center area with their own chain-pulley systems. It was getting well used and started to sag in the middle, but it helped plenty of racers do their own between elimination runs to make necessary changes while at the dragstrip. The serious need for motor removal and tear downs sometimes had the racers go a few miles down the streets from Lion's Dragstrip, to Joe Mailliard’s Speed Shop, Mickey Thompson Enterprises, or Speed Engineering. If you had a Clay Smith Cam sponsored racecar and needed work space with a garage, ceiling mounted chain hoist, that was also a block or two away from the grouping of hot rod/drag race shops. For all others, the Lion’s Dragstrip hoist was handy and located in the far reaches of the huge pit area. Previous old post: Check the times in the old film clip at Lion’s Dragstrip. Lion’s Dragstrip pits action at :43 “In 1959, Lions had the most up to date dragstrip in So Cal. But, in looking at the myriad of film clips, I came across this Lion's pit structure for engine changes at the strip. An old backyard playground structure stripped of its swings and see saw. We did see that being used and by the looks of it in the photo, it has been used quite a bit. We all had 2x4 supports holding up the cross beams in various garages. But, this one was put up with a few minor detachments and worked well…” at 1:04
The first shop I taught in was 5 bays wide and 2 deep. It had a chain fall on a track that covered 3 front bays and 1 back bay. There were switches, similar to rail road tracks, that let you move from one bay to another. Sometimes it was a little rough to move through a joint with a load on the chain fall.
We are planning on building one for the shop. We will need it fit outside the rear fenders of a modern dually pickup, I imagine a quick google search could answer my question but maybe someone knows, what is currently the widest dually out there and what is the width?? Thanks-
Here's mine, simple but effective.2X8s laying across roof trusses attached to 2X8s with 2X2 angle with 2" channel on top of lower 2X8 for beam wheels to ride in. lifted my 8BA with ****** and a full dress Cad Flathead. Dont use it much now but what a life saver.
Working commercial construction in the city there is always something to come down before anything goes up. In one building there was a vehicle maintenance shop with a gantry crane. Four post with traveling beam with 30'x30' footprint and 10' hook height. I brought it home and it sat in a stack for five years. I had visions of swapping out the roll up doors on my shop for coiling doors, relocating the hanging gas furnace, relocating the stairs.. Never happened. In the end I put two posts in and a fixed beam with manual chain hoist. I did eventually upgrade to a real electric chain hoist. It's a great tool, makes the heavy lifting so much easier.
Overhead or any similar lifting devices are really handy. The thing is one must be aware and be sure of the safe lifting limits of any lifting system. Home made or units that do not have the capacities listed must be evaluated to ensure safe and successful operation. That being said I had a Cherry picker type unit provided by the company I was working for that was rated at 8,000 lbs. It looked just like the ones we car guys use in our garages, except much more m***ive. It was a beast and we hung 1300 lbs. steel plates 15 ft. up on a wall ****ing a ceiling. After the job was complete they s****ped the thing to keep unqualified folks from using it for fear of an accident. I really liked it but it was unobtainable. The company paid $20,000 for the unit.
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