Technical Overhead gantry - Thoughts on using wood

If ever there was an obvious apples to oranges comparison , this ^^^^^^ would top
The list ! LOL .

 

50 years ago, I started out using a wood beam for pulling engines. I was in the neighborhood a few months ago and drove by to revisit my old "shop". The wood beam was still there and even more usable today. Amazing how much a 4" oak limb grows in 50 years.

 

At this point, I think Ziggster did a fine job with a hoist and trolley that will last him for many years. It looks structurally secure, and based on the numbers provided, the numbers say its structurally secure for for what he is lifting. I say go for it and enjoy your efforts on something that will serve you well.

Now, for those of you back seat drivers that are here to give him crap, post up the picture proof and numbers to back it up of what you have built to lift and move 700 lbs. That is, of course if you have actually built something that you actually use. Between now and then, we should not allow your paranoid responses get in the way of getting things done.

I know a guy that put a 6" x 6" wood post into the rafters of his garage, then through a chain around the middle of the post and proceeded to use it to pull and replace the motor and transmissions in his dirt track car for better then 15 years. He only stopped using it when one day he saw the center of the roof in his garage had a dip in it about at the same location as his wood post was through the rafters. Then he bought a cherry picker and continued on. BTW, that garage roof had the dip in it for more then 30 years. After the guy had passed on, the people that bought his house tore down the garage.

Ziggster's set up looks a lot better then that racer guys set up looked, and his worked for more then 15 years. Gene

 

Lol. I did exactly that to pull the 302 engine out of my 73 Ford Bronco, but using some architectural beams outside my garage. My brother-in-law and I back in the day. You gotta do what you gotta do. Btw I'm on the right. Haha...

 

Again I’m sure your beam and trolley will support more than the chain hoist is rather for . I would thing about a 6 cyl Cummins but , probably you will never question if it’s strong enough . I used the beam in the basement of a bilevel house to move many engines and raise the body off my 32 Ford to build a new frame and paint it . Not on issue , what so ever

 

A cherry picker type engine hoist can be purchased for $150-$200 , why jack around building some half assed conglomeration? Like a lot of things , just because you can doesn't mean you should. ! ....

 

Not really sure why you want to be so negative about someone willing to spend time and money to improve his workshop. He worked with the situation he has, and created something with his own mind and hands,........he has every right to be proud of it. I bet you won't find many people who have a decent overhead crane wishing they had their old cherry picker instead.

 

We all have our own experiences and opinions , we don't have to agree ...guess I'm not "touchy -feely" enough for some..and I've never been shy.
.LOL

 

Read back through the thread. This is in his basement...
As for a cherry picker, I have a 16'x24' shop and my cherry picker sits outside. I don't have room for it folded up in the shop taking up floor space, and I certainly don't have room to maneuver it with an engine hanging from it and the legs stretched out.
I know there's a lot of other guys in similar situations. Necessity is the mother of invention.

 

Just thought I would give an update. Although, not HAMB friendly, I’ve been using the “gantry” quite a bit lately on my other project. No issues moving the 5.3/4L60/NP241 around.

 

Great thread. We thought we were slick, we had a garbage-picked swing set that got us by for a few years. Slid longer fence pipe up the legs and one in the upper tube. It did sag, but we probably swung a dozen engines using it.

 

While I don't expect your picture to be around very long, I'd like to point out the fact that you would have had a difficult time manuevering a cherry picker in that limited space.......and your forethought to build a crane made it a simple task. Well Done.

I had two things deleted in one day