Has anyone ever seen or heard tell of a gantry crane that doubles as a car lift. I'm looking at moveable lift ideas and thought maybe building a gantry crane that would have the same components as a 2 post lift also. When you use the lift either flip up the caster wheels or put legs down for stability. Ceiling clearance isn't an issue but floor space is.
Gantry crane/car lift
- Thread starter Blaircobb
- Start date
Kaizen
Well-known member
Nope but i've used my two post lift as a gantry crane
jrsavoie
Well-known member
A. Lot of farms and grain elevators used to have gantries for unloading wagons and trucks that didn't have hydraulic dumps
Renegade1LI
Well-known member
I have an aluminum gantry that is easy to roll around and transport, very handy. I can break it down and load it in under 10 minutes if I need to bring it for loading and wide enough to clear my dually.
dave*99
Well-known member
I'm having trouble picturing what you have in mind. For example, a 2 post lift carries load on the columns. A gantry crane carries load on the beam.
What are you proposing?
b-dog
Well-known member
I have a gantry; sounds sketch AF and I wouldn't work under a suspended load. You can get some portable car or truck lifts. Roll them into the corner when you're done.
alwaysFlOoReD
Well-known member
I see it. A 2 post on wheels with a beam across the top. I like the idea.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
A 4 post lift?
When lifting a car the frame of the lift would be sitting on the ground not on the dolly wheels. And the beam at the top would be adding support to keep everything square.
blazemaster83
Well-known member
Might as well get yourself a travelift
CraigStu
Well-known member
So that takes care of sideways movement at the top. But think of a car on a 2 post lift where the lift arms extend inward 1-3ft to contact the car. That leverage would push the bottoms of the posts outward. So how to counteract that? How long will you make the bottom legs so the thing doesn't tip forward or back if you don't get the car CG just right? I am sure this can be done but there is a reason why there is so much emphasis on concrete strength and depth specs as well as fastener specs for a 2 post lift.
whateg01
Well-known member
Every time a mobile 2 post gets brought up, somebody comes along and explains how it can't be done because it would be unsafe and the tops of the columns have to be able to move and if it was doable companies would do it, blah, blah, blah. I like it too!
whateg01
Well-known member
A crossmember that connects the bottom can sit on the ground in use so a vehicle can drive over it. The same crossmember can be used to help keep the columns square.
The same consideration goes into the legs of a gantry except that the cg is automatically going to stay between the vertical members since the loss is dangling. For lifting a car, or whatever, on the arms, the legs only have to extend as far as the arms do fore and aft, plus some margin. Heck, make them as long as the potential vehicle if it makes ya feel better, but that's overkill.
finn
Well-known member
I love it when non engineers try to solve engineering problems with mumble jumble instead of free body diagrams and numbers.
whateg01
Well-known member
Me too. It just proves that one doesn't have to have a piece of paper on the wall to get **** done.
And the portable 2 post lift has been done. It's basically like 2 bumper jacks but I would expect some sort of synchronization. Put a bar across the arms and voila, gantry crane.
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finn
Well-known member
I’m well aware of the portable lifts. They’ve been on the market for years, and are used in heavy truck shops.. I’ll bet they have sound engineering behind them, too. They’ve not the result of “try **** and see if it works”, which is what the thread is evolving to.Me too. It just proves that one doesn't have to have a piece of paper on the wall to get **** done.
And the portable 2 post lift has been done. It's basically like 2 bumper jacks but I would expect some sort of synchronization. Put a bar across the arms and voila, gantry crane.
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whateg01
Well-known member
Somebody should probably tell all those people who have been pulling engines with a come along and a tree that it can't be done because it wasn't designed for it.
finn
Well-known member
I’ve done that, too.
Definitely wasn’t safe, but I was too young and dumb to know better.
iamhomeless
Well-known member
Buy one of the Bendoack Super Tall 4 posts that a class B can drive under, slap the caster kit on it, modify an I beam with some rollers to ride the top rails and give it a winch.
You now have yourself a 4 post lift that doubles as a mobile bridge crane. And you did it fairly in expensively and without massive changes to the intended loading methods of either piece of equipment.
And Bridge and Jib cranes are far superior to gantrys, it's absolute night and day difference.
You now have yourself a 4 post lift that doubles as a mobile bridge crane. And you did it fairly in expensively and without massive changes to the intended loading methods of either piece of equipment.
And Bridge and Jib cranes are far superior to gantrys, it's absolute night and day difference.
Ran when parked
Well-known member
I wonder what happened to the OP...