Unistrut hoist

[thetruck454]

I'm building a unistrut hoist and hanging it from my trussed garage roof. It will be used to work on power sports, like suspending a motorcycle when replacing forks/shocks or to lift the back end of a snowmobile up when taking out the rear skid. I know it's not favorable to hang weight from the bottom cord of a truss, I climbed up there plenty of times when I was wiring and insulating. That's placing a good 230lbs concentrated on a single spot and didn't have any issues nor did it flex enough to crack the sheetrock below.

If I take 10' P1001 unistrut and span over the bottom cord of 4-5 trusses, then I use 3/8 rod spaced every 2' down through the sheetrock to another 10' P1001 inside the garage. I would then have my trolley hoist hang front that. I would think it would be very rigid and distribute any weight on the lower set of P1001 up through the 3/8 rod and across the P1001 that's spanning over the bottom cord of multiple trusses no matter where the trolley hoist is. I was even thinking of taking a 2x4 and connecting the bottom cord to the top cord right next to where I span them with the P1001.

P1001 has a uniform beam load of 3130lbs at 2' span which is the spacing I'll have the 3/8 rod. Now take 50% since I'll be point loading with the trolley and that's 1565lbs. That weight is more than any Snowmobile/motorcycle/ATV weights entirely. I would think I am not riding on the edge of safety?

 

[Achilleus]

I got this roller and hoist from HF (Or Northern Tool?) about 20 years ago and it's served me with awesomeness. I was lucky to have a giant beam across the ceiling of my garage, so it was only a small investment. I've lifted up to 1500 lb with this on several occasions. It's 2-ton rated everything.

 

[rsanter]

I think I would run plywood from the bottom cord to the upper rafter of the truss, this will add a ton of strength

Somewhere I have some rollers that are for riding in unistrut

 

[carlaisle]

If you're going to be up in the trusses anyway, why not invest the minimal extra effort to anchor your strut to the top of the trusses where they're designed to carry a load?

 

[rlitman]

....P1001 has a uniform beam load of ...

Forget what the strut can take, and think about the trolley. I've never seen a strut trolley made for over 600 lbs. Once you see what size rollers can fit inside the channel and account for the axles that fit in those rollers, and then consider that all of this is hanging from the bent sheet metal flanges at the bottom of the strut, putting the kind of load you're talking about is going to require an I beam trolley.

 

[PoorUB]

I would not trust the Unistrut and trolleys for over 200 pounds.

 

[Torque&Recoil]

I'm building a unistrut hoist and hanging it from my trussed garage roof. It will be used to work on power sports, like suspending a motorcycle when replacing forks/shocks or to lift the back end of a snowmobile up when taking out the rear skid. I know it's not favorable to hang weight from the bottom cord of a truss, I climbed up there plenty of times when I was wiring and insulating. That's placing a good 230lbs concentrated on a single spot and didn't have any issues nor did it flex enough to crack the sheetrock below.

If I take 10' P1001 unistrut and span over the bottom cord of 4-5 trusses, then I use 3/8 rod spaced every 2' down through the sheetrock to another 10' P1001 inside the garage. I would then have my trolley hoist hang front that. I would think it would be very rigid and distribute any weight on the lower set of P1001 up through the 3/8 rod and across the P1001 that's spanning over the bottom cord of multiple trusses no matter where the trolley hoist is. I was even thinking of taking a 2x4 and connecting the bottom cord to the top cord right next to where I span them with the P1001.

P1001 has a uniform beam load of 3130lbs at 2' span which is the spacing I'll have the 3/8 rod. Now take 50% since I'll be point loading with the trolley and that's 1565lbs. That weight is more than any Snowmobile/motorcycle/ATV weights entirely. I would think I am not riding on the edge of safety?

I did basically the same thing, except up in the attic I used 2x4's glue-laminated into a T-section to share the load between trusses. I am using double two-axle trolleys (4 axles total) to spread the load over a wider area of the strut, and each trolley setup is done with a pin connection (bolt but not tight) so the load is shared between each axle. I used the HD brackets to go between the strut and 3/8" threaded rod. The HD brackets are really thick and provide some additional resistance to spreading of the strut. The biggest problem that I encountered, was that I didn't use Unistrut-brand strut, and the first batch I got from a local big-box store had some binding issues against the trolley.

 

[PCMusicGuy]

As long as you are erring on the side of a bit of common sense, you likely be fine.

 

[tarmy]

Do you by chance have a PVC compressed air system

Seriously, if you are going to be under any weight over a hundred pounds this seems like a sketchy idea. Buy a used/cut off I beam and mount it well and reduce the risk.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Maybe look at barn door track and rollers. I used this for a hoist rail for my machining rotary table. You can also use dual units.

 

[Achilleus]

I got this roller and hoist from HF (Or Northern Tool?) about 20 years ago and it's served me with awesomeness. I was lucky to have a giant beam across the ceiling of my garage, so it was only a small investment. I've lifted up to 1500 lb with this on several occasions. It's 2-ton rated everything.

BTW the sound that thing makes when you pull it across the room is nothing short of magnificent thunder. It's almost worth doing this or what @tarmy did just for that.

 

[Achilleus]

Buy a used/cut off I beam and mount it well

How is yours supported at the far end of that pic?

 

[PCustoms]

How is yours supported at the far end of that pic?

Bolted to the truss probably

 

[kngelv]

This is a bad idea. I'd put up an I-beam along with a piece of unified rail for the hoist. The trolleys in the unified rail will roll much smoother than wheels on a beam. The wheels in unistrut will drag a ton once you hit 100 pounds. Go another route. I say this as someone who has built hundreds of structures using Unistrut.

James

 

[tarmy]

Bolted to the truss probably

Close. Those are 32’ clear span trusses. I had them design them so I could have a very stiff upper floor and hang at least a ton from them. In three strategic places they are quadrupled up (both ends and mid 20’ beam. That beam has flanges welded on top for each truss(16”OC) and special beefy flanges for those 3 key trusses. They are like an upside down L…so they rest on top of the truss…about 18” long to spread that load. They are bolted thru the trusses where spec’ed. The engineer decided where. That thing is solid…no groans or creaking noise at all.

 

[thetruck454]

Lots of feedback from everyone, I appreciate it. When I said 1000lbs earlier, that was definitely more than I'll ever pick up. The motorcycle only weighs 530lbs and the snowmobile is about 640lbs. Picking up one end of of them can't be more than 60-70% of the total weight. Keep the input coming, good or bad!

 

[Achilleus]

Keep the input coming, good or bad!

When that motorcycle is above your head and you're wrenching on that sprocket nut, you gotta ask yourself one question: do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

 

[PopcornSutton]

Maybe look at barn door track and rollers. I used this for a hoist rail for my machining rotary table. You can also use dual units.

This is much stronger than unistrut and readily available.

 

[CraigStu]

Aside from the track and trolly considerations also look at where on the truss you put your cross beam. Closer to the wall is better. Also closer to one of the diagonals joint to the bottom beam is better.

 

[ericm]

I have replaced forks and shocks many times without hanging anything from the ceiling. I've always used a combination of stands and jacks, and center stand if the bike has one, to hold the bike up from below.

 

[1redTA]

could you use an engine hoist instead?

 

[andyvh1959]

Actually the engine hoist may be the more versatile and less expensive option. I have seen used 1 ton and some 2 ton engine hoists for less than $200. You can wheel it around and out of the way when not needed. It'll easily lift a snowblower, snowmobile, motorcycle, even a diesel engine if its big enough.

I plan to use my BIL's 2 ton engine hoist in my shop when I move the cab off my 56 Dodge pickup onto the Dakota donor frame. Plus I can easily lift the 5.2 Magnum engine and TH8-70 8-spd ******. I don't have enough height for a floor standing car lift, nor do I want that in my shop permanently. Once the 56 is done my shop is for my motorcycles.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Here is how I did it to replace a shifter fork. Grinding 1/8” off the corner of the kickstand mount allowed lower case removal without removing the engine. Drained oil, removed battery.

 

[JKinAK]

You can hire a structural engineer to answer the question for less than the cost of one trip to the ER (even if they just give you a bandaid!)

 

[Skooterj]

I would not trust the Unistrut and trolleys for over 200 pounds.

Unistrut has published span load ratings. The lowest rating at 24 inch span is 410 pounds. The heavier stuff is rated over 9000 lbs. 200 is nothing if you properly support it.

 

[Torque&Recoil]

Aside from the track and trolly considerations also look at where on the truss you put your cross beam. Closer to the wall is better. Also closer to one of the diagonals joint to the bottom beam is better.

CraigStu raises a good point. It reminds me that I forgot to mention that I placed the T-section beam right near where the diagonals intersect the bottom joist (just calling the bottom part of the truss a "joist" for convenience). The corners of the triangle are where you want to place loads, not in the middle of a straight section of bottom joist. Trusses are made up of 2x4s, which aren't terribly strong, and they usually seem to be made of crappy 2x4s at that. If you need to position the track in the middle of a straight section of joist, then I would seriously consider some additional reinforcement. Hope all that makes sense.

 

[BobnCO]

I made a hoist that ran on two Unistut sections 10 ft long. Purchased bearing trolly’s and hung the 2,000# (dbl cable) Harbor Freight electric hoist. Tested it with a small block chevy, long block on an engine stand. Worked well, but I figure that was the limit for my setup +/- 600#. Put an office copier in the bed of pickup etc w/ it. Moved shop’s, it will now go on an available I-beam, but it worked for 5 years

 

[thetruck454]

Thought I'd update the group. Not quite done, but I'm close.

The cross beam is ~44" of P1001 and I'll put the hoist on that. Its supported by those two 10' P1001 sections. Then each of those are connected by 1/2" rod next to every truss to another 10' piece of P1001 and I was able to engage 6 trusses. Some of the trusses are a 2x6 bottom cord and some are 2x4. I reinforced the 2x4 with 2x6's. I know I need to reinforce the rest, especially above the rail thats furthest from the webbing. It' s been a while since I did some engineering calcs, I'm gonna have to dust off the ole college books and figure out how to best reinforce the truss.

 

[Achilleus]

those are connected by 1/2" rod

Looking good! Did you get any particular grade of rod? How are they supported - can't see from the pic.

 

[Joemctag]

I got this roller and hoist from HF (Or Northern Tool?) about 20 years ago and it's served me with awesomeness. I was lucky to have a giant beam across the ceiling of my garage, so it was only a small investment. I've lifted up to 1500 lb with this on several occasions. It's 2-ton rated everything.

Lot of people place a temporary prop nearby just when lifting.

 

[Milton Shaw]

My joists in the ceiling support a hoist eye in my ceiling. The joist were designed with a couple of strong- back locations that are 2x8 that tie the joist together to keep down the floor movement upstairs. I attached a piece of Unistrut to that strongback and then use that eye bolt to support a hoist. Worked well for engine pulling several times. I now have a jib beam that I use for under 500 lb lifts. Workes better as the other hoist eye didn't move at all.

 

[nadogail]

If in doubt, build it “Hell For Stout”.

Good Luck and test it before standing under a Suspended Load.

 

[afinepoint]

How did this story end? One question. What are the manufacturer load ratings for the unistrut?

 

[nadogail]

One shop I worked at while in High School (graduated in 1958) had lengths of 1 1/2" schedule 40 pipe laying in the trusses above the chain hoists used to lift whole H Series Cummins diesel engines.

 

[thetruck454]

Sorry I missed some of the posts asking for a follow up. I added the extra bracing in the trusses as shown below. The thing works like a charm, doesn't even flex when I put what I'd anticipated as a typical weight. It is going to make doing this track change much easier or any other tasks, but I will limit myself to powersports, lawn tractors etc. All the Unistrut is p1001 type T and the trolleys are 3 wheel trollies. The main structure is supported every 24" with 1/2" rod, nuts a washers all of which are grade 8. The center section spans 40" which is definitely my weak point.

The reasoning for my strength is below. Note capacities have the type T correction factor applied which is 0.85. Then apply the correction factor of point loading in the center of 0.5 for the 40" span piece and in-between the 24" supports for the rails.

Span Uniform load Center load
24" 2,975 lb 1487 lb
40" 2,371 lb 1,185 lb


As always it may not be safe enough for everyone, but it makes me comfortable enough to lift the smallish things I'm planning on.

 

[jhelrey]

Of all things to test it's weight capacity, a Yamaha.

 

[thetruck454]

Of all things to test it's weight capacity, a Yamaha.

Hey now haha