Gantries, Who Has Them?

[Renegade1LI]

A while back I picked up a aluminum Vestil AHA-2-12-12 which is rated for 2000lbs with wheels, I was considering the HF but for a few bucks more I went with the vestil. Having the aluminum is a big plus as I only set it up when needed & this one can be easily set up by one person. The plus of the HF is the cable height adjustment, but with aluminum it's not bad compared with steel. Another plus is it is US made with quality parts, easy to store when disassembled & is wide enough to fit a dually between, the HF is too narrow. As a one man shop the gantry, engine hoist & hydraulic lift table really make easy to lift & move most equipment. A forklift or tractor would be nice but for now these are a big help.

 

[BukitCase]

amazon wants $3k more for that model than the HF crane, I guess "a few bucks" is all relative

Are you sure it's made in USA? I've gotten some other Vestil stuff and it's all chinese (but built decent)

Also, that model # has a 15 in it, which designates 1500# rating. No biggie as long as you're aware..

I have the HF gantry, you don't need to cry about NOT having their idiotic excuse for height changes - I've made some mods to mine (including a heavier 12' long beam with diagonal braces) and plan a couple more, one is DEF getting rid of the mickey mouse height adjustments in favor of a pair of air/hydraulic cylinders. The dumb-*** cables pretty much NEVER work, I've literally had to stick a piece of square tube on top of a floor jack to change height...

There's pics of my mods about post# 15, here
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=466357

I know what you mean about working alone, that'd be enough for me to consider more expensive tools; it's amazing how adept a person gets at building "stick figures", etc, when no help's available... Steve

 

[Renegade1LI]

amazon wants $3k more for that model than the HF crane, I guess "a few bucks" is all relative

Are you sure it's made in USA? I've gotten some other Vestil stuff and it's all chinese (but built decent)

Also, that model # has a 15 in it, which designates 1500# rating. No biggie as long as you're aware..

I have the HF gantry, you don't need to cry about NOT having their idiotic excuse for height changes - I've made some mods to mine (including a heavier 12' long beam with diagonal braces) and plan a couple more, one is DEF getting rid of the mickey mouse height adjustments in favor of a pair of air/hydraulic cylinders. The dumb-*** cables pretty much NEVER work, I've literally had to stick a piece of square tube on top of a floor jack to change height...

There's pics of my mods about post# 15, here
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=466357

I know what you mean about working alone, that'd be enough for me to consider more expensive tools; it's amazing how adept a person gets at building "stick figures", etc, when no help's available... Steve

I think I have the wrong model#, I just took a pic of the beam, says 2000lb, maybe it's the model up. Believe it or not I think I paid 800$ for it, used, you'd be surprised at the deals you can find in nyc on a construction site, lots of desperate people. That was the problem with the HF gantry it was 7'-6 between the posts, otherwise I'd off bought that in a minute. I have the 2 ton HF engine hoist and I love it, folds, works good, but liked anything HF it need some tweeking.

 

[Jagmandave]

I love my HF 1000lb hydraulic lift table, I use the **** out of it!

 

[Ign]

I have the HF gantry. Fitted bigger casters and replaced the cheesy hardware where the beam meets the legs. The electric hoists on a trolley are the ticket.

Overall the damn thing is in my way 99.9% of the time, but it's also nice to have it. Kind of a love/hate relationship

The cable height adjustment is 2 person mandatory but I've had no problems otherwise - it works "ok" and adjusts the height.

 

[Ign]

I love my HF 1000lb hydraulic lift table, I use the **** out of it!

I use my high lift ~54" version literally almost everyday. They're NLA and I'm so glad I got it when I did.

 

[blazemaster83]

I have a Wallace 3 ton adjustable height, 15' span. It's a great unit when you need to lift something, but can be a pain to move around the shop. You pretty much need a forklift to change it's height or to assemble it. I use my forklift much more often for general machine shop duty.

 

[Plastikosmd]

I have a small antique rolling one.
Old school flat steel and square bolt heads.
Good for small tractor stuff



I also upsized my garage beam when building so while not a mobile gantry, it gives me a good span



1/2 a gantry? Single arm wall mount cantilever for the bigger lathe

 

[matt_i]

I welded one up around 2003. Has done many jobs. Would be nice to have adjustable height but then forklifts arrived and it went way-back-burner. It could still goto an offsite job if needed.

 

[Mgdoug3]

I built one for my shop. It's on casters so I can move it around. I have about $200 in it. It's wide enough to go around a dually truck and tall enough for a cab tractor. I want another one that's taller and mounted to the way that I can swing out. The current one isn't wide or tall enough for a combine.

 

[SeisMec]

I have the HF gantry. ...

... The cable height adjustment is 2 person mandatory

??? My buddy has one and I don't understand why you'd NEED two people. Yeah, more convenient. But can't see why you'd need more than yourself and a ladder. You aren't doing the height adjustment with weight hanging from the chain hoist are you?

 

[BukitCase]

I'm 75, still too stubborn to quit havin' fun - I look at cranes same as Sears used to refer to their merchandise: Good, Better, Best.

Used the lower half of a HF pickup crane and built a small jib crane between the 2 weld tables, mounts on the small one; makes a good back-saver, that vise weighs right at 100 lbs.

Even my mag drill is just over 50, it ***** when "50 is the new 100"

Couple pics... Steve

 

[BukitCase]

SeisMec, this ain't my first rodeo (by far) but I couldn't figure out how those hokey weird sorta-cam-like "winches" were even supposed to work. If I cranked any harder, I woulda wanted a scatter shield between me and the cable. Knowing HF, I coulda just got a "monday" crane. Don't change it that much, and I'm too much of a "mad scientist" to walk away from another off-the-wall project, hence the pair of air/hyd jacks... Steve

 

[Ign]

??? My buddy has one and I don't understand why you'd NEED two people. Yeah, more convenient. But can't see why you'd need more than yourself and a ladder. You aren't doing the height adjustment with weight hanging from the chain hoist are you?

I have NO idea why you'd need a ladder.....

But yeah, if you're willing to crank the left a couple turns unti sq tube binds in sq tube, then run to the other side and crank a couple turns until sq tube binds in sq tube
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
AND then repeat
you can eventually get to where you wanna be

But I've never used a ladder (shrug)

I find adjustment easiest with my Bridgeport on the hook of course. Even better if I can squeeze the CCLB SuperDuty in there and get a strap around that

 

[Iron Beaver]

I have this off-road gantry that I built for an engine swap. I still need to go back and improve some of the welding but it got the job done.

I felt it was a good use for all those extra MH axles I had lying around

 

[Renegade1LI]

I have this off-road gantry that I built for an engine swap. I still need to go back and improve some of the welding but it got the job done.

I felt it was a good use for all those extra MH axles I had lying around

Thats great! would be good for working in a gravel lot.

 

[Iron Beaver]

Thanks! The spot I had to work in is pretty rough and the typical puny little 3" casters found on most gantry cranes would just sink in and be useless. Plus I bought 3 motor home axles a while ago when I was ignorant and thought they would be suitable for trailer axles. To top it all off, I had a good supply of scrap metal, a nice welder, and not a lot of spare cash. Those last three may or may not be connected

 

[Machinitect]

I needed a gantry this winter to move an outdoor wood stove, so I welded one out of 3” pipe that I had left over from another project. The beam is 3x10 rectangular tubing. It worked great! I’ll look for a photo of it.

 

[Machinitect]

 

[Reversepolarity]

This side for drifting. Or flip the I beam for a trolly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SeisMec]

BukitCase & Ign, my apologies if you thought I was trying to be snarky. I was just confused.

Maybe my buddies is a Wednesday production - not a start or end of week unit. Or knowing HF, it could be a different model than yours. Think his is about 5 or 6 years old.

It's been about two years since the one and only time I messed with it - changed from minimum height to near maximum. It was my buddies project He was having problems getting the adjustment done and asked me to help. Thinking back on it more carefully, a step stool would have done for a ladder; and it's only purpose was to eyeball the top of each side to see where things were binding up.

If memory serves (he's got the thing loaned out to somebody at the moment, so it will have to for now), the problem was the "floating" support legs were splayed in, or out, or to one side. I don't recall which. It was setting up on packed dry dirt - sand & clay. I locked all the wheels and used a 3' prybar to nudge things into plumb. The two of us put it up to max height, but it was just myself that brought it back down to minimum height when his project was finished. I don't recall it being that many trips from side to side to let it back down.

 

[Renegade1LI]

This side for drifting. Or flip the I beam for a trolly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This are real nice tables! Looks like you extended the legs, are they removable for height adjustment?

 

[niget2002]

I bought this one a few weeks ago to move the mill into place.

I've already used it a dozen times to lift things in the shop. Easily paid for itself from the beer I've saved by not calling the neighbor over.

I need to modify it. After assembling it, I discovered it won't fit over the wheels on my trailer. I need to get a longer I beam to get me another 4 inches or so to clear the wheels.

I also need to find a better place to store it. I think I'm going to move some shelves around so I can slide it up against a wall.

(The guy in the pic isn't me)

 

[Renegade1LI]

I bought this one a few weeks ago to move the mill into place.

I've already used it a dozen times to lift things in the shop. Easily paid for itself from the beer I've saved by not calling the neighbor over.

I need to modify it. After assembling it, I discovered it won't fit over the wheels on my trailer. I need to get a longer I beam to get me another 4 inches or so to clear the wheels.

I also need to find a better place to store it. I think I'm going to move some shelves around so I can slide it up against a wall.

(The guy in the pic isn't me)

You'd think they would all be at least 8'-6", Howe much more could it cost.

 

[Reversepolarity]

This are real nice tables! Looks like you extended the legs, are they removable for height adjustment?

Yes,
Sometimes I don’t have as much headroom.


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[StormcrowAz]

I picked mine up from work, investment casting foundry, where it was being used to tilt the melters to transfer molten metal into ladles, which were in turn poured into the shells/molds. You can see one end of it here


We added another pot and they switched to a stationary, single-post, set-up for each melter as the gantry wasn’t wide enough to accommodate the extra unit. After sitting out back for a couple years I finally talked the big boss into selling it to me.

It spends most of its time snuggled up to the lift, pretty much out of the way.


Very handy to have around the shop and have used it for all sorts of shenanigans. Here’s just a few:

R&R engines


Used it to give me a few extra feet of reach for welding some brackets high-up


Off-the-ground painting


And most recently it helped move a new compressor into place



Still wish I had a forklift. Or maybe a tractor with fork adapters. Or maybe just a forklift and a tractor…

 

[dr_clyde]

I can't imagine not having a forklift and a crane in my shop now.

I need to build a jib or a gantry to access some spots in my shop that the forklift can't easily get to.

I have a 5 ton powered bridge over the main half of the shop, but the CNC mill isn't under the crane and the big vises and rotaries get heavy!

 

[Crabman]

Bukit

it ***** when "50 is the new 100"

Ain't it the truth?

Bruce

 

[BukitCase]

Sure is Bruce (fact of life I guess) - I bought a couple MORE of those pickup cranes when there was a sale, when I get far enough along to add the companion lathe to my Grizz G0755 mill, I plan to build a replacement pallet similar to the original shipping pallet, but with a "pylon" that protrudes out one side of the mill - that'll get ANOTHER version of the little jib I posted above - same trolley setup, it'll end up BETWEEN the lathe and mill, with access to the path in front of both.

Like Dr. Clyde said, too many add-on's are gettin' too heavy - My 8" rotary table (with added 3-jaw chuck) is over 100#, the angle table is probably around 80, the Kurt 6" is startin' to laugh at me :=( - so between the 1000# hydraulic table and the shared "mini-jib", my back might stop usin' those 4-letter words about me... Steve

 

[Renegade1LI]

Hopefully the next shop is going to be big enough to roll a gantry inside or maybe build an overhead gantry with a trolley, not sure about a fork lift but definitely a tractor.
Buckitcase, I agree as we get older need to do things smarter, I try to not do as much stupid stuff as I used to.

 

[BukitCase]

Yeah, same here; this is a rough draft of my next shop, the 2 hi-cubes are already in place - might take a while on finances for the rest of it tho... Steve

 

[metaldad]

coupla shops build aluminum gantries around here. each leg with 4 hd casters. beams from 6' to 25'.
i have used them, in multiple configurations.
i couldn't imagine using a leg, with only 2 casters.

 

[metaldad]

finally found a pic of a base. old grainy.

 

[GeoBruin]

I just ordered the beam today to make my own "bridge crane". No wheels (I don't have room in my tiny, tiny shop). I will have two lengths of beam spanning my shop about 8 feet apart and another length of beam suspended from trolleys on each end. I will have either (undecided) a chain hoist or an electric cable hoist that travels along that beam. It should give me 2D (3D actually) coverage over almost 1/2 my shop.

Beam arrives tomorrow.

 

[GeoBruin]

It's here!

 

[Plastikosmd]

I went with both hoists

At times it is great to have a second

One is manual chain and the other is air

Chain for fine work and the air is back up, 2 lift jobs where I don’t have both hands free

Pulling a gator motor but frame is broken on machine, so chain to pull machine to level so motor could slip out

 

[Renegade1LI]

It's here!

That's great building it into the shop, takes up less space too, pics when done.

 

[Renegade1LI]

I almost forgot about my portable emergency gantry, not quite WTF, necessity, notice the safety hasp intact on the hook.

 

[GeoBruin]

I almost forgot about my portable emergency gantry, not quite WTF, necessity, notice the safety hasp intact on the hook.

Sweet!

I'm going to have a leftover length of I-beam from my current bridge crane project. Maybe I should cook up some folding tri-stands to make a mobile/deployable gantry.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Garage gantry for low ceilings, used a piece of 3 x 8 Ipe, the stuff is unbelievably strong & not much lighter than steel. Tried with the engine hoist but this worked out better.