My hoist track and trolley setup

crooklyn · Oct 31, 2015

After seeing some great ideas here is my setup.
Superstrut Back2back C channel 14ft (10ft + 4ft section welded together)
Used spring nuts, square strut washer, 1/2 threaded rod and bolts to suspend the channel every 2 feet between the trusses. The threaded Rod is sandwiched between two 2x10 14ft that span the trusses with a 4"x3" steel plate on top.
I have the hoist but the trolleys are on order as know one in town carries them.

TractorJeff · Oct 31, 2015

What are you going to lift and trolley on that? I've seen setups like that move some heavy doors but those had the weight spread over the length of the doors.
Please elaborate!

crooklyn · Oct 31, 2015

TractorJeff said:
What are you going to lift and trolley on that? I've seen setups like that move some heavy doors but those had the weight spread over the length of the doors.

Please elaborate!

Mostly just stored items on/off the mezzanine, like a table saw, miter saw w/ stands and tires.
Also for lifting the front or back end of quad and sxs.
The load bearing of the struts for the 2 ft is over 1000lbs and the strength of the nuts are 1500lbs. My max lift of the electric hoist is 440lb.

Rockcam · Oct 31, 2015

Looks great.

I love mine - great for big/bulky things. SO much simpler (and safer) getting things up to the loft than trying to carry them.

toolmiser · Oct 31, 2015

If you wanted to tie in the "beam" in the attic to the top of the trusses, I think it would be better since you would put the load on the top of the truss where it was designed to be. Just my two cents.

matt_i · Oct 31, 2015

Looks good. May have to do some hand dressing of the joint between the sections as the wheels are pretty small diameter and may not want to roll over a little inconsistency when loaded.

sbosecker · Oct 31, 2015

crooklyn said:
Mostly just stored items on/off the mezzanine, like a table saw, miter saw w/ stands and tires.
Also for lifting the front or back end of quad and sxs.
The load bearing of the struts for the 2 ft is over 1000lbs and the strength of the nuts are 1500lbs. My max lift of the electric hoist is 440lb.

Crooklyn,

May I ask what your plan is for the electrical part of this setup?

In my current build I just decided to put in a beam with an electric hoist. I'm trying to figure out how to handle power to a hoist that can move 15 feet horizontally. The big boys use some sort of festoon system but I'm trying to see what other approaches there are to this issue.

Best regards,

Scott

crooklyn · Oct 31, 2015

matt_i said:
Looks good. May have to do some hand dressing of the joint between the sections as the wheels are pretty small diameter and may not want to roll over a little inconsistency when loaded.

Thanks I was wondering about that. The trolley won't be in for another week. Hoping it makes the transition on the weld. I welded on the outside and kept it clamped straight. I hope anyways

crooklyn · Oct 31, 2015

sbosecker said:
Crooklyn,

May I ask what your plan is for the electrical part of this setup?

In my current build I just decided to put in a beam with an electric hoist. I'm trying to figure out how to handle power to a hoist that can move 15 feet horizontally. The big boys use some sort of festoon system but I'm trying to see what other approaches there are to this issue.

Best regards,

Scott

I have power plug in right in the middle almost so if it hangs a bit it should reach both ends. I also heard of ppl using closet door tracks to attach the power cords to.

dfiler2 · Oct 31, 2015

I've also seen where a cable is used a few inches to the side of the track then tightened with a turnbuckle at the end. The cord is then zip tied every couple of feet to shower hooks, that gives you a 1 foot loop. We used to have one at a place I worked and it worked well.

Although you would want the outlet at one end I would think.

rkevins · Oct 31, 2015

dfiler2 said:
I've also seen where a cable is used a few inches to the side of the track then tightened with a turnbuckle at the end. The cord is then zip tied every couple of feet to shower hooks, that gives you a 1 foot loop.
I use a similar system to this for lights in my shop but I have small pulleys strung on the cable and the wire zip tied to the eyes of the pulleys

kelpaso1 · Nov 1, 2015

sbosecker said:
Crooklyn,

May I ask what your plan is for the electrical part of this setup?

In my current build I just decided to put in a beam with an electric hoist. I'm trying to figure out how to handle power to a hoist that can move 15 feet horizontally. The big boys use some sort of festoon system but I'm trying to see what other approaches there are to this issue.

Best regards,

Scott

I used some "Key-Bak" 1lb retractable key rings on my set up.

kelpaso1 · Nov 1, 2015

Sorry for the upsidedown pics.

jabberwoki · Nov 1, 2015

Love it , I`ve been contemplating one of those for a while now.

tarmy · Nov 1, 2015

View attachment 491963
Mine is a bit heavier duty...but the idea is the same. I use mine all the time to load and unload pick up, lift my waverunners off the trailer to the dolly...etc.

Note my power cord set up. Used closet track to allow it to ttavel the length of the 20' beam...

tarmy · Nov 1, 2015

View attachment 491967
This one shows the track set up a little better.

akdiesel · Nov 1, 2015

crooklyn

Nice build. As for your lifting capacity, that 440# seems to be conservative. Good choice.
The electric hoists you are looking at are a nice inexpensive choice. I have two on my jib cranes. They need a good bracket design to centralize it on the beam so that you can still move the load easily on the track. Also I found they have a bad ****** and Jeff effect which can create more of a load on your beam system so I went to the 2:1 set up the minimize the jerking effect.

metaldad · Nov 1, 2015

crooklyn said:
Mostly just stored items on/off the mezzanine, like a table saw, miter saw w/ stands and tires.
Also for lifting the front or back end of quad and sxs.
The load bearing of the struts for the 2 ft is over 1000lbs and the strength of the nuts are 1500lbs. My max lift of the electric hoist is 440lb.

nice build, looks like the way you hung it, it is capable of hoisting a tank.
i assume you are going to use unistrut trolleys?
be very careful in your selection. they seem to range in the 100# to 600# max., with most at 100#.
that weight capacity will include your hoist/chainfall/comealong.

padroo · Nov 1, 2015

I have worked with many festoon system in the mill. They make a flat wire and I would use a 12/3 for your application. Like others have said, stretch a small diameter cable off to one side and small eyebolts attache to a small piece of flat stock wire tied to the wire and it will give you no trouble. I like what you have done, looks great.

https://www.menards.com/main/tools-...tener-accessories/bolts/eye-bolts/c-19668.htm

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct...7PBLmaeVxVg80_6EaI4HNq8g&ust=1446511437385926

crooklyn · Nov 1, 2015

akdiesel said:
crooklyn

Nice build. As for your lifting capacity, that 440# seems to be conservative. Good choice.
The electric hoists you are looking at are a nice inexpensive choice. I have two on my jib cranes. They need a good bracket design to centralize it on the beam so that you can still move the load easily on the track. Also I found they have a bad ****** and Jeff effect which can create more of a load on your beam system so I went to the 2:1 set up the minimize the jerking effect.

Thanks akdiesel

The hoist I have is from Princes Auto 440/880lb rating, i really don't want to lift more then 400lbs.
I'm not familiar with 2:1 setup, could you please explain?

metaldad said:
nice build, looks like the way you hung it, it is capable of hoisting a tank.
i assume you are going to use unistrut trolleys?
be very careful in your selection. they seem to range in the 100# to 600# max., with most at 100#.
that weight capacity will include your hoist/chainfall/comealong.

You bet

I'm going to be use 2 Trolley's made by Thomas and Betts and they are rated for 500lbs each, which i'm hoping will be easier to handle to hoist and load evenly.

akdiesel · Nov 1, 2015

crooklyn

The 2:1 mechanical advantage is simply running the cable back to itself. They usually come with a pulley and a spare hook to do this with these hoists. There is a hole on the side of the hoist frame that accepts the main hook to attach to. This gives you the 880 # rating. Not that you will be lifting that much it just makes the hoist a bit more manageable.
As for your choice in trollies. Those are the ones found on a lot on Ebay. They are ok but not as smooth as the Unistrut ones. Unistruts single trolly like the one you have on the left is only rated for approx 400# static load (not traveling) so those you show there I feel are over rated. The triple trolley from Unistrut is rated at 600# static. There is a safety factor in these but I am not sure if it is a 3-1 or a 5-1 factor.
Here is a link to Unistrut's literature on there trollies.
http://www.unistrut.us/E-document/Trolley_Systems/#?page=2

My hoist track and trolley setup

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