Ceiling mounted garage hoist

[zendriver]

Maybe this is an FAQ. I really didn’t find much by searching

I found a pickup bed Dolly, to do the rust work, but it sits high.. right right now. I’ve been lifting it with an engine hoist, but it’s gonna take a bunch of goofing around to get it up high enough to sit on the dolly.

I think I’d like to just set up an electric hoist that has a capacity between maybe 500 and 1000 pounds which the bed is about 500 lbs I have a three car garage with 8 foot ceiling with the usual standard wood truss I doubt that I will be lifting much more than the truck bed with it

Doable? Thanks.

 

[Skiff Builder]

I'd make up 2 post w/trimmer temp studs ( like used for a window header). A couple clamps to hold them to truss cord when lifting. Put em away when done. Maybe a 8' 2x across four of the truss cords also.

 

[jack stand]

It sounds like the trusses are open to above? (no ceiling on the bottom chord)
You could sneak 2-3 2×8-10's up there spanning 4-5 trusses making a temporary light header and place posts near the ends. It's probably smart to try to stay near the 500# range.

 

[BurtEggley]

for temporary use, we used to put a pair of 4x4's with a 4x4 header on them up to a truss, then just tie the header to the truss with a rope or strap. Put the vertical 4x4's up with a level. throw a chain around the truss and header. The truss holds the 4x4's from falling over, and the 4x4's and header carries the load. I have used a 2x10 across five or six trusses to do the same but was always nervous about it because trusses are 2x4's and often cracking with age, heat and drying out. I did have one car garage in San Diego that was trussed with 2 x 10's and a 3/4 plywood loft on it. Used it all the time with a lift. 3 car garage is pretty wide unless there are posts or walls for each bay.

 

[andyvh1959]

In my shop I boxed in both sides of one truss with 3/4" plywood, to which the hoist hooked onto a large bolt through steel plates on each side of the lower chord of the truss. From each steel plate I have 1/4" steel cable in tension (with turnbuckles) to the top chord of each next truss from the one I boxed in. The boxed truss and the cables in tension to the other two trusses triangulate and share the load of the hoist.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Pulled many small block engines as a teenager using an old driveshaft spanning lower truss members. At one time I planted two sections of utility pole in the ground and lag bolted a 2x4x1/4 wall tubing on edge across the top of them for lifting various items. Cheap, easy, and worked great.

 

[finn]

Maybe buy a gantry crane? Probably won’t find one to fit under an 8’ ceiling, though…

Failing that, I’d do a couple of 4x4s propping up another (horizontal) 4x4 slung over the bottom cord of the trusses. Done right, there shouldn’t be any load on the trusses, and you could add temporary 2x4 blocking at the top to stabilize things.

That said, before I had a lift, I just used my engine hoist and corner to corner diagonal ratchet straps to lift beds. Seems like I was doing one or more per year for a while.

Don’t use the cheapest orange HF straps you can find though.

 

[Wrench97]

Many years ago I cut a section of the garage attic floor and put a pipe across the joists to hold the chain hoist.
I then used 4 4x4's between the bottom of the joists and the garage floor used it several times to pull engines and pick up beds.

 

[CraigStu]

I used a 4x4 across 3 trusses to pull a 500# engine several times. But my 4x4 was across the trusses where the diagonal closest to the wall joined the truss base. I got a 6" or 7" eye bolt and ran it up through the ceiling drywall and through the 4x4 and hooked my come-a-long to the eye.

If you need to be further from the end, or will be going over the 500#, I really like the vertical 4x4s jammed under the truss. You could screw a 6x6inch piece of plywood to the ceiling at the proper spot so you always know you are actually supporting the horizontal 4x4. Stick the top of the 4x4 centered under the plywood and kick the bottom along the concrete floor to get it vertical.

 

[finn]

I used a 4x4 across 3 trusses to pull a 500# engine several times. But my 4x4 was across the trusses where the diagonal closest to the wall joined the truss base. I got a 6" or 7" eye bolt and ran it up through the ceiling drywall and through the 4x4 and hooked my come-a-long to the eye.

If you need to be further from the end, or will be going over the 500#, I really like the vertical 4x4s jammed under the truss. You could screw a 6x6inch piece of plywood to the ceiling at the proper spot so you always know you are actually supporting the horizontal 4x4. Stick the top of the 4x4 centered under the plywood and kick the bottom along the concrete floor to get it vertical.

Could probably use commercially available lolly posts with screw plates on the end even, rather than messing with 4x4s and shims.

 

[CraigStu]

Absolutely, the screw plate posts would be a great way to go. Just more expensive so it may depend on how often the OP would be using them.

 

[wssix99]

I'd buy a 4 post lift. Use it to lift from underneath the deck, don't worry about the ceiling and then you have a lift when you are done that will get your vehicles at least 3 feet off the ground when you need to do work on them.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I used a couple of 4x4 posts with a small bottle jack under each one as additional support in my old shop under the hoist rail when I wanted to pick up something heavier than usual located between them. Normally I kept things to less than 1,000 lbs, but loaded out a 1,500 lb punch press onto a trailer like this for added peace of mind.

 

[driftpin]

Some threads which may be of interest:

PSA:Be careful with homemade elevators and materials lifts!

Hello all! Just a heads up: I built a new 2 story garage 4 years ago. Sixteen foot ceiling with a storage loft on top. i wanted a materialist to store stuff in the loft. After looking through here and all over the internet, I made a 4’x6’ platform lift using a harbor freight 2000# hoist. Added a...

www.garagejournal.com

A motorcycle pulley winch, cable lift system?

In the past I have attached nylon tie downs or chains to a car lift post, then attach to a motorcycle frame to lift it up. This makes it easy to work on certain things like fork seals, removing wheels etc. Obviously the gas tank usually needs to be removed to have better access to the frame...

www.garagejournal.com

Second story lift/crane?

I was very limited as to height in the loft I had as part of a home remodel, I would have liked to make a full-height second story as part of the garage, but it wasn't in the budget. An I-beam & a trolley would take too-much limited headroom so this is what I came-up with. I didn't have room...

www.garagejournal.com

shop hoist

I have a loft above my two-car garage. I needed to improvise a way to get heavy things up there safely. This is what I came-up with. It's a 1-ton rated cherry-picker adapted to sit in a floor joist bay on a 'shoebox' of welded 3/8" steel, on a swivel pedestal. The arm is adjustable for reach...

www.garagejournal.com

This last thread has good pictures about the steel framework and foundation support for what I made.


The pic above was just an 'up/down' quick lift to show the capability of the design. Realistically, my needs are <500 lbs, and the Jib crane is 2000 lbs as is the electric hoist rating. Adding roller bearings to the vertical jib hoist member made it operate much more smoothly.

In the other peoples' comments, I like the added insurance of lally columns on either side of the hoist, supporting the added load, along w/a large structural member spanning several trusses in either direction.

 

[ddurrett896]

This is what I did with a harbor freight hoist

 

[pfbz]

I used a relatively inexpensive HF electric hoist to lift/store my dirt bikes in my previous garage... I used a piece of super strut to span trusses and distribute the load (mounted below the trusses and through sheet rock, lag bolted into the trusses), worked perfectly.