Garage hoist

[Scott3236]

I'm wanting to put an electric hoist in my garage in the future to help me with projects (I'm a quadriplegic in a power chair) most things it will lift probably won't be terribly heavy more for the convenience of not having to ask and wait for help. But I do want it to be sturdy enough for its rated capacity that is 440lbs my garage is 24ft wide 2x4 construction I don't trust the rafters by themselves but I don't want a post in the middle of my garage either it would be in the way

Can I beef up one of my rafters and be ok? Would be nice for it to be a little Mobile like to slide side to side

 

[valentine]

Scott, I'm guessing that you have a Truss Framed Roof if it's 24' wide and it's put together with 2x4 lumber. If that's the case, the Truss wasn't engineered to take the kind of load you want to put on it. I'd search for other options.

-Valentine

 

[Trick414]

Scott,

I'm working through a similar situation as I design my new house/garage.

I've also worked through it in my last garage.

Simply hire a structural engineer to check it out for you.

It's a few hundred bucks and they will tell you EXACTLY what to put up there.

It can be as simple as a certain size LVL beam with some 2x4 supports in the wall cavities.

I don't know your exact setup in your garage, but I bet you can get it done for less than a thousand bucks.

 

[Scott3236]

That's why I'm wondering if I can beef up the truss with 2x6s on either side Or if I can make a gantry of sorts that would sit between the rafters so I don't lose head room but idk what I would need to stretch the whole 24ft and be able to hold the weight

 

[Scott3236]

Worst case I'll make a gantry crane for outside. Only limits me to summer and fall for work but I'm on a very tight budget

 

[rlitman]

Scott,

I'm working through a similar situation as I design my new house/garage.

I've also worked through it in my last garage.

Simply hire a structural engineer to check it out for you.

It's a few hundred bucks and they will tell you EXACTLY what to put up there.

It can be as simple as a certain size LVL beam with some 2x4 supports in the wall cavities.

I don't know your exact setup in your garage, but I bet you can get it done for less than a thousand bucks.

Just a thought, but suppliers of LVL beams will often provide some free engineering. Since it only applies to their product, they expect that it will lead to a purchase.

 

[Trick414]

I hired a structural engineer to stop by the house and answer that exact question.

He charged me about 300 dollars and drew up a plan that included EXACTLY what I needed to do.

I put in the LVL and 2x4's to spec, and stopped worrying. It cost me about 600 bucks at the end.

Again, I don't know your exact situation, but having the engineer work it for me was nice. I could have eyeballed it and would have over-built it just in case, but it was money well spent.

 

[Trick414]

Just a thought, but suppliers of LVL beams will often provide some free engineering. Since it only applies to their product, they expect that it will lead to a purchase.

Oh yeah, I forgot that part!

I didn't know it at the time, so I just called out a structural engineer.

But yeah, I bet it can be done at a good lumber place.

 

[Scott3236]

not best pic old but u can see rafters

 

[Trick414]

I'd head up to the local building supply place (not the big box stores) with that pic and/or plans and tell them what you want.

Like rlitman mentioned, those guys will do it for free usually.

A couple of appropriate LVL's or whatever cant be but a couple of hundred dollars.

That would CERTAINLY be better than relying on some dorks on the internet to tell you to hang X amount of pounds off your 2x4 "rafters".

 

[kelpaso1]

Here's my set up.







Two 10 foot 4X4's laying across 10 rafters, and unistrut with trolleys to mount the hoist. Rolls back and forth easily with a 500 lb load. I have lifted a 850 lb polaris atv and not even a creak from the rafters.

Ok the safety nazis can now flame away

 

[bczygan]

First, let's get our terms right.

You have trusses.

Second, what do you want for location.

Is a fixed location OK?

Or do you want it to move on a rail?

Or do you want it to move on a rail and that rail to move on 2 rails, so either part of, or the entire garage can be accessed by it?

In any case, I would not count on any of the existing trusses for support, without reinforcing them. This would also require you to find out their existing capacities.

In any case, the right combination of beam or beams can accomplish what you want.

Bill

 

[carhunter]

Here's my set up.







Two 10 foot 4X4's laying across 10 rafters, and unistrut with trolleys to mount the hoist. Rolls back and forth easily with a 500 lb load. I have lifted a 850 lb polaris atv and not even a creak from the rafters.

Ok the safety nazis can now flame away

Was going to suggest something similar, except my setup uses a barn door track and rollers from tractor supply. I purchased the setup used and previous owner came up with the idea.

I "temporarily" installed it between 2 trusses a couple years ago just to get stuff up into my barn mezzanine. The track is screwed to about a dozen pieces of angle iron that span the two trusses. Meant to weld it up later and never got back to it. Its on my punch list for the building LOL.

If you think about it, 500lbs is just two of me standing on the bottom chord...so it doesn't seem too extreme.

 

[rlitman]

Here's my set up.

I love the KeyBaks holding the wires!

My own hoist is pneumatic, so I use a coil air hose which is wrapped around a bar that runs parallel to the track.

 

[kelpaso1]

I love the KeyBaks holding the wires!

My own hoist is pneumatic, so I use a coil air hose which is wrapped around a bar that runs parallel to the track.

Ya they work great. No long cords hanging down.

 

[Scott3236]

I wish my rafters ran the other way cause I'd like it to be on a track that could go side to side in my garage. But even in a fixed position I could live with I've been told if I span my rafters with a beam it would hold just fine. I just don't trust those little connection plates ( whatever you call them) holding my rafters or trusses together. Least not trust them that much that's why I was thinking of sandwiching my rafter or truss with 2x6 on either side

 

[BD1]

From working on truss constructed buildings, we always had to hang pipe from the '' TOP '' chord which is the slanted part of the roof truss, a roof rafter. The bottom of the truss is the weakest point.
If you do as you suggest , a option would be to add stiffs legs on either side of the lift temporarily . A pipe with a screw jack would work. It would go from floor to bottom of the truss using the screw part to tighten between them.

 

[rlitman]

I wish my rafters ran the other way cause I'd like it to be on a track that could go side to side in my garage. But even in a fixed position I could live with I've been told if I span my rafters with a beam it would hold just fine. I just don't trust those little connection plates ( whatever you call them) holding my rafters or trusses together. Least not trust them that much that's why I was thinking of sandwiching my rafter or truss with 2x6 on either side

No, the bottom chords of a truss held together by plates cannot support a hoist.

Sounds like what you want is an I beam, and not an LVL. This needs an engineer involved. BUT the advantage to an I beam is you can hang a beam trolley from it, and hang your hoist from that, making it a fixed gantry crane.