How do I setup a trolly for a hoist?

[Spta97]

I have a tiny one car garage with fairly high ceilings. I wanted to save space in my shed by storing my off season mounted tires in a tire rack.

I have the tire rack installed 8-12' in the air. My heaviest set of rims / tires are 88 lbs each.

I got a manual winch to lift them which works until I get them to the rack - I need to move them to the rack. Not fun on a ladder


So now I want to get a powered winch but mount it on a trolly so I can lift then move to the final position.

This will be used 2x per year (November and April).

What is the most cost effective way to setup the trolly system? The winch I'm looking at seems to mount to square or round pipe. I need to mount it so it can slide.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I can include pics if that will help.

Ps: I have zero width to do a floor mounted bar like I have seen in some threads.

Thanks!

 

[BD1]

I know there are some post on this. Least expensive would be 3 1/4'' deep unistrut and rollers that fit inside. I did this for a friend. He has the harbor freight hoist so I made brackets to bolt to the rollers.

http://www.unistrutohio.com/products/p5000/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KN9UA0S/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[tstaude]

What about a trolley for a sliding pole shed door?

http://www.menards.com/main/buildin...448474659-c-5718.htm?tid=-3117072796775113522

 

[bob15]

Have you looked into unistrut trolley systems? Amazon sells the trollies......

http://www.unistrut.us/index.php?WP=show&GRP=Trolley

http://www.unistrutohio.com/techtalk/unistrut-trolley-system-offers-support-to-varying-load-capacities/

 

[KenB]

Barn door track should be fine for this. Where I live, I'd buy it at Tractor Supply. No idea where you live, though.


Ken

 

[Git]

Lowes carries "super strut" same thing as unistrut. I am sure Home Depot has basically the same thing

McMaster Carr has a nice selection of trolleys that are more reasonably priced (that is where I got mine)

http://www.mcmaster.com/#strut-channel-trolleys/=121hc88

 

[Spta97]

Awesome ideas guys - thank you.

A couple questions:

- would barn door tracks be cheaper than unistrut? My nearest tractor supply is 3 hrs away but have hd / lowes down the street


- how do I atttach the hoist to the rollers? I don't have a welder so I can't work much with metal.

I was looking at this hoist, but the HF one looks like it will do the job:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0...ords=hoist&dpPl=1&dpID=41oHPmX1tvL&ref=plSrch

 

[BD1]

'' how do I atttach the hoist to the rollers? I don't have a welder so I can't work much with metal.

I was looking at this hoist, but the HF one looks like it will do the job:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00...tvL&ref=plSrch

Your posted one looks like the same as HF. If you get the unistrut trolley I
posted you maybe able to drill the supplied brackets with hoist. If those are not adaptable just measure what dimension of angle you'll need to bolt to hoist and bolt to trolley.

 

[matt_i]

I would get the 12 gage strut channel.

 

[Spta97]

'' how do I atttach the hoist to the rollers? I don't have a welder so I can't work much with metal.

I was looking at this hoist, but the HF one looks like it will do the job:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00...tvL&ref=plSrch

Your posted one looks like the same as HF. If you get the unistrut trolley I
posted you maybe able to drill the supplied brackets with hoist. If those are not adaptable just measure what dimension of angle you'll need to bolt to hoist and bolt to trolley.

Forgive the questions as I am new to this. With the ones you posted I would need one for each hoist mounting bracket?

Then, I would get a piece of angle iron and attach the hoist brakets to that. Then I drill a hole in the angle and run bolts though each trolley?

 

[Schurkey]

I'd buy a twelve-pack, and have a neighbor with his own ladder help me. 88 pound tire/wheel, two guys...piece of cake.

 

[FordTruckWench]

Forgive the questions as I am new to this. With the ones you posted I would need one for each hoist mounting bracket?

Neighbor had a setup like this - Unistrut and trolley with a HF electric hoist. I forget how the hoist was attached to the trolley, but there was only one trolley.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

My hand pull hoist lifts 600 lb engines without me even trying , and I don't have to worry about HF internals dropping something on my toe.

 

[Spta97]

My hand pull hoist lifts 600 lb engines without me even trying , and I don't have to worry about HF internals dropping something on my toe.

The manual winch I have now can't be mounted high enough because of the handle. The powered winch will also allow me to guide the tire past a truss / support member while lifting.

 

[Spta97]

Neighbor had a setup like this - Unistrut and trolley with a HF electric hoist. I forget how the hoist was attached to the trolley, but there was only one trolley.

I'm trying to picture how to mount this. Im having a hard time envisioning the angle iron.

I'm going to go to hd during lunch to see if I can find the unistrut. I fear I will be faced with blank stares if I ask. Most stores here hire cheap labor who know nothing about the products they sell.

 

[Spta97]

Lowes carries "super strut" same thing as unistrut. I am sure Home Depot has basically the same thing

McMaster Carr has a nice selection of trolleys that are more reasonably priced (that is where I got mine)

http://www.mcmaster.com/#strut-channel-trolleys/=121hc88

Thanks for the link. $40 on Amazon is a lot.

Is the unistrut a standard size that only fits one wheel / trolley size?

 

[WAPat]

I'm trying to picture how to mount this. Im having a hard time envisioning the angle iron.

I'm going to go to hd during lunch to see if I can find the unistrut. I fear I will be faced with blank stares if I ask. Most stores here hire cheap labor who know nothing about the products they sell.

At HD the strut will be in the electrical section. Their website will tell you the aisle and bay location.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Superstrut-1-5-8-in-x-10-ft-Metal-Framing-Channel-ZA1200HS-10/100125003

 

[rlitman]

I'm going to go to hd during lunch to see if I can find the unistrut. I fear I will be faced with blank stares if I ask. Most stores here hire cheap labor who know nothing about the products they sell.

Its in the electrical section next to the conduit. It's known as Kindorf strut.
The square section should be fine for lifting tires. The narrow section stuff is not, but also will not fit a trolley.

Note that trolleys will fit the channel, but may get stuck on bolt heads that you use to attach the channel. Look in the hardware aisle at the Spax lag screws with button heads (it's a large head that does not require a washer, uses a torx in the middle and sits very flat). These will work better with a trolley than normal lags and washers (personal experience talking here).

Thanks for the link. $40 on Amazon is a lot.

Is the unistrut a standard size that only fits one wheel / trolley size?

My understanding is that these are all compatible in size.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strut_channel

That's NOT a lot of money for a trolley. McMaster wants $25 for the same one, but you need to add on shipping.

However, the three hole trolley is not a good match for the HF hoist. It IS a good match for a hoist with a hook attachment on top (what I use).

The HF hoist has square mounting brackets that would bolt nicely to a pair of the one hole trolleys, BUT I need to give a strong warning here. The loading on the trolley will be way off-center with the HF hoist, and so even if you use two trolley's you can expect your safe capacity to be no greater than the rated capacity of ONE. i.e. around 100 lbs.

edit: another note regarding the HF hoist. If you use it in a single-line pull, the wire will pull from one side of the spool, so the balance point will be off axis. If you use it in a double-line pull, the balance point will be closer to on axis. It is VERY important that you only pull vertically with this type of strut. Otherwise you may compromise its strength.

 

[Spta97]

Its in the electrical section next to the conduit. It's known as Kindorf strut.
The square section should be fine for lifting tires. The narrow section stuff is not, but also will not fit a trolley.

Note that trolleys will fit the channel, but may get stuck on bolt heads that you use to attach the channel. Look in the hardware aisle at the Spax lag screws with button heads (it's a large head that does not require a washer, uses a torx in the middle and sits very flat). These will work better with a trolley than normal lags and washers (personal experience talking here).



My understanding is that these are all compatible in size.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strut_channel

That's NOT a lot of money for a trolley. McMaster wants $25 for the same one, but you need to add on shipping.

However, the three hole trolley is not a good match for the HF hoist. It IS a good match for a hoist with a hook attachment on top (what I use).

The HF hoist has square mounting brackets that would bolt nicely to a pair of the one hole trolleys, BUT I need to give a strong warning here. The loading on the trolley will be way off-center with the HF hoist, and so even if you use two trolley's you can expect your safe capacity to be no greater than the rated capacity of ONE. i.e. around 100 lbs.

edit: another note regarding the HF hoist. If you use it in a single-line pull, the wire will pull from one side of the spool, so the balance point will be off axis. If you use it in a double-line pull, the balance point will be closer to on axis. It is VERY important that you only pull vertically with this type of strut. Otherwise you may compromise its strength.

This is very helpful - thank you. I got the unistrut 12 ga and already have the construction "screws" (wood pro brand).

I have to take a closer look at the HF vs the amazon hoist. The Amazon one has square brackets that mount to a rod / pipe. I would like to get the mount correct as even though 100 lbs is over my max I have to take into account if something slips or fails and the stress on the parts.

What do people do to stop the trolley from falling out the end? A long bolt or something more fancy?

Oh, and what screw schedule should I use? Every 16"?

And what hoist do you have?

Thanks!

 

[rlitman]

I used to have an HF hoist. But I welded a custom trolley to get around these issues.

My biggest problem with electric hoists is that they are on or off, so the motion is very herky jerky. Not really an issue for tires, but it's an issue with a 500lb load. Right now I use a pneumatic chain hoist. It's variable speed and chain has other advantages too.

 

[Rockcam]

I put a hoist in my garage to lift things like out of season power equipment, bulky stuff, etc into my loft.

It has made a huge difference in how I use a the garage.

Check it out here:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=178846&highlight=michigan+tandem

 

[Spta97]

I put a hoist in my garage to lift things like out of season power equipment, bulky stuff, etc into my loft.

It has made a huge difference in how I use a the garage.

Check it out here:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=178846&highlight=michigan+tandem

Firstly, that garage is AWESOME!!! I'm green with jealousy

Secondly, the attachment you made is exactly what I need. Can you let me know the exact parts you used? Like the size of the tubing and bolts? And how is drilling though it?

If one day I get the extra funds I would like to have a loft built in my garage and use the lift for storing Xmas decorations and seasonal stuff (including my tires).

Thanks!

 

[Rockcam]

Thanks.

I'm traveling and don't have the component info with me, but here's how to find it.

So I downloaded the unistrut online catalog for material handling, which has all the parts you need. I bought a single 20' stick of Unistrut to eliminate the seam, from a local electrical supplier. The other components were bought online, including eBay.

With that fine Harbor Freight hoist, I took the inside dimension of the mounting brackets, less the Unistrut trolley bracket, and divided by two to get the tubing width. Height was also determined by allowable space inside the mounting brackets.

Drilling was no big deal, but I did clamp them together to be sure holes were aligned between the two pieces.

Hope that helps!

 

[Spta97]

Thanks.

I'm traveling and don't have the component info with me, but here's how to find it.

So I downloaded the unistrut online catalog for material handling, which has all the parts you need. I bought a single 20' stick of Unistrut to eliminate the seam, from a local electrical supplier. The other components were bought online, including eBay.

With that fine Harbor Freight hoist, I took the inside dimension of the mounting brackets, less the Unistrut trolley bracket, and divided by two to get the tubing width. Height was also determined by allowable space inside the mounting brackets.

Drilling was no big deal, but I did clamp them together to be sure holes were aligned between the two pieces.

Hope that helps!

Yes, thank you. I'll take a look at the catalog and I'll likely get the HF hoist. Though the amazon one has good reviews but appears to be the same.

If you have any more info once you get back I'm all ears

 

[rlitman]

Firstly, that garage is AWESOME!!! I'm green with jealousy



Secondly, the attachment you made is exactly what I need. Can you let me know the exact parts you used? Like the size of the tubing and bolts? And how is drilling though it?



If one day I get the extra funds I would like to have a loft built in my garage and use the lift for storing Xmas decorations and seasonal stuff (including my tires).



Thanks!

My trolley is also mostly used to get things into and out of my loft. The snowblower is one big thing, but the 80 gallon compressor was a heavy lift too (one that got me in a pickle when my HF hoist got stuck mid-lift).

IIRC, the HF hoist brackets should fit a piece of unistrut, so I think you can use a piece instead of square tubing. I like that trolley design A LOT. Just use it with double line lifting. With single line, the hoist may tilt and get dangerous (you must balance the weight across both sides of the trolley's wheels, or else there is a tendency to spread the unistrut; that is BAD).

 

[nadogail]

My hand pull hoist lifts 600 lb engines without me even trying , and I don't have to worry about HF internals dropping something on my toe.

At the risk of sounding like a "Wise ***", keep your toes out from under a suspended load.

 

[Spta97]

My trolley is also mostly used to get things into and out of my loft. The snowblower is one big thing, but the 80 gallon compressor was a heavy lift too (one that got me in a pickle when my HF hoist got stuck mid-lift).

IIRC, the HF hoist brackets should fit a piece of unistrut, so I think you can use a piece instead of square tubing. I like that trolley design A LOT. Just use it with double line lifting. With single line, the hoist may tilt and get dangerous (you must balance the weight across both sides of the trolley's wheels, or else there is a tendency to spread the unistrut; that is BAD).

If I were to use unistrut, what type of trolly would work? In the above link the trolley is sandwiched between the two pieces of pipe. Are you suggesting to use the unistrut with the open part up?

Good looking out on the balance. I will likely do the double line lift to slow it down. Some people complained it was too fast to be stable with one line.

How did you get the compressor down?!?

 

[rlitman]

If I were to use unistrut, what type of trolly would work? In the above link the trolley is sandwiched between the two pieces of pipe. Are you suggesting to use the unistrut with the open part up?

Good looking out on the balance. I will likely do the double line lift to slow it down. Some people complained it was too fast to be stable with one line.

How did you get the compressor down?!?

Unistrut on the ceiling with the open side facing down for the trolley to ride in. Unistrut attached to the hoist by the clips with the slot facing up. Then drill the sides of the unistrut on the hoist and run grade 8 bolts through it to attach to the trolleys (a pair of the 6-wheel ones linked above would work for this).

Yeah, the balance is also learned from experience (thankfully no failures).
Another option would be to use a piece of round pipe in the clips on the hoist. It could allow for a little rotation of the hoist to compensate for the pull point.
You could use a piece of schedule 80 black pipe, and use an angle grinder and a cutting disc to cut a slot for the trolley.

Ah, the compressor. Yeah. that was kind of funny. I used the hoist to lower the vertical tank to the ground (I had already lifted the pump and motor separately). Then got straps on the tank and lifted it horizontally (due to limited vertical clearance). I got it all the way up, and rolled the trolley over the deck. Then it wouldn't go back down. It was sitting just inches above the deck.

You'd click the button on the pendant, and the motor would hum, but the cable wouldn't move. I tried sitting on the tank and bouncing, in the hopes of freeing up whatever was stuck in the gearbox (picture the scene from Dr. Strangelove where the pilot is riding the bomb). Eventually it decided to lower. The next day I bought a new hoist from HF. That old one is still pretty unreliable (I put it under the deck to use for other purposes, but it's never worked right since). It was an 880lb hoist, and the 80 gallon tank is no more than 200lbs, so I have no idea what went wrong...

Here's a suggestion though. Have an extra trolley in your track. You can always slide it up to the hoist, hook on a manual chain hoist (that was my ICE plan) or other lifting device on it, and use it to take the weight off the hoist. I still have the (new) HF hoist on my trolley, but I keep it out of the way at the end of the track. The other trolley now has my pneumatic hoist on it, and two extra holes that I could hook up to my chain hoist if needed.

 

[rlitman]

At the risk of sounding like a "Wise ***", keep your toes out from under a suspended load.

Totally agreed. Still, I don't think the HF hoist is likely to free spin or suddenly drop. It's not a winch. However, if a trolley or the track were to fail, you might have the load AND the hoist come crashing down. That would not be fun.

The nice thing about a manual chain hoist is that it is SO controllable. You can move things a fraction of an inch with absolute precision, or lift ridiculous loads with minimal effort.

The bad thing about a manual chain hoist is it's SO SLOW. It takes about 5 minutes of spinning the chain to lower my snowblower from my loft. Or 15 seconds on the pneumatic hoist. Also, you need to be within reach of the hand chain to move it. Without a pendant control, a 1-man operation now requires 2. Finally, when the load gets close to the hoist, you've got to work to keep the hand chain from dragging all over it.

Chain also has the advantage in that you don't have to worry about carefully spooling it. When you cross over the cable in the spool, you start to get broken strands and damage. Though I'm not sure if tires have enough weight to cause any issues in this way.

 

[BD1]

Here's one I did for a friend. I used a welder but you could drill and bolt it.

 

[BD1]

Another view, I used the DEEP unistrut 1 5/8 x 3 1/4'' tall. works great. Sorry for the delay in posting.

 

[Spta97]

Thanks for the pics. I went back to hd and didn't see any rectangle box iron. I did see 3/8" steel plate that I might be able to use if I can drill though it.

I ended up ordering g the trolleys from McMaster Car as it was cheapest.

Here is my new dilemma. I have a support beam directly under the main truss (?) at the peak of the roof line. This will get in my way.

I can move it down the roof line a few feet and still be high enough but how do I mount it on the slanted joists while keep the unistrut parrallel with the ground?

My other option is to mount at the peak and guide the tire past the support beam. Not ideal.

Any thoughts?

 

[kelpaso1]

Here's one I did for a friend. I used a welder but you could drill and bolt it.

That's pretty much exactly how I made my brackets.

 

[aka Larry]

Not to hijack your thread, but a trolley and hoist would certainly help me with my tires. The 15" wheels I can lift no problem, but the 18" wheels are too heavy for me.

How would the side loading work since I'd have to have the hoist over to the side and then need to 'swing' the tire onto the rack? Here's a pic of my setup:

 

[Spta97]

Not to hijack your thread, but a trolley and hoist would certainly help me with my tires. The 15" wheels I can lift no problem, but the 18" wheels are too heavy for me.

How would the side loading work since I'd have to have the hoist over to the side and then need to 'swing' the tire onto the rack? Here's a pic of my setup:

Swing arm maybe?

 

[Spta97]

Ok looking for more help. As mentioned in my prior post, I was planning on mounting the strut to the top most truss (?) at the peak of the ceiling. Unfortunately, there is another support beam directly below it.

The best solution I can think of is to nail 2x6 supports going from rafter to rafter. Then, screw / lag a 2x10 underneath them off center so I clear the lower support beam.

I would then attach the unistrut to the 2x10.

The problem with this approach is it is a lot more effort and materials than originally planned. Also, the unistrut would only be attached by 1.5" of wood rather than the entire 2x6. Or do I even need the 2x10 and can I lag it to the new supports?

Or, I can push the tire off center as I'm lifting to clear the lower support.

I'm open to ideas. Here are some pics to add to my description. Note the failed winch idea that is still there (can't mount it high enough and need to swing the tire over to the rack (33" diameter, 88lbs).

 

[Rockcam]

Spta: I mounted mine off the side of a gluelam beam on one half, and off 2x6 where I have trusses. I did not use the collar ties for this as I wasn't sure what load they can handle.

You may have seen this in my build, but Unistrut makes hangers than allow pivoting, which may work for you.

Pictures of your garage would help us help you.

 

[Rockcam]

Wow - that was like magic - as soon as I posted the above, the pics appeared!

 

[Spta97]

Tada! I figured pics would help.

The 2x6 rafters I'm guessing are 24" oc. Would every two feet be enough to support the weight?

I'll have to take a look at the mounts you referenced but I did see an older thread that said they only swivel 15 degrees in ach direction which would not be enough to overcome the pitch of the roof.

 

[Spta97]

Another view, I used the DEEP unistrut 1 5/8 x 3 1/4'' tall. works great. Sorry for the delay in posting.

Thanks BD1. This gives me another option.