I have the trolley from McMaster Carr. I believe it is the same dimensions as the unistrut trolley. Although a longer one would work, angle iron would be cheaper. I've spent about $300 over budget as it is
How do I setup a trolly for a hoist?
- Thread starter Spta97
- Start date
I have the trolley from McMaster Carr. I believe it is the same dimensions as the unistrut trolley. Although a longer one would work, angle iron would be cheaper. I've spent about $300 over budget as it is
thanks - I'll check to see if there are any in the area.
lakeroadster
Well-known member
If you do this use the same size bolts and nuts as the ones that are used to attach the hoist to the trolley.
Leave the angle clips as long as possible.. this transfers the crushing load that tries to collapse the side of the tubing up to the top and bottom of the tubing. Ideally you would use a spacer inside the tubing to prevent collapsing it.
BD1
Well-known member
'' Good idea. I'll leave that as a last resort.''
You realize that the bolt will be THICKER material than that HF bracket right and STRONGER than the metric tapped holes securing it to the hoist ?
You realize that the bolt will be THICKER material than that HF bracket right and STRONGER than the metric tapped holes securing it to the hoist ?
I would like to avoid cutting the brackets on the hoist if I can.
That said, I stopped by two steel shops during lunch and neither had the rectangle iron. Both had only the square.
Is there an online resource for this stuff? I'm having difficulties finding it locally.
That said, I stopped by two steel shops during lunch and neither had the rectangle iron. Both had only the square.
Is there an online resource for this stuff? I'm having difficulties finding it locally.
BD1
Well-known member
" Is there an online resource for this stuff? I'm having difficulties finding it locally.''
I never ordered from them,
http://www.metalsdepot.com/products/hrsteel2.phtml?page=rttube&LimAcc= &aident=
I never ordered from them,
http://www.metalsdepot.com/products/hrsteel2.phtml?page=rttube&LimAcc= &aident=
lakeroadster
Well-known member
What you proposed BD1 changes the loading of the components, totally different loading scenario. My advice was merely as a heads up.
The factory bolts that go in vertical are in tensile, the horizontal bolts you are proposing are in shear.
With the factory design the entire bracket would have to fail. Look at the square inch cross section of the bracket... vs. the square inch cross section of the bolt.
A STRONGER bolt is likely less ductile.. not a good thing.
As for tubing... McMaster - Carr has some, not sure if they carry the size you are after. Home Depot has some too, as well as Lowes.
Last edited:
BD1
Well-known member
As for a bolt, he could use a grade 5 or even a 8 if you are worried about it.
It's not any different than using a angle clip with a hole and a grade 8 bolt.
The bolt through the angle clip would be shear on horizontal as you state and stronger than the cheap metric HF ones that hold the winch.
I have used angle clips as I am suggesting to do with the horizontal bolt in shear holding hundreds of pounds and no fail. We use angle clips all the time in hanging pipe, heaters, and brackets .
I guess this must be above my pay grade. He's only lifting tires at maybe a 100 pounds and not tons. I would have no issues doing this for my self. If he is concern, do a test lift and see what happens.
Jo Diesel
Well-known member
Why not just shorten up your trolly mount bar so the inside bolts align with the bolts on your winch and make 4 angle brackets and mount the inside trolly bolts directly to your winch
Probably 2x2 angle by 1/4 x 2" long.
Probably 2x2 angle by 1/4 x 2" long.
Last edited:
I ordered the 3/4" X 1 1/2" thick walked from metal depot. The price was good but shipping is expensive ~$14. Still probably cheaper than driving around with my gas mileage.
Doubled up with the trolley it should fit with a 1/4" to spare which I will use washers to take up the slack.
The trick will be drilling high enough to get the trolleys the clearance, but low enough as to not hit the top of the bar. That and getting it all even with a hand held drill
Edit - I stopped at lowes again only to confirm they only have square tubing. HD was the same. Perhaps they don't carry it in NY.
Doubled up with the trolley it should fit with a 1/4" to spare which I will use washers to take up the slack.
The trick will be drilling high enough to get the trolleys the clearance, but low enough as to not hit the top of the bar. That and getting it all even with a hand held drill
Edit - I stopped at lowes again only to confirm they only have square tubing. HD was the same. Perhaps they don't carry it in NY.
Thanks for the idea. I had just ordered the rectangle iron as you posted this so I'll check out this idea if it doesn't work out.
D45
Well-known member
I would like some pictures of you final setup, from a distance, so that I can picture exactly how you did this
Got 'er done
Well I finally got everything finished and the tires up on the rack. Lifting with an axel strap (wrapped with a microfiber towel) was easy. The hard part was getting the tires into the rack.
On the initial test I noticed the top of the tires would actually hit the hoist when up in the rack. What I ended up doing was getting them up even with me on the ladder, then little by little walking the tire over the first chrome bar (good thing they are rubber as its grippy). Then I would lower the hoist to give me enough slack to get them in the rack. Since I couldn't get them above and lower into the rack (hoist isn't high enough) I might have accomplished the same with a static mount. Oh well. If I move this sucker is coming with
There was some trial and error in my technique and the tire got away from me once (good thing it was attached to the hoist!).
I put a security cable though the rims attached to joist eyelets / carabiners in the unlikely event of an earthquake or other shaking that could free them from the rack.
I let them sit up there for a day and didn't see any sagging of the rack so I took a chance and pulled my car in (gulp!).
Here they are up in the rack:
Here's a view with the hood of my car open so you can get a sense of how high up they are (the top most part of the hood is about 6' in the air).
Anyway, as long as they stay up there I'm a happy camper. I wanted give a big THANK YOU!!!!!! to everyone as I could not have done it without your help!
Well I finally got everything finished and the tires up on the rack. Lifting with an axel strap (wrapped with a microfiber towel) was easy. The hard part was getting the tires into the rack.
On the initial test I noticed the top of the tires would actually hit the hoist when up in the rack. What I ended up doing was getting them up even with me on the ladder, then little by little walking the tire over the first chrome bar (good thing they are rubber as its grippy). Then I would lower the hoist to give me enough slack to get them in the rack. Since I couldn't get them above and lower into the rack (hoist isn't high enough) I might have accomplished the same with a static mount. Oh well. If I move this sucker is coming with
There was some trial and error in my technique and the tire got away from me once (good thing it was attached to the hoist!).
I put a security cable though the rims attached to joist eyelets / carabiners in the unlikely event of an earthquake or other shaking that could free them from the rack.
I let them sit up there for a day and didn't see any sagging of the rack so I took a chance and pulled my car in (gulp!).
Here they are up in the rack:
Here's a view with the hood of my car open so you can get a sense of how high up they are (the top most part of the hood is about 6' in the air).
Anyway, as long as they stay up there I'm a happy camper. I wanted give a big THANK YOU!!!!!! to everyone as I could not have done it without your help!
Rockcam
Well-known member
Kudos for staying on task until you figured out a solution that works for your application.
Looks great.
Looks great.
BD1
Well-known member
I would have sold house and moved . 
Well, persistence really paid off. Great it was a success and you reached your goal. Sometimes our projects take longer and we end up spending more money.
Ok, ALL THE TIME !!!!
Well, persistence really paid off. Great it was a success and you reached your goal. Sometimes our projects take longer and we end up spending more money.
Ok, ALL THE TIME !!!!
jaleonard3
New member
I had the same problem. Simple fix, use 3/8" grade 8 bolts to attach the unistrut carriages instead of the larger 9/19" bolts. Problem solved and still an exceptionally strong mount.
n20junkie
Well-known member
I love the people overly concerned with cost.
Most of us here have built a garage bigger than most peoples houses just for all of our toys to fit into.
Most of us here have built a garage bigger than most peoples houses just for all of our toys to fit into.
jaleonard3
New member
I've followed the trail that others in this thread blazed. I mounted my hoist on a unistrut rail. I used three double roller trolleys instead of two. I used 3/8" grade 8 bolts to mount the trolleys. Using the smaller bolts eliminates the interference between the rail hangars and the brackets on the hoist that the trolleys are mounted to. The rail is secured to the overhead ceiling joists (2 X 10) with 6" lag bolts. To address the problem with interference of the carriages with the strut suspension brackets, use 3/8" diameter, grade 8 bolts to clamp the carriage between the inistrut clamping brackets. I completed it yesterday. I used this hoist to lift and place the beds for my new 8" jointer on the base. The beds weigh 330 lbs. It worked very well and this little hoist didn't have any issues with it. Thanks to you all who showed me how to do this on this thread. I appreciate it and I've learned a lot from all of you.
View media item 74082
View media item 74082
Last edited: