I-Beam Lift

[Deltarat]

I am building a 30x50x12 shop with 30x30 sealed to work in. I want an I-Beam down the center that will lift 1000-2000#. It would be clear span 30'. any engineers in the bunch that could tell me what size beam I need?

 

[kyeakel]

When I was adding a hoist to my garage, I just called up the metal dealer I was buying from, told him what I wanted to do, and he told me what size beam to buy.

Kipp

 

[OldCarGuy]

My local structural steel supplier was reluctant to give out I-Beam capacities to me. I can only guess that he just likes to sell beams and doesn’t want to be responsible for any failures. It would be best to consult with an structural engineer to be safe.

This is a chart of beam Capacities

Commercial Bridge Crane Advertisement

My garage shop Bridge Crane Setup

 

[MXtras]

To support 2000Lbs over a 30' span, you are going to need a fairly substantial beam.

Looking a rough numbers: (with 2000Lbs in the center, 30' span, supported on ends only, simple support)

W12X40 will bend about 1.5" (15.9ksi).
W14X53 will bend about 1 1/8" (12.6ksi)

I will run a few more in a few......

Scott

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Then too, the supports at the end of the beam have to support the weight of the beam, which is probably more than you are trying to lift.

Charles

 

[MXtras]

It looks as if the beam alone will weigh at least 1500 - 2000 pounds.

Still looking, but it looks like it needs to be around a 14" beam with a fairly substantial web.

What type of trolley will you have, or will you use a simple beam clamp?

What is the building construction - wood truss? Steel truss?

Scott

Scott

 

[Deltarat]

It is a wood stick built building, so I will have no help from the building as far as strength. I will have to put in the support columns to carry it. I wanted to figure what I will need before I pour the slab.
It seems as I may be over designing my means. If I moved my supports to 20' span and reduced the lift to 1000#, what size beam could I get by with?
I could use a removable support to put under the beam for the 1 in 100 times I need a heavier lift.

Thanks guys for your responses.

 

[MXtras]

For a W10X33 (33Lbs per foot, 660 pounds total, 9.73" tall, 7.96" flange width, .435" thick web) over a 20' span, simple end support, 1500 point load in center of beam the deflection would be about 3/8" and the stress would be 9,790 PSI - this would be a safe situation.

For a W8X48 (48Lbs per foot, 960 pounds total, 8.5" tall beam, 8.1" flange width, .685" thick web, ) over a 20' span, simple end support, 1500 point load in center of beam the deflection would be about 3/16" and the stress would be 4,930 PSI - this would be a safe situation.

For a W8X35 (35Lbs per foot, 700 pounds total, 8.12" tall beam, 8.0" flange width, .495" thick web, ) over a 20' span, simple end support, 1500 point load in center of beam the deflection would be about 3/8" and the stress would be 8470 PSI - this would be a safe situation.

For a W8X31 (31Lbs per foot, 620 pounds total, 8.00" tall beam, 8.0" flange width, .435" thick web, ) over a 20' span, simple end support, 1500 point load in center of beam the deflection would be about 3/8" and the stress would be 9700 PSI - this would be a safe situation.

It looks like the W8X31 would be lightest beam you could get away with comfortably for a 1500 pound load on a 20' span. This beam will cost you about $350-$375.

Anyone care to look over the numbers real quick???

Scott

 

[Deltarat]

Thanks Scott, That would fit into my price range. Maybe $1500 with posts and cross beams.

I asked this on a couple of sites that I visit, but this is the first real information that I have received.

 

[Deltarat]

Old Car Guy, I looked at your entire shop and that has to be the most awesome shop that I have ever seen. You seem to have every tool needed and laid out nice and neat. My wife would never get me out of a shop like that. I would love to have a crane system like yours, but I think that would be well beyond my budget.

Thanks for sharing your shop and ideas.

Bill

 

[kbs2244]

Have you concidered a gantry crane?
You do have to clear the floor if you are going to do a long move, but it does give some more flexability in placement than just a narrow lane dowm the middle.

 

[Deltarat]

Yes, I am considering a gantry crane, especially after seeing The Old Car Guy's shop. I am afraid it may be out of my price range. It would be a lot of steel. I agree it would be the best choice. Maybe if I would find the side runs used somewhere, I could swing it.

 

[PAToyota]

Gantry crane, not bridge crane...

 

[Deltarat]

Have you concidered a gantry crane?
You do have to clear the floor if you are going to do a long move, but it does give some more flexability in placement than just a narrow lane dowm the middle.

I am considering this option also.It will probably be the most cost effective. I am open to all suggestions and types of lifting.

 

[OldCarGuy]

I have a homemade Bridge Crane that I removed from my old garage that I may consider to sell. It has a 22' bridge span with a 22' run, and needs a 12' 2" ceiling clearance height. Including a 4,000 pound capacity trolley, two end trucks, two 8" wide flange I-beam runway beams, four 4" x 4" H-beams uprights, and 10" Bridge Beam. I’d part with it for about $1,000.00. But doesn’t include the electric hoist.

 

[Deltarat]

I have a homemade Bridge Crane that I removed from my old garage that I may consider to sell. It has a 22' bridge span with a 22' run, and needs a 12' 2" ceiling clearance height. Including a 4,000 pound capacity trolley, two end trucks, two 8" wide flange I-beam runway beams, four 4" x 4" H-beams uprights, and 10" Bridge Beam. I’d part with it for about $1,000.00. But doesn’t include the electric hoist.

Sent you a PM.

 

[kbs2244]

I bet you did!
I got dibs on second chance!

 

[Junkman]

Why does everything that I find and want originate in Ohio? I have the head room, but I don't have the way to get it to New England. How about some close up pictures for those of us that want/need a bridge crane. I could buy the steel locally, and fabricate it on site. It might not be any cheaper for the steel, but it sure would save a lot on the transportation. Thanks Junk...

I have a homemade Bridge Crane that I removed from my old garage that I may consider to sell. It has a 22' bridge span with a 22' run, and needs a 12' 2" ceiling clearance height. Including a 4,000 pound capacity trolley, two end trucks, two 8" wide flange I-beam runway beams, four 4" x 4" H-beams uprights, and 10" Bridge Beam. I’d part with it for about $1,000.00. But doesn’t include the electric hoist.

 

[V-10 Killer]

Why does everything that I find and want originate in Ohio?

Thats funny, every time I sell any parts online, I always have to ship them from Michigan to either Florida, or California

 

[OldCarGuy]

And I always seem to find so many bargains on the East Coast!

I have an idea. I’ll sell my two-axle flatbed trailer to anyone that wants a way to pick up the Bridge Crane themselves. It’s a 7,000 pound capacity all steel deck with electric brakes on one axle. I’ll load the crane on Trailer. And maybe meet you part way. But I’d imagine you would rather drive the entire distance so that you can tour OldCarGuy’s complex...

You’ll need a 1/2 ton pickup or full size car with an electric brake setup and a hitch with a 2 5/16" ball.

Another thought is to purchase my enclosed car hauler that I put in the classified section.

Picture of flatbed trailer with I beams for my new garage... Take note these beams are four feet longer than the beams of the bridge crane I'm selling. And will not overhang the trailer near as much.

Another view of trailer unloading my Mohawk two-post lift...

My Enclosed trailer...

 

[Deltarat]

How much would you think the entire lift would weigh? How much for the flatbed trailer? I am definitely interested in the crane. Just have to figure how to get it to Ms. Did you get my PM?
Where in Ohio are you?

 

[OldCarGuy]

How much would you think the entire lift would weigh? How much for the flatbed trailer? I am definitely interested in the crane. Just have to figure how to get it to Ms. Did you get my PM?
Where in Ohio are you?

Yep I received your PM, and returned you one yesterday.

The total weight of the bridge crane (including the bridge, two runway beams, four uprights, and manual trolley) is about 2,500 pounds. That’s about $.40 per pound. The price I’d like to get for the flatbed trailer is $1,000.00. When you return to Mississippi, you could sell it off.

The cost I got to ship it to Mississippi would be around $900.00.

 

[Flathead Youngin']

I put an upstairs in my garage. I wanted an i-beam mainly for support of the upstairs but it has proved it's worth as a lift.....

I don't lift 2klbs but I lift a lot of motors with transmissions....I always figure I need to lift something really heavy, I'd just put a post of some sort in the middle and then remove it when I'm done...

My beam is a 12x26lbs per foot, 34ft long, i built two large columns at the ends to support it.....I know it could have some side to side or even inward movement but if you look at my 2x12 rafters for the upstairs, you can see i bolted a 2x4 on top of the i-beam and then nailed the rafter to it.......in other words, the beam and the garage is tied together....

you can see in my pics that i filled the empty space solid in the rafters with 2x12's sandwiched together....then, upstairs i have some house posts that are directly over the sandwiched 2x12's.....

the short of it, i love my i beam.....

i had my concrete poured 4" throughout......i didn't want my buddy's backhoe on the concrete....it had a 16' extend-a-boom but that would still be pushing it.....so i had a crane come in to set it.....it was much cheaper than i thought and they treated me right.....i just told them i was in no hurry and that they could take care of me on their way back from a job......shoot, they had the machine setup and the beam set before i could even think aobout it..

i gave $500 for the beam at 35' (i cut off a foot) and they charged me $50 to kick it off in my front yard (litterally) i found some used beam but i was going to have to fish-plate it....

the beam is the first thing people notice when they come in my garage....they always ask, "is your i-beam big enough?" i always laugh and say, "i sleep good at night when there is snow on the roof"

 

[Deltarat]

You did a nice job on your beam. Thanks for the help and for sharing your shop.

 

[phy6]

FYI, My local fabricated steel shop was going to charge about $0.50 per pound.

 

[Designated Dave]

If someone is thinking about buying this beam/lift, I could haul it fairly cheap if it falls close to my route. I will have an empty 27'-14000lb gooseneck headed from mid-michigan to Kent Ct. sometime in the next couple a weeks. The route isn't finalized, but if its something someone is interested in get in touch w/ me and I'll let ya know. I am going down to pick up a truck and a bandsaw and will have an empty trailer on the way down.

 

[Mark in Memphis]

Harbor Freight has a 1 ton Telescoping Gantry crane for $579.99!

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=41188



Flathead Youngin',
Any garage with a flathead in it is cooler than mine, hands down.

 

[PAToyota]

If someone is thinking about buying this beam/lift...

Might want to check if it is still available - that was posted three and a half months ago.

 

[MXtras]

that was posted three and a half months ago.

You always have to throw reality into the mix, don't you?

 

[Designated Dave]

Thanks, I wasn't looking for it myself...only trying to save some one a trip. I should pay more attention though..probably been gone a while.

 

[OldCarGuy]

After I haven’t heard from the three gentlemen that were interested I haven’t perused the idea to sell my bridge crane. Good thing,, this past week I decided to set it up in the four-car garage that I’m having the Bendpak two-post lift installed. Along with a tire changer, cabinets, roller cabinet, and work benches that I have on order. Then hopefully add the paint booth sometime later on.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Here is my portable gantry crane in my somewhat junky shop area. Some of this stuff has gotta go, in fact some of it is piled up for that reason, gotta sell a few things. Not using it on the airplane, just had to push the tail thru the crane to make room for a friends airplane while he did some work to it.

I have just under 12 ft clear between the uprights, and when fully raised it goes to over 13 ft. I like it and have already used it, just bought it about four months ago. Made a somewhat long drive from Atlanta to Sandusky, Ohio, to pick it up.

Charles

 

[OldCarGuy]

Here is my portable gantry crane in my somewhat junky shop area. Some of this stuff has gotta go, in fact some of it is piled up for that reason, gotta sell a few things. Not using it on the airplane, just had to push the tail thru the crane to make room for a friends airplane while he did some work to it.

I have just under 12 ft clear between the uprights, and when fully raised it goes to over 13 ft. I like it and have already used it, just bought it about four months ago. Made a somewhat long drive from Atlanta to Sandusky, Ohio, to pick it up.

Charles

Nice Crane!

Don’t we always find the goodies we “need” hundreds of miles from home? I am negotiating on a 3,000 pound machine from Sarasota Florida. If it were within 300 miles I would already own it. However the $1,200.00 shipping costs add a staggering amount to the purchase…

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Nice Crane!

Don’t we always find the goodies we “need” hundreds of miles from home? I am negotiating on a 3,000 pound machine from Sarasota Florida. If it were within 300 miles I would already own it. However the $1,200.00 shipping costs add a staggering amount to the purchase…

Don't we!!!!!. This was in a 4 cyl 1991 model Ranger pickup with a 5x10 lawn service type trailer. The trailer empty is a load for the truck, add a 1000 lbs (exactly) gantry crane plus the tools and such I took and well..........

Left early on Monday morning, made Van Wert, Ohio airport late afternoon and visited with friends and stayed in the pilot crash room/shower. Tuesday drove to Sandusky, loaded up, and made it back south to Berea, Kentucky, before 9 pm. Got up early and made it home south of Atlanta, by about 2 pm. Truck normally gets 26-27 mpg, I averaged 20-21 for the trip and saw worse than that in the mountains and somewhat better in the flat land of Ohio.

Kinda like the trip to pick up my Dake 25H hydraulic press. Atlanta to Woodbridge, NJ and back. LOOONG drive, with traffic backups at the southbound toll booth at the end of the Jersey turnpike, the Ft. McHenry tunnel, and the horrible afternoon traffic headed south out of DC into northern Virginia. The press fit in the back of the Ranger with the legs and gauge removed, so at least I didn't need a trailer. Got it for a real good price and I always factor in the cost of going to get something when I bid.

Charles

 

[Franz©]

Is that gantry set up to lift the beam itself or do you have to get physical with it and a forklift?

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Is that gantry set up to lift the beam itself or do you have to get physical with it and a forklift?

It has rings to attach a come-a-long to each side to bootstrap it up, but the come-a-longs I bought won't fit and lift it, due to their overall length when fully shortened, and the size of their hooks (or the too small size if the rings on the gantry crane). I used a cherry picker engine hoist to lift it after I assembled it, one pin hole at a time, first one side, then the other. Tedious, but I got it to the next to the top hole and stopped.

Charles

 

[kbs2244]

I have seen the gantry crane idea used as a bottom tracked overhead crane.
The end supports run on inverted angle irons fastened to the floor along the outside walls as tracks. The basic idea was to avoid all the overhead supports needed for a true overhead crane.
You got the same “any where in the shop” positioning, but you had to be sure there was nothing laying across the tracks.
They make castor wheels designed to run on inverted angle irons, but my favorite install was where the guy made the tracks from scrap 4 inch pipe and used 8 inch trailer wheels and hubs, without the tires, as the castors.
It worked great, but he was always complaining about have to unplug the extension cords and air lines he had laying about whenever I came to make a delivery that he wanted at the back of the shop.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

You can put the inverted V iron wheels on the one I have, manufacturer option. In my situation, I want it mobile. When I lock the wheels straight ahead, it moves very easily in the direction is it supposed to go, I mean real easy. I turn one caster on each side 90 degrees to the other one to lock it so it won't roll. The casters have locks for various positions.

Charles