monster beam . How to get it up?

[stinkity stoink]

Does any one have a tried and true metod of getting a huge beam up. I am doing an addition on my house and the architect is calling for a 24 ' beam on the back of my house. It is (3) 1.75" x 16" microlams sandwiching (2) .25" steel flinch plates. This is all bolted together and has to go up about 10' in the air. I am doing the framing myself but I have never done a beam this big. When I did my garage I put up a 24' steel girder . I thingk this will be heavier. Any suggestions.

Thanks....

 

[dipper]

nothing beats a few buddies and some sturdy ladders.

 

[theoldwizard1]

nothing beats a few buddies and some sturdy ladders.

At least 4 people and appropriate size heavy duty step ladderS ! You are going to need an extra for checking alignment and knocking that beam in to proper place.

 

[hh76]

Crane. Couple hundred bucks for a lift, and will allow you to fine tune things without worrying about it crashing down.

 

[Glenn M.]

1 or 2 cherry pickers (Engine lifts) on the ground, or If you can drive to the lift point, you can put a picker in the back of a pick up, strap it down to the bed so it doesn't tip over, and lift it that way. Just mark the center line for the lift point so it doesn't have much tendancy to be "one side heavy". I did that lifting white oak beams 21 feet long to a height of 14 feet in the air, was a snap. Did 20 of them pretty much by myself, I estimated them to be over 400 pounds each. You can use a tether line hooked to one end of the beam to sort of "guide" it into place. For safety's sake, don't get directly under the beam when it's in the air.

 

[jocool1585]

You could also do it the safe way and rent a piece of equipment! A JCB 520 or something similar would do the job without risking hurting someone!

 

[bcook07]

"monster beam . How to get it up?"

I have nothing productive to add to this thread other than ******?

 

[hh76]

Just did quick math, and it will be around 1200lbs. Don't try and lift it without machinery.

 

[LXCam]

Hvac duct hoist, just check the load rating.

 

[rsanter]

Fork lift
Crane
Hvac duct lift ( will need 3 likely)
12friends on 12ladders

That's the order I would look at

Bob

 

[LG63]

A couple more:
-Skid Steer
-Tractor with front loader

 

[M17715]

That's what she said.

 

[Alchymist]

4X4 ladders. Set up 4X4s on each side of the beam (near the ends). Fasten the 4X4's so they can't move - brace to studs, etc. (Place the beam on blocks before setting the 4X4s). Use a hydraulic jack and cribbing to walk the beam up between the 4X4s, one end at a time, blocking as you go.

 

[CNGsaves]

Posti-Vac . . . . . It's advertised on TV all the time.

Gotta go with Posti-Vac !!!

 

[BD1]

Check wit local rentals for Genie Lift or a Roustabout. You may need two genies because of weight. How you gonna get it off truck and to location ?
Maybe supplier could provide boom truck for setting.

 

[BFBOB]

I'm assuming you're going to build iton site, or the folks who deliver it would be logical to also get it into place.

I've done this single-handed (though not THAT heavy - more like 500 lbs) by this method: Build two studs about a foot from each end of the beam sandwiching it. At least 2x6's. in this case I'd make t-studs, smooth side in. Then, use levers and cribbing to lift one end at a time, 3 or 4 inches max. Hold in place with a piece of rebar through holes drilled in the studs, and just walk it up. Once it gets high enough, you could use a jack post to do the lifting. I've also done building lifting with a hydraulic floor jack plus a 2x4 of appropriate length. Probably not practical for this because of the multiple, incremental lifts. Levers and blocks work fine, and the studs you built keep the beam from slewing sideways. Just don't overdo an individual lift; if it gets too far off level, it'll try to slide out endwise.
Machinery is tempting, but HEAVY. Make sure your floor can support the weight of the beam AND the lifting machine! A crane gets around this, but I think you'd still need at least one helper. I sure wouldn't want to try to position something like that with only myself and the crane operator.

 

[Old Moparz]

Check wit local rentals for Genie Lift or a Roustabout. You may need two genies because of weight. How you gonna get it off truck and to location ?
Maybe supplier could provide boom truck for setting.

I'll second the Genie lift.

I rented one to lift & place the two, 24' steel I-Beams in my garage. I knew the weight of each beam & checked with the rental place on the lift capacity. I did this with my wife who kept worrying everything would tip over & we'd be crushed, but we were fine.

Word of advice though, if the beam is longer then the space you are lifting in, you are going to have to figure out a way to raise it, then rotate it to get it into place. In my case the beams extended out over the front wall of the garage to create an overhang. The distance between the walls was 22.5 feet & the beam was 24 feet. I had to raise the beams diagonally & not perpendicular to the walls it was going to be set on.

This was a problem when the beams were 14 feet in the air since they had to be rotated. I solved it by actually using a lazy susan that was on the bottom of an old, console style, TV.

 

[Professur]

Build a pair of A frames using sufficiently long timbers, with saddles at the point wide enough to accommodate the beam.. Lay them on the ground wide ends towards each other. Then elevate the points somewhat using some manner of cribbing ... old pallets or such. Lay the beam into the saddles and anchor it to the saddles. Then jack the legs apart, recribbing as you rise until you achieve full height.

I wouldn't do it, but it will work, and it works very well in an area with limited room to maneuver and no access for heavy machinery.

 

[Falcon67]

Timber towers or rock towers, like the Egyptians and the Polynesians did it.

For that, go rent a SkyTrak. No way I'd get anybody under/around a 1200 lb beam without equipment.

 

[wrench409]

Just remember about ladders......

the load rating on them is for the person plus the item you may be trying to lift. And the higher you go, the less stable things become.

 

[ddawg16]

Rent a material lift as old mopar suggested.....It cost me about $60/day.....worth every cent....I had several beams to get up....







It's the only safe way to do it......

If you want more pics....click on the 2-story addition link in my signature....

 

[roche]

I would guess it will be delivered with some kind of boom truck. Have it shipped when you need it and give some $$ to the delivery guy to haul it right where you need it?

 

[stinkity stoink]

Wow! Thanks for all the suggestions. It is going to have to be built on site and they cant deliver it to the back.
I forgot about those gennie lifts. I think that is the best bet. Two of those should make life much easier. Thanks!!

 

[Glenn M.]

Wow! Thanks for all the suggestions. It is going to have to be built on site and they cant deliver it to the back.
I forgot about those gennie lifts. I think that is the best bet. Two of those should make life much easier. Thanks!!

Build it as close to where you're going to hoist it as you can, and make sure you build it on some blocks so you have clearance to put the lift under it. If it's on the lawn, you may not be able to move that beam around much (If it's 1200 pounds worth)...

 

[RickP]

Do you have trusses or walls above the 10' height of the lift? What about using a chainfall hoist at each end of the beam? A 6,000 lb vehicle recovery strap over the top plate of a wall would easily support 600 lbs at each end of the beam. You might be able to use a come-along instead, but the chainfall hoist would be safer.

 

[lisiecki1]

Build it in place?

 

[joe_padavano]

Lots of good suggestions. Here's another. Rent a tow truck. I've used a tow truck to move or load heavy equipment on several occasions. Get one with a hydraulic boom. Cost me $50 to load a milling machine on my trailer, as an example. The hydraulic boom has a hook height greater than your required 10 ft.

 

[welder4956]

Doing it by yourself is not a good idea. Find a buddy or two to help with this portion of the project. You could rent some heavy duty scaffold and erect a platform to assemble the laminations in place on the correct elevation. You may have to build a base for the beam to rest on while it is assembled. Then lift each piece up to the temporary base and bolt it all together in place. Once it is supported or attached to whatever it is attached to, take out the temporary base and take down the scaffold.

 

[hh76]

Wow! Thanks for all the suggestions. It is going to have to be built on site and they cant deliver it to the back.
I forgot about those gennie lifts. I think that is the best bet. Two of those should make life much easier.

Price out a crane for an hour lift. way safer to deal with than two lifts, and possibly cheaper.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Who was the member that put up steel beams using trees, straps & come-alongs ?

 

[readhead]

We build flitch plates for this kind of beam all the time. The whole idea is to put it up one piece at a time.

 

[mtnwalton]

Hvac duct hoist, just check the load rating.

Borrow or rent one of these. Still have a couple guys handy

 

[Zrexxer]

nothing beats a few buddies and some sturdy ladders.

Really? Nothing?

I can assure you, one of these beats a HUNDRED buddies with sturdy ladders.

 

[bull_duck]

Crane. Couple hundred bucks for a lift, and will allow you to fine tune things without worrying about it crashing down.

+1
don't risk enjury. do it correctly.

 

[pstnbly]

Assemble the beam in place, it's done all the time.

 

[jabberwoki]

I borrowed a mates fork lift to put up a monster glue lam in my shop by my self, Worked like a charm.

 

['52Chevy]

"monster beam . How to get it up?"

I have nothing productive to add to this thread other than ******?

My thoughts went there as well!

 

[Justanoldguy]

A Sky Hook.

 

[c39er]

I raised and installed two 6" X 21" X 28' long glue lams using a H-Duty Come-A-Longs at each end with no help from others. Help gets in the way sometimes. Followed some 6" X 6" posts 8' straight up.

 

[HAY YOU]

If you have access to a chain fall & some 1” line, I’d buy a 6 x 8 timber 16’ & make myself up a Gin Pole. When you’re done with it cut it up for landscape border or columns for a deck.