weatherby460
Well-known member
Do I just use carriage bolts on the underside and drill into the rafters? if so, how many bolts, what size bolts and how long of a piece of Unistrut? I/m needing a winch to lift a 400lb mower deck. Thanks
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Mounting a ceiling winch using unistrut?
- Thread starter weatherby460
- Start date
nolimits76
Well-known member
Several years back I installed a small winch in my garage to help lift off the hardtop on my Jeep Wrangler. Essentially I pulled in backwards and used a custom strap harness that gathered to a single pick point. I unbolted the top from the Jeep and then slowly sucked the top to the ceiling. It was a bit wobbly but easily steadied by my free hand that wasn’t operating the winch controls. As it got higher the ceiling (sheetrock) provided minor resistance and the top would fit flat against the ceiling. Later when I pulled in the garage, I pulled in normal and the front of my Jeep fit perfectly under the hoisted top. When it was time to put on, I would back in and reverse the process.
I can’t recall the exact weight of the top but I think it was a couple hundred pounds. I used a small winch from Harbor Freight. My garage had wood I-Joists that spanned across the garage and to which the sheetrock was attached. I installed the winch in the attic between two joists. I cut a small hole in the sheetrock. I used a pulley hook and looped the main winch cable around the pulley hook and then hooked that winch cable end back to the winch itself. It had a spot specifically for this. Doing so doubles the lift capacity. While I didn’t need the extra capacity I wanted the extra factor of safety.
The winch itself was mounted to a heavy duty pipe (don’t recall gauge). The pipe was long enough so it spanned over 2 wood joists on each side of the winch or 4 joists total. I used pipe clamps and screws to secure the pipe to the wood joists and also the winch itself.
I had 9’ ceilings in the garage and this worked out very well. Always strong. No failures. No sag or other signs of weakened structure. I ran for a few years in this config until I sold.
Things I learned:
1. Trimming the hole in the sheetrock would have looked nicer but functionally wasn’t a problem.
2. If lifting to the ceiling again I would use a foam sheet or similar and attach to the ceiling to protect the painted sheetrock and top. No visible damage to the Jeep roof but the sheetrock had minor signs of wear. Nothing a paint touch up didn’t fix when I sold. Just me being particular. However, I was also aware of this problem and took extra care to avoid problems.
3. Luckily I had a nearby power outlet in the attic for other utility. Otherwise I would have needed to get power to the winch.
4. Initially I was concerned about the quality factor of the HF winch. I combatted those concerns by buying nearly double the capacity I needed and then doubling the line to double the winch capacity. Effectively I was about 4x my proposed pick weight.
5. Playing on #4 I was concerned about heat in my attic as summer temps frequently rose to 100+. More in the attic. I used so infrequently it was never an issue. But in fairness unless I got a rain storm I normally ran top and doors off most the summer. That reduced more when I got a bikini top and had a little protection from mild rain storms. Later I would find a deal on a factory soft top and only swap to the hard top during more seasonal changes.
6. The winch I bought had a fairly long cable remote that stuck through the same hole as the pulley lead. I could have found a better way to route this as it always seemed like it was in the way.
7. I designed and used a seamstress to make a custom harness for my top. As mentioned it had a single pick point. It was hard to perfectly align with the balanced weight point of the top which caused some of my instability. If I were to redo I would consider using a “spreader bar” of sorts to help provide a more balanced load but that also would have made snugging against the ceiling more difficult.
8. I was lucky to have wood I-joists over the garage. Most houses have 2x material and some with pre made trusses that are not designed to carry additional loads. Due to span and other design criteria for a future game of an adjacent area my upstairs was designed specifically for additional live load and to support a pool table for a game room. Granted no activity was planned above the garage but I had walk out access from the game room portion and a heavy duty pull down stair case access from the garage with partially plywood covered joists for attic storage.
I can’t recall the exact weight of the top but I think it was a couple hundred pounds. I used a small winch from Harbor Freight. My garage had wood I-Joists that spanned across the garage and to which the sheetrock was attached. I installed the winch in the attic between two joists. I cut a small hole in the sheetrock. I used a pulley hook and looped the main winch cable around the pulley hook and then hooked that winch cable end back to the winch itself. It had a spot specifically for this. Doing so doubles the lift capacity. While I didn’t need the extra capacity I wanted the extra factor of safety.
The winch itself was mounted to a heavy duty pipe (don’t recall gauge). The pipe was long enough so it spanned over 2 wood joists on each side of the winch or 4 joists total. I used pipe clamps and screws to secure the pipe to the wood joists and also the winch itself.
I had 9’ ceilings in the garage and this worked out very well. Always strong. No failures. No sag or other signs of weakened structure. I ran for a few years in this config until I sold.
Things I learned:
1. Trimming the hole in the sheetrock would have looked nicer but functionally wasn’t a problem.
2. If lifting to the ceiling again I would use a foam sheet or similar and attach to the ceiling to protect the painted sheetrock and top. No visible damage to the Jeep roof but the sheetrock had minor signs of wear. Nothing a paint touch up didn’t fix when I sold. Just me being particular. However, I was also aware of this problem and took extra care to avoid problems.
3. Luckily I had a nearby power outlet in the attic for other utility. Otherwise I would have needed to get power to the winch.
4. Initially I was concerned about the quality factor of the HF winch. I combatted those concerns by buying nearly double the capacity I needed and then doubling the line to double the winch capacity. Effectively I was about 4x my proposed pick weight.
5. Playing on #4 I was concerned about heat in my attic as summer temps frequently rose to 100+. More in the attic. I used so infrequently it was never an issue. But in fairness unless I got a rain storm I normally ran top and doors off most the summer. That reduced more when I got a bikini top and had a little protection from mild rain storms. Later I would find a deal on a factory soft top and only swap to the hard top during more seasonal changes.
6. The winch I bought had a fairly long cable remote that stuck through the same hole as the pulley lead. I could have found a better way to route this as it always seemed like it was in the way.
7. I designed and used a seamstress to make a custom harness for my top. As mentioned it had a single pick point. It was hard to perfectly align with the balanced weight point of the top which caused some of my instability. If I were to redo I would consider using a “spreader bar” of sorts to help provide a more balanced load but that also would have made snugging against the ceiling more difficult.
8. I was lucky to have wood I-joists over the garage. Most houses have 2x material and some with pre made trusses that are not designed to carry additional loads. Due to span and other design criteria for a future game of an adjacent area my upstairs was designed specifically for additional live load and to support a pool table for a game room. Granted no activity was planned above the garage but I had walk out access from the game room portion and a heavy duty pull down stair case access from the garage with partially plywood covered joists for attic storage.
Last edited:
strutaeng
Well-known member
400#?! That's pretty darn heavy for a standard Unistrut.
What is the span of the Unistrut? How is it connected? Lag screws have about a 200# withdrawal capacity, ball-park.
On rigging loads, the load is applied a factor of 2 to account for impact.
Can the structure (rafters @ 24" spanning how long?) handle 400#, or 800# once factored?
They do make a much stronger Unistrut, the P5000. Or just use a hot rolled angle or channel.
What is the span of the Unistrut? How is it connected? Lag screws have about a 200# withdrawal capacity, ball-park.
On rigging loads, the load is applied a factor of 2 to account for impact.
Can the structure (rafters @ 24" spanning how long?) handle 400#, or 800# once factored?
They do make a much stronger Unistrut, the P5000. Or just use a hot rolled angle or channel.
Last edited:
The Tool Tyrant
ALLIANCE MEMBER
400 lbs. hanging on unistrut, attached to roof rafters? Sketchy.
You best do a lot more research before proceeding. You're lacking a mass of needed information and if you don't know what I'm talking about, then you should not proceed.
You best do a lot more research before proceeding. You're lacking a mass of needed information and if you don't know what I'm talking about, then you should not proceed.
racecougar
Well-known member
Are we talking about rafters, rafter ties, collar ties, joists, or the bottom chord of trusses? What span, spacing, and what size lumber? What else is it supporting? Far more details are needed here.
rayra
Well-known member
not only those concerns but you want the winch position and resting ATOP those struture boards, not hanging below / depending from them. That way the load is spread and supported by the boards, in compression, rather than totally dependent on the fasters / washers / tensile strength of the strut.Are we talking about rafters, rafter ties, collar ties, joists, or the bottom chord of trusses? What span, spacing, and what size lumber? What else is it supporting? Far more details are needed here.
Using the strut as a hanger with the winch below is a terrible plan.
a winch is not the same as a hoist . they shouldn't be used interchangeably .
CraigStu
Well-known member
A 4x4 long enough to sit on 3 trusses w/ an eyebolt right next to the center truss and long enough to pass down through the ceiling drywall. That held up a come-a-long which lifted the Ford 351W engine out of my car no problem. I did this at about 6ft in from the wall that the 22ft trusses sat on.
Methodical
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2014
- Messages
- 55
What did you end up doing?
nadogail
Well-known member
During my High School days, 1953-1958, I worked in an Automotive Machine Shop, all of our lifting was done with chain hoists suspended from lengths of 2" pipe running across ceiling joists.
OSHA had not yet been wished upon us.
OSHA had not yet been wished upon us.