Shop Loft and I-Beam Trolley Build Thread

[walker450]

I have a 30x50x14 metal building with a 6/12 pitch roof. There is plenty of room above my two 10x10 overhead doors that would make a good loft area. I came across some I-beams and my idea has been to use the I-beams for some of the loft structure but I also want it to double as an I-beam trolley.

I plan to weld two 6" I-beams together to make the 30' span. I will then have another I-beam in the center perpendicular on top of the 30' I-beam, and a support post approximately 3' from the 30' beam. This will make the span basically 15' unsupported.

On top of the 6" beam I will put a 6" piece of open-cee and then run 6" cee from that to the wall on 2' centers and then put 4x8 tounge-and-groove plywood on top for the flooring.

One side of the 30' beam can sit on an upright beam that will be anchored into the concrete. The other side is over my walk-through door.... so my plan is to build some brackets, weld them to my uprights, and put another beam between the two uprights and then the 30' beam will sit on top of it at 90 degrees.....

I hope this makes sense... here are some pictures and my attempt at drawing the arrangement in Paint:

 

[walker450]

I have attached another picture showing my double doors.... The I-beam needs to rest above these doors.

In my sketch you can see how I plan to attach the middle support beam.... this will allow a trolley on the bottom beam to pass by.

Any comments, suggestions, words of wisdom, etc are appreciated.

 

[My Old Tools]

Here's mine. Engineered into the building at construction. Rated 1 ton, handles that easily. Extended the controls with a 4 wire cord that doubles as my 3 phase extension cord. Axle with bearings under the beam keeps the trolley from tilting.

 

[walker450]

Thanks for the pics! Very helpful! I wish I would have spent a little more time planning and built the trolley and loft at the same time as the frame, so it would have all been engineered together like yours.

I am really debating on using the existing frame at all for support... I can "easily" add more uprights and anchor them to the floor....

I am leaning towards adding additional uprights for the I-beam that will double as a trolley and support for the loft... but still using the existing structure for the far end of the loft... This end has 11 guage 4x4 posts at each corner, and 4 11 guage 3x3 posts for the garage doors. I can build it in a way to transfer the weight to the 4 garage door posts. The end has a regular triangle truss so the 4 door posts aren't actually required to carry the load for the roof structure so I think it would be okay for the door posts to support the loft.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[My Old Tools]

It's not just vertical load to be concerned with. You also have account for dynamic side loading if a load sways or you pull a bit of center. Make sure you have plenty of cross bracing.

 

[tarmy]

This works for me…

 

[floridasailor]

Here is my arrangement. 3 ton capacity 40 feet long

 

[Nor'Easter]

Eliminate your beam & post running parallel to ridge. Use that money to buy a deeper main beam.

You'll lose a few inches of clearance, but never hit your vehicle doors on the post.

Not comment on bracing/building tie in.