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Gantry Crane under $300.00

5K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  Rip VW 
#1 ·
This post got tangled up with my 12 ton press article so here it is all by itself.

A while back we were moving the T coupe body from off the frame to on the body bench. We were using my cherry picker engine hoist to lift the body and move it. I had to stick the boom in the window to lift the body.

It looked like a diaster waiting to happen. And when we were about to lower the body the weight shift made the rear land first and that in turn made the cherry picker tilt badly. I was over the bench so I slowly let it down trying to keep the lift from falling over. about a foot away the cherry picker made a not so graceful lurch on it's side dropping the body the last foot. Fortunately No damage was done and no one was injured.

So I decided I needed a gantry crane. After looking at all kinds of cranes and and checking everything everywhere I could not find one that would work in my shop. I don't have a lot of room and I am limited by an 8ft ceiling. I realized if I bought a commercial crane it is huge. it's too wide and to tall and two damn expensive.

I did a lot of research on the cranes and the designs and decided to make a scaled down version of one a university back east made. I decided to use wood for the frame and I picked up a I beam Trolly and a 2 1/2 ton chain fall. All I needed to do was build the frame. Back to the books again and after calculating a lot of wood stresses I had the plan, 400 lb casters, 5 foot long 4X6 on edge for the feet and 4X4's for the verticle. I found some Kool post bases that a 4X4 slips in and it has 4 1/2" holes around the outside perimeter of each post. The post brackets were made out of ~12Ga steel. I use one on the bottom of the 4X4 and bolt it to the 4X6 with thru bolts and the other end of the 4X4 gets one that is bolted to the I beam. So far so good. I have finished the legs and am drilling 10 holes in the I beam but that is not a real fast program.

Just a last note My intent is to use this crane to move the body from frame to bench and vise versa. I have calculated the loads to easily handle 1500 Lbs for this, and my intention is to be lifting 500 Lbs max with it. It is small enough to be usable in my small shop I should finish it up by the weekend. Got my fingers crossed.
 

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#2 ·
Looks good and I'm sure it will work better than the Harbor Freight one I bought..

I had similar needs while moving my shop equipment into their new building.

Needed a crane quickly, so my choice was limited..
Got the unit, assembled and started to use it.. OK for light stuff. Got to the heavy stuff and the large looking I-beam bent like it was made of silly putty:pain:. I don't remember the posted max weight limit now but...I was well below that...Never seen an I-beam bend like that. Like at least 5 inches sag in the middle with a left twist. Had to run into town and get a real US Steel one. Drill the holes and r&r the the beam.. Was way late getting home that day.. Cut the HF beam up and used it for parking lot guards.. reflector mount holes, drilled like the beam was a lead alloy. :spank:
 
#3 ·
just looked the 1 ton Capacity Telescoping Gantry Crane seems to be rated for 1,000 pounds..

i like his better.. i think that i would probably figure out how to add something like one of these on either side of the verticals 2000 Lb. A-Frame Trailer Jack so the crane can be positioned and held in place..

W beam is the proper hoisting beam in many cases. wider flange than I beams. so they are less twisty.. but everybody knew that already.
 
#4 · (Edited)
big crane

I used to have a couple school yard swing sets made with 2 in pipe. I needed a bigger one on wheels so I built the one in the pict. The A structures are the front hitch from school portable classromm trailers. not shown are the upright 6 x 6 3/8 wall tubes and a 4 in I beam with 2 trollies from the old Ford Factory. I still had my old badge and employees got in the the garage sale before the demoed the plant. I made it tall enough to get my 580 case backhoe under it and wide enough for the big equipment trailer ..the double wheel castors came from a friend. I just had to buy the bolts for the castors, I got paid $ 50 to take out the southworth lift table from a factory remodel shown on the left side of the pict.
 

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#5 ·
I looked over the HF unit. The big thing I noticed was there is very little lateral strength. It is relying on the single point at the top of the beam and the post for lateral support.

With the one I am building I added the outboard brace from the end of the beam and to the 4X4 post. it will definitely improve the lateral support. I am going to start on drilling the 10 holes in the beam tomorrow. I was gonna start today but just didn't feel like having a day in the shop. Stay Tuned for the project finish.
 
#7 ·
I looked at that a lot and at first I thought I didn't want to loose the travel of the truck on the beam. However I just finished a conversation with a associate and we are going to do a practical demo in the shop and if what he says is right I will reverse the braces to inside and eliminate the wings.

Stay Tuned
 
#8 ·
Update of Design

I have to admit I was real stubborn about the outboard braces. My associate came by and we discussed this design element. The math on the braces was the same weather I went inboard or outboard with the brace.

My personal thought was I wanted the brace outboard so the truck could move fully to the outside edges. I was being ANAL about that point I have to admit.

My associate proceeded to do a demo in the shop last night. He threw a rope over a rafter and let it drop to the floor. He marked the floor with a chalk mark. He then told me put a mark on the floor a foot from the rope spot.

He then asked me to explain why did I need that extra foot when the chainfall was 7 feet above me? With an imaginable load on the 1 foot mark there was a surprizing lack of serious angle on the chain and the crane would still function just like I needed. That convinced me right there that I was being unreasonable and we made an executive decision to move the brace inboard.

This decision will require changing the brace mount where it attaches to the beam. Originally I was going to bolt the brace to one of the flanges on the beam but moving it inboard it stops the truck a few inches shorter than if it were in the middle of the flange. The truck itself will slide past that mounting point. So instead of drilling and bolting to the flange I am going to Weld a 1/2" stud to the center of the flange to allow the truck to straddle the brace.

So I have 2 less holes to drill now but added a welding operation..

I may drill a couple a holes today but it is 36 degrees F out in the shop and it is a struggle for my furnace to keep my shop warm when it gets below about 40 degrees F .

More Later,
 
#9 ·
The crane is finished and looks pretty good. I Have a New 6" S (I) beam and the total length is 8 feet the top of the beam to floor is 7' 8" (my ceiling is 8'.

I am using a 1,000 lbs Truck to hang the 1,000 lbs chain fall. As the photos show, I turned the braces around to the inside and I will admit that will work fine. All in all a fun project for once. Now I will feel safe moving the T body around the shop and on and off. I am personally not going to lift anything more than 1,000 lbs but I know it is capable of a lot more. I will rate it at 1/2 ton..

:cool:
 

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#10 ·
please push and hose clamp on some heater hose to protect the end of the threads on those bolts sticking out. i don't want the threads being damaged when you bang a body part onto them. or even better take a scrap of wood.. cut the ends at 45 degrees.. drill and counter bore a hole.. so you can use a nut and washer to hold your new cable /chain holder over the exposed threads..

just a thought.. it came to my mind like a flash of pain..
 
#11 ·
I feel your pain!! Actually I was going to cut the extended bolts off then I noticed the bolts made a nice hanger for the chain.

I didn't see the problem at first as I set low in my PowerChair but now that you brought that up I see an immediate need to either cut them off or slide some rubber hose over them as you suggest...:pain:

Another person mentioned brakes on the crane. I have locks on the casters below..

Well now to go lift something!!!:pain:
 
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