Garage Crane

[robwizard]

I plan on gutting my garage sometime this year and would like to get an I beam gantry crane style thing at the front for lifting engines and other such heavy objects..

Space is not something I have been blessed with, having a preformed concrete slab style garage. And I am also installing a stud wall to insulate the space so I'm gonna have even less once that is done

My plan is to knock a hole through the concrete at the very top and slot an I beam through. Then using two long pieces of box section which are as deep as the stud wall, thus concealing them and not taking up anymore space, weld/bolt them on with some right angle brackets.. and support them at the bottom with some triangular supports bolted into the floor. THEN I am gonna put a plate on the outside of the wall to spread the weight, and bolt through the plate, through the wall and into the box section on the other side!

Does that make any sense? and is it a truly terrible plan?

Thanks

 

[wyn]

You could also have a look at making a swing jib crane, put the post where the arc of the crane would be most useful.

 

[gavuk]

Hi Rob ,i had thought of doing something similar when i built my garage,before i started i was given a mobile crane so didn't bother ,but if memory serves,if you price up the steel ,roller carriage and lifting block,and account for the building/fitting then a folding crane actually works out ,quite a cheap option if you have the space to store it .I've also used my crane for bringing in my lathe etc from outside the garage ,and not having to remove a bonnet to get a straight lift ,i would seriously consider a mobile crane instead of building in a beam ,my crane folds and we have had it in a vw golf with the front seat folded flat , depends on your intended use for the beam ,hope this helps

 

[Scamp]

I agree with Gavuk. A folding engine crane is the best solution as long as you have room to store it. The advantage it also has is that it is free to move in all directions if the car that you are trying to take the engine out of happens to be on axle stands.

A chain hoist on a set of runners on the beam will only allow you to move the hoist left and right or fore and aft, depending on how the I beam is set in the garage.

 

[robwizard]

Hmmm.. I actually already have an engine crane but I'm really stuck for space and it just has too big of a footprint for the amount it gets used. I could get the steel cheap and would obviously do all the fitting work myself.. It was just a thought I had of making use of the limited space and being able to hoist a big weight.

 

[gavuk]

Rob if you fit a beam will it extend to outside or everything internal?...i was thinking originally of using a goalpost across the door opening with the beam on top and at the far end going through the wall with a single upright (if i thought it needed it) because it was single brick thickness or building a pier to support......I've no regrets just having a folding crane though

 

[nodeward]

do the legs of your crane fold up? the ones that do dont take up that much space at all(well i suppose its all relative). if yours doesn't then if you could modify it does, or so it would come to bits surely that would be easyer? as well as that if you just have overhead type crane then it can only runalong the rail so its pretty limited

 

[robwizard]

The legs do fold up but just the long thin shape of the garage and the fact that it has a car slap bang in the middle, meaning everything has to move around the outskirts, just makes it impractical to keep in there really. Only being able to winch things straight up and put then down on a stand once the vehicle is moved would be fine for me I should think.. I would still keep the engine crane but probably just in the shed or perhaps at someone else's house until I need it lol

The beam, if I were to fit it, would slightly poke out of the wall.. just enough that I could could fit a support on the outside of the wall so that the weight was spread between a leg on the inside, the wall itself and either a plate on the outside or another leg.

I will take a photo of the garage tomorrow and draw out my plan on it..

 

[gavuk]

Post up some photo's Rob ,my beam was an early casualty of my garage build along with a pit ....in truth i would have preferred an "A" frame to a beam as well...but if your sure you can get the beams etc cheap enough then its certainly possible to do

 

[awemawson]

If it's the normal pre-cast concrete garage I doubt that you will have sufficient height for a beam and traveller. Also knocking holes through the top of the panels might not be as easy as it may seem - they tend to break in the wrong places all too easily! (Ask me how I know!!!)