# Another Beam Lifting  Question.



## marwynne (Aug 25, 2013)

Hey guys I have question that I am having difficulty with.   I have looked around the web but not found an answer that I can understand.

1.         Two walls six feet apart.
2.         Two 2x8 with a piece of 3/4 inch plywood sandwiched and glued and nailed together.  2x8's are #1 yellow pine.
3.         Will this beam support 1300 lbs in the center between 6 foot walls. 

I know there must be away to calculate the safe lifting load .    I could put a stiff leg at one end off the wall to shorten the span.
I need to make one lift at 1300 lbs and then use it with a rail for lifts of 2 or 3 hundered lbs max.  

Can any one help. 

Thanks in advance 

Marwynne


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## Dave Smith (Aug 25, 2013)

Marwynne--is there any reason you couldn't use a portable adjustable gantry crane in your shop?--you could lift heavier items easily without having a beam on the ceiling--they can be easily set up and taken down after doing a very safe lift and you can also have wheels on them and made with aluminum. I used them before I retired and they were very nice.--Dave


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## Ray C (Aug 25, 2013)

LOL...  The beam will hold-up fine but will the walls?  What are the walls made of and how is the beam attached?

I use the headers of my overhead garage door as a hoist area.  The headers are two, 2x10s.  The span is the width of a typical single car garage door (about 8 feet?).  The end supports are multiple layers of stacked 2x4s.  I've hoisted well over a 1.5 tons with it on many occasions.  That's hardly scientific but, if you go here, this will calculate sag.  I did an estimate with 1500lbs center load and it shows 0.02" deflection.  -The beam will be fine as long as the walls and method of attachment are adequate.

http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator.htm

Ray





marwynne said:


> Hey guys I have question that I am having difficulty with.   I have looked around the web but not found an answer that I can understand.
> 
> 1.         Two walls six feet apart.
> 2.         Two 2x8 with a piece of 3/4 inch plywood sandwiched and glued and nailed together.  2x8's are #1 yellow pine.
> ...


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## Codered741 (Aug 26, 2013)

Two in a week!  Man!

As stated before, beam design relies on many factors.  Unfortunately, WOOD beam design is even trickier than steel!  They make tables that will allow you to quickly determine the allowable loading of steel beams.  Seeing as wood beams are organic, they are somewhat a trickier beast to figure.  The calculations are tedious, and I'll have to find my engineering book, but I will run them and show the formulas and solutions.  

Again, I am not an engineer, nor do I claim to be, so if you trust my results and something goes wrong, you are on your own.  

Off the top of my head, you should be fine, assuming that the walls can support such a load, and the beam is not seeing any other forces from roofing, compression etc.  

Give me a couple of days, and I'll post the results.  

-Cody

P.S. If you tell me the construction of the wall, I will run those numbers as well.  (I have a long flight tomorrow, and will be bored.)


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## stupoty (Aug 26, 2013)

Marks handbook has a section on wood beams with a quick lookup table, im not at home but will have a look when i am.


Stuart


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## marwynne (Aug 26, 2013)

Thanks guys for the help, I can weight for a week without any problem.. 

The walls I going to set the beam on has two 2x4's vertical under the beam and top plates of the walls and 2x4 between the studs at 4 feet.  This will not let the two studs bow from the weight.  
The two vertical 2x4's would be much stronger than the beam I believe.     I have seen that arrangement with 8 inch I beam on top with a large movable winch on it.

I know one thing for sure.  You have a problem or concern this is the right group to be associated with.  It is a real pleasure to read all the information available on this site.

Marwynne)


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## jmhoying (Feb 9, 2014)

marwynne said:


> Thanks guys for the help, I can weight for a week without any problem..
> 
> The walls I going to set the beam on has two 2x4's vertical under the beam and top plates of the walls and 2x4 between the studs at 4 feet.  This will not let the two studs bow from the weight.
> The two vertical 2x4's would be much stronger than the beam I believe.     I have seen that arrangement with 8 inch I beam on top with a large movable winch on it.
> ...



I don't have an engineering degree, but have worked in construction for 40 years.  As long as you have the beam secured (so it can't tip or twist), my opinion is that you can lift much, much more than 1300 lbs. from it.  Be sure that the 2x8s are flat on the side that you are gluing to the plywood so you have a large contact area for the glue.  6' is really a very short span.  

Jack


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