Hoisting a mill

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tigtorch

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I just purchased a 1979 Burke Powermatic Millrite mill which I am cleaning and reassembling in my basement. It is sitting on a pallet and once it is put together I want to wheel it (with a pallet jack) to it's new home which will be a corner of the basement sided on one side with a poured concrete wall and the other side is a bearing wall made of 2X6's. The mill weighs approx. 1600# and the center of it will sit in the corner roughly 3' from each wall.

I would like to use my chain hoist to lift it off of the pallet. Does anyone know if I can safely fashion a connection to one or more of the floor joists for the hoist to attach to? If so how?
 
Yep , I just went through that removing a big boiler. Three 4x4s one sistered to a floor joist and the
other two from that one down to the floor. I then drilled a hole through the floor joist not the 4x4
that way you get the floor joist plus 4x4 beam plus the two upright floor supports. Then a large bolt
one of those big telephone pole ones chain around bolt chain fall, picked it up lowered on pipes then
rolled it to the door. Two planks on the cement basement stairs chain on pickup =done =off to the scrap
yard. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do with no help. 1600# aint bad just another truck engine.....
another cherry picker job
 
Yeah, I started to do something similar. I bolted two new 2x8's to the existing joists and then attached a piece of steel pipe to them.
Then I decided to build a wooden gantry instead. You could built one on wheels.

Check these threads:

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/show...ent-with-very-tight-headroom?highlight=joists

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/show...ase-Makes-Trip-Into-Basement?highlight=joists

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/show...Jib-Cranes-People-Have-Built?highlight=gantry

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/show...-Assemble-VN-Milling-Machine?highlight=gantry
 
Insted of hoisting it you could cut the pallet out from under it. get some lengths of 2" pipe and place between the pallet slats, then carve up the pallet with a saws all. when your done the mill will be sitting on the pipes ready to roll.
 
OK, here's my idea, how does it sound?

Since I will be putting this mill as close to a bearing wall as resulting access to the machine will allow (centerline maybe 3' or so from wall), I will use two floor joists as the top member of a gantry by using the existing support on one side (the bearing wall) and about 6' from the wall I will span two joists with a 2X10 and run a 4X4 from this to the floor. I have in essence created a 6' wide gantry utilizing two joists as the top member. Then, in the middle of this 6' span I will attach a 2" pipe to the two joists using either the strongest store bought brackets I can find or make some out of 1/4" steel ( I can bend with oxy-acetylene and weld) and lag bolt these to the two joists. Then connect my 1 ton chain hoist to the middle of this pipe with a welded eye and use 6400# lifting straps to attach to the machine.
 
I have a similar setup in the overhead doors of my garage.

Question: What are the 2 floor joists dimensions, 2x4, 2x6, 2x8? I'd be more comfortable if they were 2x6 or better and would try to span at least 3 instead of 2. Also, on the supporting wall, are the joists sitting on top of the wall header or are they butted up and possibly held in place with galvanized joist brackets or possibly just toe-nailed in? If they are on top of the header, you're fine; otherwise, I'd nail or bolt a cleat into the wall underneath the floor joist for support. Once again, I personally would be more comfortable spreading the weight across 3 joists because you'll be putting about 500lb per joist instead of 800 -big difference when it comes to wooden structures.

Also, the metal brackets to hold the suspension pipe... make sure those don't pull out. Put some beef on those brackets and if possible, 3/8" bolts all the way through from sided to side.

Sorry if this seems like overkill but better safe than sorry.

One other thing. There are times when you may need to have your fingers under a hoisted piece of equipment to screw-in leveling bolts etc. Minimize these times and ALWAYS have beefy blocks of wood thicker than your fingers under the equipment. 2x4 pine wood don't cut it. Use 4x4 fir or oak from an old pallate. Carefully layout all the equipment ou need and keep it within easy reach. Stay focused on your job. Also, avoid doing these things alone and have someone nearby as a spotter. I know this sounds silly but, if you must do it alone, keep your cell phone in your shirt pocket.

FWIW: I used to rebuild antique vertical diesel engines -most were upward of a ton. -Never had an incident but was always prepared to try to save my life.

Ray


tigtorch said:
OK, here's my idea, how does it sound?

Since I will be putting this mill as close to a bearing wall as resulting access to the machine will allow (centerline maybe 3' or so from wall), I will use two floor joists as the top member of a gantry by using the existing support on one side (the bearing wall) and about 6' from the wall I will span two joists with a 2X10 and run a 4X4 from this to the floor. I have in essence created a 6' wide gantry utilizing two joists as the top member. Then, in the middle of this 6' span I will attach a 2" pipe to the two joists using either the strongest store bought brackets I can find or make some out of 1/4" steel ( I can bend with oxy-acetylene and weld) and lag bolt these to the two joists. Then connect my 1 ton chain hoist to the middle of this pipe with a welded eye and use 6400# lifting straps to attach to the machine.
Click to expand...
 
Joists are 2X10 resting on top of header (bearing wall is a 2x6 wall) I know overkill is good but I think two joists are adequate over a span of what will be more like 5' instead of 6'. I am still a little unsure of exactly how to make the connection to the two joist with the chain hoist, though. Would lag screws be better screwed several inches into the bottom of the joists (i.e. screws 2 or 3" long, but the force is in the pull out direction) or through the side of the joists (on'y 1.5" long but the force is shear)? Maybe I should put a 2X10 in between the two joists and screw longer lag screws (in the shear direction) through the joist into this "spanner" 2X10.

By the way, the reason I mention two vs. three joists is what someone else pointed out above, that it is difficult to avoid most of the load going to the center one when you try to do this.
 
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