What do you use for lifting heavy objects?

[rwdenney]

Tell us about the concrete countertop. How has it held up as a workbench top? Thanks.

I just set it on top of a bench that had a 2x4 top.

Since that photo, I’ve loaded it down with a vise, a bench motor, and my Gerstner box on a Kennedy mid-box. Hardly any room left

The top is an asbestos concrete that was surplus from Oak Ridge National Labs—it’s basically impervious to everything.

Note the HF lift cart next to it. I used that to lift it up high enough to slide it onto the bench.

Rick “drilled the vise holes wet while masked up” Denney

 

[Chips O'Toole]

When I converted the HF press to an air/hydraulic cylinder, I made a toe jack out of the old cylinder. This is really handy at times for either getting started with cribbing, to insert a roller bar, put in a shim, etc.

Been wondering what to do with mine. Now I know! Thanks.

 

[Charles scozzari]

Just like the title says! What are you using in your shop for lifting heavy things like dividing heads, rotary tables, mill vises, etc...?

I recently found out I have a small hernia, but it's also been getting harder to man handle heavy tooling items as I get older. I am looking to keep the budget to under $300. So far I have only been looking at engine hoists, and electric ceiling hoists.

The engine hoist would be beneficial to me to move any heavy machinery if needed, but even a collapsible ones takes up a lot of space. And it seems like it would be hard to maneuver close to machines / excessive for just picking up a dividing head or rotary table. I can find a used 2 ton for about $200 pretty easily.

A 220lb cap. electric hoist is about $100 + whatever I need to make to install it. I was thinking either just a swing arm off the wall, or maybe a small mobile stand for it? The mobile stand would also take up space I don't necessarily have, but be more easily maneuverable than an engine hoist. The swing arm doesn't take up floor space and is easily moved out of the way. I am leaning more in this direction.

I was wondering if there's any other options I have overlooked, or if anyone else has installed one of these electric hoists in their shop?



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I posted this a while ago and got mixed reviews with it but it has been a great help to me for dead lifting my vise, rotary table, 10" chuck from either the floor or my tool caddy. Made lifting points for each tool. It mounts to the mill bed and uses a 220lb electric winch that I 2 to1 to slow it down so as not to have the winch snap up on the initial lift. It weighs 43 lbs total and for the most part I leave it on the table. When I need to remove it's not a problem since it weighs less then any of my tools. It made a big difference for me, and is much safer. As I said before it is lighter than the original Bridgeport power feed that was mounted on the right side of the table.Just some food for thought.

 

[Weldingrod1]

I like the vise grabber! Well thought out!

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[Charles scozzari]

I like the vise grabber! Well thought out!

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Thank you very much.

 

[GunsOfNavarone]

The HF engine hoist folds up pretty small. It takes about 18" x 24" of floor space and just shy of 5' tall. For its ability to move my CNC mill, manual mill, lathe and even ripped a push out of the ground roots and all, I'll accept the storage size. The long legs out front are sometimes a pain when moving things, but pretty easy to work around. I think I paid $200 back when they had 20% off coupons.

 

[Chips O'Toole]

I like the shopmade rig.

I've seen the Sky Hook, and it's so ungodly expensive, it makes sense that people buy other stuff or make their own. Harbor Freight sells little cranes for under $200, and if that's too much, MIG isn't very hard. I would love to support non-Asian companies, but $1000 for a little manual crane that looks like it should sell for $300 is hard for me to understand.

 

[rwdenney]

I never knew that unistrut channel could be used to support a trolley with a load rating of a quarter ton. And it’s cheap!

Rick “putting stuff on his Amazon shopping list” Denney

Installed my first one today.

It has a 10-foot track extending from over the lathe chuck to the middle of the bay, where I load and unload things from my trailer. Load rating is 600 pounds if moved slowly to avoid dynamic loads. Hoist is an old Jet half-ton, but I need to shorten the chains. The track and stops came from Lowe’s, the trolley from eBay (Unistrut-branded), and the brackets were also from eBay.

The brackets are lagged into the trusses using a 3/8x5” lag bolt. 4” of thread has a pullout strength of 250 pounds/inch of thread so half a ton on each screw. The trolley is the weak link but it’s a pretty balanced collection of parts.

I spent less than $150, including the hardware.

Rick “don’t like ladders” Denney

 

[matthewsx]

Installed my first one today.

It has a 10-foot track extending from over the lathe chuck to the middle of the bay, where I load and unload things from my trailer. Load rating is 600 pounds if moved slowly to avoid dynamic loads. Hoist is an old Jet half-ton, but I need to shorten the chains. The track and stops came from Lowe’s, the trolley from eBay (Unistrut-branded), and the brackets were also from eBay.

The brackets are lagged into the trusses using a 3/8x5” lag bolt. 4” of thread has a pullout strength of 250 pounds/inch of thread so half a ton on each screw. The trolley is the weak link but it’s a pretty balanced collection of parts.

I spent less than $150, including the hardware.

Rick “don’t like ladders” Denney

Nice RV....

 

[rwdenney]

Nice RV....

It’s a work in progress. Mechanicals are up-to-date and first-rate. Interior is decent. But boy does it need a paint job.

‘73 GMC Motor Home for those who don’t know.

Rick “paint is too expensive” Denney