[TheForge] bridge crane

Sun Oct 2 09:16:36 EDT 2005

This is one stop I wished I'd got to make in checking out your shop and
crane projects.

.....so, you'll build another headboard when pigs fly ehhh?

Ralph

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of Kevin D
Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 11:47 AM
To: Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: RE: [TheForge] bridge crane

Justin and John,

When I first moved into my present shop, I had a prospect for a king sized
bed headboard.  So, I commenced putting together a jib crane out of stuff I
had on hand, for the most part.  The bottom of the roof truss is 14', and
the center one in my 30'x40' shop is doubled.

My jib crane is built from a hollow 3"x6" rectangular tube for the vertical
support.  The bottom pivot is the rear spindle and wheel from some small
front wheel drive car.  I welded a flange to what would be the outside of
the wheel, plummed a spot from the desire spot on the double truss, and
bolted the wheel to the floor.  The spindle I welded to a 4' piece of the
3x6 tube.  The top of the 3x6 tube I welded in a female pipe that slip fit
over a male pipe I welded to a bracket that I bolted to the double truss.
These pipes were about three feet long to give plenty of contact bearing
surface, with grease to help.  With the bottom and top vertical tubes in
place I welded them together with tabs to help placement and to give a
little extra weld area.

About two feet down from the top I mounted a 7" I beam 15' long.  I ran
chains with turnbuckles from the top of the 3x6 tube to the middle and end
of the 15' I beam.  I mounted the I beam to the 3x6 tubes with bolt through
plates welded to the tube and I beam.  This allowed me to put up the
verticle tube, and hoist the I beam into place at it's balance point.

I tested the jib crane by lifting my 25# LG at about 2/3 mast about 6" off
the floor.  It weighs about 900#s and sure made things creak and groan a
bit.  I climbed up a ladder and looked down the verticle tube and it had a
fair amount of bow in it, but held just fine.  I'll never lift that much
with it.  BUT, that said, I did weld a male pipe on the end of the I beam to
act as a stop for the truck and serve as a holder for a leg that I can slip
on the end for a stationary crane.  I've backed my trailer into the shop,
under the chain fall, and lifted 3500#, leave it suspended, pull the trailer
out and lower the load onto pipes to bar/roll into position.

I have an engineer client that has offered to noodle out the capacity of the
crane for me, but I've got to get my ducks in order and draw it up with
dimensions, which I haven't done.  But it turns free and and rests easy
wherever I leave it, and I can cover half my shop with it.  It's about 5'
out from the south wall so I can access my steel rack on that wall, and just
misses the forge flue by a few inches.

By the time I got it built, the lady changed her mind about the headboard,
which might have a bit of bearing on Flying Pig Forge :)

Kevin Donahoe
Flying Pig Forge
Morrow, OH 45152
flyinpig at go-concepts.com

 -----Original Message-----
 From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
 [mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of Justin Fellenz
 Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 6:32 AM
 To: Sponsored by ABANA
 Subject: Re: [TheForge] bridge crane

 YOu know, I may have used the wrong term. The crane I was referring to
 is anchored in pins at the floor and the ceiling of the shop with a
 vertical, pivoting I-beam between them and the crane part cantilevered
 out from the vertical post 4' down from the top or so. The outer end of
 the horizontal I-beam that the chainfall hangs from is supported by a
 heavy cable one one and a triangulating piece of i-beam on the other to
 keep it from sagging. The cranes' horizontals pivot through a
 quarter-circle from opposite corners of the shop, where the bench areas
 are. From memory and eyeball (don't take this as engineering data) the
 cranes are made from 5 or 6" x 3/16" i-beam, and he has 2-ton hoists on
 them. I don't know how far out he can go at full load though.

 The result is a nice compact system, easy to build (one rides on
 bearings top and bottom, and it moves really easily; the other is just
 on pins and it still works ok) and, for better *and* worse, it doesn't
 cover the entire shop. THe better part obviously is that you can still
 have air and electric lines and whatever else dangling from your bay
 ceiling; the worse, equally obvious, is that you can't put something
 just anywhere in the shop.

 Anyway, not arguing for one design or another, just thought his was a
 good setup that took less expensive iron to build. And you can't tip it
 over.

 Cheers,

 JRF

 > I have considered a couple of gantry cranes on wheels.  They would be
 >
 > easier and much cheaper to build.  But they probably wouldn't be an
 > even
 > substitute.  So if I ave the choice I'll go with the bridge crane.
 > Of
 > course there may be times I'll wish I had both.  Of course I have
 > seen a
 > gantry crane tip over with a 50# little giant hanging under it,
 > scared us
 > half to death but didn't hurt the hammer.
 >
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