Gantry for Barn

[SpringHollow]

Well, i finally got a chance to build my gantry for the barn's shop. Took 2 days for a friend and I to build it plus painting time. I had bought some used 20' i-beams a few years ago and welded them up to make ~ 32' long side rails. Every 16", i welded on 3/16" or 1/4" thick (can't remember which) 2" wide flat stock onto the top of the I-beam as hanging tabs. These tabs were bolted through the sides of each truss. The trusses were designed with extra strength to support the gantry load at these locations. Two tabs (one welded about 20% of the way in from each end) were welded centered on the I-beam flange. These were bolted to the trusses first allowing the beam to hang vertically. The other flanges were staggered next to each edge of the beam so that when they were bolted, the beam could not rock side to side. This amount of support was overkill but better to over build, especially for something supporting things above you.

I used the cutoffs from making the 32' beams to make the trolley ends of the gantry. This was bolted with grade 8 bolts to 1/2" x 4" angle iron brackets and attached to the I-beam. Each trolley end was suspended from 2 Harbor Freight 2 ton trolleys with 1" grade 8 bolts. The chain fall trolley is also HF 2 ton trolley that runs on a 22 I-Beam.

Finished it today and works unbelievably nice. Moved 6 loads varying from 600 - 1100 pounds from one corner of the barn to the opposite corner and it rolled effortlessly. I really am quite pleased with how well it is working.

Ken

 

[BearKiller]

Very nice and very useful.

I have a gantry in the plans but I have to get a shop to put it in first, or maybe build the gantry and then build the shop around it.


Do I understand correctly; you have a cross-wise I-beam that rides on the two linear I-beams, and the chain hoists ride on the cross-wise I-beam, right ??

Or do you have more than one cross-wise ??

Thanks.

 

[Groo]

or maybe build the gantry and then build the shop around it.

why waste all that structure? definatly build the Gantry first, unless you was something on wheels.

 

[SpringHollow]

Do I understand correctly; you have a cross-wise I-beam that rides on the two linear I-beams, and the chain hoists ride on the cross-wise I-beam, right ??

Yes, that is correct. I should have taken a picture of the whole thing.

At each end of the crosswise I-beam, the short section of beam that has the two side trolleys on it is just under 4' which means i can get to within about 2' of my garage doors at each end of the building. i can get with in about 18" of the side walls with the chain fall as well.

The load span is about 21' and, if i calculated it correctly, the beam will deflect about 0.4" for 2500 lbs, 0.6" for 3000 lbs, and 3/4" for 4000 lbs if the load is in the center of the span. The heaviest load that i plan on lifting and not at center span is 2500 lbs. If I were buying beams for the cross beam, i likely would have gone with W14x22 which would only result in a deflection of a 1/4" for 4000 lbs. (again, if i am calculating correctly).

Ken

 

[flusher]

Well, i finally got a chance to build my gantry for the barn's shop. Took 2 days for a friend and I to build it plus painting time. I had bought some used 20' i-beams a few years ago and welded them up to make ~ 32' long side rails. Every 16", i welded on 3/16" or 1/4" thick (can't remember which) 2" wide flat stock onto the top of the I-beam as hanging tabs. These tabs were bolted through the sides of each truss. The trusses were designed with extra strength to support the gantry load at these locations. Two tabs (one welded about 20% of the way in from each end) were welded centered on the I-beam flange. These were bolted to the trusses first allowing the beam to hang vertically. The other flanges were staggered next to each edge of the beam so that when they were bolted, the beam could not rock side to side. This amount of support was overkill but better to over build, especially for something supporting things above you.

I used the cutoffs from making the 32' beams to make the trolley ends of the gantry. This was bolted with grade 8 bolts to 1/2" x 4" angle iron brackets and attached to the I-beam. Each trolley end was suspended from 2 Harbor Freight 2 ton trolleys with 1" grade 8 bolts. The chain fall trolley is also HF 2 ton trolley that runs on a 22 I-Beam.

Finished it today and works unbelievably nice. Moved 6 loads varying from 600 - 1100 pounds from one corner of the barn to the opposite corner and it rolled effortlessly. I really am quite pleased with how well it is working.

Ken

Nice job.

Technically speaking, I think what you built is a bridge crane if I interpret your photos correctly.

A gantry crane is similar, but is supported from the floor on casters. Here's mine



It's a 1-ton model from Harbor Freight. It's OK, but I'd rather have your setup.

 

[BearKiller]

Nice job.

Technically speaking, I think what you built is a bridge crane if I interpret your photos correctly.

When I worked at Norfolk Southern, they had a similar set-up in the car-shop that could pick up a loaded box-car and carry it across the building; I don't know what we should have called it, but everyone there called it a "gantry crane".

On your HF gantry, did you add those base extenders or did they come with the kit ??

Also, if you were to hang a 6BT Cummins on it, can you then roll the whole outfit forward or back, like one would need do when swapping an engine ??

Thanks.

 

[Scooby074]

I have a 10' gantry crane.

I use it all the time,however mine is permanently bolted to the floor which as i now know limits its flexability. I decided on bolting it to the floor so i wouldnt have to deal with tripping over (and the space taken by) the extended legs.

So i have making it height adjustable ( so i can move it to the other side of the barn) and mounting it on wheels (as soon as i round up some decent casters for the right price) on my list of things to do.

Youll love your crane and wonder how you got along without it.

 

[flusher]

When I worked at Norfolk Southern, they had a similar set-up in the car-shop that could pick up a loaded box-car and carry it across the building; I don't know what we should have called it, but everyone there called it a "gantry crane".

On your HF gantry, did you add those base extenders or did they come with the kit ??

Also, if you were to hang a 6BT Cummins on it, can you then roll the whole outfit forward or back, like one would need do when swapping an engine ??

Thanks.

I added those extenders myself so I could move the gantry around with a load on the chain hoist. So, yes, I can move the gantry back and forth with an engine hanging on the hoist without worrying about the thing tipping over.

That HF gantry comes with cheesy 5" dia plastic wheel casters. I replaced these with 5" cast iron wheel casters from McMaster Carr ($25 ea). The hole pattern on the replacement casters fortunately matches the pattern on the plastic casters perfectly.

 

[jimmer2880]

I'll be watching this thread closely. I have a 32x32 garage with 12' ceiling and want some sort of overhead hoist.

My current plan is to make something on wheels, ~12' wide. The other option is to try to find a beam strong enough to span the 32' width, that is still small enough for me to raise 12' high to install it. What I don't like about the fixed beam, is that all lifting must be on the same plane, whereas with the portable one, I would have much more lifting location options. Of course, with anything portable, there is the extra work of making it portable, but still stable, and having it in my way when I'm not using it.

Of course, there are currently 0 dollars set aside for this project, so it's still just a pipe dream

 

[SpringHollow]

If i did my calculations correctly, i think a W14x22 would deflect about 0.62" over 32 feet if loaded with 3000 lbs in the center.

Ken