Installing hoist

[jdurand]

Well, we made it to our new place on 14 August and have been running around getting paperwork done, buying a car, getting our tax ID numbers, etc.


So, to the hoist. When the contractor installed the I-Beam track for the hoist the only trolley they could find was motorized and expensive. Of course we said we'll make our own.

We have a lot of stuff to do before we're able to build the trolley, so for now how to get the hoist partly usable and out of the way of unpacking everything else.

We decided to temporarily mount it from the roof truss that the I-Beam is mounted to. Sure, not full weight capacity but for now it will be fine and it already came with square tube brackets.

Problem: The hoist is heavy and the truss is 3+ meters up.



(the motor sitting next to it was donated to us to run our horizontal band saw, haven't seen if it will fit yet)

Since we come from a theatrical backstage background, we knew that hoists there are run upside down so they don't have to haul them up into the rigging. So, do that with this one just to get it up there.



I had to put a hand under it to level it on the way up, so up a bit, step up the ladder, up a bit...
In theater, this would be attached to a truss with several other chain motors so it wouldn't tilt as long as all the motors lift at the same time




Once up there I used two ratchet straps to pull the motor up against the truss and rotate it into position.



And finally, IT WORKS! It's at the edge of our loading dock so items have to be swung out, around but for now it's a lot better than lifting.

[IntheGroove]

Great to hear from you again...

[jdurand]

Great to hear from you again...

It was an "interesting" trip to get here. We originally sold our California house in July 2020 with the intention of moving shortly after.

Then the border was closed for a short while to flatten the curve.

So we rented the house back from the buyers for a few months.

Then the border opening date was moved.

And moved again.

Finally in April 2021 we HAD to leave, so we shipped off around half our stuff, abandoned the rest for the new buyer (a building contractor), got in our car and drove to a friend's place in Illinois to wait it out.

After two months our car registration was running out, but we had paid the renewal before we left. Contacted California DMV and found out that since our headlight had been broken in a minor accident before we left, they would NOT allow renewal of the registration until the highway patrol could personally inspect the repairs... IN California.

Ok, we're going to be leaving anyway, so sell the car to our friends in Illinois and they will let us use it.

Illinois says not until California releases it as repaired. NOW we have a bit of a panic.

Another friend in Alabama checked with his DMV, they don't care what California says. So, pack up the car and move to a mountain ridge in Alabama with expired registration. Go to the DMV there with our friend, say we're selling it to him, hand them the title, sign a paper, they go out to the parking lot to inspect the car serial number. All is good, back inside they run a stolen vehicle check, none. Friend hands them the registration money, they hand him new plates. We're legal again!

After two months the border opened, of COURSE our visas were now expiring in a week, so a mad rush to get new visas issued, get the PCR random number generator test, on a plane to Germany, then to Moscow, then to KRR and WE'RE HOME!

Since then has been a whirlwind of trying to work on the house, doing paperwork for temporary residency, buying the LAST LADA Niva Legend Urban sold in this region (lack of parts from China closed the factory a few days after we got ours, all orders canceled).

Currently working on our corporation papers and trying to get some FBI documents that went to the wrong city. There's a timeout on the documents, if it expires we need to start over (and that's $$$$).

Just went to exchange the last of the paper USD we have, bad timing. As of Monday USD aren't accepted by most places. We found two places that would exchange 2/3 of it, only the bills ABSOLUTELY perfect. No smudges, marks, creases, "odd looking", etc.

The rest out of 12 banks we found ONE that would take them but charged a 10% processing fee!!!

So, don't bring paper USD to Russia, they are no longer worth the paper they're written on.

[IntheGroove]

Quite the adventure...