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.