Opinions... Jib Crane, Gantry, Or Just An Engine Hoist?

I have come to a crossroads where I need SOMETHING. My woodworking jobs keep getting heavier and more complex, and lifting them is becoming less fun as I get older. And of course there are the ever-present jeep and car parts to lift...

I've been eyeballing a 1-ton, 14' Jib Crane on Craigslist, but I'm hesitant to pull the trigger.



In a perfect world, I would mount this by the corner of my shop door, and it could allow me to swing over to offload my bench, as well as swing outside to load a truck if need be. In reality, The one (I can afford) on CL has an upper support rod that would interfere with my garage door tracks to the point I would have to mount it too low to be useful. So at the moment, that jib crane is out.

Self-supported jib cranes (without the upper support rod) are ideal for my situation, but way out of my price range until someone decides to give one away.

Option #2 is a fairly tall, or adjustable, gantry crane (to just clear a 12' high garage door).



I am hesitant to go this route because of bulkiness and storage. I would have no room to store it besides outside, and the S.O. is already past her limit with my junk. An option would be to disassemble it after every use and hang it on a wall, but that sounds like too much work.

Option #3 is just to get a collapsable engine hoist for my car projects, and just keep breaking my back with the wood projects. My neighbor has got to be getting tired of my borrowing his hoist every time I pull an engine.

Do I continue searching for the unicorn jib crane? Settle for a bulky gantry? Or save my money and just get by with a hoist?

Insight? Opinions?

 

Boss bought an aluminum gantry on wheels. It breaks down easy and is light weight. Worked great. You could buy or engineer hydraulic or worm drive to make it taller or shorter. Why buy a jib crane or steel gantry when you can make it yourself? Seen em made out of old differentials... HF has cheap engine hoists but really they are junk. I am sure some people think they're great, but they are deluded.

Fact is what you need is none of those things. Its a forklift or a front end loader with forks or a bobcat with a bucket and forks. Just go buy one that doesn't run and fix it. Problem solved. I was going to do that before I fell into my present line of work for the same reasons as you. i found a 12K one for my boss for 1200 bucks. 12K lifting capacity...

Its the only answer for everything you need.

 

Good point.

 

Thanks Chris. That's why I posted this question. I knew there was something obvious I wasn't seeing.

Perfect.
Forklift 2500#

 

Go buy that ASAP. Its so totally perfect.

 

Just remember the Forklift needs real smooth ground to roll on.

 

I like the fork lift idea, or skid steer. I would love to get one some day. That one you posted has potential.

 

Fork lifts can't be that cheap ... (scratches head)

They are made to run on the concrete factory floor. I recall the trouble we had at the little shop I used to work at in high school. They'd take the fork lift into the tarmac parking lot, and just the seams and cracks in the lot sometimes got it stuck.

 

My shop floor is flat concrete, and the driveway is paved. If that is uneven enough to get it stuck, that's what the jeeps are for.

I'll talk this over with the boss... ehem... wife tonight. The biggest issue at this point is transporting it from there to here. Note: I'm a cheap ba$tard.

Mods, you can move this into off-topic if you want. It didn't end up being the useful debate I thought it would.

 

Says "heavy equipment - by dealer" ... likely they have a way to deliver it.

 

I don't know your shop layout or your rafter structure but depending on the weight of the items you need to move a gantry on tracks suspended from the ceiling might be an option. My dad has a buddy who did this with some old hay loader track from his barn. He has a 16' span running 50' in his shop.

 

That would be awesome, but it would be a major ordeal. The shop is 30x40, and just a pole building. I get nervous with more than 3' of snow.

 

I was looking at a forklift just like that a couple years ago for a similar price too. I would use it all the time.

 

Fork lifts are great until they get old and start leaking...........for the most part some motors can be rebuilt , but other systems like steering , carburetors , hard rubber wheels, hydraulic pumps and assorted parts for the carriage are non existent anymore ............some can be re-built or re-manufactured , but the returns seem to diminish each time you fix one ........after cannibalizing two York forklifts for parts over several years they all were given away to a scrap dealer.

Chris , When was the last time you looked at these?....................I mean for a $150.00 bucks on sale , how could you go wrong?..........for me this is such a great Item to have around here at the house, folds up to a small footprint and even with an overhead 1 ton trolley this still gets a workout moving things around.

 

I see mine every time I walk outside. Its very lightweight. It is fine for pulling a jeep or light truck transmission up through the floor to hold it in place, but realistically its unsafe to use in an environment where it will see half its stated capacity. I have a "carolina" branded made in america non fold hoist that I use instead all the time now. Its not great but substantially better in every way than the HF one. I bought that one like new for 75 bucks on C/L, so I got it cheaper, more robustly built and safer. The inexpensiveness of a product does not negate the fact that it is lightly built and its capacity over rated. Inexpensiveness does not imply quality or safety and not really something I see as a value when lifting and moving heavy items. Seeing the whole thing flexing and straining lifting a small Buick 225 when the boom is fully collapsed to the "2 Ton" mark makes it sit in the corner while I do real work with the "carolina" branded made in USA tool.

Everything is great until it has had no maintenance, neglected and is broken. Then its junk. Lots of junk forklifts out there. I bet Ryan is smart enough to discern garbage from a useful tool. Moving and lifting cabinet carcasses by yourself is not a job done well with an engine hoist. A forklift in any fashion would make the fabrication and movement of those items more efficient and lessening of the possibility of shop rash or other damage.

 

Chris, I can't speak on behalf of what you have there.......but the hoist here easily lifts fully dressed V8's into pickups or a chassis............I'm sure you'll agree that with anything mechanical the actual function of the component is more reliant on the operator than the equipment.

 

I may or may not move on that forklift.

I called to find out about it last night after I got the "Whatever. It's your money..." from the boss. (I'll call that a resounding "YES! Do it honey! That sounds awesome!")

He claims it has little-to-no leaks, the brakes work great, everything works as it should, but it has a "slight" rod knock and it is missing the long skinny battery. He also said delivery is an option. After I hung up I looked at the picture again. It looks like it's missing the forks?

I asked if he knew the brand of the engine, and he thinks it's a Continental. Anyone here ever heard of that?

I told him I'd call back this weekend to come look at it after I know my schedule a little better.

I'm not going to buy junk just because it's cheap. On the other hand, the next cheapest, running, small lift on the local CL is $3000 and leaks like a sieve.

I'll go look without the intent to buy, and if I really like the little guy, I'll give it a home. Otherwise, I'll just pick up a decent engine hoist on CL for the time being and add another search to my CL bot to let me know the next time one becomes available.

I could always adapt an F-head to fit in it.

 

Continental still makes industrial and airplane engines.