Dreaming: Boat crane/lift in garage

Submitted by Claus on Fri, 04/30/2004 - 10:55
Did anybody consider building or did actually build a crane/lift in the garage to lift the boat up off the trailer into the air? I've been dreaming about doing that in my three car garage. Placing boards across the rafters in the attic of the garage to distribute the weight and then having a winch with four anchor points on the ceiling that would lift up the boat using band under the hull. Or maybe even better using the lifting bridal which would keep the bottom of the boat totally free. That would allow me to work easier on the bottom of the boat, work on the trailer while the boat is off, or just simply adore the bottom of the boat.
Claus FS5074 Ames, IA
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Comments

Claus, you wouldn't catch me working on the bottom of any boat f

Submitted by jfssail on Fri, 04/30/2004 - 19:16.
Claus, you wouldn't catch me working on the bottom of any boat from below. The only way is to roll the Scot on its side and work on the bottom from there. Jack F. Stewart FS1342, 3532

Claus, Appreciate the sentiment, and I can already picture a

Submitted by EricG on Fri, 04/30/2004 - 22:50.
Claus, Appreciate the sentiment, and I can already picture a super winch system with pulleys..... JFS makes a good point though. Whenever you work on an auto, you don't just jack it up, you put fixed jack stands in place. Belt and suspenders when life is at risk. When I was a kid, we had canoes, two Grumman aluminum which weighed 72lbs each. The two center rafters of the garage cracked and sank 6in or so. Easy to reinforce after jacking up, but this was less than 150lbs! Couple of knot holes were weak points. 1000+lbs of Flying Scot could really test the quality of your builder and wood. And it would not sink 6", it would likely come down with authority! I appreciate your desire to have a happy work place, but it seems there are a lot of links that can be weak here, winch, rafters, bridle, lift points, etc. Of course I have the luxury of polishing the bottom of my boat at the club lift.... Hmmm still weak points! I'm sure you could engineer an appropriate set up, and I'm a bottom man myself, so appreciate your desire to want to rig a set up to admire it. However it may be easier to rent a crane truck for a weekend! Maybe you could rig up one of those auto lifts intended for stacking cars in a garage. At least it has fail-safe protection. Just would not give you unrestricted access to the bottom. I haven't tried it, but not sure a 19'boat plus trailer would even fit in my garage.

Are you still interested in building a boat lift? If so reply a

Submitted by leoloeb on Mon, 08/01/2005 - 17:56.
Are you still interested in building a boat lift? If so reply and I'll describe. It's not cheap but safe and very effective.

quote:Originally posted by leoloeb Are you still interested in

Submitted by Claus on Tue, 08/02/2005 - 12:51.
quote:
Originally posted by leoloeb
Are you still interested in building a boat lift? If so reply and I'll describe. It's not cheap but safe and very effective.
Of course I am.

Claus FS5074 Ames, IA

Several years ago I was faced with the need to lift my boat that

Submitted by leoloeb on Wed, 08/03/2005 - 15:10.
Several years ago I was faced with the need to lift my boat that weighed 4,500 lbs. While the scale is different, the problem is still the same. The answer is to use structural steel tubing. I built a lift that was a box design, like a travel lift. All components bolted together and could be used outside or assembled inside a garage with 10 foot walls. As you raise and lower a boat, you generate a rocking motion that a steel tube can handle very effectively. The question which will determine the size of the steel tube is how long a span do you need to cross and how much do you intend to lift. If you had a 12 foot span, you could cross an end garage stall with the tube. I would talk with a small local steel fabricator and get a quote. Hopefully your garage arrangement would allow you to support the beam on the top plate of the wall, and build a column support with bracing for the other end. You can buy manual chain hoists quite inexpensively. As a final note, always use safety chains in addition to the lifting strap(s). Good luck. Leo Loeb FS4491

A simple one ton winch crane with the Scot lifting bridle will d

Submitted by eppler on Sat, 09/03/2005 - 06:03.
A simple one ton winch crane with the Scot lifting bridle will do the job. you only have to take good notice of where you hang it! hello everybody - i'm back!! fair winds - Amir Eppler - Israel.