Movable shop hoist with strut channel - First test 650 pounds! 

Good job explaining everything, went slow so everyone could follow easily, Good Job! Thanks.

I made the same for lifting to the second floor of my barn. I have never pick up more than 150 pounds. It works fine all of the time. You did a great job. NEVER GET UNDER THE LIFTED LOAD!

If the ceiling came down, the video would have gone viral. You couldn’t lose!

LOL that ending, you deserve more views. I actually did the same setup but with 3 10' strut channels, I used a "Strut Channel Connector Extend" to combine all 3 struts.

Nice, I have the Harbor Freight version and have TGI floor joists too. I left a large opening to my attic for passing big items upstairs. I spanned the opening with a steel beam on top of the floor and attached the hoist tight to the bottom. This means I can get my hook above the ceiling plane because the hoist is in the joist cavity.

I attached the same way on the second floor of my shop. I spanned 6 engineered joists directly on the floor. I used 3/16 steel c channel and 1/2 threaded rod with 3/16 2 inch washers. I used a total of 6 strut brackets. I probably went a bit overkill. I noticed you just used plate over the floor. Sure it will be fine but it’s basically just pressed and glued. The weight is still distributed along the joists but also a lot of pressure directly on the floor. Amazing all the people that just screw or lag. Nice job!

I put this set-up at the ridge of my "shed". I ran a steel cable parallel to the channel. I then attached metal (small ones) links (which have a gap side) every 2' attached to the motor's electrical cable. I then attached these links to the steel cable. This allows the movement of the hoist across the entire length of the channel without a lot of electrical cord hanging down. The most that hangs down is about a foot. It keeps everything tidy.

you should measure between your anchor points if you want to see deflection - not between to anchor points that aren't directly subject to the load. I was glad to see you weren't bolting to just the bottom flange of the I joist. I did something similar in my garage but used the lightweight steel beam - it was heavy to install (not recommended) - and the trolleys were more costly. You have a very elegant and strong system, well done. Great video. I woudl also warn others to not assume their garage ceiling can handle something like this! I have seen it - but I wouldn't do it. I plated my I-joists on each side with 12" x 14" piece of ½" OSB (the 14" is from top to bottom- 2" extra below), and added a 2x4 on the bottom. then I glued (liquid nails) and screwed it off the upper and lower flanges and 2x4 (from the sides) . This engages the top flange and bottom flange of the I-joist. the steel beam is bolted through with ⅜" lag bolts (2) per joist. My beam runs perpendicular to the I-Joists. I can lift as much the floor will support - which I plan to stick to under 1,000#.

Thank you for the quick response, I live in "The Country ", so to speak and the smaller Lowe's did not carry it, found it at Hm Depot & Larger Lowe's stores.👍

The straps should connect to the wheels, not to the frame for a couple of reasons. 1. You'll have more clearance underneath because the ATV's suspension won't be hanging. 2. The tension in the *vertical* cable is 650#, but the tension in the angled strap may be split 4 ways but the tension in each strap is also multiplied significantly because of the angle. (Not surprised it bends your fender.)

For your power cord…. you could clamp it to the ceiling ear the outlet, the pull the slack to one side with a bungee cord. Great job!

To keep trolley straight clamp a length of square stock to sides of trolley then tighten bolts. By adding a table clamp to end of one trolly can use it as resistance or brake.

Very good demonstration ! Cheers !

I replaced the cable on mine with kevlar rope plenty of capacity and won't get cable burrs. Plus I cut the rope to match the length needed. so I don't have a bunch of extra on the spool. You can also build your own rollers using sliding door rollers.

The trolley is a cool idea. I was just going to bolt it up to lumber directly but I could see being able to move the load left and right being pretty handy.

Easiest way would have been to hang all the brackets then simply slide the strut channel through them. I did that to mine after trying to do the same thing you were doing lol.

Thanks for the channel/trolley leads. I can't do what you did because I have low headroom - I was going to bolt the hoist to the bottom of the big wood beam. However I could mount a pair of channels w/trolleys on each side of the beam and then fab a plate "c-section" that would "conform" to the beam that I could bolt the hoist to. A lot of work and some additional cost, but I would only give up about an inch of headroom. Even if directly mounted, I would not use a channel since gives up too much head space.

Great video, thank you for sharing.

Amazing set up!

Good job planning ahead with the double joists. Can I suggest adding another length of unistrut starting at the wood beam on one end going close to the wood rack on the other. This will give more coverage but also allow you to use 3 or 4 small rollers supporting a coiled electrical cord to get power to the hoist. Look up “festoon” for jib cranes for examples of this system.

You have to get a cheap portable bandsaw. It makes quick work of that all thread and strut. Cuts clean fast and quiet.

They got this new stuff called Cutting Oil so you don't wear out your drill bits so fast 😊

You can also get winches with a remote control so that would eliminate one wire hanging down.

Likely the reason it doesn't move well with weight on it is because the winch doesn't pull from the middle. The edge of the drum is about a 1inch to 1 1/2 off set to one side. So when loaded it wants to tilt in the mount. One possible way to lessen this would be to put a roller on the outside of the mount under the Unistrut. I would start by moving all the slop in the mounts to one side so the rollers are the closest to the side the cable comes off the winch drum.

You could use a jig clamp with a string on it to pull when you want it to stay on place.

Use a pole with a large plastic coated hook to pull the load over to you after it is up in the storage area.

Thanks very informative 😊

I understand why you supported the strut with only the brackets due to the space required by the rollers, but I see that as the weak link where, even tho you have a cross bolt, the entire strut is hanging from the 2 tabs at the bottom. I would weld those tabs to the strut to provide better support and keep the system from moving L to R. I use 'unistrut' and threaded rod everywhere. It's fantastic what you can do with it !

If you turn the winch 180 degrees your cords will be on the proper end so your cords won't have to come across the front of the winch since your plug-in is on the other end of the track.

Don't tweak the trolley, level the channel. Also, use another trolley for extra power cord support.

you could run a 10' piece of PVC pipe or 1/2" conduit and zip tie the power cord to some dollar-store shower curtain rings so the power cord will be up and out of the way?

Excellent !

Good thing you didn’t attach this system to the bottom cord of the TGI or eye joist. They hold incredible weight on top, but the lower cord is Not designed to do the same. Tooo many people screw heavy items to the bottom of these joists, and it is a recipe for disaster.

Don’t forget to put some stops at the ends of the track

What about mounting it with the trollies installed loosely then tighten the mounting bolts once you get yhem aligned eith the track and they roll easily eith no binding

구독과 좋아요 눌리고 갑니다 멋져요 ^^ 굿 👍👍

What are you planning to use the hoist for. You had the block&tackle.😊

Nice video

I bought one of these, too, but I can’t find the instructions to set it up for 880 pounds vs 440. I’m using mine for a large zero turn mower which is very close in weight to the minimum.

Put a level on the track and shim it level so the track isn't a ski slope.

theres bolt sleaves to fill the void in your bolt holes

I know hind sight is 20/20 but why not use the all-thread to raise and lower the track to level the system so it doesn’t roll to one side?

I would more than likely just bolted the U track straight to the 2x12 joists with 3 inch lag bolts every 2 feet or so. Would that still allow the trolley and motor parts room to slide?

Nice I’m planning a similar project in my garage. Where did you get that welding table it looks nice?

😮. Measure center line of wench ,,line up both bracket line up rollers ,,eye ,,,use angle IORN top of rollers with that

love your setup. do you have information or link on the bar and hoist?

Ahead have gone under it and pretend like you were going to change the oil/ May have subbed

Where do you buy the channel railing at, tried Lowes, don't carry it.? Can you make a suggestion? Also what is the correct name for the Railing, no one seems top know what I am talking about? Thanks ahead of time.

Thanks for the video. I'm having trouble getting the trolley wheels to go in the unistrut channel. Too tight. Do you have any suggestions on how to make it loose enough for the trolley to slide smoothly?

Hi Adam, I would appreciate if you also had a link to where you bought the struct channel. I only need to lift like 200lbs

Did you drill a hole through the vertical span of your I Joist, the flange or next to the flange? It wasn't clear what you were doing.

How do you lock the trolley assembly in place so it doesn't move along the unistrut while working on the hanging load?

Please report to your nearest OSHA office.

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What welding table is that? Thanks.

How much weight can the actual unistrut handle? Could you lift a moose?

Too low to be of much use. Move the trolley into the attic.

With all of your OCD, i am quite shocked to see that you ran your electric and receptacle drops in BX. You also didn't bother to at least FIRE TAPE your drywall.... SMH