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Thumb of Michigan | "Here", 10 yrs ago there were a LOT of overhead bridge crane hoists available from shops that were closing up. Still I'm sure some somewhere, but I'd suggest shopping now. Keep your eyes and ears open, watch (for one) online auctions. Platinum Bid seems to do quite a lot of industrial stuff, I'm sure there are others.
Heres the downside of some of them- at least for our shop: the traveling beams in many industrial applications travels on top of the fixed beams rather than hanging from the fixed. Means you have the support legs potentially in your way. Ours only uses 1 post per corner (4 total) with a truss above the ceiling holding it all up. The other options I've seen used effectively instead of a traveling overhead set up is a jib crane. Not sure if you can get one that will cover the area that you want, though. And it takes a pretty big block of concrete to anchor it.
When we built our shop in 2000, my Dad and I had some differences in what we thought was necessary and what wasn't. I wanted a bridge hoist bad, he didn't think it was high on the list of have to haves. There was some give and take, but we ended up with the crane. I'm really glad we did. Didn't have a fork truck then, still don't far a that goes. And,in a lot of cases, theres only one person trying to lift stuff. Its pretty tough to lift some stuff with a loader or forklift when you're alone compared to what I can do with the hoist. I'd recommend one myself. We built ours out of all new steel, it covers 40 X 60.
I think what I'd recommend is looking for the hoist/crane now, and get one bought if you find the right one before you build. Or, if you want to build one from new or used steel, plan the building around it. Ours had to go in as the building was going up, so I had it designed and built well before the builders came. | |
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shop building question
