homemade gantry.

[plunger]

I need to make a lifting or holding structure to enable me to take my rebuilt engine off my pick up . I dont want to buy a cherry picker as this is for a once off project and a cherry picker is bulky and I have no space for it. This is also Africa so we dont have any harbor freight stores. My pick up is 2..1 m wide . It needs to be 2.5 m wide to clear the vehicle and it should be 2meters high minimum. Does anyone have a simple design for a gantry that can hold a metric ton? I am thinking on the lines of making it out of pipe and after the project is finished I can cut it up and put the metal in my scrap metal projects bin.
Thanks

[boslab]

Id use i beam for the rail, deeper the better and tube for the legs, at a pinch ordinary scaffolding tube will happily support a ton with standard fittings, several tons if uniformly distributed load, like packs of bricks on each lift, they are about 700 kg, holds them up ok, think about the ties of the uprights too, most failures happen there allowing the lehs to spread, aka bloody big mess.
Mark

[elf]

How about a timber framed hoist: http://www.flickr.com/photos/photo-m...dy/8111044720/

[PStechPaul]

You can probably get an elephant for peanuts...

I think pipe would work OK. It would look something like a playground swing-set. Two A-frames and a cross-bar, with some braces to make it stable. You might be able to get scaffolding pipe and connectors which fit together and come apart quickly. It is also sometimes called structural pipe, and you can get many different sizes and a variety of fittings.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#clamp-on-structural-framing/=p5nfyq

Check out Kee Klamps:

http://www.simplifiedbuilding.com/store/components/kee-klamp.html

Something like this could be built from similar pieces of wood:

http://www.nationalladder.com/GH2T-Gantry-p/gh2t.htm

[The Artful Bodger]

Hi Plunger, have you considered shear legs? Easy to make as you just need three poles and the principle is as old as building the pyramids.

[Dennis WA]

I agree that a tripod shear legs is the best solution for a one-off. It has the benefit too of being portable.

[Sun God]

Shear legs = two poles
Gyn = three poles

But either of those could be fabbed simply from heavy walled pipe that I would imagine could handle a ton, but it would come down to the staying, and how well the stays are anchored.

If lifting heavy items off your truck is something you anticipate doing semi frequently, it may be worth fabbing up a pair of easily removable shear legs that fit on the tailgate and can be swug over the load. If it is stayed at one end to the truck and at the other end to something solid, with come alongs, you can winch it to lean over your load, lift the load, then which it back the other direction over the back of the tailgate. Does that make sense?

[jep24601]

I think a folding engine cherry picker is your best option. I just bought a used one for $100 to replace my fixed leg cherry picker which does take up too much space. The folding one is not HF and is far more manoueverable and takes up very little space. You would then of course be able to use it at any time in the future. Also, unlike some of the fixed lifting options being described, the engine cherry picker can move with the load.

[J Tiers]

For one-off, the tripod of wood is great, the wood is always usable later, and should be available nearly anywhere.

The big problem is the angle is crazy to pass 2.5m at the height of the truck bed, or else the thing has to be very tall. I can see wanting to use a gantry type unit.

Problem is that a heavy wood beam for the gantry might be a little less common than material suitable for a tripod.

Is the engine (presumably the tractor engine) actually a tonne? Because then you want to be able to lift somewhat over that, say 2t, just for safety.

[firbikrhd1]

I don't know much about Africa but here in America the term "shade tree mechanic" comes to mind. The term came from people using trees and a block and tackle to remove and replace engines in vehicles. I'm not trying to be snide when I suggest this, it's easy to overlook the simplest solution sometimes. It is for me to do so anyway. So, if the is a tree available it may do the job for you.
One other suggestion. I have made a tripod out of construction lumber scabbed together and lifted engines. In the end the lumber was used elsewhere. A tripod isn't the most convenient thing because one leg always seems to be in the way, but for a one time use you may be able to deal with it.

[metalmagpie]

Old idea: make one from pipe. Top horizontal crosspiece has short vertical pieces welded to the ends. Legs are made in a 'T' shape.
To assemble, lay both legs down. Slip top crosspiece's vertical sections over the top of the legs. Restrain the assembly from moving, then chain the top piece to your vehicle and pull the hoist nearly vertical (being careful to not go over center). Then turn both legs 90 degrees to achieve stability. Cheap. Quick. Dirty.

metalmagpie

[vincemulhollon]

should be 2meters high minimum.

Dig a hole (a ramp) and park the truck in the hole and suddenly that 2M minimum is 0.5M minimum. Sometimes that helps. Might help when you reinstall the rebuilt engine. Most land isn't perfectly flat you probably won't have to dig the whole ramp by hand. Cave ins are going to be a problem.

[Duffy]

I dont know about South Africa, but in Kenya, 6m gumwood poles are common as dirt. Three of those and a tackle block. Better yet, a good-sized gum tree with a stout limb.

[jep24601]

Gum trees are subject to sudden limb failure in apparently healthy trees. Better to use a Nandi Flame tree.

[jlevie]

I would go with a fold up (for storage) rolling engine hoist. You'll probably find other uses for it. Mine gets used a lot more for things other than hoisting an engine. My next choice would be a pallet jack and a ramp.