Ceiling storage for MFT3
- Thread starter sohnrog
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kfitzsimons
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MFT3 is pretty heavy. Failure of rope or holding assembly over a car would be ugly. I stand mine up on the short end and bungee it to the wall. I also put it on cedar 4x4's to keep it off the concrete floor.
Frank Pellow
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For a period of about a week or so four years ago, I did plan to raise my MFT3 with a pulley system. But, in the end, I didn't ever do so because I was aftraid that it would not be totally safe to work underneath the suspended table.
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Sohnrog,
[welcome] to the FOG. I too thought about a failure of hardware and ugly consequences. But a couple of questions.
1. Is it safe to assume that you have a sheetrock ceiling in you garage?
2. If so, do you have access to the area above the ceiling?
3. Do you have up high storage on any wall instead?
4. Do you know how the ceiling is framed - trusses, stick framed with separate ceiling joists? Maybe even a steel beam above midway?
I installed a storage system in a garage that was elevated and that holds a heck of a lot more weight than an MFT. Let me know. I am extremely busy today so I won't be able to post until tonight.
Peter
[welcome] to the FOG. I too thought about a failure of hardware and ugly consequences. But a couple of questions.
1. Is it safe to assume that you have a sheetrock ceiling in you garage?
2. If so, do you have access to the area above the ceiling?
3. Do you have up high storage on any wall instead?
4. Do you know how the ceiling is framed - trusses, stick framed with separate ceiling joists? Maybe even a steel beam above midway?
I installed a storage system in a garage that was elevated and that holds a heck of a lot more weight than an MFT. Let me know. I am extremely busy today so I won't be able to post until tonight.
Peter
Wood_Junkie
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- 1,311
I have two of those bicycle lifts you pictured, and they're pretty flimsy, IMO. I would NOT trust them holding my MFT1080 above my children...
I think you're looking more for something like this. Much more robust mounting system and weight capacity.
The other benefit is that with the wide-set arms, you could even lift your MFT with a project on it (if you garage is high enough)!
http://www.carguygarage.com/liovgast.html
250lb capacity. 48"+ spread (and you can put them as far apart as you want. Seems like it would work perfectly for the MFTs.
Whilst searching for the above link, I also found this, which is an aluminum bike lift, rated for 75 pounds.
http://www.carguygarage.com/aluminumbikelad.html
Maybe a pair would be OK... I still wouldn't put my kids under such a rig. For $50 more I'd buy the heavy lift (but my garage ceilings are too low)
I think you're looking more for something like this. Much more robust mounting system and weight capacity.
The other benefit is that with the wide-set arms, you could even lift your MFT with a project on it (if you garage is high enough)!
http://www.carguygarage.com/liovgast.html
250lb capacity. 48"+ spread (and you can put them as far apart as you want. Seems like it would work perfectly for the MFTs.
Whilst searching for the above link, I also found this, which is an aluminum bike lift, rated for 75 pounds.
http://www.carguygarage.com/aluminumbikelad.html
Maybe a pair would be OK... I still wouldn't put my kids under such a rig. For $50 more I'd buy the heavy lift (but my garage ceilings are too low)
JohnDistai
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- 216
I've been using those rope/pulley bike lifts for bikes for some time, and I really don't like them. The rope is a pain to manage, and you always have to keep the hooks weighted or you won't get them down from the ceiling. So I'm building something for my bikes, and I think it is similar to what you are looking for. It is more expensive than the options provided earlier in the thread, but it may be more versatile.
I'll provide details of what I did, but I want to add a disclaimer. If you decide to build this, or something like this, you are doing so at your own risk. Any liability is your own.
So here is what I did:
I looked on Craigslist for "unistrut". I found a guy selling 20' sections for $10 each. I probably got lucky, but sometimes you can find good deals. I mounted the unistrut across the joists in my garage about every 2 feet or so. I mounted them using lag screws. In hindsight, I wish I would have used the Spax architectural screws.
I then created a set of unistrut "beams" that span across the unistrut "joists". The beams will hold my pulleys. The beams are longer than the lifting surface and are used to spread the load across the joists. I got unistrut nuts from eBay to connect the stuff together.
I searched Craigslist again for "pallet racking". I found a local place that recycles pallet racking, and picked up 2 used pieces of 3' x 8' pallet rack supports for about $50. New they are about $50 each. These will be the base of the lifting surface.
I then got some D-ring hold downs from Tractor Supply and mounted them to the pallet racking and the unistrut beams.
I ordered 8 Tuf-Tug swivel pulleys from Grainger, and connected 4 of them to the D-rings on the unistrut beams.
I purchased a 750/1500 lb capacity electric hoist from Northern Tool. I mounted this to the ceiling using the unistrut framework.
So if this isn't complicated enough, it gets more complicated. Ideally, I would like to hang the hoist sideways so that it pulls the length of the garage. I can't do that inexpensively, so I have to hang it the way it is supposed to hang. I'll then build a fixture which has a couple pulleys mounted to it which redirects the upward/downward rope force to a force along the length of the garage.
I'll then mount a block of pulleys to unistrut on the ceiling near the garage door. The distance between these pulleys and the pulley setup for the hoist will be my lifting height.
I measured the lengths I needed for wire rope, and ordered wire rope lifting slings from American Rigging Supply. It was about $80 for the 4 slings.
The slings will mount to the pallet rack, and then run through the first set of pulleys on the ceiling, then run to the second set of pulleys closer to the garage door (away from the hoist), and then be ganged together where they can be hooked by the hoist hook.
When the hoist is activated, it will pull the gang of wire rope slings towards it, and thus lift the platform. I can then use that platform as a base to build whatever fixtures I need to hang my bikes, bike rack, and other crap that I want off the garage floor.
I want to caution you, however, that if you build something like this, and the pallet rack doesn't touch the floor, you would need to build some shelving that goes under the rack so that when it is lowered it sits on the floor. If the base isn't stable when lowered, you risk injury when you remove something from it because it will be unbalanced. I was thankfully reminded of this when I was testing a variation of this and was hit in the face with the see-sawing pallet rack. I only lost the skin on the tip of my nose, but it could have broke my nose or jaw had I been leaning in closer. It was a low-cost lesson.
It sounds complicated, and it is. I'm not quite done with it, but I'll take pictures when I am.
Another option would be to get a hoist from Harbor Fright or Northern Fool and then contact a rigging supply company to make you a set of 4 leg wire rope harnesses that you could attach to the corners of the MFT. This would be much cheaper, but less versatile.
I'll provide details of what I did, but I want to add a disclaimer. If you decide to build this, or something like this, you are doing so at your own risk. Any liability is your own.
So here is what I did:
I looked on Craigslist for "unistrut". I found a guy selling 20' sections for $10 each. I probably got lucky, but sometimes you can find good deals. I mounted the unistrut across the joists in my garage about every 2 feet or so. I mounted them using lag screws. In hindsight, I wish I would have used the Spax architectural screws.
I then created a set of unistrut "beams" that span across the unistrut "joists". The beams will hold my pulleys. The beams are longer than the lifting surface and are used to spread the load across the joists. I got unistrut nuts from eBay to connect the stuff together.
I searched Craigslist again for "pallet racking". I found a local place that recycles pallet racking, and picked up 2 used pieces of 3' x 8' pallet rack supports for about $50. New they are about $50 each. These will be the base of the lifting surface.
I then got some D-ring hold downs from Tractor Supply and mounted them to the pallet racking and the unistrut beams.
I ordered 8 Tuf-Tug swivel pulleys from Grainger, and connected 4 of them to the D-rings on the unistrut beams.
I purchased a 750/1500 lb capacity electric hoist from Northern Tool. I mounted this to the ceiling using the unistrut framework.
So if this isn't complicated enough, it gets more complicated. Ideally, I would like to hang the hoist sideways so that it pulls the length of the garage. I can't do that inexpensively, so I have to hang it the way it is supposed to hang. I'll then build a fixture which has a couple pulleys mounted to it which redirects the upward/downward rope force to a force along the length of the garage.
I'll then mount a block of pulleys to unistrut on the ceiling near the garage door. The distance between these pulleys and the pulley setup for the hoist will be my lifting height.
I measured the lengths I needed for wire rope, and ordered wire rope lifting slings from American Rigging Supply. It was about $80 for the 4 slings.
The slings will mount to the pallet rack, and then run through the first set of pulleys on the ceiling, then run to the second set of pulleys closer to the garage door (away from the hoist), and then be ganged together where they can be hooked by the hoist hook.
When the hoist is activated, it will pull the gang of wire rope slings towards it, and thus lift the platform. I can then use that platform as a base to build whatever fixtures I need to hang my bikes, bike rack, and other crap that I want off the garage floor.
I want to caution you, however, that if you build something like this, and the pallet rack doesn't touch the floor, you would need to build some shelving that goes under the rack so that when it is lowered it sits on the floor. If the base isn't stable when lowered, you risk injury when you remove something from it because it will be unbalanced. I was thankfully reminded of this when I was testing a variation of this and was hit in the face with the see-sawing pallet rack. I only lost the skin on the tip of my nose, but it could have broke my nose or jaw had I been leaning in closer. It was a low-cost lesson.
It sounds complicated, and it is. I'm not quite done with it, but I'll take pictures when I am.
Another option would be to get a hoist from Harbor Fright or Northern Fool and then contact a rigging supply company to make you a set of 4 leg wire rope harnesses that you could attach to the corners of the MFT. This would be much cheaper, but less versatile.
JohnDistai
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- Jan 2, 2010
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- 216
I have one of the heavier duty versions of those. Kind of tricky to install. I think it was about $125 - $140 bucks. Nice hardware, but lots of rope pulling!
JohnDistai
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- Jan 2, 2010
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Here is the hoist thing I'm talking about building. I got my ideas from this video. There are two versions of the video:
Short and sweet:
Garage Trailer Lift - I like to call the trailer ... "my truck"
Longer with an explanation and 3D drawings:
Winch Garage Trailer Lift - TATV#9
Short and sweet:
Garage Trailer Lift - I like to call the trailer ... "my truck"
Longer with an explanation and 3D drawings:
Winch Garage Trailer Lift - TATV#9
Dave Ronyak
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- Jan 23, 2007
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Great idea, good engineering and execution. I liked the "sped-up" pace of the first video and the music choices for both. Hopefully the pulley radii are sufficiently large to prolong the life of the lift cables.
Any ideas what to do if your ceiling height is barely 8 ft tall and you have an overhead door?
I'm looking for ideas like this one that I possibly could use for storing a trailer, and more importantly -- for storing and handling 4 ft X 8 ft sheet of plywood and MDF while working alone. Storage of sheet stock is a challenge in my 15 ft x 25 ft one car garage/shop which also houses 3 MFTs, a traditional 32" x 60" wooden workbench, a 10" planer/jointer, and 10" cabinet saw with table extensions on both sides, and 2 HP cyclone dust collector. Much of the time, when I purchase cabinet grade veneered plywood, it ends up sitting on top of that wooden workbench until I am finished cutting it into smaller panels for furniture; an obvious waste of space and workbench resources!
Dave R.
Any ideas what to do if your ceiling height is barely 8 ft tall and you have an overhead door?
I'm looking for ideas like this one that I possibly could use for storing a trailer, and more importantly -- for storing and handling 4 ft X 8 ft sheet of plywood and MDF while working alone. Storage of sheet stock is a challenge in my 15 ft x 25 ft one car garage/shop which also houses 3 MFTs, a traditional 32" x 60" wooden workbench, a 10" planer/jointer, and 10" cabinet saw with table extensions on both sides, and 2 HP cyclone dust collector. Much of the time, when I purchase cabinet grade veneered plywood, it ends up sitting on top of that wooden workbench until I am finished cutting it into smaller panels for furniture; an obvious waste of space and workbench resources!
Dave R.
Thanks for the suggestions. The MFT3 weighs 54 lb or so. I don't think I want to get too elaborate with the lift system (although I would need to be crazy to stand under that heavy trailer in the video. I think something along the lines of the bike lift would be about right for my needs. It says it can hold 75 lbs. I think a couple ropes attached to each of the bike hook pulleys would give me a total of 4 hooks (one for each corner). I'll post pictures when I've finished it.
JohnDistai
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