Barn winch lift Design question

[blakester]

Hello everyone, have a couple questions about a winch lift i'm building. Ok first off ill describe the use and build. We have a small barn with a lofted area that we cant put any stairs up to due to space constraints. I want to put some things up top for storage, but much of it is too cumbersome or heavy to climb up a ladder with. I would say that the a heavy load would be 300 pounds, so not that much. I had a 3800 pound winch i wasn't using, so i Thought I would turn it into a lift to bring that stuff up and down. I built a small platform on wheels, 30"x27-1/2" out of 2x6. I ran 4 chains through a hole in the wood on each corner and double 1/4" x 2.5" lag bolted it to the underside. The winch is mounted on double 2x6s that span 5 of the 2x8 roof joists with 4 - 5/8" thick bolts that run through both 2x6's and have a nice wide thick washer on the back. Those 2x6's are lag bolted to the roof with 3 per joist. I pre drilled the roof joists, and slightly offset each lag to try to prevent splitting them. The roof is 40 years old and the wood has hardened since it was put in, and is in great shape. I have some pictures attached, the first try had the cross installed to try to keep the chains straight on the sides as high as possible. That image had me just slide it in there for reference, it was much higher before. I had them so high that they nearly went 90 deg to the hook. It was incredibly unstable and i think maybe i need more of the angle like in the image without the cross in it. That's question number one, what's the best way to keep those chains straight as much as possible. question 2 any one hazard a guess how much that setup would reasonable hold?

 

[CincyFlyer]

Using a winch as a hoist, zero pounds is the recommended amount.

 

[blakester]

Why is that? Are there some specific safety concerns about using a winch as a hoist?

 

[kirkawilson]

ATTIC LIFT HOW I MADE IT - YouTube

 

[hosspuller]

The platform is unstable because the center of gravity is too low. A rigid vertical member from the platform is required to keep it from tipping. Think of a crane manbasket

 

[Deere Dude]

I have a couple winches and to reverse or extend the cable, they free wheel. If yours works that way I would thing it would break up pretty fast unless the lift basket went down by hand. It would go up fine, but not down.

 

[aczlan]

Why is that? Are there some specific safety concerns about using a winch as a hoist?

Yes, a winch designed to be a hoist will have a automatic brake so that it can Freewheel and drop its load. The one that you have does not have an automatic brake on it or if it does it's a smaller one and so it is not recommended for use as a hoist.

The platform is unstable because the center of gravity is too low. A rigid vertical member from the platform is required to keep it from tipping. Think of a crane manbasket

Correct. Barring that, a spreader at the top so that the chains from the platform to the spreader are vertical would probably help.

Aaron Z

 

[blakester]

So the winch has a free wheel yes, I turn a locking mechanism to disable the free wheel. Is the fear is I may burn out that mechanism, being the automatic brake, and it would cause it to only free wheel. So the idea being the less weight on the line while the mechanism is enguaged the better? Additionally, the platform is much more stable when I have the cross braces removed. I understand he man lift idea, but isn稚 my platform essentially he top of the man lift where the cables connect? And further I知 not sure I get that the centre of gravity is too high if lifting the cross member would increase stability. That seems to be opposite of what I知 experiencing, the further I move he cross up the less stable the platform becomes. Thanks for the infor so far, really looking to get a good understanding of this

 

[blakester]

Ok so after some reading it looks like winch brakes are generally clutch style friction pads, so I can see why they would potentially burn up, plus they only seem to be rated for half the lift weight of he winch., which while way way way above my weight amounts, still puts me in the in-intended usage for the winch. How about he lag bolts on the 2x6 mounting. I do have a half ton chain hoist I could swap out for the electric winch.

 

[davedj1]

I have this in my shop and I use it all the time, it will lift way more than it's rated for but with a double line @880 # it should lift anything you want to.
44 lb. Electric Hoist with Remote Control