rlrsk8r
New member
I have a zero turn mower that I wish to store in my shop. Not wanting to lose floor space I decided to build a support frame and hang it from the roof joist bottom chords. The mower weighs about 1500 pounds and the bottom chord is a 2 x 10 so I know it is strong enough. I have a 1 ton chain fall which I will fasten to an angle iron that will span three of those chords. I plan to build a rectangular frame to lift the mower with. shown in the attahed diagram. I have four tiedown eyes on the mower, which I will use as lifting eyes. I plan to build the long members of the frame out of rectangular steel tubing that is 1-1/4 inch by 2-1/4 inch, 0.063” wall thickness oriented, so the wide dimension of the tubing is vertical. After I build the frame, I will find the balance point and weld crossmember near the middle of it with a lift eye.
I have searched on the net but cannot find whether my tubing is strong enough to support the 1500 pound mower. I found formulas, but do not understand how to compute the bending moment.
My guess is that my 1-1/4” x 2-1/4” tubing should support my mower, with each corner supporting about 400 Lbs.
I'd like some thoughts on the construction of my frame. The reason I’m using this tubing is because it’s what I happen to have lying around. And the reason I’m building the rectangular frame is so that my chains hang straight down and not touch the plastic fuel tanks. The squiggly lines at the corners are the chains.
I have searched on the net but cannot find whether my tubing is strong enough to support the 1500 pound mower. I found formulas, but do not understand how to compute the bending moment.
My guess is that my 1-1/4” x 2-1/4” tubing should support my mower, with each corner supporting about 400 Lbs.
I'd like some thoughts on the construction of my frame. The reason I’m using this tubing is because it’s what I happen to have lying around. And the reason I’m building the rectangular frame is so that my chains hang straight down and not touch the plastic fuel tanks. The squiggly lines at the corners are the chains.