Heavy-Duty Home-Built Bridge Crane

Heavy-Duty Home-Built Bridge Crane FARM SHOP Tools 21-5-33 This might be the handiest shop crane we've ever seen. It's fitted with two heavy-duty hoists so you can turn a piece of equipment to any angle in midair to make it easy to work on. Duane Sorben mounted the hoists on a 14-in. steel I-beam that travels back and forth on a pair of 30-ft. steel I-beams mounted along the sides of his shop. An electric motor and gearbox walks the I-beam "bridge crane" across the shop. A separate electric motor and gearbox powers each hoist. Sorben made one of the hoists out of a 6,000-lb. Garrwood winch. The other hoist is a commercial Benson and Meyers model. A wired remote control hangs from each hoist. "I do a lot of welding and machining so the crane gets used a lot," says Sorben. "At first I used only one hoist. However, I later decided that two would work better because it lets me position equipment in the most convenient working position. For example, I was recently able to install a hoist on a truck box with the box tipped up. After I got the hoist on, I set the box down on the truck. Each hoist has a 1-ton capacity rating." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Duane Sorben, 1107 Hwy. 5 N.E., Bottineau, N. Dak. 58318 (ph 701 228-3325).

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