Winch Lifter

[Byron Trantham]

I want to raise a 4x8' table from my garage floor to the ceiling using an electric winch. Has anyone done this? I have been thinking about it for several days and still don't have a clear solution. I found an electric winch on amazon for $108 rated a 880 lbs. If you pics of your solution I sure would like to see them. Thanks.

[Bob Slater]

Byron, I have an 8 inch steel beam in my shop that spans two walls. I bought a Beam trolley on Ebay and have a 1/2 ton chain winch on it. It works very well. I can lift a big item up and float it across the floor to a counter on either side of the room. My digicam is in the shop (repair facility) so can't post a photo.

[Dale Lesak]

Harbor freight has electric winch's. they have a 440, 880 and a 1300. I have 2 of the 440's and 2 of the 880's paid less then 100 for each of the on sale. I have one in the shop for lifting items up onto the bench. (440) and one in the garage area to lift my panel saw up to the ceiling when not in use. (880) the other 880 is used for lifting in the garage area for general repair work. the other 440 is setup to be portable for lifting and pulling jobs outside the shop. I have not had any problem with any of them the one is the shop is over 5 years old and works as good as the day I bought it.

[David G Baker]

A friend of mine has the Harbor Freight winch that he paid around $75 for and if the cable is doubled it will lift around 800#. You will have to exercise the old brain power to make it work for your situation. You will need something in the ceiling that will hold the weight. I have pulled truck engines with chain hoist and 1 1/2 inch pipe mounted at the base of trusses in my garage with out any problem. The longer the pipe the better so the weight is distributed over a wider area. I have block and tackle set up for lifting most things and very heavy duty ratchet come along for other things. I have used my John Deere front end loader on occasion.

[Jason White]

I've been trying to figure out how to get my wife to let me purchase one of these....

http://www.amazon.com/Warn-685000-Pu...8966178&sr=8-1

I want to raise a 4x8' table from my garage floor to the ceiling using an electric winch. Has anyone done this? I have been thinking about it for several days and still don't have a clear solution. I found an electric winch on amazon for $108 rated a 880 lbs. If you pics of your solution I sure would like to see them. Thanks.

[Don Abele]

Byron, there was an excellent thread on using winches in the shop at the end of last year. Check it out:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...t=gantry+crane

I think what you are looking for is what Alan Lilly posted (#29). He has a link in his post to a video of his system working. It's pretty sweet.

Be well,

Doc

[keith ouellette]

I have an electric winch in my shop to raise a 40" by 23 1/2" platform I use to get heavy things up in the attic. It would be a real pain to get a picture of it right now so You will have to take my word for it that it exists.

This is similar to your situation. Just think of mine as a little table.

Here is what I did and the problems I have with it.

Basically the winch is centered over an opening in my attic (you obviously don't need an opening to your attic) and attached to two of my trusses. The winch cable is attached to the platform by 4 smaller cables connected to each corner of the platform. They were adjusted in length so the platform would stay level if the load placed on it was balanced. It works ok.

My two biggest problems are that it will twist around. That may not be a problem for your ap. And the location of the controls. they are in the attic.

In your case I think you should also place your winch in the attic as attaching it to the top of the trusses (assuming it is a one story building) would give the best weight distribution.

That would mean you would have to re wire your controls so they would be by a wall away from the table. It would be simple to do but you would need to talk to someone more electrically inclined to see if the extra amount of wire would cause to much resistance in the system.

If the table spinning around as it is lifted is an issue then a slot cut into the length of a 2x4 would make a good guide. It could be attached to the ceiling and removed as needed and a removable bolt in the table that slid up and down in the slot would complete the guide. Then you just take the guide down till you need to take the table down again.

Your problem is going to be the extra length of cable needed to attach to the table. With me it isn't a problem because that portion of the cable just goes up in the attic. That would be impossible in your situation. If you have 15 foot high ceilings it might not matter. Or if your table has collapsable legs it might not matter either.

I doubt you would be able to center an attachment in the middle of your table top that was strong enough and balanced enough to make it safe to lift from the center of the table.

If You have any questions about my set up, or if you really need those pics to see what I am talking about you can pm me. I'd be glad to help.