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School me on Jib Cranes

Tinstar

Tinstar

Red Skull Member
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
148
Messages
297
I need a jib crane in my steel framed/metal skinned shop. I have 16' to the bottom of the steel trusses. 6" 4500 psi concrete with at least a 1' wide by 2' deep footer tied to the slab with rebar.

I'd like to have a jib crane with a 20' reach with a safe 2000lb capacity so I can bring in a truck or trailer and get heavy stuff over to the setup/welding table. I'd run a chain hoist at least at first. Anyone here know the maths? Beams, base, tiedown ect..

I have overhead doors and a lift that would interfere with my first choice which would be a trolly crane.
 
I’m actually building one for my little brother here in a few weeks. I’m building a mast type for him. So it’s a floor to ceiling Mount. There is a huge red beam up top to mount to. I’m building a 1000 pound 16’ reach crane.

It all depends on the type of jib crane you want. On wall, mast type or free standing.

What are you thinking?
 
NORDFORD said:
Free standing jobs of that size will take a stupid big footing. Even with all the concrete you’ve got, it ain’t enough…
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Yeah it would be at least a 8’ x 8’ x 4’ block of concrete to have a free standing 20’ 2000# jib.

That’s why I asked what style. A mast style is the most forgiving. It splits the load between the building and floor. A on wall needs to have a pretty stout beam or a additional beam added to the building.

Need to get some specifics before we can fully answer his question.
 
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I just got one for free. Put it up in the shop. It was kinda flimsy so I ran some C channel across 4 truss's and tied it into the roof. If it fails I want it to be spectacular.

20211218_172254.jpg
 
bdkw1 said:
I just got one for free. Put it up in the shop. It was kinda flimsy so I ran some C channel across 4 truss's and tied it into the roof. If it fails I want it to be spectacular.
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we both have the same air filtration manufacturer :laughing:
 
I came across one of those truck mounted Hiab type telescopic cranes (knuckleboom?). It was a huge one, with lots of telescopic sections.

If I had a shop at the time I was gonna buy it and mount it inside the shop near the door so it could extend outside through the door as well as full coverage inside the shop.

I thought maybe I could get a scrap dumptruck frame and bury it in the gravel before pouring the slab on top. Stub up through the concrete to mount the knuckleboom to.

Probably not a good idea, just what I was thinking.
 
Muckin_Slusher said:
I came across one of those truck mounted Hiab type telescopic cranes (knuckleboom?). It was a huge one, with lots of telescopic sections.

If I had a shop at the time I was gonna buy it and mount it inside the shop near the door so it could extend outside through the door as well as full coverage inside the shop.

I thought maybe I could get a scrap dumptruck frame and bury it in the gravel before pouring the slab on top. Stub up through the concrete to mount the knuckleboom to.

Probably not a good idea, just what I was thinking.
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Those are no good for being inside. Unless you have 25’ ceiling. They need height to get closer than the base sections unfold too. I have one on a truck and unfolded it’s like 20’ long.

Better off building a mast style that can swing out the garage door.

I’ll be able to build a 1000# 16’ jib with 270 degrees of rotation for less than $1500. Beams are $900 a few heavy truck taper bearings a pillow block and some scrap and bingo.
 
That's going to be a big base and column to swing 2k at 20'.


How about a rolling gantry? Or for what you'll likely spend on that jib, just get an old forklift.
 
20' radius or diameter? 20' from the post will likely require a tension rod from beam to top of the post. So figure the beam will be 3' below ceiling height.
 
Muckin_Slusher said:
I came across one of those truck mounted Hiab type telescopic cranes (knuckleboom?). It was a huge one, with lots of telescopic sections.

If I had a shop at the time I was gonna buy it and mount it inside the shop near the door so it could extend outside through the door as well as full coverage inside the shop.

I thought maybe I could get a scrap dumptruck frame and bury it in the gravel before pouring the slab on top. Stub up through the concrete to mount the knuckleboom to.

Probably not a good idea, just what I was thinking.
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A guy a know that that. He put it just inside the door to the side. It is a smaller knuckle boom, but he can reach 12ish feet in 270 degrees. It is great for lifting stuff out of or into trucks. He dug a big hole and poured 6 yds of concrete for a base.
 
My last shop had a 20' arm 3 ton jib. It was previously a granite/stone shop. They told me it was 10x10x10 feet deep of concrete. (I saw the 10x10 cutout but didn't know exactly how deep it was.)

The column was about 3' in diameter and the beam might have been 16".

It held over 3 tons at the end...sort of bouncy though.
 
This is a Jib Crane, from my experience, but I might be older than most here so a different type of experience.
20211221_114517.jpg
 
I found a pic of my old shop the day we moved in. If you look at the back wall you'll see a very poorly installed (blue) jib crane because that vertical wall beam would and did bend if you tried to lift something with the arm close to the wall.
old shop jib.jpg
 
CarterKraft said:
4" thick filter is a billion times more effective in my testing.
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Yeah, but for the cost I can replace these about 10x for one of those. Unless you've got a place to get them cheap?

Edit, just saw the link. So about 8x......
 
ThePanzerFuhrer said:
I’m actually building one for my little brother here in a few weeks. I’m building a mast type for him. So it’s a floor to ceiling Mount. There is a huge red beam up top to mount to. I’m building a 1000 pound 16’ reach crane.

It all depends on the type of jib crane you want. On wall, mast type or free standing.

What are you thinking?
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Mast type setting against/near a wall. I can tie to the building at the top of the uprights. My uprights aren't super tough though. 4"x4"x1/8", Not positive about the tubing thickness but that's close. Uprights are welded to anchors that are imbedded in the concrete.

Hmmm. You gave me an idea. Maybe 2 shorter reach jib cranes that together will reach the needed distance from the overhead door to the fixture table. Each would be handy in their own area as well.

Most lifts would be 500lbs or less but way heavier than a person could safely lift so maybe I have the big eye on my load limits. Maybe a couple like t you're building would work just fine.

Forklift is a great idea but requires a clear path to use. Rolling gantry has the same issue.

I am thinking about something that I build and install myself. I don't mind spending some coin on the mast, beams, bearing and hardware.

Lots of good questions and suggestions. I appreciate all the responses!
 
Bridge crane not in the cards? I've always figured if I were going proper shop with a crane, a bridge would be the ideal solution to pick and place anything in the entire shop. I've never seen the appeal of jib cranes for more than lifting from floor (on a pallet or w/e) onto a machine.
 
Something that I've seen done for a crane near an exterior wall; instead of one giant massive footing being poured in the shop for the crane, a smaller footing was cut and poured, like a 2' wide x 3' long x 2' deep, and then anchors were installed running outside to 4 other other smaller blocks on a 160 degree or so radial. They were poured so that it was using the fill between the blocks to prevent the overturning of the crane through the tension rods. The capacity was still only 2k lbs so nothing spectacular but it utilized less of a major excavation, part of which was the groundwater level was so shallow. The tie rods were old stainless anchor rods that were salvaged from some research boat. (This was all in Tidewater area of Virginia).

I had designed a big bridge crane for my new shop when I first bought the place, but then the price of steel went bonkers and I haven't been able to justify it again yet. The bridge crane is in fact more versatile but the cost of the materials would be higher. I was at an auction 3 years ago in DC where several large bridge cranes were sold for $1 and $2... because nobody wanted to remove them. The company that bought them spent a week taking them down and they guy said they'll sell them, get paid to install them, and get the service contracts on them too most likely.

Whatever your design is, take into account the bearings you use and how their axial loads vs radial loads compare. Saw a flange block fail recently because it was used in a side load application and the insert bearing wasn't designed for that level of side load given that it was a ball bearing type. Might be best into looking a a big truck hub type bearing setup. Even seen guys use Rockwell hubs or big tractor hubs for stuff like this because the parts are available and you know its good for both moment and axial loads, as well as radial.
 
SomeGuy said:
Bridge crane not in the cards? I've always figured if I were going proper shop with a crane, a bridge would be the ideal solution to pick and place anything in the entire shop. I've never seen the appeal of jib cranes for more than lifting from floor (on a pallet or w/e) onto a machine.
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I'd do the bridge crane if I could. I have a lift, airlines and 2 overhead door tracks that would interfere.
 
AlxJ64 said:
Something that I've seen done for a crane near an exterior wall; instead of one giant massive footing being poured in the shop for the crane, a smaller footing was cut and poured, like a 2' wide x 3' long x 2' deep, and then anchors were installed running outside to 4 other other smaller blocks on a 160 degree or so radial. They were poured so that it was using the fill between the blocks to prevent the overturning of the crane through the tension rods. The capacity was still only 2k lbs so nothing spectacular but it utilized less of a major excavation, part of which was the groundwater level was so shallow. The tie rods were old stainless anchor rods that were salvaged from some research boat. (This was all in Tidewater area of Virginia).

I had designed a big bridge crane for my new shop when I first bought the place, but then the price of steel went bonkers and I haven't been able to justify it again yet. The bridge crane is in fact more versatile but the cost of the materials would be higher. I was at an auction 3 years ago in DC where several large bridge cranes were sold for $1 and $2... because nobody wanted to remove them. The company that bought them spent a week taking them down and they guy said they'll sell them, get paid to install them, and get the service contracts on them too most likely.

Whatever your design is, take into account the bearings you use and how their axial loads vs radial loads compare. Saw a flange block fail recently because it was used in a side load application and the insert bearing wasn't designed for that level of side load given that it was a ball bearing type. Might be best into looking a a big truck hub type bearing setup. Even seen guys use Rockwell hubs or big tractor hubs for stuff like this because the parts are available and you know its good for both moment and axial loads, as well as radial.
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I've thought about an outside anchor(s) including the already installed 8"x3/8" pipe I use for my stove pipe. I've been thinking about the big truck hubs. A broken or bent axle would probably have at least 1 good bearing setup.
 
Tinstar said:
I've thought about an outside anchor(s) including the already installed 8"x3/8" pipe I use for my stove pipe. I've been thinking about the big truck hubs. A broken or bent axle would probably have at least 1 good bearing setup.
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The stand alone cranes like jamscal posted use a tapered roller bearing like you would find in a big truck hub up top, and side rollers that run around the column. That entire boom just sits on a bearing cone.
 
Tinstar said:
I'd do the bridge crane if I could. I have a lift, airlines and 2 overhead door tracks that would interfere.
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Buy a shorter lift. The posts don't need to go to the ceiling. Air can be re-routed easily. Overhead doors can be swapped for roll ups.
 
How tall is the door track? Can you hang the bridge below the track and have it still be useful?
 
Dethmachinefab said:
How tall is the door track? Can you hang the bridge below the track and have it still be useful?
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That’s the issue with bridge cranes you need so much ceiling height to make them useful. The bridge crane next door needed 24’ sidewalls to get 22’ under the hook.

My beams came in yesterday so maybe once Christmas is over I’ll start burning that bitch together.
 
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