lumberwaiter

David Lesher · 2011-12-14T06:29:59+00:00

So a friend in NorCal has firewood, a place to keep it, & woodstoves.But the route from B to C is circuitous.If he could lift it say 14' to the balcony....My initial idea is a vertical steel {flag}pole, set inconcrete. Say 1.5" dia. pipe. Around it slides a largerdiameter cylinder; it slides up and down. A scuttle, a open Ushape, is welded to the slider.{shown tipped 90 so I can use more ASCII chars...} ___/(fw)|(fw)|================= {pipe}|(fw)___My first thought for lifting it was a winch at the base, witha pulley at the top; the cable goes up the center and over thepulley; al-la a sailboat mainsail sheet.But then I thought of garage door openers. One scheme has a longlead screw and a traveler that is threaded to match. If you took oneand put the motor end at the top; it could pull the scuttle up.Plus openers have overload clutches and reversing built in...To slow it down, however, we'd need a long screw of finer thread, and hopefully Acme not NF. Not sure how to do that....we'dhave to butt 2+ shorter rods together, weld, yet get the threadscontiguous... Comments from the RCM brane trust?

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Jim Wilkins 14 years ago

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is a similar model standing up.

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There are four cam rollers on mine, two per side. The lower ones roll on the platform side of the vertical rails, the upper ones on the handle side. They prevent the platform from tipping down but not up, which isn't necessary as its weight holds it in place. They mount in holes in the tapered 1/2" steel plates welded to the platform's back. One of the plates is visible above the pump pedal

The stacker's rollers aren't adjustable. Three bear on the rails anyway and the fourth makes contact if the load is heavy enough to twist the platform back to straight. $10 was a fair price for its condition.

The guide rollers on the sawmill adjust the same way as a motorcycle rear axle, with yokes and screws.

The rollers apply a considerable compressive pressure to the track unless they are widely separated, which costs track length. You might get away with

4x4 PT posts if the rollers were stacks of rubber caster wheels that bore on their full width.

So you remove it and leave only the less offensive post, with a bird feeder or wooden Ma Deuce on top. The bed crane has holes for a locking pin to keep it from ooopsing the pickup truck.

You can buy 10' threaded rod as conduit hanger at the Borg. Lifting the ~150 Lb head on my sawmill doesn't overstress a 12V Makita drill driving the leadscrew directly.

Personally I would build a simple and acceptably artsy or easily removed jib crane or hangman's gallows if I didn't already have the truck crane to borrow. It's far less initial work and maintenance than a vertical track and platform with rollers.

I'd replace the winch cable with hand-friendly polyester braided rope and attach plywood to the house at the bottom to absorb the damage if the canvas sling of firewood fell. If you have to move to the top to raise and unload it you won't be underneath.

The swiveling crane above my chimney that supports the ground-operated cleaning brush is built like a sailboat mast and boom, and painted to blend in with the tree branches behind it. Having a taller stayed mast lets the boom be much thinner and less visible since it needs to withstand only lengthwise compression, no bending. If you need an excuse for the mast, put a flag or antenna on it.

You guys want to overengineer a very simple project in a way that invites riders and accidents.

jsw

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Pete C. 14 years ago

How about a simple lift cradle running on an inclined track (think ladder) using a small electric winch and setup to dump the load into a catch bin at the top of the lift? Toss logs into the cradle at the bottom and when full push the up button.

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Jim Wilkins 14 years ago

Hang a net up there, drape a rug over the railing and just throw it up.

jsw

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steamer 14 years ago

--Oops made a mistake; the hoist I suggest is called "Little Mule" not 'little giant'.

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Jim Wilkins 14 years ago

The manual lever chain hoist here is an older Jet equivalent to the Little Mule:

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It's way too slow to repeatedly lift anything 14', as is the 1/4 ton HF one I otherwise like for small quick jobs. I tried everything I own to pull logs out of a tangled pile left by a bulldozer and settled on the boat trailer winch on the truck bed crane. An electric winch wasn't that much faster and quickly caused problems when the log snagged. The near end had to be pulled upwards and pried around to clear other logs and rocks, ruling out towing with the truck or tractor.

jsw

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James Waldby 14 years ago

16th of an inch for each new

Which part is the vertical track? Also, changing the topic slightly, what's that board thing above the roofline, and what are the lumber dimensions of your upright pole?

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Jim Wilkins 14 years ago

The fixed mast attached to the house is a landscape timber at the bottom spliced to a 2x4, which ends just above the handrail. The removeable extension above it is a shorter 2x4 joined with a ship-lap joint and steel bands.

It evolved from a simpler, shorter design and I wouldn't build a new one quite the same way. The mast might be better as a T section of two 2x4s, with the rotator platform guided by the T crossbar. In the original design the antenna pivoted down to ground level for repairs but now I lower the rotator and remove mast pipe sections to bring the antenna within reach on the roof. An HDTV antenna is smaller and more manageable up there than the old analog VHF one.

The Radio Shack mast sections have become considerably more expensive than EMT conduit. You could turn a splice plug that jams into one section and slides into the other, greased to slow rusting. Linch pins to join them are easier to handle on a ladder or find if dropped than screws.

I'd keep the rotator at the bottom of a long mast, the block and tackle to raise it, and the guy line attachment at the top. The three guy lines pass over pulleys on a ring suspended by a foot of cord, which allows free rotation. They tie off at the base where I can look up to pull the mast straight, next to impossible from their outer ends. The guys are 80 Lb crab line.

jsw

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