Thread: chain pulley/hoist

You can buy proper chain pulleys from ships chandlery suppliers,
Rgds,
Crocy.

Initial thoughts a 300kg rated pulley with a 500kg block and tackle should probably at least match load rating.
secondly the block and tackle is designed to lift vertically so you would need two pulleys to change the direction of lift. one to divert to the bench and one to divert down to your bench.
Would a simpler approach be mount the block and tackle above the bench but hook the chains up and out of the way.
+1 for crocy comment on a chain pulley
cheers

Every time I search for 'chain pulley' I get the chain hoist as a result!

Why complicate matters? Surely a simple screw hook attached to the wall is all that is required to stow the "chain drive" chain out of the way when it is not required. The "hoist chain" can be stowed in a bag or bucket stowed just below the hoist, or even a simple short length of cord or "shock cord" with a hook to hold the hoist and drive chains clear when not in use.

All the inbuilt overload safety protections for a chain block hoist are designed for "vertical hoist operations." The protection mechanism generally operates as a "clutch" on the "chain drive" and will slip i.e. will not drive the "hoist chain", when in an overloaded condition.

"Chain blocks are designed for vertical lifting and should never be used for horizontal lifting." - Chain Blocks - A Safety Guide | All Lifting Aspects of Chain Block operation (nobles.com.au)

If you want the "chain hoist" to operate in the horizontal it is the wrong tool for the task, you must use a "winch" rated for "hoisting" operations. Each have their own specific applications and safety protection mechanisms designed for the hoist (vertical) or winch (horizontal) loads.

A "winch / hoist" is typically labelled as "can be used as a winch with a pulling capacity of 800kg...or as a hoist with a lifting capacity of 500kg." Winch vs Hoist: What's the Difference? (safetyliftingear.com)

I just made a pulley for the hoisting chains out of wood for mine once, to move them and myself out of the way,it worked fine. Agree with person above, trying to run the lifting chain around a sheave and making it travel through a bend is asking for danger, straight vertical lifts only.

I have a piece of ‘i’ beam over the big metal lathe with a runner and small chain block on it for swapping chucks.
Dropped a small 4 jaw on a finger years back and don’t need a repeat.
Had Similar over the mill to the marking off table.

Another set up might be a small swing gantry, I’ll be making one over the disc.
Anchor it off the steel door frame.
Dont always have a fit younger person around to help lift the 40kg discs up and clear of the table to change paper.
H.

How much weight are you actually lifting?

Ropes / block and tackle (sailing gear) can take a lot more load than many think.
May be easier to setup for your needs.

Thanks all, I think I will just hook up the chain its getting a bit too difficult. I didnt know about the safety issues with redirecting the chain

I shouldve gone with something like this for not much more:
Gorilla 100kg Electric Hoist - Bunnings Australia

I simple pulley where the hook is and securing the cable to the roof would also increase the capacity.

I am a little confused as to what you are trying to do, Qwertyu.

On your first post you are talking about a 500 kgs lift, but on your last post it is 100 kgs, only.

Secondly, chain hoists lift vertically only. If you install it over your workbench then you will be able to lift things off your bench, and then deposit them back on the bench. Alternatively, you could mount it near your bench, lift something off the floor or off a trolley, then move bench under the hoist, then lower the thing onto your bench.

Thirdly, I have had very poor experiences with Zenith branded stuff:

• Screws with detachable heads,
• Items with rub-off galvanising, and
• Whitworth threads labelled as metric, etc.

I would never trust any lifting gear with their label; 500 kgs can do a lot of damage.

I used the gorilla from bunnings for my overhead tool cabinet, with few pulleys from Whiteworths Marine & leisure shop in Melbourne, these are small pulleys so I have to replace the standless steel rope from the gorilla (too stiff for small pulleys) with some waxed core rope from marine shop, they’re cheap, amazingly strong and much easier to use, have the gorilla hoist in the corner of the ceiling as you can see in the picture, save me a bit of space & works like a charm, just a bit noisy when running. I bought a few zenith pulleys from Bunnings and as Graeme mentioned, they’ve noisy and not suitable for me.

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

I am a little confused as to what you are trying to do, Qwertyu.

On your first post you are talking about a 500 kgs lift, but on your last post it is 100 kgs, only.

Secondly, chain hoists lift vertically only. If you install it over your workbench then you will be able to lift things off your bench, and then deposit them back on the bench. Alternatively, you could mount it near your bench, lift something off the floor or off a trolley, then move bench under the hoist, then lower the thing onto your bench.

Thirdly, I have had very poor experiences with Zenith branded stuff:

• Screws with detachable heads,
• Items with rub-off galvanising, and
• Whitworth threads labelled as metric, etc.

I would never trust any lifting gear with their label; 500 kgs can do a lot of damage.

I just wanted to use it to flip a table I made for a friend and figured it would be good to have it in the shed. I didnt NEED it but to provide extra safety/security. I dont need anywhere near 500kg rating but thats just what I got.

Originally Posted by Porter0206

I used the gorilla from bunnings for my overhead tool cabinet, with few pulleys from Whiteworths Marine & leisure shop in Melbourne, these are small pulleys so I have to replace the standless steel rope from the gorilla (too stiff for small pulleys) with some waxed core rope from marine shop, they’re cheap, amazingly strong and much easier to use, have the gorilla hoist in the corner of the ceiling as you can see in the picture, save me a bit of space & works like a charm, just a bit noisy when running. I bought a few zenith pulleys from Bunnings and as Graeme mentioned, they’ve noisy and not suitable for me.

This is such a cool idea! What sort of runners are the cabinets on? It reminds of the 'elevator' that a youtuber made for his mezzanine floor.

I might get rid of this chain pulley and get a hoist like what you have done and set up some pulleys. Do ropes have load ratings too - how does one choose a suitable rope?

The runners are extra heavy duty 1.2m drawer slide which I got from Bunnings, it’s used to limit the cabinet moving side way and close to the wall when lifting up & down, I did remove the track stopper to enable the cabinet comes down to about 1.4m.
There’re different sizes for the rope with different rating, mine is small one but can hold up to 500k, it’s crazy to think but I got advise from the marine shop & only couple bucks/metre.

i used a triple gang mini pulleys for up & down movement, they save space and very quiet, more importantly to slowdown speed & reduce weight (gorilla hoist is a bit fast), add another single pulley to change direction to the gorilla in the corner.

I also took out 2 approximately switch from the gorilla and installed near the track for upper and slow stop of the cabinet, it works!

it took me a while with experiencing many different pulleys and where to secure the hoist but finally it works, my original thinking is for an overhead cabinet in the kitchen, although I need to find a cheap DC motor instead of gorilla in the kitchen, the clicking noise from gorilla when it start & stop won’t make the boss happy.

btw, if you’re going to set up a similar project and not too far from Melb, I maybe able to assist and provide you some of my experience on this.

cheers,
trevor

Thanks! Where abouts are you in Melb? Also, which marine shop did you go to? I dont really know much about the boating industry

This is the marine shop Whitworths Marine and Leisure: Discount Marine Supplies in Elizabeth st, Melb where I got my pulleys and rope from, they do have shops in other locations as well.

i’m in abbotsford, starting to setup my very tiny workshop for hobby, has a lot to learn, next project is to build a work bench, space is my biggest problem so planning is critical, information from this forum so far is invaluable and very helpful for me.